Mothers' League Celebrates Its Birthday

Chronicle (Levin), 22 July 1948, Page 8

Mothers' League Celebrates Its Birthday

The Oddfellows' Hall saw a gathering in a festive mood recently, when the Levin League of Mothers celebrated its 15th birthday. Mrs. Nichol presided.over a large gathering of members, while friends and visitors were present from the Lower Hutt and Palmerston North ^3iT3»nclo.os. * The guest speaker was Mrs. Andrews, phe president of the Lower Hutt branch. Mrs. Andrews has recently returned to New Zealand after spending seven months in California, and she gave a most interesting and informative address on conditions in that State. Leaving New Zealand, the speaker s.aid that she flew to America.in three stages., First stop was at Fiji, where the passengers slept in grass huts, then to Canton Island and oh to Honolulu, where tall coconut trees grpw in the streets. Arriving in California, Mrs. Andrews stayed with her daughter in San Jose, a country town of sixty or seventy thousand people, and the centre of the largest fruit growing district in the world. What had struck her most was the fact that there wereno hedges or- fences in that city. The green lawns and lovely gardens extended right to the "walk," while telegraph poles were nonexistent. San Jose, which is about 80 miles from San Francisco, has a wondlrful climate with day after day of bright sunshine. The houses are built low and seemed to "hug the ground," while one stepped straight inside into a dining room or spacious lounge. The eentral heating for which America is famous is done by natural gas. The speaker went on to describe the interior of the houses, the furniture and the meals, mentioning that the American housewife give great thought to the decoration of' the table and preparation of a meal, Help was as hard to obtain there as in New Zealand, but there were more labour saving devices to make house-rkeeping easy. Very little bread was eaten and when bought it was wrapped and .sliced. Everything was supplied from the market, there being no shops as in New Zealand. Butter 1 cost from 5s to 6s a pound, liver about 4s 6d a pound, and a leg of lamb, wrapped and sealed in cellophane, 24s. Mrs. Andrews described San Francisco as having steep streets and a super-abundance of electricity. She told of a visit to Mt. Hopkins Hotel, where two slices of underdone steak and some french fried potatoes cost 19s for each person. A meal cost some £3 Concluding, Mrs. Andrews said that she had been tremendously impressed with the giant redwoods and the wonderful forests without undergrowth. California was the only place in the world where red-, woods grew in their natural state and they were the highest trees in the world, towering high overhead before their branches started. The speaker said she had seen a mariposa. tree, which was reputed tp be some 40,000 years old. A vote of thanks to Mrs. Anderson was proposed by Mrs. Kehoe,. who thanked her for the interesting address on behalf of _ those present. Mesdames Liebezeit and Lowe, of Lower" .Hutt, then entertained with vocal and elocutionary items. Greetings were ^iven from Palmerston North, Lower Hutt and the Moera-Waiwhetu branches, and also from Mrs. Kersley. After afternoon tea had been served, a birthday cake made by Mrs. Mercer, was cut by one of the oldest members, Mrs. Thorpe.