SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 155, 26 March 1919, Page 4

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Tho Misses. Baird (Masterton) : are visiting Wellington and are staying with Miss Druiiimond, Kilbirnie.

Lieutenant R. 0. Chesiicy and Mrs. Chesney are returning to New Zealand by the Tiiinui, alter an absence of seven years from the. Dominion.

Captain, aim Mrs. Kirk are visiting Christch'urch.

Mrs. ■ Frank' Nelson (Havelock North) is visiting Mrs; Kilto, Riccarton, and-the Misses, Nelson aro guests of Mrs. Bethell, Canterbury-. ■'

Miss Humphries has returned from a visit to Nelson. I

Mr. John Huteheson will he the speaker at the reception of Hie wives and families of soldiers and sailors-on Friday afternoon at the Town Hall.

Mrs. D. W. Duthio is visiting Auekland.

. Mrs. J. Findlay.fl'he Terrace) left for Auckland')}}'. Hie Atheuic last week.

Miss Harcourt is visiting Auckland.

The death occurred on March 17 at "Fellsidc," Sentoun, of Mrs. Por'itt, wife of the Rev. T, Porritl. The deceased lady was well known in the Kaikoura and Wnirarapa districts', as well as in Wellington.'and-will be remembered by many old High School hoys, Mr. Porritt having'had charge of them before going to tho Wairarapn; ; For tho past eighteen .years,, tho family, has lived at Seatoun.''Mrs. Porritt, ■' who had been a patient sufferer for-years, was loved and respected by all who knew her. A fnmilr of five sons and three daughters survive her, the youngest daughter and son being the old unmarried members of.the family.'. The son is away on active BCi'vice, while another son, LieutenantColonel (Dr.) Porritt, is in charge of the hospital ship.Maheno. due here Shortly. Tho interment took place in the Bolton' Street Cemetery. This is the fourth bereavement the family has suffered in the last eight months; the eldest grandson. Sergeant William Bey, being' killed'in action in France on August 25, and shortly after the death of his father, Colonel Surgeon Bey. from influenza, took place, .Word lias also heen received that another grandson died on March i at Wf.lton-pii-Tliaines from influenza. This promising young man. who went, with Hie N.'ZXC. on the hospital ship Mnlieno, was ,to have gone back to Edinburgh to continue his medical course.

. Members. of the Otngo .Women's Club, Diihedin,'gathered in large numbers at an "at hoinc" held on Saturday in honour of the visit to. the club of' Her Excellency, the Countess of Liverpool. Members' of the 'committee received Lady Liverpool, and she was presented with a bouquet of pilik carnations' and sweet peas by Hie gardening circle. An attractive exhibition- of arts and crafts was viewed with much interest,, and Her Excellency expressed admiration of tho wealth of beautiful bloolne which;decorated the club/.'iuauy being escf.ptionally choice. '.:.'■■ .' '■; • •'■'.

rMrs. Robert Ramsay, who '.before her marriage was-3ilisS ..Mabel.' Greenwood, tho only daughter of, Mr. mid Mrs. G. I). Greenwood, Teviotdale, Ambqrley, has recently arrived, in Sydney on her way to her honit m'Victoria. Mis. Ramsay has. been engaged in V.A.D. v.-rk ever since tho beginning of- the waV, having helped"in hospitals in Egypt and France, mid.in the canteens at Mentoho.' .Airs. Ramsay was m'irsiiifj at n '.hospital in Paris run by A'mericaiis, .and for her splendid services there .'during most trying times, was .decorated with the Medaille d'Hpimeiir. Major Ramsay, who has >occonipMiied;-hi3,. wife to.': Australia, has,served throughput;'the war, and is attached to Hie' sfa'if,' of'.the .Australian' Army. Mrs. G';''- ; l).*,Gji?enwood. is on her way to New Zealand.nowOuid is expected to arrive some time 1 next month,'

Women and Post-War Problems, . Speaking at a Y.AV.C.A. conference ■■which- was held- in Dunedin towards the .eud .of. last week,.. Mr..,.C.E. Stiitham, Mil'., "in"'discussing post-war .problems said Hint the first industrial principle to consider was Unit where both .111011 and women were employed women should get equal pay for equal work. Adherence to that principle would help to sort out the occupations which each sex should follow. It ficenled that in the near future'women would.be eligible as members of-Parlia-ment, and tue.v should lake an interest in the public questions of the day, because they exercised great influence which would be felt whether they voted or not. The country was laced with (lie necessity of creating new wealth to replace what war destroyed, and it must come from the land. Therefore, an increase in population was needed, and wo should encourage the right class of immigrant from overseas. Education was another pressing problem, and in that connection it should lie remembered that 1 every child had" an equal right to hu educated, on the right linos, from the kindergarten to the university. The ouestions ol public health'and (ho repatriation of soldiers opened up avenues of service for women, and the great problems of tho relation between Capital aw) Labour would not be solved until both skies based their relationship, on the spirit of Christianity. Every child.should'leceive a good Christian training, because a community,could not be.legislated, into, goodness—that depended on-individual character.

Relics of the Early Days, Tho thoroughness with which earlj colonists laid their plans for the new life they expected to lead.- in Cantor. ;bury is demonstrated by an historical relic in possession' of .Miss Jjenlson, Papanui lUiud, daughter oi the late Mr. YV. I l ', lieatson, first ti.wn clerk of St. Albans, states tho Lyttclton ' Times." It is a-model of a lOloinsts'lioust, and is about fourteen inches long, eight inches broad, and eeven inches from the lloujc to the caves, it has two rooms, divided by a wall. One has a stove, dresser, table,..and other, kitchen furniture; tho other, is a bedroom' with tlirco bunks. Bach room lias two curtained glass windows. Perhaps the most notable feature of the model is the presence" of nine loop-, holos'in the'walk for Hie use of firearms in case of an attack by hostile Maoris.. The model is to scale, one inch to a foot, and a house on its design actually was built in LondoiKby Mossrs. 'i'ippett, Silk and Heywood. it was brought out' in the vessel Steadfast, and was erected by those gentlemen in Lyttelton in 185!, one year, after the settlement was founded. After sixty-seven years', it is still standing on its original site, whore tt forms part of a larger Uiuse.-- slis» Beatson also has! H framed'and illuminated memorial of Ihe proclamation of the St. Albans borough. It is c'atcd November IS, -18S1, and bears tho following names;— Mayor, Hon. J. T. Peacock; councillors, C. .It. Blakiston, C. V. Money, .1. Maun, J. Koantree, C. \V. Turner, B. Bull, IV. Moor, G. Dirkinson, ,1. T, Matron; town clerk, W. F. Beatson. Miss Uentsim intends to, present the model vnd the document til the Early Colonists' S'V.:on in the Canterbury Museum.

Infants at Picture Shows, The ignornncc of some parents as to the proper way to ireat their children from a health point of view was lunched upon by Mr. 0. T. Asclimnu in his address to the Norlh Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute on Saturday morning. The total u.nsuitability of some of Hie lunches given to the children to take lo school was one point mentioned by Mr. Asc.h'■inan; and another, was the Jack in some cases of proper and sullicienl elolhing. As most im])orlant of nil, Mr. Asehmsn made special reference lo the absolute necessity fur sulh'e.icnt sleep for Hie growing child. "I consider it. absolutely criminal," he said, amidst applauses "whrn 1 see a child of about two years or so being wheeled Ibrougb Hi;- si reel? at half-past 10 or so ai night, ils little head on one side, quite overcome bv weariness owing to (he sleep if. has lo.sl because it.-t mothe;. must go to the pictures," The effects of the lack of the

proper amount .of natural sleep, ■ Mr. Ascliman add:ii, were- not- noticeable- in five minutes. They took some considerable ■ time to manifest tlicimelve-f, and therein lay the danger. If they became apparent more '.(illicitly thojglioraiira of the mothers would not be.so, extensive.

To Meet the Foe. . ' The offer made by tho Wellington Hospital Board of a fortnight's free tuition in :' elementary nursing at the . Public Hospital, with-board, - residence, am overalls, provided free,'is one Hint should meet with a very ready response. At the time of the intiuenaa epidemic many women would have' given all they possesspd to have had the requisite knowledge to begin with of how to nurse the sufferers, instead of learning by. painful experience, what to do in such a lime of crisis. To acquire a knowledge of elementary nursing is to be at least forearmed to a certain ' extent, and..those who take advantage of this opportunity will bo able to feel that should Die emergency arise so many, precious lives may not : he lost this time ap before through want: of knowledge and want of proper care at the beginning. A sympathetic heart and-a desire to serve- are not enough when such deadly foes are in the field; it is then tbnt efficiency and knowledge tell.

On Forbidden Ground. Muriel Starr narrowly escaped a very serious predicament the other' day. Shu was in a tramcar, reading, nnd nncon-' sciously murmured three' words. They were only three words, and no one knew whnt they-meant, 1 but the result in that tramcar was electrical. What she ijaid was: "Drei gwichto esteu." • Tho-peoplo sitting alongside her moved away "as if the actress were-suffering'-from the most pronounced' form of pneumonic influenza, whilst a very-stout lady rang the bell for the ear to stop; and in an audible voice announced her objection to sitting beside a German. Then .Miss Starr realised the cause of tho commotion. -She had been studying her part in the spy play, "Three Faces K'ast,!' and had unconsciously uttered tho words that form the pass word in the play for tho agents of the German Secret Service. Miss Starr speedily straightened out the. situation by a word' to the conductor, who greatly enjoyed the joke. When the actress loft the car, his "Good morning, Miss Starr," put the other-passengers wise, nud a smile spread right through the tram!