SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 231, 24 June 1919, Page 2

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Mrs. E. Eadfiold, honorary treasurer of the fund which is being raised by tho Mothers' Hell) Division of the Womon'9 National Reserve, acknowledges l'urthcr contributions to the fund as folilowfi:—Previously acknowledged, .£93 lls.; Mr. D. uV. Even, £Z 55.; Mrs. A. E. Odlin, £2 25.; Mrs. Hardwick-Sniith, £2 25. ; Mr. T. Young, £i is.; Mr. W. & Eothuno, £2 25.; ilr. P. C. Corliss, M Is.; Mrs, Guy : Ponies, £1; Well-wisher, 'is. 6d.; total,. 7s, Gd. This fund is being raised to' enable the division to engage paid workers. The objectiveis c£3l)o, which, with moneys previously in hand, is expected to suffice. Tlio usual'one shilling monthly subscriptions to the general fund are acknowledgedfrom Mrs. Corliss (fivo months) and Mrs, J. B. Grey (four months): « ■ ' Mr. nnd Mr.?. Revell-Thompson, of Auckland, were through passengers J>y s.s. Mokoia yesterday for Christchurch nnd Dunedin, and intend spending a holiday in Wellington- on their return from tho South Island. An exceedingly interesting meeting was held on Thursday last in tho' Constable Street rooms in connection with "White Bibbon Day," when Mrs. Wright presided. Mrs. Evans, 11.it., sketched the history of tlio "While Ribbon" paper, which is tho official organ of the W.C.T.U., and js the most comprehensive record of the work dons by tlio unions in tho Dominion. The first report of work done was in 1892, when 'arrangements were made with the proprietors of the "Prohibitionist" for one page for the use of the Christchureh Union and auxiliaries, and three hundred'-'copies woro received. The first -issue of tho "White Eibbon" was printed in Chriatchurch in 1895, and consisted of eight pages, with Mrs. Shepherd as editor. Mrs. Shepherd retired from-the position in'l9o3, when Miss Smith succeeded her. In 1908 Mrs. Oldhnm was appointed, and tho paper was then printed in'.Napier. Mrs. Perryman, the,present editor, took the paper over in 1913.-and from then it has been printed in Wellington; Miss Dowdeswell, having sold her lioiiso in Manley Terrace, has removed to her now homo on tho hills to the west of Brooklyn. . ■ Miss Jessio Mi'lno, who had beon staying with Mrs. P. Cameron in Hastings, returned last week to Masterton. Mr. and Mrs... C. Bennett motored through to Napior from Masterton last .week. . • ' Mrs. Hay ward returned last .week to tho Hutt from a visit to Napier, where she was the guest of Mm. Robinson. Miss Jlnyward remains a few days longer in Napier. - ■ Mrs. F. Holdsworth (Khandallah) has taken Mr. Wall's house at iSeatouu for the winter months, and Mrs. Boddington (Jlaslerton) is at present her guest. Mrs. Ormond Cooper arrived in Wellington yesterday from Mastertou, and is staying with her mother, Mrs. Broad. Mr. and Miss Drummond returned to their home at Kilbiiuio on Friday from a visit to Masterton. Mrs. Lionel Nelson is visiting liev mother, Mrs. Mason Chambers, Havelock North. Mr. and Mrs. Priimmond, of Masteaton, who lind been visiting Napier, left for their home in South Foathcrston at the end of last week. Mr. and Mrs. Barthorp, who had been staying at Napier, returned to the Hutt on Friday. ' Mrs. Fowler (Hastings), after spending, some time in Cliristchurch, is now staying with her sister,., Mrs. Sydney Smith, in Masterton. . Tho monthly gathering of tho Soldiers' Wives' Club will be held on Friday afternoon at 2.30 o'clock at "Charley s Aunt Club, Courtenay Place. Mts. Charle* Mirams's concert party .will bo reponsiblo for the musical programme. Husbauds with their wives will bo warmly welcomed nnd wives' badges will bo lor sale during the afternoon. Mrs. W. H. Parkes, accompanied by her daughter, is expected to arrive in Wellington to-day to meet her husband, Colonel Parkes, C.M.G., C.B.E, who u returning by tho Prinzessm. Miss Janet Murray is-also duo in Wellington to meet her brother, Colonel Murray, C.M.G., D.5.0., who arrives by the sumo boat. 4. Victory ball, which was recently eivon in Brisbane, was a brilliant afiair. Tho "Bulletin" records that-in the cento of the staje was a tableau of Peace, with a rising sun of chrysanthemums at her feet and live doves tethered round her. AVhen all was ovor it was discovered'that tlio best wraps had vanished put of botn dressing-rooms. Several shivering damsels departed angrily, after refusing to wear the dilapidated garments left in placo or their now coats. So good was tho response to tho appeal wade for books and magazines, fruit and cake for the men on the quarantined minesweepers that iho JNavy League Ladies' Auxiliary was enabled yesterday to dispatch four sacks of books and magazines (one for each of the minesweepers and ono for tho men in the hospital on Somes Island) and a box of fruit and cake, which was also dispatched to tho Somes Island Hospital. In addition many woollen comforts were received itnd wero sent for distribution among-the men "on H.M.S. Mallow. These gifts wero received from the Ladies' Auxiliary of tho Navy League and the girls' branch of that organisation to whom tlio appeal was made. Mr. and Mrs, J. Ryder, of "SomniOj House," Levin,'are in Napier for tho races, and are the guests of their daughter Mrs. E. It. Blewett, of Latham Street. 1 Miss Norma Ryder, of Potone, is spending a few days with her cousin, Miss Kydcr, of "Souimo House,"'Levin, The engagement is announced of Miss Olive A. Clare, second daughter of Mrs. John Gray, "Bathwell," Long Acre, WangaiHi'i, to Mr. Victor B. Bailey, eldo?t son of- Mr. and-Mrs. A. T. Bailey, of "Titirangi," Auckland, formerly of Waiignnui." French and Enfllish Ways. Tho Parisians are .particularly struck by English hospitality, and the friendly, iiimplu, unceremonious way in which English people receive their guests, writes the Paris correspondent of tho "Times." They are also impressed by our ■cheerfulness when at leisure, and declare that tho hardest worked of our diplomats have the same faculty for play as tho sternest of our eoldieis and Bailors. Our democratic spirit is also a continual surprise to them, and the comments on the news that Commander and Lady Patricia Rainsiiy are to come in an official capacity to Paris have been many and varied. Tho old myth of Iho English lord who only travelled as a "grand- seigneur" is vntirely dispelled by tho eight of all that is most aristocratic in our race using' trams, omnibuses, and trains with tho rost of the world; nnd that other mythof the Englishman in frock coat and fall', lint is also exploded by the daily si"ht of Mr. Bnlfour in a soft felt hut and Lord Robert Cecil in a soft collar.

The Milk Famine, A matter which is causing deep dis.. tress and many burning sentiments at tho present time is tho milk shortage, or should it bo called the milk famine? There is 110 questioning of the fact that . tho state of tilings ill this respect as last becoming very serious. Iloalthy adults ! can with a bad grace either do without milk occasionally or turn to condensed milk to make up for discrepancies, but babies, young children, and invalids ihust have iuilk, or who can answer for tho consequences? It is becoming quite a. common thing to' hear women at the places whero women foregather complain with heat that thoy were left without milk that morning, and then for the next five minutes tho "milkman" is less than tho dust. And there it seems to remain. In one household where ihere was a young baby and a small child of three tho mother, seeing the shrunken measure of milk that was being doled out to her eloquently implored for more for the 6ake of the children, and the milkman, swayed by her pleading gave her a little more than usual with the result, as she heard tlio following day that her neighbour was left entirely without. In another case tho of. the household, finding an empty billy on the doorstep long after the usual hour of the milkman's call sent her small son to tho dairy for milk. Tho boy came, back to say that ho had been told that.it was of no use going to them,. They had no milk. And the same thing, also'happened him at a ' second dairy that he called at. Tho matter is altogether too'serious to bo tolerated becauso it. means that thp health of infants- and. young children suffers, and mothers aro worried and irritated over tlio shortage to a point boyond endurance. Some months ago a- meeting of women wan called in Wellington to discuss tho milk supply and the dangers of. a shortage. The importance of the subject to women Was obvious even at the time, and yet that meeting was attended by about only-30 women in all. Tho result was that nothing was done, because there was "no backing" l'or the women who saw the imminent danger of a coming milk shortage. It was pointed out at that meeting that ono of tho causes that would lead to a certain shortage of milk would b3 tho scheme which was then being promulgated of setting up factories and plant for tho utilising of tlio' by-products of liiilk. Tho meeting was also of the opiiiion that if certain alterations were made in the railway tinio-tables more milk could be brought into the city. , Housing in London. "Hero aro some illustrations of the housing difficulty, which 1 take from a London paper, states a London correspondent. A small furnished house in a fttreot off Piccadilly which let for six y guineas a week over two years ago now realises ,£3O. Some Bayswater flats, two small dog-keunel bedrooms and a bathroom, without a kitchen, aro let for four guineas a week. Their old rontal, unfurnished,used to be .£OO a yoar. _A r ery ordinary einglo bedrooms in Mayfair, which used I to bo half a. guinoa a day, are now a guinea and a half. Theso large, increases aro not limited to tho West End. Everywhere it is the same story of too few houses. The great scheme of house building which is being promoted by the Government in partnership with the local authority, deals- only with accommodation for tlio working classes. Anything in the shape of middlo'class houso pro'pcriy finds ready buyers at more than 20 per cent, abovo! pre-war prices. The other day I saw an £80 house to let. Tliero woro four. motor-cars at .tho door, whoso occupants'wore showing keen rivalry to secure the tenancy. It is useless attempting .to. find better accommodation or- cheaper house's in the.■ suburbs,' for the reason there aro not any. Moreover, tho train services are Already below tho public necessities. First-class, as well as third-class, carriages aro few and full to overflowing. It is no uncommon experience to liavo 15 or 16 person 3 in a compartment instead of five; The railway companies aro being urged in and out .of Parliament to give better travelling facilities, but this, is impossible Hundreds of engines wero sent to France during tho- war; nearly all of them remain thero, worn out. There has been no railway carriage building for four years, and all rolling-stock is very shabby "and dirty, with a. great shortage.: Under tho most favourable circumstances it will be three or four years before the railways can return to their normal' condition. And in view of the additional fifty millions which they will have to provide for tho increased payment of their servants' wo have no hope of any remission of the 50 jier cent, increase of ticket chargcs which was imposed during tho war. A Dominion Troop Bill. ' A new Bill of some importance to members of the outer Empire has been introduced into the Upper House, by tho Lord Chancellor. Under the existing law married women have no domicile. Tho proposed Dominions Troops Bill is intended to confer domicile on the wives of colonial soldiers. At prcsont if a man deserts a woman and creates a domicilo elsewhere, with no intention of returning, the injured woman is bound to go to the mail's new domicilo to institute proceedings, or send out'a commission. , Should the proposed Bill pass into the Statu to Book, police courts in the district where tho marriage took place will bo. ablo to entertain proceedings for separation, etc., regardless of tho question of domicile., Divorco cases will still have to bo heard in the Divorco Court or the Court of Session. :