WOMAN'S WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 3, 29 September 1919, Page 2

WOMAN'S WORLD.

MATTERS OF INTEREST FROM FAB AND MHA&

(BY iMQQEH.)

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL 1 The many - friends of Miss Majorie ■Booth, who has been an inmate of Miss Lucas's private hospital for the past month, will he ploased to learn that 6he was sufficiently recovered to return to her home at Otalci hut week.

Touching upon domestic difficulties Dr. Agnes Bennett, in the course of her talk at tihe Pioneer Club on Saturday afternoon, said that she thought the people who were the most in nsed of help in this country were the mothers of young families'. She considered they were tho hardest worked seclion in tho community, and unless help of some kind or another were, organised soe did not see how they were to bring up large families or even small ones for that matter. 'As it was it simply meant that mothers were not able to givo the time to.fiheir children that the latter and they grew up anyhow. That titate of things meant that the standard of the race must ultimately go down, and yet it was those standard's that had made the nation -what it was, Thero was no place 'in tho world where the. young Britisher had more natural advantages than in New Zealand. Climate, food, space, all should contribute to his well-heir,*,', but the stumbling-block lay in tihis matter of help for mothers. "A very pleasant afternoon tea was given last week by Mrs. mi Miss Eastham at Messrs. Tvirkcoldio and Stains' tea 'rooms for Mr. (Gunner) Graeme M'Caul, who has just returned to New Zealand from the war. Tho.tables had been very prettily arranged with yellow and bronze polyanthus primroses and pheasant's oye jonquils. The guests at the tea included Mrs, and Mifs M'Caul, Miss Morton Clark, Mr. 0. K. Steele, Mr. P. Easthara, and Mr. A. Elder. . Dance at St. Patrick's Ccllege. To mark the "breakinj-up" for tho season of Miss Barblra Putnam's dancing classes at St. Patrick's College, invitations-to a danceto he held at the college on. Saturday night last wero issued bv the' rector and lioys of fflie college. It is a. long time since anything of the kind has been hold at St. Patrick's, and naturally the dance was looked forward to with a gieat amount of pleasure not only hy tJhoiboys, hut by their friends and all concerned. As is so often tho case, from heing quite a small dance, confined only to those who attend tho classes, tho invitations grew in number until on Saturday night thegymnasium in which it was lipid was exceedingly well filled with dancers. The rector (Father Gilbert) welcomed the guests as they arrived at the. college. • The gymnasium had bfton charmingly arranged for the occasion, the walls and ceiling having been completely covered with a, hluo and white f.trined awning, draped here and tihere with flags and hung with college mementoes. Lycopodium, palms, and other pot-plants further added to tho dectrntive arrangements of the room. Supper was set in the diningjwm and in another room, the tables having hcen arranged with white, and yellow narcissi. Mrs. Oscar Johnston was in charge. Among thosb who were, present at tho dance were tho Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), niuf Mrs. Luke, Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Gill, Dr. and Mrs. M'Evedv, Miss Wheeler, Colonel .T. G. Hughes, D.5.0., Mrs. Gamble. Mrs. O'Sullivan, Miss Kennedy, Mrs. Glwsoii. Mrs. Dwan. Mrs. Dwyer, Miss Barbara, and Miss Ruth Putnam, Miss Keating, Miss Mary and Miss Margaret Butler, Miss Girling-Butcher, the Misses Corbv (2). O'Sullivan, Gascoigne, Ward, Coull, M'Keowen, .and many more, including some old St,.. Patrick's hoys in uniform who ! hod hut recently returned ■ from the .war. Altogether a delightful evening was spent, the forerunner, so it is hoped l;y some of the, young guests, of others in tho not very distant future. A "Welcome Home" Social. At the Now Centurv Hall on Friday evening, Messrs. L. T. Watkins, Ltd., tendered a welcome horns social to the members of the firm's staff who had been serving 'with tho N.Z.E.F. overseas. The guests and their friends were received by tho host and hostess,' the hall and siipper-i*oom heing gaily decked witik flajs and spring flowers for-the occasion. About, seventy wero present, a very pleasant-evening being spi>nt with dances, musical items, and competitions. Tho toast of "The Soldiers" was proposed by Mr. Watkins, who read the roll of honour, upon which were the names of sixteen of" tho firm's employees. Two members whose nnnes (headed tho roll, Messrs. George Nelson and ' Len Lawrence, had made tho great sacrifice, whilst the remainder, Messrs. Alexander, Barcham. Beale. Clingberg.. Gray, Halverson, Nelsey, Parke, Pl?asant ; Rhodes. ."Roberts, and Wakelin, hail returned, a.nd he heartily welcomed them back to New Zealand, and thanked-tihom for the sacrifices they had made. Mr. Pleasant briefly responded on behalf of tho soldiers, | Mr. Barcham proposed, and Mr. Watkins replied to, the toast of "The Finn," which was given with musical honours. 'Mr.' Porter proposed "The Ladies." Prizes were won by Missc* Judd and Aylirig, arid Messrs. Porter and Patching, and presented by Mrs. 'Watkins. Musical items were contributed l;y Misses Downev and' Patching, and Messrs. Porter and Beale, whilst arrangements were in the hands of the following committee :— Mr. Watkins (chairman), Misses Anderson, 'Downey, Le Comtf-, and Messrs. Nelsey, Pleasant, Wakelin, and Barcham (secretary;. Fancy Dress Dance in the Concert Chamber. Oil Saturday evening a very successful, fancy dress dance to mark the finish for. the season of Miss Borkw's college dancing classes, was held in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall. A great many of tho dancers were in fancy dress, though most of the boys (as is their way) preferred flannels to any kind of masquerading, and some very pretty and unusual ideas had been put info effect. Tho decorations of tho hall were very, light and in keeping with the character, of the dance, coloured balloons and a trellis work of coloured streamers overhead, with lycopodium and .scarlet * flowers 'screening the pillars, giving a very bright and dainty effect. Prizes for. tho most original and tho most affective fancy dresses were offered, Miss Bray as "Camouflage" winning the former and Miss Eonaldson, a yellow and black "Pierette," winning the latter. As "Camouflage" Miss Bray was decidedly original, her dress lwing carried out in black and white, with stripes and bars running dizzily- in all directions, a border of "dreadnoughts" at the hem of her skirt, giving tho finishing .touch. Tho Pieretto dress (Miss llonaldson) was daintily carried out, and was very effective. Another prize-winner -was Mr. J. Gillen, who admirably represented a "Spanish Gipsy." The j-idges were Mrs. llobiesou and Mrs. and Miss M'Beth. Quaint and altogether delightful was a little early Vdctorlnn lady, who was dressed in brown silk with tho full crinolined skirt of the period, a little Muck lace shawl ..crossiil from her shoulders and a brown poke bonnet trimmed with a little cluster of primroses. Yet another character, not beautiful, but as ono sees the type occasionally, waf\ a "Sundowner." A blue "Folly" was another prettily carried out dress, and finite original wns that representing tho Now Zealand. All nationalities were re-' presented, and the scene was altogether very gay and effective. Two interesting features of the evening were the danc iug of tho jazz by Miss liorlase's pupils, which showed it in quite a different light, so well was it done, and a fancy dress by Mrs. Malcolm and Mr. T. Treziee, tho former representing a "Country girl" and. the latter a futurist "Hayseed." During the evening Mr. M. Eeuner, who assisted Miss Borlaie very greatly by acting as M.C., made a brief speech, iii which ho wished Miss Borlase, on be naif of,nil present, t!jo heartiest of good wishes nnd'all good ! luck for the future. Three .cheers, iirwt by the.'boys and then by tho girls, followed. Mrs. .T. Darling presented tho prizes to their respective winners,

Women and Reconstruction In Hie course of her talk at the Pioneer Club on Saturday afternoon Dr. Agnes Bennett said that we, as well as the people of the Balkans, of whom she had been speaking, had problems of reconstruction to face. Unless wo took tho trouble to think and study and work we would be in -danger of throwing away and making useless nil tho great sacrifices of the war, all that had been paid for at so groat a price in the lives of our brave men. If it had not been for our want of thought, our ignorance, there would not have been a war on such a scale as that which had just como to an end, and we would not have lost eo many lives. Each individual if she realised the great sacrifices that had been made during those terrible years,-nmat do'something to add to the intelligence and knowledgp of those around her. If we. as a race had 1 been only cognisant of what was happening in other countries, of their trend, of thought, of tho happenings that were taking place, wo niisrht have stemmed events or changed their current. It was imperative that we should study foreign affair's, and se do as much as possible to fight against one of the besotting sins of the British race—its obliviousness of what other countries aro thinking about and doing. In other words-its insularity. In New Zealand we were very isolated, and therefore wo must study and read and make ourselves acquainted as best we could with what was going on in regard to the relations of other countries, one with another. Unless this wero done we should lose the benefits we might have gained from the war. • Dr. Bennett strongly advocated tho starting of a study circle within the club: history should be studied, and international affairs read and discussed, if wo wished to avoid some of the dangers that might beset' us. Ono source of danger, continued Dr. Bennett, was that of destructive criticism. It was so ea3y to pull down, so difficult to build up. Though thero might be many faults to bo found with our laws and our Constitution, built up under such great difficulties by our forbears,' yet they made for civilisation. "If you had lived as I have lived among uncivilised peoples, you would realiso all that civilisation meant, and how precious it is," said Dr. Bennett. Among the Balkan races 'there was no intordep'endence, no community of Each one. or rather each family, lived' for itself, bred what it wanted, grew what it wanted, with no thought outside its own particular needs. ■ Thero was no police force, and the people were terribly afraid of' brigands. Theso brigands were not to tie scoffed at. They lived in the mountains, and'were continually raioing the villages and towns in order to get enough food to eat and other commodities, ' As a result, tho villager never dreamt of growing more than ho personally wanted, because of his fears of being raided. In tho villages houses were built very close together, and walls around them to keep out. the robbers. This lack of cohesion was very noticeable among the children. Thcv were never to be seen in organised play, but instead would 101 l about, just no ono saw derelicts 101 l about in our own cities and towns. It .was extraordinary to see such an attitude amongst children,

"We have to be very thankful for what civilisation had given us," continued Dr. Bennett, "'and not always be crying down tho failures of State organisation. Wo have to build up, not pull down." ■ Navy League Auxiliary. The third annual report of tho Ladies' Auxiliary of tho,Navy League states Hint during October, 1918, tho work of tho auxiliary in collecting and distributing money and clothing for naval and merchant service charities continued along the lines of prewous years; ,£l5O was 6cnt liit y,.contribution to the' Agnes Weston Memorial, the Koyal Sailors'' Hcst at 'Davenport.. During the epidemic tho -members of the auxiliary-were engaged in helping in various ways, sonio in hospitals and some by supplying necessaries. Miss Laurenson, assisted by" Mr, Sandlands, collected and distributed comforts, particularly for sailors. Mrs. Lever, conducted a rafflo which realised ,£3l, nil of which wns expended by her in Christmn? comforts for the men of the Dover Patrol. Christinas puddings for the minesweepers wero provided by the auxiliary, and grateful thanks are expressed to 'lire. Gibbons, who undertook the work of making them. Oases of goods have been sent to Lady Drury (Friendly Union of SaKors' Wives), to Lady ' MilfordHaven (Minesweepers),, to tho Agnes Wes: ton Homes, to Channel Motor Patrol, to 5.3. Wahiue, to Officers' Family Fund and Ladies' Emergency (in alll nearly 1000 garments): in providing all such gifts, which have been warmly appreciated, we have been most ably helped by our country branches.

. On September I a letter from Lady, Dimsdale, asking for help towards a. Sailors' Best and Boys' Hostel in the Port of London as a memorial! from the women of tho Empire was considered nud refcred to the Navy League Executive with a 6trong recommendation that the money bo allocated out of funds in hand.- The secretary reports that tho executive unanimously supported the wish of tho auxiliary. The wish of tho auxiliary to bs represented on tho Education Committee of tho Navy League was iiCso acceded to, Mesdames Gibbons and Bradney Williams being appointed. Tho closing of the'war funds was taken advantage of by Mrs. Hall-Thompson to eulogiso tho faithful and capable work of Mrs. Richardson, hoh. treasurer, and also of Misa' Ln.urenson. Much regret is felt -that' Mrs, Co'.eridgo has intimated that.she was 1 not able to accept nomination for office this year. ' Mrs. Coleridge has always been one of the most energetic and helpful members of the committee.. »

SCOTTISH WOMEN'S WAR HOSPITALS WITH THE BALKANS UNITs. On Saturday afternoon the Pioneer Club held a reception at which Dr. Agnes Bennett was the guest of honour. Many members were present, and Lady Stout (president) welcomed Dr. Bennett back to Wellington from her strenuous work abroad. After tea had been handed round everyone gathered into the reception room, where Dr. Bennett gave a most interesting talk dealing with phases of the work of the Scottish Women's Hospital units (her own and one or two others) in the Balkans. Dr. Bennett said that when she finally left to come away on furlough to New Zealand (from which she returned to again take up hospital work, this time, hpwevcr, at Home) 'her unit was stationed at Ostrovo. At that, time, however, there was a lull in the fighting, and as thero was so much distress and sick-ness-among the civil population the unit set to and did tho work that was lying tho nearest to their hands. Afterwards when the Serbian army was re-formed they were attached to it (the Second Serbir 1 Army), and advanced with it 'into tho occupied territory of the Serbians, the Bulgarian army, gradually crumbling away before the advancing army. It was during this arvance that the Seldon lorry, presented to Dr. Bennett by the Pioneer Club, did such useful work. The Seidell lorry, it appeared, was far and away the most suitable motor-lorry for their work, but they were difficult to get and much delay was experienced before it finally reachod the unit. The further work of. the unit (formerly in charge of Dr. Bennett but now under Dr. Elmslie) was described in a series of reports or letters which Dr. Bennett read, and which were published 6ome timo a|(o "> the "Dominion. 'At Vranya, which the unit made its headquarters, they found terrible distress and « shortage of everything. With at least 10,000 patients and only two medical students to do the work it could easily be understood that the arrival of the unit was hailed with great joy by the people., All through the campaign there were' never enough beds to correspond with tho number of cases. A recent letter which had been received by Dr. Bennett mentioned 'the fact, that tho hospital was going; to bo closed, as it was felt that the Serbs must now be taught to rcfy upon themselves. This did not mean that the Scottish Wo-, men's Hospitals Committee _ would ,bo ceasing work with the dosing of this unit. The Third Hnit, in command of Dr. M'llroy, which had been stationed at Salonika, was to be retained as a nermanent memorial to the late Dr. Bisie Xnglis. Tliis hospital, stationed at Belgrade, was to' specialise in orthopaedic work. As it was, a considerable amount of orthopaedic work had 1 been carried out nt Dr. M'llroy's hospital under most difficult circumstances, as, owing to lack of transport, the necessary appliances were very hard to get, and very inadeouate. "In roovin? the hospital! from Salonika to Belgrade the transport diculties would bo many and various, a3 rai'.way communications had been very' largely destroyed. A journey, that in tho old days had taken four hours, now (or at least till recently) would take a fortnight, and Dr. Benndtt sketched tho adventures of some members of one of tho units tflio had wanted to go to Belgrado from Salonika. Starting out from the latter place, they had gone through tho Knck Sea, sailed down the Danube, and finally reached Belgrade after a fortnight's travelling—a very great difference to pre-war times. . , speaking f Dr. Elsie Inglis, Dr. Bennett described some of the difficulties her unit had met with in Buinanin.. It had been with the army in its disastrous retreat, and had made its way closo> to the borders of tho Black, Sen, suffering great privations and hardships on its way. Still more difficulties, faced it in Russia, rind when it finally got to England the terrible strain she had undergone so told upon Dr. Inglis that her death took place two days after her 'arival in'* Newcastle..' She was not even to reach her home. One of tho most indomitablespirits of any. time passed away when Dr. Elsie Inglis died. Her unit remained, at Home for a while, and was then sent out to Salonika, afterwards going ton to Serajevo, the starting point of the war. It was at work thero when the armistice was declared.

Dr. Bennett told her hearers that there was a great field in Serbia for district nurses and village dispensaries, wanting but tho labourers. Belgrade had been very much hurt ,by the war. Many of her factories had'been destroyed, fittings taken out of houses, and her commerce badly hit. Some wonderful work had been done for tho soldiers in making temporary limbs until proper appliances could be got, and men were going out of hospital' fitted with limbs that would defy detection. So .inundated with patients were tho hospitals that tho Sisters would. go' twice a week itno the villages in preference. to the people going to them, and the doctors would treat the serious cases. Tho conditions which existed in Serbia were s6 bad that a large ' commissariat committee—the Committee Internationale—had been, organised with a view to supplying'food and other necessaries of lifo for the starving people of Serbia. This Committee Internationale is very large, and in addition to providing food, etc., it arranges for transport, whether by ship, -motor lorry, train, etc. At the close of her talk, several questions were asked of Dr. Bennett, and a 'hearty vote of thanks to her was pawed. Regret was expressed that Miss Mac Donald, the originator of the Aotea Convalescent Home in Cairo, who is at present visting Wellington, was not able to br> pivsent, and a very hearty welcome was extended to Sister Jnbson, of the Australian Army Nursing Service, who was also a guest of the club that afternoon.

White Women Films. "The wliito woman in India realises that ehe is receiving less respect from t the natives than More, and a great deal 'of this is duo to tho indiscriminate showing- of films on social and marriage problems," said Miss. Constance Broinley, who has recently returned to England after four years in India, and who was for some time manager of a large picturo theatre in Calcutta, mainly frequented by'Europeand. "The natives arc great film enthusiasts, and there are It picture houses in Bombay alone. They will sit right through nl' tho parts of ■■ a long serial film from dawn to dusk. The trouble is that most of the audience are.illiterate. The wording on the film is occasionally translated, but. even then it is not understood. They, therefore, put any. construction they like on the plots / of stories and get their ideas of European women inextricably mixed. They think of their' own treatment of women and tho rigid laws of custom they have to obey. If the women go to the picture theatre, they have to sit apart in a well-curtained box. Tho European women, too, are caTei'ul in their conduct, and are not seen in evoning dress in public. And then conies the gnat'contrast of the film, where the native.-; see win to women in all sorts of garbs; on ono occasion' they saw the heroine of a Song film, mainly garbed in bathing costume'. They seo white wives on tho (Erven in'compromising situations, and the. result is that they got a low opinion of European morals."

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