TOPICS FOR WOMEN ENGAGEMENT.

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 101, 1 May 1930, Page 17

TOPICS FOR WOMEN

ENGAGEMENT.

HEABFIELD—BOUSE,

Tho engagement is announced of Lawrence Gilbert, youngest son of Mrs. Dawson, of Wellington, to Ada, youngest daughter Of Mr. aud Mrs. A. Eouso, of Miramar. Miss Bunciinan, Dunedin, is paying a brief visit to Wellington.' M^ss G. Maekay, Wellington, is visitiiig her mother, Mrs. F. Maekay, Springfield, Canterbury. Miss Cathie, Wellington," is visiting Auckland. . Mrs. F. Blackley, Wellington, is a visitor to Auckland. Mrs. H. E. .Forde, Epsom, Auckland, has returned North after a visit to Masterton. ;.■■',-■ l Dr. W. Carew (High Commissioner for Fiji), Mrs. Carew, and the Misses M. and P. Carew arrived from Southampton last night by the Mataroa, and will go through to Auckland to join the Aorangi for Fiji. J Miss Beddoe, Wellington, is among the visitors to Auckland. Miss Z. Nathan was among those arriving from England by the Mataroa last night, , , Mi's. J. A. Bourne, who has been visiting Mrs. Harold Taylor, Prebbletori, has returned to Wellington. Miss E. Sommerville arrived, by the Mataroa last night from Southampton. Mis. Upham, Wellington,' who has been, the guest of.Mrs. E. Vincent, Kingsdown, Timaru, has returned North. . ' ;. . Miss A. Ensor is a passenger to Lyttelton by the'Mataroa, which arrived from England last night. ' Mr. and Mrs. G-.West.on have returned South after the Legal Conference in Auckland; ' , . " ,s Mrs. W.H. Turnbull, her son, Mr. W. Turnbull, and her granddaughter, Miss.Jane'Crawford, arrived from^England last night by the Mataroa. ' The hostesses for the dance to be held by the Old Boys of Crbydon School will include Mesdames Sprott." A. E. Mabin, E. G.F.Zohrab.'C.H.T. Shelley, G. F. Pearee, and G. Shirteliffe. A very pleasant -party was giy'en recently by Mrs. Jorgensen, Seatoun, the guest of honour being. Miss Kathleen Jansen, who will be leaving for England on 9tk May. Miss Jansen is well known in Wellington as a singer of repute, and many friends were present to' wish her success abroad. ' ' • Red Cross Work. The Bed Cross Unemployment Committee held its weekly meeting ,on Tuesday last, the chair being occupied by Mr. J. I. Goldsmith. Eegret was expressed at the ■ resignation of Mr. C. H. Seville, who had departed'to take up his. residence in England. It was reported that during the week 18 eases' had been, investigated, seven of .which had been assisted to temporary employment; three had been assisted with clothing, and the remainder provided with, food and' accommodation. Eleven hew eases presented themselves. The committee desires to intimate that the men appearing before it are extremely anxious to find work. Further, there is a great .demand for clothing of. all descriptions, particularly men's suits, boots, etc. In addition, the public is asked to, notify the secretary, telephone 22-574, of any'odd'jobs about the home or office which they may have .available.' .' •'■ i '; ..."'• '•■•-.. -.-. Protection- Society. : '' , - The Christchurch branch,of the Society for the Protection of Women holds its annual .meeting to-night in Christchurch,, when Archbishop Julius will be the speaker. The "Christchurch Times says: "Tho twenty-second annual report of the society is a chronicle of steady progress and the furtherance of the society's aims.1 Though, the society may be said to have had a somewhat uneventful year,", reads the re-port^-"the number of cases dealt-with by Miss Cardale and her assistant, Miss de Veaux, shows what a large place the operations of the society take in the well-being of our social life. It also shows hpw well the community of the province is served by the agents of the society. That'we in New Zealand are not as alert.nor so forward in our social legislation as wo -. sometime think is a conviction forced upon us" by the fact that the' Motherland has'raised the age of marriage to sixteen. It is still possible for a child of twelve to marry in the Dominion if New Zealand. The society .thinks that such an amendment to, the Marriage Act is overdue in New Zealand. We have been concerned, at, the realisation that the Infant Life Protection Act does not make provision for the periodic supervision of children over six years of age who are boarded out; That no home requires registration where the children are of that age has led to some anomalies. The society is seeking to have this remedied. The question of women" police ■is constantly before usy and we marvel at the Hesitation of the legislature in view of the beneficial experience of older countries. In all 789 cases have been dealt with during the year." School Magazine; "The Shield," the magazine of Chiiton House School, published recently, besides giving a full review of school activities and prize lists for 1929, contains some rather fine original prose and verse by the pupils The prose contributions—"Dawn," "The River," "Moonlight," ana "On a Tropical Island"—arel, word pictures of a high order, showing imagination and observation. ''The Future," by Margaret Biddell, is- an. outstanding contribution, and depicts a itrend of thought in advance'of that expected from schoolgirls of pre-war years. Thero is a homely swing about the verse. The Old Girls' section is interesting, giving the movements of many old pupils of the school, and two contributors fr<sm overseas, one from London and one from Samoa. Accompanying tho letter-press are illustrations ,of the schoolgrounds, sports teams, and prefects. The joint editors are Misses Margaret Eiddell and Zeta Cooper. A Graceful Act. , When in November, 1928, Commander B. E. Byrd left for the Antarctic on his great adventure, Mrs. Leigh Hunt handed to him for a mascot a little silken "Stars and Stripes" which had for twenty years past draped the portrait of her late. father, who was an American citizen. It was not anticipated by the donor that anything more would be heard of the incident. A few days ago at a small gathering of friends in hi 3 sitting-room at the hotel, Admiral Byrd handed the miniature ensign to Mr. Hunt, stating that he had taken it with him on his flight to tho South Pole. Needless to say, not only the flag itself but the kindly act of the famous explorer will be treasured in happy remembrance of a great man's graceful act. Admiral Byrd accepted f r,om Mr. Hunt an ancient Maori taiaha, nearly seven feet in length, carved with stone and shell tools. This taiaha was taken to England in 1840 and brought back to New Zealand last year. A permit from the Minister of Internal Affairs to allow of the relic leaving the country, accompanied the gift. In accepting the taiaha, Admiral Byrd stated "it would have an honoured place in his hall." '

The Name "Melanesia." Writing in' the Southern Cross "Log," Mr. Ivens says that to-day the islands of tho Southern Pacific are divided into three parts, Polynesia, Mela-' nesia, and Micronesia. Tho three names are Greek—tho last five letters "nesia" mean islands, and the first syllables denote '' many," " black and "little." Thore is decided aptness in the names. There is a departure from strict etymology in the case of Melanesia, however, for the islands are green in colour, not black, but the name may be taken to mean "Black Islanders," which is straining the meaning a little. Mr. Ivens adds: "To anyone who knows the natives of, say, Mota, or even any of tho Solomon Islands, it is obvious that the term 'black' is hot applicable to the colour of their skins. On. the whole, it is true to say that the average Melanesian is chocolate in colour, and not black. There are varying shades of the chocolate,, but 'niggerbrown' is a well-known colour." Mr. Ivens gives the credit of the three musical names to the explorer, "D'Urville," and says that the mistaken word, "black," came from the fact, doubtless, that D 'Urville first made acquaintance with tho Fijians, who have much darker skins and might be termed "black.'-'. . Evidently Mr. Ivens does not like his Melanesians to be termed "black people," and mak.es the foregoing explanation. London Policewomen. With the increase from 50 to' 100 in the number of women police attached to the London Metropolitan Force, a complete reorganisation of the women's branch of the service is to take place in June (state's7 a London exchange). The final details of the reorganisation have not yet been settled, but numerous proposals have been, considered at conferences between Home pfficei officials and the, heads of the Metropolitan Police. At each conference the need for a woman head of the-force was urged. As a result it was decided to appoint Miss D. Peto, who has ,charge of Liverpool's women police/to a temporary position as adviser to'the- Commissioner. She takes up the position soon, and will be provided with a room at Scotland Yard. One of Miss Peto's first duties will be to consider the numerous proposals for the reorganisation of the women 'a force which have been before the conferences and draw up a report for the Commissioner on ■ the qhestions-f of training, terms of service, uniform, and the particular, classes of. work on which women, should be employed..7 Under present conditions women enter tho police force in; London very much on the" same footing as men. On being enlisted, they are sent to Peel House to receive training under men superintendents and^ inspectors.'. One of the strongest points made at the recent conferences was the heed for separate and special training quarters for the women. .Whether the women police should 'be organised as a separate unit and bo under the control of a woman officer is ' another pbiAt for the consideration of Miss Peto. In some quarters it is con-sidered-that were, the women-serving directly under women officers their Bphere of usefulness could be greatly extended. ..It. is not suggested, how-' ever, that the women's service should bo kept entirely distinct from the ordinary police so far ,as orders and the working arrangements of divisions are concerned. The proposal, is that Miss Peto should devise a scheme which will serve'as a link between the two bodies, to onsuro efficient working and cooperation.. ...'.■-■•-'..: A-" -. ;. ,'■'■: ■•'.-•'