WATCHING LIFE GO BY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19987, 12 July 1939, Page 16

WATCHING LIFE GO BY

OCTOGENARIANS THEORIES DARTFORD, June 1. In the little village of Hextable, near here, is a home where time stands still., It is the tranquil residence of three' sisters, the Misses Lucy, Susan. and Hannah Clement, the youngest of whom is more than 80. They have lived in the same house since the death of their father 50 years ago. Old Mr. Clement kept the village store in the neighbouring village of Swanley, and when he died left them enough to keep them in comfort. But the three maiden ladies could not Ibear to go on living in their old home without their father. They moved their Victorian furniture, their lace curtains, their aspidistras and their antimacassars to a little house in Ifexta'ble, and they have lived there ever since. “We are old-fashioned people,” Miss Lucy, the eldest —she is 88 —said. “We like to live peaceaibly and quietly. We have never been to a theatre or a cinema.” Miss Hannah, the younger sister, summed up. “It is all this speed and fast living that causes trouble,” she regretted “Everybody is discontented. They all want something that is not rightly theirs—like that Hitler. ■’But 'we three have lived together happily for 50 years, and we want to be allowed to do so a little longer. So we pray to God there will ’be no war.” n New Zealand has led to the present mess —combined, of course, with reckless expenditure and the decrease of production caused by tiie 40-hour week. TRUTHFUL. The Plunket Societysir,—l was extremely" interested to read in a recent issue of your paper a tetter signed by “Subscriber.” It is ndecd pleasing to see that the gallant work of the Plunket Society is receiving attention in Gisborne, and I am sure that the appeal made by “Subscriber” will not fall on deaf ears. Nothing in life can bring joy and happiness to a woman more than „he little trusting child that she brings into the world. And countless nolhers, young and old, will pay triDutc to the kindly solicitude of the Plunket organisations which have, by .heir advice and tender practical care, brought health and happiness to their little ones and to themselves. How proud I feel when I can tell my friends that my children have all beei Plunket babes! And how sorry I feel :or those mothers who are denied the tear privilege of Plunket aid! I do so lope, Gisborne mothers, young and hd too, that you will not shelter rehind “Subscriber’s” skirts but that ou will join with her in giving pracical support and interest to your ociety—one that is helping in the nost wonderful work in tiie world. AN OLD AUCKLAND MOTHER.