INTRIGUING LAND

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20073, 20 October 1939, Page 12

INTRIGUING LAND

RETURN AFTER I 2 YEARS LADY HKWART’S VISIT WOULD DO WAR WORK The trade unions of New Zealand are so numerous that it would not be surprising if the cows joined a union and refused to be milked more than once a day or the sheep refused to be shorn." said Lady Ilewart, wife of the Lord Chief Justice of England, in an interview in New Plymouth with a Taranaki Herald reporter. In answer to a question Lady Ilewart expressed the opinion that New Zealand had certainly changed since she h <'>•<•. v> vnovs ago, but perhaps not for the belter. II had shocked her to hear nf and to -ee ships leaving New Zealand not fully leaded because of lack of labati; "I am willing to work on the wharf if it would i >o rny help during t>" war.” s’’c srV. ‘T want to rcßfn to England, but 1 will-stay here if I can be of move help." Lady Ilewart v v - sure that the work of loafing ship; was not too •drenuous for women and I V-c ooin on that many women would bo willing to do the work if men were t:c""oe. There was a marked difference, she said, between the war "feeling” in

England and that in New Zealand. ; The stark reality of the war had | stirred men, women and children in England to feverish activity, which,! when compared with it, made New j Zealand seem passive. [ I "It would do New Zealanders good j to tool that there was a little bit of ; danger surrounding them," said Lady He wart.

The women of England, she said, were grand workers, but never had she seen such a capacity for .work as among New Zealand women. “They keep going every day. from early morning till night." she added. It was wonderful in England to see old ladies who once complained cf rheumatism, neuritis and numerous other ills, now working hard with their ailments seemingly vanished.

Air Raid Incident Lady Hewart told of an amusing in- 1 eident which happened during air raid j alarms in London. At the first alarm j given the household adjourned to the r air-raid shelter of a neighbour, taking ] with them Lady Hcwart’s small dog. i While they were there the dog made T such a noise that they decided that t next time it was to be loft in the f hou.sp. Not long after another alarm T was sounded and, leaving the dog to \ its own devices, everyone hurried down to the shelter. The first thing that met their gaze was the dog, which I at the first sound of the alarm, r-.-r'-l down through the open door of the shelter and was ready to greet P'orn. "I was prepared to find New Zoo- 1 land changed when I returned.” «'■’ ; Lady Hewart, “but it is more than that j —it is intriguing.” |