A WOMAN'S WAR WORK.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 11 October 1917, Page 3

A WOMAN'S WAR WORK.

1500 GARMENTS

e There are patriots and patriots —men who wave the bunting and startle the sky with torrents of ® words ; and men who say nothing ( and do things. There are also U women who talk and women who e work. It may be conceded by . the mere man that, although tra- ;. dition has it that the proportion - of talkers to workers is greater in 1 the weaker sex than among the • lords of creation, actual facts tend to shake one's faith in such . traditions, and at least so far as , this war is concerned, the women , workers abound in far greater j ! numbers than the mere talkers. : A noble record of useful and ; self-sacrificing effort has been established by the plying of busy fingers in spare moments, and Levin and district have a splendid example in the results f achieved by the bands of women f who sew and sell —with one hand f distributing comforts and with ! the other gathering good gold | against the day when the heroes ! return. In one instance of self-sacrifi-cing labour, this district has an example perhaps unequalled in any other part of the Dominion — of a woman who sews from early morn to the late hours of night, day in and day out, making up garments until a mountain of clothing has grown to her credit, and hundreds of war-worn men, women and children on the other t side of the world have had cause 1 to bless these busy fingers in far- ] away New Zealand. Mrs Banks, « of Rina Street, Weraroa, sews to , [ live. She also lives to sew. < " The Song of the Shirt" told of 1 the cruel drudgery of the needle, ] but no shirt slave ever did more in a day than Mrs Banks does in one of her ordinary working days. There is no drudgery in the busy little home at Weraroa. To a mere man standing amid the piles of garments, the thought of driving a sewing machine from 0 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. is in itself ? enough, but this lady of the 11 shuttle is only happy when the * machine is singing "The Song a of the Shirt," and so from old o clothes, stray remnants, good tl cloth and indifferent, flows a con- a stant stream of serviceable ap-

parel, every article of which bears the stamp of neatness, cleanliness and care. Mrs Banks is not only a worker. She is an artist. The tranforraations that go on from day to day would surprise even an expert. Every old garment that is brought to thehouse is first carefully washed, and then the nimble fingers reshape it in a truly amazing manner. Mrs Banks, earlier in the year, had despatched a thousand garments to headquarters for distribution among the poor and needy of Britain and Allied countries, and since then she has made about 500 more —a truly wonderful record of concentrated industry—and Levin should be proud of such a worker. That these garments are appreciated at their true worth in Great Britain may be seen from letters received from Glasgow by Lady Stout, who is head of the committee in Wellington which sends on the garments made by Mrs Banks and others women workers j in the great cause of humanity.

The following is the copy of a letter received from the War Pensions, &c., Statutory Committee of the Royal Patriotic Corporation, Glasgow Local Committe. Auchiston Division:—Dear Madam, —I wish to thank you for the clothes that came from New Zealand this morning. I am most grateful, as our division is a large one an 1 in a very poor district of Glasgow, and we have great need of just the sort of things sent. We have a club for the wives and mothers of soldiers, and we know our cases, so that we will be able to give our clothes to the right people. Again thanking you, yours truly, Annie H. Aitken, President Soldiers' and Sailors' Familes Association, Auchiston Division, Glasgow.

Copy of a letter received from Miss Cuthbertson, a member of the Pollockshields Education Board, Glasgow:— Dear Lady Stout, —I expect you will wonder whenever you are going to hear that your cases of beautiful clothing had arrived. I was beginning to think of submarines and mines, and that I should never see all the kind, thoughtful presents for our people in Glasgow, when a letter came from the High Commissioner that they were in London. Even then it was some time before they came, but they were worth waiting for. They are so warm, well made, and suitable—so please give everyone our very best thanks, and say how greatly we in Scotland appreciate their kindness. As our school children are clothed out of the general funds and rates, I thought it better that people rather better off, who would'nt apply to us, should get the garments ; and, as work in Glasgow is plentiful, and civil distress I so rare, I felt that the wives of our soldiers and sailors were most in need of assistance. I arranged that the Committees of Miss Stout and Mrs Aitken should have their share; also, the discharged soldiers the men's garments. Miss Stout met me, and we went over the cases together, and she had a splendid supply for her free kindergarten (for munition workers' children), and will delight many a poor mother's heart. We are all talking food economy, and the war will have taught us many a lesson on the folly of waste. Everything up to now has been so cheap and plentiful that it did not seem to matter. The bread ration is the only one of any difficulty, and we make scones of barley and wheat and rye meal. Copy of a letter from the President of the Free Kindergarten: — Dear Lady Stout,—l wish to thank you for the second beautiful and useful presents of children's clothes that have been sent from New Zealand. Post cards were immediately issued to mothers of the kindergarten children inviting them to a sale. She has not yet put out all her stock, but has already made £4, so our New Zealand friend have not only helped to clothe our poor little children of the Covvcaddens but have materially assisted the funds. The presents from Wellington have not only been a delightful surprise, but have touched us more than present from our fellow citizer s. It is a very great pleasure to know that we have friends thinking of us in New Zealand. The ..Committee make a small charge for the garmonts, and find that the mothers value them more if allowed to choose and pay something for them than if they were given. The proceeds are used for furthering the work of the kindergarten.