WHISPERS OF EVE

NZ Truth, Issue 1193, 11 October 1928, Page 18

WHISPERS OF EVE

MOTHERS 7 AND" MOERA

"ASLEEP m the Sun" is the transla- '■•** tlon of the Maori word, Moe'ra, but the/ little settlement. : looks- very far from asleep round about; three o'clock on a week-day .. afternoon; .when, the young members of its population are just ' beginning to find their way home frpm\schopl.. ,i:,\~: ■■ \:■ . . :■ '■ " .'* Preference m. the garden settlement has 'evidently been ; given \tb '■ people with large families-^certainly, ?nb who'watched a- Moera street 6n a line day- would have -niany doubts i or fears about the New Zealand birth-rate. All around are pleasant little'gardens,- some- just- getting "under way," others already gay with their spring Crocks -of primroses and : anemones. In aj.ll Moera, It would be hard to find one house or garden that didn't look as if somebody loved it. ■■■ . _. It is easy, top, to cbriflrm this by talking -to ( the residents themselves, for' any Moe'ra woman.^illstpphousewprk to tell: you- what' a'differehce the garden * settlement has made. ,'". ; iiiß. Sargerit,' -of Awamptu Road, has been a* Moara resident . for three monthisiand hks , helped quite considerably .to:.-, fill the local school, for sKe hasibrought nine young children to Mbera." ■■'■■■•■?•■.,':■'. ■■■•.'. ' • ' ■■ ; -'l don't know what we should have done without place," she said. 'It's been f a terrible winter for us, as rby husband has been on ! relief work, earning •■■■ only tWelve-and-six a day — and not that when •: it was wet. : But we have Just managed .to keep up; having this little house has meant that I am' able i to keep -the r children olean and" well.' spite of hard times, I am perfectly • satisfied with ' Moera." ■

i -"I. should say It HAS made a difference," 1 remarked. Mrs.: i Adams, Mrs. Sargent's next-door neighbor, a bright, vigorous, Scottish lass, still young and gay for all her ; seven 1 children. "This is'the^sort. of place where, one can teach 'the- kiddles -to. be: independent." : Rosa Brown, Betty Hall, Tessie Stewatt and, John Hunt, junr.,vbte m aibbdy ; for Moera. .Their ages range from' six to twelve and, ; by some freak of, coiricidenoe, ' they 1 are 'all "coppertops,"" with ' the '■■•. shining, burnished hair; the Vsun , likes best. Common to all, too, are the pink cheeks and bright eyes of' health. \ ■

1 '?W© love it- here," said Rosa, who was- Bpokeswoman. . "We all have a good ■timeT-yes, school Is, nice ... . and they're making .; us a hew, playground. We; all love the gardens.; It's far more fun at, Moera than Hvingf m town."i. ■; ; .:. . .:> '.. .>..-.. , . ■.•■•.'

„\ So, with .the vote of every, working woman: and child cast In, its. favor, Moera must, certainly take Its place as \ a*? successful N-ew Zealand experiments ; : '

A POPULAR MODEL

COMETIMES it'is a ■work of art to , recognize just who the different portrait efforts of our local, artists are meant to be. But there is at, least one ni'^diel of outstanding and unmistakable '■ Miss vMae/ Sherman, who. appears m full .length a-nd a, ciimson dress as. "Clueen' of the Studio Club" (W. B. Montgomery), came out. a few years agb'frdm England, where she had experience as a professional "model." % The. little: band of Wellington artists, whose* figure, studies are ; usually, by necessity, confined to ' drawings of ancient and dilapidated charladies or bulgy ' . young • boxers, welcomed '- -tv with open, arms and brushes raiscv co salute; '";.'.' > : For> a': while, artists' ' clubs were rather flooded with drawings and paintings. of • a" -tall, dark young lady, dressed something like the Queen of Sheba, but usually ' more so— foe Miss Sherman's is an Oriental type of good looks, and artists .can't resist clothing her m bizarre array; if at ail. She has some taste for conventional drawing ahd a" couple of her symbolic efforts are shown at this year's exhibition. "/For ' the ' rest, " she is a keen curio, collector,, specializing m quaint jewellery, and a lover of all things artistic. . . .. .