Feminine Interests

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 559, 11 January 1929, Page 5

Feminine Interests

Lady Hutson Returns to Fiji

She is Glad to be Back in “The Best of All Colonies' '

ACCIDENT AND ILNESS ON VOYAGE

SUVA, December 28. A i’ last the new Government House in Suva has come into ■*» its own. No longer is it “The Governor’s Residence.” It is the home of his Excellency, the Governor of Fiji, Sir Eyre Hutson, and Lady Hutson. Lady Hutson returned home yesterday by the Aorangi after an absence of over 20 months.

r JMIE Wharf was gaily decorated with bunting for "Lady Hutson’s arrival, and a crowd of friends gathered in tho Customs shed to greet her. She was first to come ashore. White there was no demonstration, it was very evident that the people of the Colony were glad to have her back | again. She brought, with her, among many other interesting personal importations, some avocado pears from Honolulu. Such is tho strength of the Customs cordon thrown round the Colony, however, and the regulations for the safeguarding of the Colony against the introduction of new pests, that she was unable to keep them and sent them back as a gift to Commander Crawford. The incident recalled the occasion when Lady Rodwell brought a beautiful basket of strawberries from Australia and was not allowed to take j them ashore. She. however. went back on board with some of her friends and made good ftse of the fruit! Two Attacks of ’Flu Jn spite of the fact that Lady Hutson was still feeling the effects of the voyage, she willingly granted an interview to a Press representative, who learned that she had had two attacks of influenza on the way out. Tho ship on which she sailed from i Liverpool was late in leaving, and she {remained on the boat deck watching i th€« preparations for sailing. The re- \ suit was that she was laid up with a sharp attack of ’flu. Again crossing Canada she must have caught infection. for almost as soon as she arrived at Vancouver she went down with a very severe attack. Just recovering she went ashore at i Honolulu, taking her camera with her. ' She has a good idea of what makes a | good picture and saw a view which { she- determined to secure. She at- ! tempted to reach a point of vantage and slipped, severely injuring herself

She was met at the King’s Wharf by a big gathering of friends. This morning she said that she was very grateful indeed to them all for the friendship they had shown in their welcome. She was very, very glad to he back in Fiji, i nfortunately her travels from England were attended by illness and an accident.

i below the knee and narrowly escaping a fracture. Very Happy But to-day she is back in what she looks upon as her homo and she is very happy, her great regret being that she was so long away. “It wasn’t my fault,” she said, “I had to obey my doctors’ orders.” “I am very, very glad to be back in Fiji among the people of Fiji. There is no Colony like Fiji to me and I don’t mind the others knowing it,” she said enthusiastically, while regretting very much that, as a result of his Excellency's coming retirement, she would not be able to remain after April. She expressed hqrself as delighted with the new Government House, "although I have still a great affection for the rambling old place which used to bo Government House.” The new home was very cool, she thought, particularly the i#rth-east \oing. It had only been commenced when she left Fiji, and the only way one could walk through it was on planks. Memory for Friends It was not difficult to see on the wharf how Lady Hutson had come to secure a very sure place in the hearts of the people, and further evidence was forthcoming during the interview as she referred to one after the other of her friends and acquaintances from one end of the Colony to the other. Certainly her work as president of tho Fiji Red Cross, which raised the magnificent sum of £70.000 in this comparatively small Colony for Red Cross war work, and the friendships made during those hard working and anxious years will never be forgotten by the people whom she led. She had spent most of her time in England, in Sussex, so did not regularly meet people connected with Fiji. Mr. E. Whittenbury’s friends, however, will be glad to hear that he epent a day with her in Sussex. in which

county he is living with a sister. She was very sorry to se him once more on crutches, but he said he was very much better and appeared to be getting on wonderfully. He was very cheery, and slie thought that he would get along all right. From crutches the talk turned to medicine and Mrs. Richenda Parham’s little publication dealing with Fiji native medicines, a copy of which she had been glad to recevie from the writer, who had been one of her host of Red Cross correspondents. She had shown the booklet to Dr. Roddan Shaw, a well-known medical man in Harley Street, who had been extremely interested and had asked her to send him anything further of tho kind dealing with native medicines which were his great hobby, and on which he spent till his money. Suva, so far as she had seen it, Lady Hutson said, was much the same as it had been when she left, with the exception of the fine new building erected in the Triangle. She was looking forward very much to getting out again. Once more she said that she appreciated very much the kindness of the people in welcoming her back, and she wished to extend to all the people of the Colony her best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year. BIRTHDAY PARTY An evening was spent by about 00 persons in the Druids’ Hall at Raetibi, on the occasion of the coming of age of Mr. H. E. Littlewood. Dancing was indulged in for some hours, interspersed with musical items by Mm. Goddard, Misses A. and M. Littlewood and Messrs. It. Ur win and J. Littlewood. During the evening Mr. Urwin proposed the health of the guest of honour. Mr. IT. C- Littlewood and his father replied. A spot waltz competition was won by Mr. Urwin and Mrs. Dickson (Mangaweka) and a Monte Carlo by Mr. N. Donaldson and Miss C. Henderson. Mr. T. Langdon made an efficient M.C., and Mrs. Heine and Miss Snooks supplied first-class music. A large number of presents testified to tho popularity of Mr. Littlewood. The visitors included some from Mangaweka, Ohakune and the surrounding district.

MUFFED SLEEVES ON SUMMER COATS

A few brave women have ventured to attempt a restoration of the muff to favour, in place of the conventional handbag. Though this sounds rather a wintry fashion, in reality, when made of softly-coloured and ruclied silks, it is quite effective against afternoon frocks, especially for bridge parties. Yet the muff develops into. a continual worry. It has a way of losing itself which no handbag ever achieved. Fashion experts, watchful of every new vogue, have seen the advantage of the muff, with all its disadvantages, and now have evolved the muff sleeves and cuffs for light summer coats, which serve the same purpose.

EQUAL RIGHTS TREATY

INTERNATIONAL EFFORT NATIONALITY OF WOMEN WHO MARRY ALIENS From the editor of “Time and Tide.” one of the leading women’s papers in England and abroad, comes advice of a “Treaty for Equal Rights,” prepared by an international committee of women, which it is hoped, will be signed by the nations at Geneva. The well-known “Six Point Group.” which, owes its inception to Lady Rhondda, is giving a lead in the matter, and the other big organisations of women are supporting the “Treaty.” A leading and definite object is the co-ordination of the laws which govern the nationality of married women into a just and reasonable statute which will not press heavily and unjustly on women in a countless number of chief directions, as at present. The chief articles of the proposed “Treaty” are set out as under: Article 1. —The Contracting States agree that, upon the ratification of this Treaty, men and women shall have equal, rights throughout the territory subject to their respective jurisdictions. Article 2.—This Treaty shall take effect for the State which ratify it, pi-ovided that it is ratified by at least two States, as soon as the ratifications shall have been deposited at (place to be mentioned). “This s Treaty shall remain open as long as may be necessary for adherance by all the Powers of the world. Every instrument of adherance shall be deposited at— and the Treaty, immediately upon such deposit, shall become effective as between the Power thus adhering and the other Powers which are parties to the Treaty. “It shall be the duty of each Government to furnish other signatories with a certified copy of the Treaty and of every ratification or adherence. It shall be the duty of each Government to notify such Governments telegraphically immediately n poll the deposit with it of each ratification or adherence.” Provision is then made for the use of English and French languages in the “Treaty,” both languages having equal force. To those who have not followed up the matter of the nationality of married women and the disabilities forced on women who marry aliens, some of these provisions seem uunnecessary, timesome, are over-emphasised, but, as a matter of fact, each provision is made to present, or combat some quibble or objection, which has prevented the merest justice being done in this important matter. As an example, the British Government prepared a clause protecting British women by securing that they should keep their British nationality (on marriage with ap alien) till they could assume that of the husband—and not be without any nationality at all in the meantime —but this was not passed at the Imperial Conference on account of one of the Dominions refusing to consent to the provision. The ' International Committee of Women lias therefore endeavoured to prevent anything of the kind occurring again, hence the careful wording of (he “Treaty.”

NURSERY LAMPSHADE If you would improvise an original inverted shade for indirect lighting in the nursery, a Japanese parasol in oiled paper is very effective. It should, of course, be in light coloured tints, in order that the illumination is not too much obscured. The best method of fixing is to saw off the wooden handle near the frame, and then hang the shade on three coloured silk cords, tying’ them to the ribs, and tacking them up to the ceiling fixture.

TO LIFT PIES Pies having no upper crust, especially when filled with some kind of custard, ai'e not easily removed from the tins when baked. The Quickest and safest method is to arrange three strips of greased paper across the bottom of the tins before putting the crust into them. Let these strips hang over the sides, and when the pies are baked they may be easily and immediately transferred to a plate by using the strips as levers.

ASPARAGUS MOULD Drain the liquid from a tin of asparagus, and add half a pint of water, a pinch of salt, a cup of chopped celery, pepper to taste, the juice of a lemon, and a few pieces of mace. Bring to the boil, soak half a packet of gelatin' in water for five minutes, and add to boiling stock. Stir well, then lino a mould with the asparagus tips, fill tlic centre with shredded celery, and pour the liquid over all. Set on ice, and servo with whole lettuce leaves and sliced beetroot.