CORRESPONDENCE. WHAT ABOUT THE VETERAN LADIES?

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 231, 28 March 1912, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

WHAT ABOUT THE VETERAN LADIES?

To the Editor. Sir,—The young men of New Plymouth have, by entertaining the veterans at to-night's function, shown that they keenly appreciate the good work done by our sturdy pioneers. These veterans, many of whom saw service in the Crimean and Indian Mutiny campaigns before coming to this country, are certainly deserving of the present recognition, and no doubt a good deal more. Now, sir, what I should like to point out is the fact that we have quite a number of veteran ladies in the district, of whom little or no public notice is ever taken. And yet these old ladies have been heroic in every sense of the word. In the early days of settlement in this district, when every grown male member of the settlements had to carry arms to guard his hearth and home, every settler's wife had a very anxious and dangerous time. She never 'knew n. dav when.her husband or sons would be slain or desperately wounded, or she and her little ones massacred. And these same women stuck gamely to their duties, cooking and cleaning and rearing their families, and fully participating in the hardships of the times. Now that the veterans have, been taken in hand by the young men of the place, would it not be a gracious act on the part of our young women to entertain the veteran ladies at an afternoon tea or some such function? At the same time an association for the Veteran Ladies might be formed. Perhaps some of/our leading ladies will move in the matter, as there is still a good number of old lady pioneers in 'our midst who deserve all the honor that can be paid them in their declining years.—l am, PROUD OF OUR LADY PIONEERS. [The suggestion is an admirable one, and we hope it will be acted upon by the y'ouncer ladies of the district. We will be pleased to donate a guinea towards a fund for the purpose.—Ed.]