THE SOCIAL ROUND

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 186, 11 September 1914, Page 4

THE SOCIAL ROUND

NOTES AND NEWS.

Miss Ha«mer left last, night by the fi6r; Wellington. Mr and Mrs, J. Witron, of Auckland, arrived in town this morning, and are •trying"at Warner 's. Mrs A. T. Chapman has returned to Christchurch after spending a short holiday in Wellington. Mr and Mrs G. G. Creelman, .who have ' been staying "at the Clarendon, went to &shburton by the first express this ■ morning. ' T Mrs Enipson, - who since their - return from the North Island, have been ihe guests ,of Mr and Mrs H. Acland, went ,on to' Mt. Peel'on Wednesday. Miss Ida Moran, who has gained much distinction in.Australia with a beautifully soft contralto voice, is visiting friends in the town of her birth, Wellington. A Wellington paper announces the engagement of. Mr Douglas Henderson, «on of Mr and Mrs J. W. Henderson, to iMiss Doris O'Reilly; daughter of Mr «and Mrs Charles O'Reilly, of Brisbane. The; Englisfi hockey girls have added another victory to their list of New Zealand successes by the defeat of South Canterbury at Timaru yesterday. Christchurch players are looking forward keenly to meeting them to-mor-row, and many who will only be spectators of the game are also taking the greatest interest in the fixture. In the •vening the visitors will be entertained at dinner by the local team, and afterwards at a social gathering in the ArtGallery. The Hunt Club gave a dinner on Wed- . nesday night, at the Henrietta Tea Rooms, in honour of those of its members who are leaving for the front with the Expeditionary Force. Amongst those present were Mr and' Mrs Derek 'Westenra, Mrs Deans, Mr and Mrs J. H. pall, Mr and Mrs P. Acton-Adams,, the ftlisses Knight (3), Miss-M. Hall, Miss *&f. Rhodes, Miss Fulton, Mr and Mrs pt. Hall, Mrs lan Deans, Messrs H. A. SKnight, A. Deans, I. Deans, W. Deans, D. Deans, and Captain HutJton. ' . \ I On Wednesday afternoon a sale of iwork, or spring fair, organised by the JLa,dies' Auxiliary . of the Y.M.C.A., |(Wellington), was opened by her Excellency the Countess of Liverpool. The . sreception hall of the association's building, in which the fair was held, had jbeen charmingly decorated for the occasion with peach blossom, palms, and epring flowers, and the prettily arranged stalls, with their piles of useful and ornamental work, were janother decorative feature. The |Countess of Liverpool was received by the president of the auxiliary, Mrs Low, and after havijig been formally welcomed by Mr Kersley, president of the Y.M.C.A., briefly 'declared the sale open, and as she did so, paid a iwarm tribute to the work that had been / ,<done by women in doing so much to equip the Expeditionary Force for its jWork for the Empire. The marriage of Mr. W. F. McArtliur, son of Mr J. McArtliur, Meldrum House, Papanui, to Miss Fanny Ford, daughter of Mr A. S. Ford, of Papanui,

took place at the Methodist Church, Papanui, yesterday. The bride wore a handsome bridal gown of dull pearl satin, lined with flesh-pink silk, and partially veiled "with shadow lace. The fr.ont the corsage- was composed of shirred hinon, aird the skirt.was gracefully draped. A long, veil of embroidered tulle antt coronet of orange blossoms completed, a charming toilette. She was attended by two bridesmaids, the Misses Guinevere. Boyce (cousin' of the bride) and Miss Agnes McArthur (sister of the bridegroom).. Mr Archie M!cArattended the bridegroom as best man, and Mr Harold Ford acted as groomsman. After the ceremony the usual reception in honour of the event was held, and later on the newly-mar-ried couple left for their honeymoon, the bride travelling in a smart costume of raspberry-coloured cloth, with hat of pink and white ninon, and long plume in shaded tones of pink. Contests in mothercraft were held in London at the L.C.C. schools, Marylebone. The cooking competition was oiie of the most popular events of the afternoon. Each woman had a shilling given her to buy materials for a dinner for four persons (two adults and two children), and had to produce the bills of her purchases. The prize-winner served up lentil soup, stewed mutton, cauliflower, potatoes, bread, and rice pudding. The winner of the second prize gave boiled neck of mutton (sd) and pearl barley (Old), haricot beans potatoes (Id), peas (lid), baked custard (one egg Ofd, milk Id), and gooseberries (Id) and sugar (o£d). Australian teachers of domestic economy as- a rule pay too little attention to economical buying, which is an art much needing to, taught among us. Some instruction in marketing and in the value of food would enable a housewife to make the housekeeping allowance go N at least 20 percent./or 25 per cent, further than at-present. Miss Jenkins, who belonged to the anthropological section of the "British Association, while in Sydney, said that in no other spot in Australia had she found such a true conception of the position of the English suffragist. In other parts she found that the militant suffragette was the only variety known. Following in the wake of Miss Adela) Pankhurst, she had done her best to remove thafe—oraoneous impression, and to show that there are in England many thousands of law-abiding women who absolutely disapprove of militant methods.

Dr. Mary Booth, of Sydney, moved a resolution at the British Medical Congress at Aberdeen in July, declaring that the salaries paid to medical women should be the same as those paid to men. She said that recently a Government department made an attempt to upset the principle of equal pay for equal work, by the appointment of one woman inspector under the Board of Control Mental Deficiency Act. She was thankful to say that the two women selected had resigned, and the post was still open. The resolution was carried unanimously. A, big Paris man dressmaker recently gave a series of lectures, in the course

of which, he said that nobody " could dress a woman unless he were an artist. The dress of a woman was as complicate ed as the woman herself, y Man only' could-suit a woman in . dress. The woman dressmaker drowned herself in details, and neglected \the outline.. The man dressmaker remembered the details, and respeet«4 the outline, Woman'must be dressed according to her type., Generalisation was the ruin of. elegance.. !_ There are many variations of the cape; it and .the jacket are, in fact, amalgamated, and the capecoat is; the outcome. The result is any garment, trimmed .with shredded cloth,, rather like fringe, or with silken ruffles according to the material* usied for the whole. For summer it is , usually expressed in ninon, with taffeta collar and frills. Such wraps make wonien appear broad-shouldered, and close-fitting hats that make the head appear small should be worn with them. The idea is to give a narrow aspect to the head and feet, and a broad one to the shoulders.

Miss Harriet Newcomb, lion, secretary of the Woman -Suffrage Union, British Dominions, writing on July 29 from London, states that a deputation of women delegates, British Dominions Woman Suffrage Union, waited by appointment upon Mr Lewis Harcourt on Monday, July 27, at the Colonial Office, London, to represent to him the views of women in the different dominions with regard to the clauses which affect the status of women in the British Nationality Bill, now before the Imperial Parliament. Mrs Merivale Mayer, lion, secretary, Australian and New Zealand Women Voters' Association (London), put the case for the Women's Political Association of Victoria (president, Miss Goldstein), a body which is conducting a vigorous campaign to ensure that privileges, once gained by Australian women, should not be given away over their heads. Mrs Wybergh,. W.E.A., of South Africa, very forcibly described the case of the unfortunate woman who has married an unworthy foreign husband in the Union. Mrs Leathes, National Council of- Women, dwelt on the peculiar difficulties of Canada in view of the enormous foreign immigration. Mrs Sidney Ransom, N.S.W., dealt with the general principle that the day is past when a woman may be regarded as a chattel. As the interview was private, Mr Harcourt's remarks in reply cannot be given, but, in brief, it may be said he laid far more stress on conformity to international law than on protection to women. Miss Newcomb, hon. secretary, British Dominions Woin&n Suffrage Union, remarked on the advantage to the white slaver of the objectionable clauses in the Act, and Mrs Dora Montefiore said that the Bill added one more to the disabilities incurred by women through marriage. Mrs Howell, W.C.T.U., Christchurch, represented New eZaland.

DOMESTIC SCIENCE IN CANADA.

#BEB;£RC^&EM. "I'm real'glad to see yquj but please don 'fr. ask me 'to; say anything to put in; ;ypi^r? paper//because I-wouldn't know J "iiow to 4o ifc* I. a scientist or anyone renrark&bie, you see—l'm justwell, :'xay ; is', -jaart 'home. miBBMD/./;and^M]i^< , . :: Ch'iselman laughed infectiously at hertOwn little > joke as she greeted me. Her delightful cordiality and natural, unaffected manner at once filled me'with a swift desire to be close friends with her, and«the charm of her personality was so great that before our chat {was pver I. felt. shat such was actually the case. We - btiilt our it often on; a misunderstanding—l had somehow gotten it into my head that the Creelmans hailed from America, and in the beginning of our conversation I said so. "Now, isn't that too bad?" Mrs G'reelman said, appealing to her husband, who just then came into the room. "Everyone thinks that Canadians and Americans are just one family, whereas We really are not. America and Canada, are two separate countries," and *when I had .made due acknowledgment of the fact Mrs Creelman forgave me, and talked Canada to me." -

. Both she and her husband are intensely keen; on the inclusion of a domestic science department ' in every

school and college, and predict that the day is not far distant when this will become an accomplished fact. They think", and with a good deal of logic, that the domestic problem is largely the., outcome of mistresses not knowing what to expect of girls. Most of the women of the class which employs servants are more or less ignorant of domestic toil and its effects—a fl state of affairs which must naturally raise friction. They could only regard it from ope viewpoint —their own. Then there has always been the old foolish idea )that there was something derogatory in domestic work, and this was no encouragement for girls to take pride, and strive to excel, in the science of the home. Now a .complete change of front was gradually making itself felt all over the world. ■ 1 When I was a girl,'' Mrs Creelman said, "if a girl made her own dresses, or did the housework of her parents' home, she said very little about it. Today I know dozens of girls who have no actual need to do the slightest bit of housework, doing all these things, and glorying in it. They go to college, take their home science degree, and return home to put it into actual practice. When the teaching of home science becomes universal, it will abolish the old trouble of mistress and maid, and women will, for the first time in history, be taught properly and scientifically, how to become real home-makers.''

L 'When you come to think of it," Mrs Creelman went on, "doesn't it seem funny that the world is only beginning to wake up to the importance of

teaching home science to girls? No man was ever expected to become a doctor, or a lawyer, or; a or " anything at all without being trailed perly for it. Arid no woman was expected become a millineiy a dress ; ;lriaker, dr a without the necessary leaTchirig.- ; Yet women were expected tbjj learn the most importalit work, of all---hcw to become good housekeepers arid; good home-makers—rby 'instinct, or; by? just 'picking- it up.' • It-should be : taught, just as reading arid writing are taught, in the educational, system of our Schools and colleges; : .Aiid the systematic, scientific way is-lessening it of most of its terrors and drudgery. Mrs Creelman proceeded to tell me about;, the doriiestic science t of thiesOntario Agr«jultural-.;Coirego : (of •which:,Mr Creelman is president),-" and 'showed me a . photograph of her . eldest daughter, a pretty;, capable-looking in the rig of a '' sweet girl-graduate.' 7 ' "She'has just graduated in home science,'' said her mother with pride, "and, there's little you can tell herabout the work of a home." She told me something of how this department is conducted—sufficient -to show that the training is very thorough. Girls learning the work of laundering clothes are taught not only to wash and iron, but also how to test fabrics and dyes, so that when they go shopping' they cannot be imposed upon with spumous articles. Girls learning to cook are also taught food values, marketing, /lieteties, .and so on; girls learning to sweep and scrub are also taught the proper cleaning and taking to pieces of woodwork, brasswork, and are taught till-principles of health and hygiene at the same time. Students may take special courses, such as a housekeeper's course, which would fit her to undertake the duties of a matron of an institution, the post of housekeeper in a big hotel of boarding establishment, or any similar position. - It was all very interesting to learn, how these things

weise managed in the .sister colonies of Canada. Mrs Creelman was very amusing when she to)d me of the vdyage from Canada to jSTew Zealand—how they hadn't the slightest notion of where they were going/ although they hoped to fetch up at Honolulu*. which they Subsequently did. -They used to'steam.along at nights with all ;the lights out—on.. account of war risk, -of course^aml-whUe, .soine of + the passengers found the prevailing . darkness a nuisance, others ' welcomed it with delight. ." We carried the 'crop of lovers," Mrs Creelman said, laughing gently at the recollection, "and, of course, they loved tlfe 'lights out' business. I'm sure they looked upon it as a . special dispensation -of;>Providence, truly.-, .-.Blii the others didnlt; V One of our passengers was a big, tall jAustralian, and one night he was paradmg the deck in the darkaess and -fell over a chair. He said — : —'' Mrs Creelman paused and looked significantly at me. I nodded with understanding. x "Naturally," I said, briefly. "Who wouldn't? 'And then?" '' On his next turn he tumbled over another chair that lay in ambush somewhere for him, and then he tried the other side." "Yes?" I prompted gently, seeing by the twinkle in Mrs . Creelman's eyes that the story was not quite finished; " Well,''. she * answered, "he bore down upon yet another chair that waited maliciously*- as he thought, in a? dark corner to be his undoing. He saw it in time, and awarded it what my football boys at home call a free kick—■my, such a kick, too! There was a smothered shriek and a word that is usually printed with a d and a dash and an n—the chair contained a couple of lovers, you see! "The Australian? Oh, he gave it up lifter that, and paraded in the daytime 'ever after.'

I didn't ask:".Mrs. Creelman ;if sh« liked New Zealand, but she told me shi?; did, of. her own accord., '"And larly the people*'she added, "for ihej' have been so kind to us, the dears'," ' Quite impossible? to be otherwise to you," I' murmured, not to be outdone in and after this« brilliant remark I judged it best to take my departure, and-we fixed; the nest meeting for Guelph, Canada, which; is the place, that the Creelma'n family, call home../ " > - SJ.R. J,