THE LADIES' WORK.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8202, 27 July 1915, Page 3

THE LADIES' WORK.

Carnivals come and carnivals go. In the words of the poet Tennyson: "They have their day and cease to be," but | it may truly be said that during the whole of the troublous times of the past 11 months the work of the ladies has been unending. Whether it has been tho making and supplying comforts for New Zealand's soldiers, or working to help relieve poverty and distress among the Belgians or the poor of | their own Mother Country, or whether j it lias been the carrying out of the preliminaries in connection with the humane Red Cross work, it has all been tho same; the tasks of the ladies have been unceasingly hard during the whole of this great struggle in which the Empire is now involved and are likely to continue so until the glad-1 sofflo news is sent echoing to the four > corners of the oarth that an honourable peace has been secured by GreatBritain and her Allies. From the work of the Patriotic Committee the. ladies have turned their energies to Red Cross work, and every day a band of willing and devoted workers iinay be seen at their tasks in the Committee's rooms in the Arcade. In tho mornings only a few manage to find time to attend at the depot, but in the afternoons the rooms are a busy hive of industry. In no workroom where payment is made for service is harder work carried out than in the Ashburton Red Cross Committee's rooms.

Except in the case of bandage making or cloths for use at operations, the preparatory work only is carried . out at the rooms. The actual making of garments for soldiers is performed at home; the cutting-out is done at the Red Cross rooms. But the latter task is sufficient to keep no less than 14 ladies constantly employed, seeing that the Ashburton Committee has to supply nine out of its 12 branches with garments already cut out. These branches are:—Greenstreet, Winchmore, Wakanuij Ashton, Mayfield, Chertsey, Doric, Hinds, and Mount Somers. The remaining three branches —Willowby, Tinwald, and Rakaia, cut out their own work. During the last three weeks the Ashburton Committee has supplied to workers of the nine branches named, as well as to a few workers in Ashburton, no fewer thnn 450' cut-out garments. One of the local Committee's 'complaints is that there are not ejiqugh workers in the town. Two of the prominent members said on Saturday last that a good many ladies in Ashburton were apparently under the impre;;;;ion that the Red Cross Committee was doing the work simply because the members liked it. They were, aa a matter of fact, said the two referred to, really doing it because they were impelled by a sense of duty, and they regarded it as a privilege. They said they wished other ladies in the town would regard the Red Cross work similarly. They assured a reporter that they would be very glad if a score more workers would offer to cut-out or sew garments. There. was room for all because there was an undoubted need for the articles.

I The work of the Bandage Committee (the latter comprises some six or eight members) is carried out under the direction of Mrs L. M. Espagne, a lady with practical experience in nursing work. There is naturally a great demand for clean linen bandages, and the .committee is doing excellent work. Those who wish, to help in this work are shown by Mrs Espagne how to properly sterilise the bandages when tnade, which ia, oi" course, a most important proceeding. Most, if not all, tho sterlising is done by Mrs F. H. Knight and Misses'J. Wilson and L. Chambers.

The Knitting Committee gives instruction . how work should be done, and also has patterns for sale at. an extremely modest sum. From a- financial point of view the Committee is-not badly off, but money ia constantly going out of the exchequer to purchaso material. foince (the Committee commenced operations a sum of £272 has been so expended, and an amount of £166 is still m hand. This makes a total of £438. On Saturday alone a sum of £40 was received in subscriptions, but the Committee do not wish it to go abroad that because it has money, in hand more is not needed. The members point out that their present work is likely to keep on until the end of the war, and money to purchase material will he required during the whole of that time, and they will not be able to continue supplying tho soldiers with

garments unless they have the wherewithal.

The room in* which the ladies have to work was gratuitously placed at their disposal by Mr T. Bullock, and a gas beater and a gas ring was also installed, free of cost. These latter conveniences require money to keep them going, however, and the Committee would be glad if some kindly-disposed gentleman Avould help in this direction. The Committee wishes to acknowledge donations of 10s each from Messrs E. F. and C. W. Nicoll, and one of os from Mr T. Bullock for the gas meter. The members of the Committee themselves provided the chairs in the room, and the cups for the inevitable beverage that cheers but does not inebriate. In the good work they are carrying out no one will begrudge the ladies their cup of afternoofi tea. Mrs Andrew Orr kindly provided a washingup bowl, a broom and a dust pan and broom, Mrs R. B. 801 l and Mrs G. H. Buchanan each gave a kettle, Mrs F. A. Smith a tea-pot, Messrs W . H. Collins and Co. the wood for the shelves, and the Technical School students erected all the fittings. If some local painter or paper-hanger would offer to paper the room, however, there would be general rejoicing. At present it has; a kind, of blue wash on it which came, off very freely on contact. With regard to the knitting of the Balaclava caps the Committee would like to impress on workers that the Red Cross pattern only must be used, and the. caps must be firmly knitted. Otherwise, if knitted loosely, they stretch far too much. Soi far, about 20 have had to be unpicked because of this reason. »