WOMEN'S WOULD.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 141, 16 June 1926, Page 21

WOMEN'S WOULD.

f , SOCIAL JOTTINGS, ; '. Miss Garland, of. Cambridge, is paying • visit to Auckland. , , : : Mrs. W. E. Whitcombe, of Christj Church, is visiting Auckland. I Miss Appleton, of Melbourne, arrived iji Auckland by the Tofua and is staying at Cargen. . Mrs. Hope-Lewis and Mrs. Guy. Williams will leave next week for a trip to Java and Japan. , Miss W. Averill leaves Auckland on Monday to pay a visit to her old home, Ohristchurch, where she will be the gjiest of her brother, Dr. Averill. '■ \ Mise L. N. Hodder, travelling secretary of the New Zealand Methodist Young Women's Bible Class Movement] is at present visiting Auckland, where ehe will stay till the end of June. Her time is being spent in meeting with leaders and officials in various parts of the city, to confer with them on presentday problems in work among young Women. At the recent annual meeting of the Welfare Circle, Mrs. Rapson was elected convener, and Mrs. Oxley, secretary. The circle devotes itself to making garments for those who need them and are without means of buying. The fees paid by members and honorary Members go towards the purchase of Materials and, as there is at the present tjjne a great need in this city, it is loped that more honorary members will join the circle and thus extend the efforts to help less fortunate people. The death of Miss Emily Laura Plater, ©{ Bowden Street, Granville, recalls the fact (states "The Age," Melbourne) that, although deceased was a Polish countess in her own right, she had conducted a sihall confectionery business in Parramatta for many years. Deceased, who was 88 years of age, was the daughter of,, the Polish count, Lucien Plater, a political refugee from Poland, who fled to London and there married an English woman. He arrived in Australia 87 years ago, and died near Parramatta. Miss Plater had lived in the ParramattaGfranville district all her life. {When in India, Dr. Hedin records in' his memoirs, he spent a week with! Kitchener in Simla, and relates curious; ha-bits of the great soldier, such as his , attention to the laying of a table. The traveller and the soldier were both bachelors, and, on Kitchener asking his guest if he had any further wishes, Dr. Hddin said he had not seen a skirt since he'i came. Kitchener had a dinner party next day, at which the guests were all women. It was. a jolly affair, and Kitchener told some stories that would i have been more suitable at a men's iduber* - .-_ - c .:.. •*■ -

The Rev. Trevor Gilfillan and Mrs. Gilfillan will le'a.ve Auckland next week cii route to Peking, where Mr. Gilfillan is'stationed'. ■••. .'-Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, whose names are well known in missionary circle?, ihtend revisiting New Zealand for three or four months in February of next year. They will begin lecturing in Oiagtf slnd will gradually find iheir way north. Dr. Taylor is the son of the founder of the' China Inland Mission, the Rev. Dr. J. Hudson Taylor, M.R.C.S., F.R.G.8., and hie wife was Miss Geraldine Guinness. • The International Council of Nurses was founded by Mrs. Bedford Fenwick. Its headquarters are at 1, Place dv Lac, Geneva. The council will be represented at the Paris Congress. The journal of the I.C.N, states on its front page: "The essential idea for which the International Council of Nurses stands is selfrgo'vernment of nurses in their associations, with the aim of raising ever higher the standards of education and professional ethics, public usefulness, and civic spirit of their members. The International Council of Nurses does not stand for a narrow professionalism, but for that full development of the human being and citizen in every nurse, which shall best enable her to bring her professional knowledge and skill to the many-sided service that modern society demands of her." A dance took place on Saturday evening in Mount Albert Hall, given by Miss Lillian Impey in honour of Miss Kathleen Meyer, of Christchurch, niece of Mrs. J. C. Entrican. The hall was prettily decorated with greenery and streamers. Pour little girls —Misses Bobye Jane, Patty and Valmae Dickison, and Vera Wallett — dressed in paper frocks, in Early Victorian style, acted as ushers. Those present included Miss Kathleen Meyer, Mrs. J. C. Entrican, Mrs. T. Impey, Miss L. Impey, Mrs. G. . M. Impey, Mrs. Arch. Jane, Mrs. R. Isaacs, Mrs. Reg. Wade, Miss Ruby Kennedy, Miss Nora Hartman, Miss Isaacs, Miss I. Isaacs, Miss A. Clark, Miss M. Moore, Miss I. Moore, Miss L. Seabrook, Miss M. Seabrook, Miss J. Baildon, Miss Knight, Mies N. Hesketh, Miss Clark, Miss Couglan, Miss I. Jenkin, Mies S. Whittle, Miss K. Whittle, Miss W. Whittle, Miss Cumf'mings, Miss Hayward, Miss W. Moore. ; I On Apri} : 27 r the wedding took place at North Morningside Church, of* the Rev. Qeoffzey T. Bellhouee,' eon of the Rev. H. E. Bellhouee, of Dunedin, minister-elect of Regent Square Presbyterian. Church.; to Lucy Wilfred, daughter of:J4r. and Mrs. Charles W. Allan, f of Balnagard, BJackf ord Road, .Morning--1 side. The ceremony was perfprmed by the Rev. David Hislop and the Rev. J. L. Munro. Miss Sheela Allan and Miss Dorothy de Cruchy Gaudin were the bridesmaids, and Dr. J. A. Douglas i Iverach was best man. Mr. Belihouse has been reading Divinity at Edinburgh.

The belief held by the average Australian that the Parisienne is a chic lady, able to display the latest models from Poiret or other fashionable salons, does not measure up with the facts, says an Australian paper. Working-class women have a particularly hard life in France, owing to the fact that the French employers are more exacting than their capitalist brothers in other lands. In St. Etienne, Loire, the very heart of the industrial district, the main industries are the manufacture of arms, cycles, motor cycles, light cars, hardware of every description and silk ribbons. In these hundreds of factories women are chiefly employed as nonskilled hands. Their wages are disastrously low, being about 50 per cent, less than those of the men. St. Etienne is the centre of the world-famous silk ribbon industry. The day is a ten-hour one, though the smaller shops keep their workers for longer than this. The area is congested and the housing conditions are even worse than those existing in the East end of London.

In one of the many touching and charming accounts of the late Queea Alexandra we were told that an old woman In a crowd who surrounded the Queen said to her friends, delightedly, "I saw the Queen, and the Queen saw mc" (writes Lady Mora Bentinck). The last four words of that eentence hold the secret of the dead Queen's charm, and it may be said, also, the secret of a very great deal of personal charm all the world over. People can be polite, civil, gracious, kind; but without the intimate personal touch, the. little hot flame of something real and meant, the pulling back—if only for a moment —of the shutter of the heart, all this pleasant behaviour goes for nothing. For life is not made up of great duties and stupendous sacrifices. Most of us do not work on a canvas so important that the world is always demanding tremendous things of us. No; our existence — yours and mine—is for the most part made up of little things in which thp presence or the absence of smiles and kindnesses, true sympathy, and unfeigned feeling can either make or mar our lives and the lives of those around us. A kind word, a smile, a touch of hand in hand, a look of understanding, of love, of sympathy, of gratitude, of appreciation—all these are seeds which will never fail, to yield a crop. But in this - field the cower must be prodigal. Kind words act like magic in men's hearts, they soothe and quiet and comfort the hearer; and kind looks—when they come from a heart that is a perfect heart—are like wine to the one upon whom they are bestowed. Surely all of us can learn a lesson from the character of the Queen, who has gone from among us—the Queen who so radiantly fulfilled Burleigh'e advice to Queen Elizabeth when he advised .her to "win hearts," -— ..

A dance took place in the lounge of the Lyceum Club last evening, which was organised by a committee consisting of Mesdames Oxley, Bullock. Garlick. Cadoux, Waters, Kidd, and the Misses Joyce Crew, Joyce Gibbons, Maida Hooker, and Wallace. The stage was tastefully decorated with pot plants and flowers, and the supper in the luncheon room was charmingly arranged with scarlet salvia and asparagus ferns as decoration. A very enjoyable evening was spent by members and their guests, and it is hoped to hold another dance shortly. ; "Ladies are requested not to powaer during the prayers." The vicar of a leading Hull Church in England suggests, in his parish, magazine, that a notice on the above lines would seem to be necessary in churches to-day. "I have had several complaints," he writes, "about what appears to be a new form of nuisance in church. People keep telling mc that the most solemn moments in our worship are often spoiled for them by some —shall we call them shame-faced ones, since they are apparently ashamed of their ordinary faces? —who powder in a most ostentatious way. One can sympathise with many people wishing to disguise themselves, but these people are asking too much of us when they choose such inappropriate times and places for their renovation."

Many striking tributes were paid to Miss McLean, M.A., principal of the Wellington Girls' College, at the public farewell tendered to her, at the Town Hall, Wellington, on Thursday evening, on her retirement, after 25 years of unbroken service at the college. An enthusiastic gathering, comprising parents, pupils and old girls of the college filled the hall. The Mayor of Wellington (Mr. C. J. B. Norwood) presided. The chairman (Mr. W. H. Pi Barber), chairman of the Wellington College Board of Governors, Dr. E. Marsden, Assistant Director of Education, and Mr. G. Mitchell, representing the Parents' Association, eulogised the faithful and striking service rendered by Miss McLean during her long and successful career. The Mayor then presented her with a cheque for a substantial sum. Mrs. E. Dawson, on behalf of the Old Girls' Association, said that the old girls of Wellington College felt peculiarly bound to Mies McLean by ties stronger than those of citizenship. From Auckland to the Bluff women were paying silent tribute to Miss McLean that evening. Women like Miss McLean had sacrificed their home life for their profession, and sad would be their eventide if they did not know that they had the unbounded love of their foster children. Mrs. Dawson then presented Miss McLean with a rose bowl from her expupils throughout the Dominion, and with the college crest, set in diamonds, and, amidst laughter, admitted the guest of-the evening into "the honourable company of the old girls.", "" _ "__ j:

Miss Lilian Overell, the Tasmania!) representative to the International Congress in Paris, has been for years interested in education, and spent a year in Germany before the war studying methods. In 1920 she had a very interesting trip to German New Guinea, prior to the mandate being given to Australia. Her book, "A Woman's Impressions of German New Guinea," was published by John Lane and Co. (comments "The Dawn"). Mies Overell also travelled to Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, visiting places out of the beaten track. In commenting on Queen Salote's rule in Tonga, Miss Overell said she thought members of women's organisations would be interested and satisfied with the results of female rule in that beautiful island. Queen Salote's subjects are free and happy, for all Tonga is "dry," and consequently there is no crime, no drunkenness, no assaults on women and girls, and no public debt. Miss Overell was educated in Paris, and she is anticipating meeting old schoolfellows. She is particularly interested in the welfare of native and half-caste children, and brought under Lady Stonehaven's notice the conditions obtaining in Northern Australia.

Among quaint old marrrage rings, prized and sought after by collectors, the Claddagh ring is probably the rarest. Claddagh is a little district in the north west of Galway, and its people are popularly supposed to date back to the Armada. Colour has been lent to this belief because the people are tall and dark, and quite unlike other Galway folk, but it is certain that they date far behind and beyond the the Armada, and their origin ia a mystery. The Claddagh people rarely marry outside their own race. They have always used as marriage rings heavy gold bands, with hands clasped round a heart, and for many centuries these rings have passed from father to son, and each has been given to many a dark-browed bride. On the inner surface of the band the initials of the man and the woman have always been engraved. In a ring, which is hundreds of years old, initials, some roughly carved, almost cover the timesmoothed gold. Irish jewellers make many replicas of these mysterious old rings, but tne expert collector can easily dtetect the modern imitation, and owners of the genuine antiques prize them greatly. The one mentioned had been sought for seven years before a lucky ■chance brought its present possessor into contact with an old Galway woman who was willing to sell her treasure.

ENGAGEMENTS. The engagement has been announced of Eileen, second daughter of Mr. and ! Mre. K. A. Lee, of Napier,- to Dudjey iEiaidesy younger son of Mrs. J. Bannister, "Elsanore," Auckland,