GIRLS' FLOCK HOUSE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 145, 21 June 1926, Page 8

GIRLS' FLOCK HOUSE.

ITS SCOPE AND SYSTEM. A PLEASANT INSTITUTION. TRAINING FOR LIFE ON THE LAND. (Bj Telesrapb.— Own Correspondent) WELLINGTON, this day. About two months ago the trustees of the fund known as the New Zealand Sheep Owners' Acknowledgment of Debt to British Seamen Fund purchased from Mr. W. Strang the estate formerly known as "Shalirnar, , - , two miles out of Palmerston North. This was opened in May with the name of Girls' Flock House, for the residence and training of a prescribed number of daughters of British sailors of the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine, who had suffered death or disablement in the Great War. The first to make their home there are twelve girls who arrived from England on May 7; and these ■will be followed by drafts every three months to the number or" six or twelve. The House and Grounds. A visitor to the home (says the "Post' , ) is at once struck by the suitability of the estate for its new purpose. A short drive between shrub-bordered lawns opens on a picturesque doublestoreyed house, bright witi Virginia creeper and passion fruit vine. The entrance hall is wide, and in it hangs a map of New Zealand, on which the girls have marked the farms . where their brothers from Boys' Flock House are stationed. A sitting room with long, low windows and a conservatory beyond is slso the recreation room, big enough for indoor games and dancing—but as there is at present no piano, the latter must wait. A cloak room in which to leave outdoor clothes is furnished with. a small wardrobe for each girl, and a row of hand basins for the special convenience of those on gardening or dairy duty. A bright, large kitchen adjoins, in which two of the girls were preparing the dinner for the household of eighteen, and beyond that the dining room. The sewing room comes next, where the house-mending is done and lockers provided for the week's personal mending of each individual. Two girls were a{ work in the adjacent laundry completing the week's ironing. The wood burning stove, with six of the old-style irons heating on it was sufficient evidence that the domestic facilities of the average farmhouse were being duplicated in Flock House; so that there is no fear that the girls trained there will be unaware of the probable conditions in the homes they subsequently go to live in. The general impression created by the suite of living rooms downstairs was one of dignity and solidity. The wooden panelling of the rooms, the low latticed windows, the arched doors of ecclesiastical design borne out by the carved fireplaces and mantelpieces, give an effect of beauty not impaired by the plain furniture. Upstairs are bright, attractive bedrooms, with touches of home revealed in the knick-nacks and photographs on each girl's dressing table. Here also is the "infirmary" and a guest room which will be the "old girls'" bedroom whenever one of them can come back on a visit to her first New Zealand home.

Outside on the way to the dairy we passed two girls in their workmanlike 'Hand girl's" uniform chopping wood and testifying to the efficiency of their instruction by their skill in doing it. Then the dairy with its spotless benches, big churn, and array of pounds of butter. Already—and it had been in working order only three weeks—butter was beini sent from it to Boys' Flock House Piloted by the member of the staff in charge of the outdoor training, we visited a most important corner—the poultry runs. Not being particularly interested in hens, one might have been contented to take them for granted; but the enthusiasm of the supervisor would take no denial, and we came away from our inspection with a considerably increased respect for the knowledge and ability required to make a commercial success out of poultry farming. The System of Instruction. An orchard and garden provide another avenue of training for the girls Every fourth week the same group returns to the same employment—an advantage, in regard to the gardening instruction, of being able to observe the effects of the changing seasons. The house girls are engaged in cooking, laundering, cleaning and polishing for two weeks of the month, and as dairy girls milk and make butter for the remaining week. All attend the evening classes, lasting one hour, conducted by the matron, who is certificated from-the Edinburgh School of Domestic Economy. On Monday there is housewifery or laundry, on Tuesday cookery, on Wednesday sick nursing, on Thursday cut-ting-out and sewing. The first work in dressmaking is to complete the outfit provided by the iund, of which the first part is bought in England, and the rest made by the girls themselves. It will be readily seen that what foresight and efficient staffing and interest in the welfare of each girl can do is being worthily carried out. The original scheme and the financing of it is due to the trustees of the Sheepownere' Fund; the personal interest in and care for the individual girl is entrusted to the Young Women's Christian Association of New Zealand, which is worthily fulfilling its trust. The Plan for the Future. For the six months of their stay the girls are dependent on the provision made at Flock House for their recreation, as well as domestic and outdoor training. Very soon there will be equipment for hockey, and possibly for basketball also, and by the summer a tennis court may le ready. What was once a stable can perhaps later be transformed into a games room. System and a minimum of regulations contribute to making the girls methodical and self-reliant. They live by rule and work hard. Their simple life —which yet does not preclude an atmosphere of comfortable and attractive home life—is the result of much careful planning to secure the best preparation for the life they will take up. As domestic helps for a period of years to farmers' wives, they will be doing their part in the country of their adoption to meet one of the urgent needs in New Zealand life. Girls who make good share equally with the boys in any subsequent help available from the Sheepowners , Fund. The ideal is for them to start as partners with their brothers, and they will share in the assistance which will be given to the boys when the time comes that they are ready to take up farms of their own.