WOMEN'S FORUM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 98, 27 April 1932, Page 10

WOMEN'S FORUM.

CHILD EDUCATION. From time to time various social organisations in the city bring forward resolutions which deplore the standard of films which are shown to children. It is realised that the effect of unsuitable films upon the young and growing brain is an important matter in child welfare, and from witnessing unsavoury subjects and incidents that do not tend to uplift the child morally, a great deal of harm can come. It would seem that tho remedy lay in tho hands of the parents, but even in these enlightened days mothors still shirk their responsibilities—or are ignorant of them, and there seems to be every reai3on for movements to bo afoot to adjust tho matter. England is realising tho importation of its child education, and the first effort was recently made to cater specially for audiences of children with programmes which were both entertaining and instructive, and organised in connection with the school's curriculum. The cinema owners co-operated, and tho first show, attended by 15,000 children, lasted an hour and a quarter, and included films dealing with history, natural history, engineering, science, and geography. MELON JAM TIME. If the depression docs nothing else, it at least seems to bo helping to make a great feeling of friendliness in the community. They say it is tho poor that help the poor and we aro reminded of an instanco where a widow in Auckland who had a sack of coal given to hoi, shared it, knob by knob, with a friend who in return gave her sufficient kindling wood to start the blaze. The very latest idoa those days is working-bees at cutting up melons for jam. It is melon time, and tho dicing of the fruit is a tedious job when alone. Large families manage all right. Fathers and brothers enter into the spirit of it and almost enjoy themselves, while the younger ones have no end of fun with the slippery pips. Competitions as to who can flip them the farthest are only spoiled by maternal words tho next day after tho sole of a shoe has come in contact with stray ones. In a suburb of the city, melon cutting has temporarily taken tho place of bridge. The practic? promises to last until each woman has rows of golden jars on her shelves. The hostess for the occasion provided a nice cup of tea, and each guest swathe.l in an apron and armed with a knife, the working-beo merrily 6ets to work. Gossip, an exchange of recipes and household hints, and an endless discussion as to whether lemon is better than ginger to. mix'with the melon (the decision going to tho cheaper), passes the time pleasantly by. At a later date, that hostess joins another bee; the same topics are discussed and another preserving pan of diced melon is ready for the boil. SONO LECTURE. "Scottish Songs" was the subject of an address given by Mr. J. W. Shaw at tho Victoria League last evening. Mr. Townlcy Little presided and said that tho lecture was the first of tho usual series of monthly lectures which would be given during the winter. The Scottish heart and soul, said Mr. Shaw in tho course of his address, have expressed themselves in song in much tho same way as the Greeks expressed themselves in art, the Hebrew in terms of religion and the Romans in the institutions they built. Almost every incident in Scottish history had formed tho centre of a popular ballad. People in al! grades of society, from tho highest to tho lowest, had written them and many people with apparently no literary gifts whatever had achieved something that was immortal and imperishable when they had written a By means of tho* violin, tho Scottish national instrument, the songs were interpreted to the people. "Tho bagpipe," said Mr. Shaw, "is frequently mistaken for the Scottish national instrument, but in reality is merely tho martial or dancing instrument of the country." Many of tho finest songs composed from about the 15th century onward were historical, and through them the battles of Flodden, Bannockburn, Prestonpans and otheifl had become immortal. A number of songs were road by Mr. Shaw, who illustrated the poetic background of the language and also gave sidelights on Scottish history which had a bearing on the songs read. At the conclusion of his address, Mr. Shaw was accorded a hearty voto of thanks.