WOMEN'S FORUM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 209, 3 September 1932, Page 13

WOMEN'S FORUM.

| COUNTRY LIFE. ! A short talk on the movement of Women's Institutes, their aims and objects was given by Mrs. S. V. Irwin, Auckland provincial president of Women's Institutes, to the members of the Penwomen's Club yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Carr Rollett presided. Mrs. Irwin spoke of the way the institutes had revolutionised the backblocks. In the past the activities of women were limited to the milking pail and housework, but now, through the institutes, they were able to enjoy intellectual pursuits, and have the companionship of other women. The movement also helped to break up the feuds that seemed inseparable from small townships. It also encouraged citizenship among women, teaching them to understand teamwork, and also the etiquette of 'business meetings. It was, Mrs. Irwin concluded, a fertile field for the future improvement of the status of women. BOOK COMPETITION. Book afternoons, when each guest representing a ? - popular book, have;'long been a successful means of securing volumes for club libraries, and yesterday afternoon when the members of the Writers' Club held such a function, a very enjoyable time was spent. Some of the representations were very clever, and, as iri the majority of competitions, the simplest were the hardest to guess. Two of the members chose littl<? packets or rice and volcanic soil. The first was "Bice," by Louise Jordan Miln, and the latter, "Good Earth," by Pearl S. Buck. Priestley's "Good Companions" was represented by a needle and thread, and a list of top prices, written oh, slip of paper, was "The Squatter's Dream." A prize, presented by Mrs. Nello Porter, for the one; who guessed the highest number correctly, was won by Mrs. F. M. Fisher. The president, Mrs. I. M. Cluett,, presided.