PROVINCIAL NEWS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 37, 13 February 1934, Page 13

PROVINCIAL NEWS.

TE POl. A number of friends paid a surprise visit to Miss M. Abbott, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Abbott, on the occasion of her twenty-first birthday. On behalf of those attending Mr. C. A. Stopford wished Miss Abbott the best of good things for her future. Mr. Abbott replied suitably on behalf of his daughter. Games and dancing filled in the evening.

Practically every house in the Te Poi district w«s represented in a gathering which packed the Memorial Hall on Thursday in honour of Miss Garland and Mr. J. Dawson. Visitors were present from Okawa, Cambridge and Turanga-o-moana. Miss Garland has been assistant teacher at Te Poi school for nearly five years and during that time has earned the high respect of not only the scholars who have passed through her hands, but also the parents. Mr. Dawson is also a very popular member of the community and is a son of one of Te Poi's pioneer families. The evening was organised by the Young People's Club, of which society both guests were members.

WAITOA. A popular social event of the Waitoa district was the Oddfellows' Anniversary Ball held by the Waitoa Oddfellows' Lodge on Tuesday. Music was supplied by aTe Arolia orchestra. One Monte Carlo dance was won by Miss M. Shine and Mr. Parton, and another by Miss Dike and Mr. Barlow. The spot waltz was won by Miss Everitt and Mr. Morrison. A 500 tournament held during the evening was won by Mr. R. McLeod and Mrs. Hayes. Among the Waitoa people present were Mesdames Garrett, Larsen, McKendry, Brough, Munro, Reeve, Wadham, Hayes, Holland, Hyde (2), Klaus, McLeod, Malcolm, Misses Bigwood, Everitt, Findon, Gikc, Gordon, Goodfellow, Munro, Perry, Shine, Klaus, Reay, Steere, Sturgeon and Vercoe.

MORRINSVILLE. There was a particularly large attendance at the February meeting of the Morrinsville branch of the women's division of the Farmers' Union on Friday, this being the first gathering of the new year. The president, Mrs. F. W. B. Jenner, was in the chair, and tlie usual amount of branch business was transacted. The Piako district members were hostesses for the day, and a feature was the splendid floral decorations of the hall. The tables were brightened tip with vases of summer blooms in shades of red and gold, with African marigolds, dahlias, gladioli and gerberas of fine quality specially prominent. The ladies who . arranged the entertainment for the meeting were Mesdames J. R. West, R. .T. Stewart, J. T. Robinson, J. E. Bell, E. P. N. 8011, Roaeli, Wilkie and McLean. An instructive competition held called for the naming of .30 native and imported shrubs, specimens of whose foliage was .displayed on a card. Mrs. Washbourne and Mrs. Walker tieel with 14 correct names. Mrs. Jenner demonstrated rug-makLng, and Mrs. Eowe gave a display of poker-wa^

BOLIVIA.

NEW ZEALANDER'S VIEWS. A land of sharp contrasts, a land wherein the highest culture is found side by side with savagery, where the high educational standards of the few accentuate the pitiable ignorance and superstition of the many —such is Bolivia, as described by Miss Marion Neal, a New Zealander, who has devoted live years to the service of the poor and unenlightened in that distant part of South America. Miss Neal, who is visiting Christchurch for the conference of the Nurses' Christian Union, is one of 14 New Zealanders who are members of the Bolivian Indian Mission, founded by Mr. George Allan, of Dunedin. Miss Neal is a graduate of Auckland University College. After taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts, she taught for a time in the Auckland Grammar School. Relinquishing teaching, she entered the Wellington Hospital for training, and shortly after qualifying as a nurse, more than five years ago, she left for Central Bolivia.

High Altitudes. Most of the inhabitants of the Bolivian Republic, Miss .Neal says, live at an altitude of from 7000 to 14,000 feet above eea level, two-fifths of the area of the country being highlands. The lowlands are sparsely peopled with savages —children of the forest. The upper class, the descendants of the Spanish conquerors, make up only about 7 per cent of the population. They own most of the land and enjoy all the privileges of modern civilisation. In the live principal cities, schools, colleges, training colleges for teachers, schools of mines and similar educational institutions are flourishing. In the provinces are to be found many cholos or half-breeds, who are now showing a desire for education. Schools for the children of the cholos have been established, and are well attended. But purebred Indians, descendants of the Incas of Bolivia and Peru, form fully CO or 70 per cent of the population, and they live, more or less, as slaves. With primitive implements tliey till patches on the hillsides or drive ploughs drawn by oxen, in the valleys where they cultivate maize, wheat and potatoes. They are intensely superstitious and have little or no knowledge of hygiene or of the rules of health. To them the witch doctor is a very important person, for he combats disease, which, they think, is largely due to the elements. To cope with pathetic ignorance, with unhygienic conditions, with deeply rooted superstitions—this is the task that, the medical missionaries have set themselves, and they are meeting with much success.

National feasts, religious feasts, feasts of all kinds, are very popular with tlie Indians. In fact, there is not 'a phase of existence that is not identified- with feasting. The sowings of the crops, births, deaths, weddings, the reaping of the crops, the completion of a new house —all these are occasions for feasting. And these are no ordinary feasts. They last sometimes for eight days, when work is forgotten. No one minds. Work can be done another time. Bolivia is, indeed, the land of Manana—the land of to-morrow.

Recent Progress. During the last 10 years, Miss Neal says, Bolivia has progressed rapidly. Tlie railways are managed by a British company, though a large percentage of the employees are Bolivians. At Potosi are silver mines, which have been worked since th" sixteenth century, and are still the richest in the world, and before the years of depression one-quarter of the world's supply of tin came from Bolivia. The G|H9g.te-f« -a

definite rainy season, lasting from September till the end of March. No rain at all falls from April to September. New Zcalanders find the climate trying, chiefly because of the rarefied atmosphere. IMiss Neal's health lias suffered considerably, but she hopes, after a holiday, to return to this land of extremes, where the residents may travel by oxcart or by aeroplane as fancy directs.