LUNCHEON CLUB.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 207, 2 September 1938, Page 10

LUNCHEON CLUB.

TALK ON PALESTINE. CONTRAST IN CONDITIONS. Gay Iceland poppies and spring flowers decorated the Milne and Clioyce reception rooms yesterday, when a meeting of the Auckland Women's Luncheon Clubu was 1 held. The president, Mrs. J. C. Gulliver presided and welcomed the guests. Letters of i thanks were read from Sister Esther and the Rev. G. E. Moreton, the president of the Auckland Discharged Prisoners Aid Society, for the gifts they had received from the club. It was decided to appoint Mrs. Kenneth Gordon as the club's prow at the meeting of the National Committee of the Pan-Pacific Women's Conference in Wellington. The remits to be put before the- meeting are that the whole question of representation should be opened as s ?° n , as P os . s *' ) ' e ' al, d that postal votes should be instituted for organisations unable to send representatives. . conclusion of lunch an interesting talk on Palestine was given by Mr. R. S. Griffiths. Mr. Griffiths pointed out the marked contrasts between the living conditions of the Jews and the Arabs'! In agriculture, he said, the Jews used all the most up-to-date methods, while the Arabs still worked under primitive conditions. It was no uncommon sight, the speaker said, to see the Arabs ploughing with crude plough shares worked by small asses or decrepit camels. 1 Mr. Griffiths also spoke of the living quarters in old Jerusalem. He stressed the squalor of the conditions, and told, in contrast, of the modernity of New Jerusalem, which was built on the outskirts of the old city, a.nd which was amazingly beautiful. A particularly fine example of modern architecture v B P e » ker described was the Y.W.C.A. building, the gift of a wealthy Canadian. A remarkable fact about the Y.W.C.A., said Mr. Griffiths, was the large number of Moslems that attended regularly. They were quite willing to attend a Christian institution because of the technical instruction classes that were held there. Mr. Griffiths also stressed the point that it was not safe for visitors to travel along un|x>pulated roads unless they were in a party of at least six. Banditry, he said, was still rife in most parts of Palestine. At the conclusion of his talk Mr. j Griffiths was thanked by Mrs. n! Dimery. The hostesses at lunch were Mrs. H. Ellis, Mrs. F. Hicks and Miss F. Brookes. :