Women And The War

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 177, 27 July 1940, Page 3 (Supplement)

Women And The War

WOMEN who have eased off knitting for the time being will soon start work again, with the idea in miad of having a good stock of comforts ready for the first calls our service men make in autumn. Apropos this I saw an appreciative letter at the Wool and Clothing Depot of W.V.S. in Park Lane this morning. It came from one of His Majesty's ships, and read: "On behalf of the officers and ratings of this ship, I wish to thank you and your good ladies for the very welcome parcel you so kindly sent us ... I asked most of the ratings what they would like in anv future parcel, and the majority said 'Seaboot stockings, please.'" Needless to say, the request wm fulfilled by return of poet. Canadian Hospital Lord and Lady Astor, who did much in the last war for Canadian soldiers, are just a3 interested now in the welfare of the new Canadian units over here. Representative Canadian officers have already enjoyed hospitality at Cliveden, the lovely riverside home in Bucks, and Lady Astor, especially, watches with pleasure any effort made to entertain the Dominion soldiers in" London. The Canadians are to have their own special hospital in the grounds of Cliveden, ae they did in the Great War, and something like a hundred nurses are expected from Canada shortly to take charge. The hospital is actually being built in the grounds by the Canadian Red Cross, and will accommodate nearly a thousand patients. One could hardly help but recuperate in that sylvan setting with the kingfishers flitting from tree to tree beside the silvery Thames! Any Old Iron ? Lady Oxford and Asquith will be well content to watch the demolition of iron railings which is now taking place round many of the London squares. She has long advocated this reform on the ground that the railings were often unsightly and blotted out the beauty and freedom of the squares. When she first mooted the scheme two or three years ago, I remember her pleasure when Lord Caldecote, then Sir Thomas Inskip, came forward to support her. The railings are now being scrapped, not on aesthetic grounds, but to meet the demand for munitions. But not all will be touched. Some are glorious examples of the art of the ironsmith, and cost in some instances many thousands of pounds. "Oslo Breakfast" Since the Ministry of Food launched the "wise housekeeping in wartime" campaign', there has been a good deal oi" talk about the "Oslo breakfast," though few people seem to know exactly what jit is. Actually it is the result of research j work by a Norwegian doctor, who pre- [ scribed a meal rich in protective foodstuffs which was introduced into schools. The results were so excellent that soon it became the custom throughout Scandinavia to give the family such a meal every day. The "menu" is: Half to one pint of milk; wholemeal bread spread with butter or vitaminised margarine— as much as required, including crusts, or part toasted; one and a half ounces of cheese; salad, including raw carrot, and an apple or an orange. Growing Herbs I should imagine that far more herbs are being grown in London this year than ever before. Housewives realise that they will be wise to "make out" with salads to a large extent as soon as greenstuff is cheaper and more plentiful, 'and the subtle flavourings which make

From Our London Lady Correspondent all the difference between the ordinary and the interesting salad bowl are likely to be in demand. Little salad "gardens" are making their appearance upon window sills, on a bit of flat roofing, and even in sooty back yards, where only the hardiest shrubs have been cultivated before. One woman gardener has been specialising in herbs and uncommon vegetables "since Munich" and has had an extraordinary demand for plants in the last few weeks. Celebrating Her Majority Recently Lady Astor celebrated her majority as a Member of Parliament. She is not the first woman member, but certainly the most distinctive. The House alternately loves her and gets exasperated with her, so the relationship has quite a domestic touch. Children, women and temperance are her interests. She is an out and out feminist, and the House will listen to her with deep respect on her first two subjects, but will not take her as seriously as she would wish on the third. Lady Astor comes of old Virginian stock, and has all the vivacity of her countrywomen—too much vivacity, say members who have suffered from her disconcerting interruptions. She has the distinction of having a son smtting with her in the House of Commons, while her husband is in the House of Lords. Women Taxi Drivers If the war goes < n long enough we may yet see women taxi-drivers plying the straets of London. Already there is talk of bringing them back, and as more and more men are called up they may yet find their opportunity. There is nothing to prevent them driving at once—except the strictness with which they are examined in the topography of the London maze of streets. A few obtained the necessary license some years ago. But they soon disappeared, squeezed out, it was supposed, by the hostility displayed against them bv the other drivers. The men said, with "some •degree of truth, perhaps, that it was a man's job and was not fitted to the woman driver. «