LONDON SCENE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 106, 7 May 1942, Page 4

LONDON SCENE

A Woman's Work In Nursing Services

No woman in the public eye has done her work more efficiently than Miss Florence Horsbrugh, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health. From the earliest days of the war she has concerned herself with our nursing services, laying special emphasis on the need to build up the Civil Nursing Reserve. As chairman of the Civil Nursing Reserve Advisory Council,, she will see some of the fruits of her drive for recruits. She is going to present red stars to nursing auxiliary members of the reserve in the London Legion who are given the equivalent of one year s—in many cases two years'— satisfactory whole-time service—and there are over 500 of them. At first meeting. Miss Horsbrugh appears a rather reserved Scotswoman, and you have to talk to her and watch her face light up with attractive, sympathetic smile to appreciate the real woman who has made a success of her job.

lii'iiK on the Market!

Moving into smaller premises 12 ' months ago, 1 had to sell or store part, of mv furniture. Before reaching a decision I took expert advice. Was it better to store or to sell outright and buy new furniture later on? I was advised to store, since anything you bought after the war would be of inferior quality. But before sending my chattels to the depository, which was run in association with a huge furniture shop, I asked the owners if thev would themselves make me an offer. In Parliamentary parlance the answer was in the negative. At that time secondhand furniture, I was told, was a drug on the market. To-day I received an account for three months' storage. Attached to it was a printed slip asking me if I would allow them to take the furniture out of storage and make me an offer for it. The tempting intimation was further made that there is now a big demand for furniture of any kind. Just in Case Whether or not our aid raid shelters have to be used to any extent during the next few months, precautions have been taken to check any epidemics that may threaten through this form of communal life. One of the most acceptable ideas to prevent spread of disease and skin troubles comes in the form of "soap tissues." a recent American invention. The tissues are small squares of soft paper impregnated with soap \ which, when moistened, gives out a , creamy lather, leaving only the , paper, which is easily discarded. The i first shipment of 10,000 tissues, lust ] received from the American Red Cross, will be placed in shelter cloak rooms in place of soap tablets, thus eliminating risk of passing on disease when one article is used by a number of people. If the experij ment is successful large quantities j will be sent for distribution all over ] the country.

"Little Businesses" The grim situation which small shopkeepers have to face is specially hard on women, no longer young, who for years before the war were running little businesses of their own. They had knitting, needlework, flowers, "fancy goods" and small book shops, into which they had worked hard, with affection for the job and friendliness for the customers, most of whom were "regulars." Rationing, drastic cutting of supplies and other wartime difficulties have hit them hard, and in their case to "pool" with other businesses is scarcely possible. It is to be hoped that some consideration will be given to such women. Ordinary shopkeepers who have to amalgamate or close down may have somesafeguards provided for the future— but the majority of these women are not young enough to look very far into the future.