NOTED ENGLISH AUTHORESS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21941, 16 November 1936, Page 2

NOTED ENGLISH AUTHORESS

MRS ALEC-TWEEDIE TO

VISIT N.Z. WELL KNOWN TO RETURNED SOLDIERS (FEOil OUB OWK CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, October 21. Authoress of 28 books, one of the world’s greatest woman travellers, explorer, artist, hostess, and worker at many jobs and crafts, Mrs AlecTweedie has decided to make a cruise in the Strathnaver for the sake of her health. New Zealand is to be included in the liner’s itinerary. MrS Alec-Tweedie will visit the Dominion for the first time, and will find there many who remember her work for the New Zealand and Australian soldiers during the war. She anticipates meeting many old friends during a tour lasting three or four weeks.

In addition to her writings, Mrs Alec-Tweedie will be well known to New Zealanders for her work for the Young Men’s Christian Association during the Great War. She collected £50,000, allowing 40 huts to be built. She was also responsible for the building of the “Shakespeare Hut,” near the British Museum. This provided sleeping accommodation for 1500 men every night, and meals for thousands of soldiers. A lounge in the hunt was dedicated to the memory of Mrs Alec-Tweedie’s youngest son, killed near Yyres, and in that lounge Lord French declared the hut open. The hut was known to many New Zealanders and Australians, who will also remember the entertainment she provided for them every Sunday at her flat, where nearly 100 were invited to tea every week-end. Mrs Alec-Tweedie is vice-president of several societies in England, and serves on many philanthropic and charitable committees. Her first book was published in 1890, and her latest book has recently been the subject of many enthusias ic reviews. During a recent tour of the world she f ayed with the High Commissioner of Palestine (General Sir Arthur Wauchope), at the Vice-rc jal Lodge, New Delhi, at Government House in Hong Kong, and at the Brit hj Legation in Peiping. The Japanese Government honoured her by making her the first woman to be given a Foreign Office dinner. It is likely that Mrs Alec-Tweedie will secure material for another book in New Zealand; but she has no definite intention of doing so. “I am making the cruise to recover my health,” she said on the eve of her departure. “I have no plans for doing anything in New Zealand save seeing the country. I believe it is very attractive. I have been asked to broadcast, but it is no use saying that I will because I may not feel up to it when I reach New Zealand.” In London Mrs Alec-Tweedie lives in a fiat in Devonshire House, Mayfair. One Of her hobbies is collecting bric-a-brac, of which she has many valuable and rare pieces.