CURRENT NOTES

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25581, 24 August 1948, Page 2

CURRENT NOTES

Gifts of baby clothes sent by wellwishers all over the world are arriving almost daily at Buckingham Palace for Princess Elizabeth. As the Royal Family does not accept gifts except from personal friends most of them will be returned, though the Princess will keep seme of the gifts to remind her of the thoughts inspiring them. Princess Elizabeth has made some of her baby’s clothes herself and she has been helped by her sister, Princess Margaret. Queen Mary is also knitting for her expected first great-grandchild.—London, August 22. News has been received that Miss Joan Patricia Morrison, a graduate of Canterbury University College, and holder of a Sir William Hartley Scholarship at Oxford University, has gained her B.A. degree at Oxford with honours in modern greats. This includes political history, history, philosophy, and economics. Although the course is usually recognised as a threeyear one, Miss Morrison completed it in two years. She will stay at Oxford for another yeawto undertake search work with a view to gaining a doctorate. Miss Morrison is at present attending a conference of the Student Christian Movement in Holland.

The work done by teachers and trainees at the speech clinic at the Christchurch Normal School was explained to members of the St. Albans Plunket Mothers’ Club by Miss Caughley, of the Speech Clinic, at the August meeting of the club. Mbthers were given hints on how to help a child with a speech defect so that the defect could be corrected while the child was young, and so save it embarrassment in later life. Mrs A. Pratt presided at the meeting. ' The Dominion conference of the -Presbyterian Women’s Fellowship will open in Dunedin to-day and continue until Friday. Land at the Ryan street entrance to Edmonds Park will be offered at a peppercorn rental by the City Council as a site for Plunket rooms at Woolston. For some time the Woolston sub-branch of the Plunket Society has had the use of a room in a building owned by the R.S.A., but the arrange-' ment has not proved satisfactory, the reserves committee reported to the council last evening. The sub-branch was confident of securing local support for finance once a site was obtained.

Two British women who came to New Zealand a year ago to take up mental hospital nursing spent their first long holiday since their arrival on a hitch-hiking tour of the North Island, and they nave enjoyed the experience so much that next year they intend to hitch-hike through the South Island. In their three weeks’ holiday they covered more than 1200 miles and did not have to walk more than two miles in between “lifts.” The two I women, Mrs Margaret Salter, a Scotswoman, and Miss Joyce Taylor, a Londoner, are nursing at Raventhorpe Mental Hospital, 29 miles from Auckland. Buses along the route are infrequent, but the two women found they could usually get “lifts” to Auckland for their leave days. They said they found mental hospital nursing hard work, but they intended to keep their bargain with the New Zealand Government and stay the stipulated two years at their work. They considered a sense of humour was necessary for the work. Miss Taylor, who belonged to the Youth Hostel Association ip England, has paid two visits to the Continent with groups of young people since the war. The holidays cost about £2O for three weeks, including fares. She said finance was arranged by exchange of expenses money with parties of French Youth Hostel groups going td England for tours. Mrs Salter has spent hiking holidays in Scotland and in the Lake district in England. A deputation from the Riccarton branch of the Plunket Society to discuss the possibility of expending the erection of Plunket rooms in Shand crescent, will be reviewed at the next meeting of the Riccarton Borough Council. This was decided at last night’s meeting of the council. An area has already been set aside for the building.

A talk on the women of Malaya was given to the Y.W.C.A. Business and Professional Women’s Club last evening by Mr S. E. Field. He described their native customs, social life, and dress. Mr Field also recalled visits to the palatial homes of some Chinese millionaires, and spoke of the outstanding orchids grown. Miss Constance Fenwick has given her beautiful house and property, at Maraweka, near Oamaru, for the use of neurasthenic and totally disabled soldiers.