SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2752, 22 April 1916, Page 10

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

An Open-minded: Association. At the conference of tlio Noiv Zealand'' 1 Women. Teacheus' Association, which was held on Tlmirsday evening, Miss Myers read two iof the remits which are to be seut to t'fiie Education Council by the Associated! School Committees j Executive (Canterbury). The first was j as follows: "That in view of the probability of* a [reduction in Government expenditure, Wis association wishes to impress upon i 'the Government that j primary education must on no account be allowed to, Suffer." (2) "That ' this association regrets the'imbalance*:! representation of tho sexes, both in. the inspectorate and the Education Council, and is of opinion that there should he mora lady members on both sides." Red Cross Tea at Hukanui. Tho weekly Hamua-Hukanui Red Cross tea -was held at the residence of Mrs. Par*Aer on Wednesday, a most onj-ftjablo afternoon _ was spent, everyone working with a .will. Mrs. (J. D. H. Smith, "Onslow Park," Haimia, will be tlap hostess on Wednesday next. Mr. anil Mrs. H.' A. AV. Mackenzie and daughter • left /by yesterday's, train on a <F>sit to tho Vaitomo Caves, Aucklamd. . The latest eccentricity that has appeared on the streets of London is .an armov/red perambulator. This vehicle baa fjfao most 'extraordinary wheels; there : are no spokes, and the place where the Ejpokes ought to be is filled with solid metal, very much like the wheels of a'o. armoured motor-car. Attached to the front of the perambulator is an elaborate motor-car lamp in miniature, corrected with a tiny electric battery. Miss Pyemont, of The Terrace, left foil Svdney by the Manuka yesterday. Dr." Elizabeth Gunn has been granted the temporary rank of captain in tho rfew Zealand Medical Corps while employed on the Tahiti as permanent medical officer for the voyage to Egypt and {return. ' ' , _ .1, . Miss Luoy Dixon, of tho Registrar- ' /General's Department, lias gone on a ''holiday to Blenh&m. • A euchre party and cjance bo6n ' arranged by the Kelbum National Re- ; . serve, Women's Branoh, in aid of the . Hetiirned Soldiers' Hostel, to take place in the Masonic Hall, Boulcott .', Street, on Wednesday, May 3 J Tickets . : .at 2s. 6d. will be on sale at the Bristol, or from the secretary, Mrs. Bell, 'phone 8595. ' Miss G. Moncrieff, of Kelburn, ir • visiting the South Island. . Miss Flora Syinorids, left on Thursday evening by the south boat for Christ-church, where she intends spending, Easter. - . . i Mr. and.Mrs. Herbert Coull, Otaiiemomo," Day's Bay, are holding another of their very pleasant "At Homes" rot wounded soldiers on Friday afternoon next, at Day's Bay.. In War Time. . ; A colonel of British artillery, in a letter to the London "Times," writes : "Yesterday, not far behind the shell area, I met a frail French girl, not more than 17 years old, _ very'.nearsighted, but ploughing industriously with two large horses. The operation seemed -to tax all her strength. Arrival at the end of the furrow, I asked was thore 110 one to help licr. 'Non, M'sieur. Mon frcre est a la guerre..' Is it not too hard for-yon? 'Non, M'sieur,' with an air that seemed to say, 'It is hard—but I. don't meaii to admit.it.' And she started on .tho new furrow. Jihe had no'time for idle conversation. Certainly—liow graud are the Frenchwomen! Arid tho men'also play their part! To-day I-overtook 3'' miner making his -way home across the fields. As we were some distance from any mine, I asked him i liad he-come from the nearest one—some four- miles distant. 'No', I come from B ——and - lie lAentioned one quite_ seven miles away! How long does it take you to do-t'he'iourney? 'Ail hour and a half-.' 'What "aro your hours of work?' 'Twelve hours—three hours extra to fiur peace shift,:owing to the, war.' 'So you have -18-hours' work '••• and threu hours' walking" every day?' 'Yes.' 'That is a good'deal.' 'In war all is bard'—with a- cheery shrug, and we parted." Problems of the Full Skirts, One of tho problems that -women ■ have to faco just now in connection with dressmaking is how to trim the \yide, full skirts and the edges of coats and .'blouses,, states an Australian writer. -The flat bands of 'silk or velyet which wore popular at first have been overdone, and in any case are unbecoming to any but tho slenderest of women.- The little bits of beautifully wrought sflli or bead embroidery, or of braiding on ninon, ■ which Embellish some of the imported gowns are for ■the few. alone who are skilful enough to do the work themselves, or rich enough to pay for skilful people to do it.. It will be welcome news, therefore, that one of tho most distinguished of Parisian houses is making a feature of stitching as a trimming. Cuffs, collars, the new oapes, belts, and skirt hems are entirely covered with evenlyspaced rows of machine-stitching. The effect is said to bo extremely good, and the grouping can be varied to such an extent that the trimming is not likely , to give tha. effect of .'uniformity, which was'- the chief fault in. the silk bands. ' Buttons aro another form of trimming which are likely to remain ' popular, and, in spite of war condi--1 tions, a great variety of buttons is to bo found in the shops. If any difficulty is found in matching or in finding'buttons to suit, it is a- good plan to make hahd-made buttons of the dress material, and to ' ornament them with silk or wool. Another .excellent button may 1 bo made by stringing a. i long string of fine .beads, either in self colour or in Persian colourings, and coiling this on a\ button made by cov-. ering a wooden or cardboard mould with the dress materia'!. The beads need to be'seenrely stitched to the button, and if this is carefully done a »OQd-wearing and highly ornamental button is'secured. \