WOMAN'S WORLD

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3039, 28 March 1917, Page 3

WOMAN'S WORLD

(ContinuecUfrom page 2.)

Women's National Reserve,

.'A very enjoyable afternoon tea, given by the central executive, branoh presidents, and secretaries of the Wo- , 8 National,, Reserve, took place at the Pioneer Club yesterday in honour bf Miss Elsmie "Ward, the retiring socxetary, and also to welcome her suo,cessqr, Mrs. Corliss. In an appropriate little speeoh, Dr. Platts-Mills (president) referred to Miss Ward's intimate 'association with the growth of the work 'of iftg Reserve, and stressed their good fortune in obtaining the assistance of Mrs.-Corliss, whoso experience in organised work was likely to be a valuable aM. She then presented to Miss ;Ward, on behajf of the members present, a gold wristlet watch, as a mark of_ their appreciation of her servicos. Miss Ward warmly thanked them for their good wishes and token of appreciation.

■ Mrs. Seville, who was responsible for the arrangements of tho afternoon, ;brieny endorsed the'president'a roinarks. Tea was then served, after which Mrs. Corliss gave an interesting and -instructive address on the war work being done /by women in the homeland, in which, she,.. too, had taken part. She etated that they had amply proved_ their oapacitv to undertake work hitherto considered exclusively men's work. : She concluded by Saying that she thought .that .the authorities in New Zealand were slow to avail themselves of the services of wohfen workers. The address concluded fe. very pleasant afternoon..- Among the guests were Mrs. Ward and Mrs.T?on-' feonby. ■

. . The poor war , bWes 1.- One blossomed In the daily paner birfcli notices recently as Beatty Jutland. Still it might • nave been worse.. If he had landed at • another time (says a writer in the "BnUetin"):he might have been brarid- , - cd Protopopoff Bagdad. And some pa-rents wonder why: their children take the ; wrong turning 1

Another of the pleasant dances given for soldiers in the Sydney Street Soldiers , Club will take place on Saturday evening. Holders of red tickets are asked to'be.at the club punctually at (juarter-past seven.

.Mrs. 'J. P. Luke,-president of the .Wellington Women's Bed Cross ComJnittee, has received a letter from tW Countess of Gosford,president of the Central Work Rooms Committee of the British Red, Cross, in connection with the recognition of the services of voluntary: workers in .New Zealand.by the wearing of a badge similar to that worn by volunteer workers in Engknd. Reforence is also made in the letter to the account of the voluntary work dono by the women of New Zealand given 'by Mrs. W. F. Massey when visiting the Central Work Rooms, an. account in which much" interest.was expressed hy the writer.

The Blind Soldiers of the Empire. ' A little while ago an appeal was made by Sir Arthur Pearson from London, through the medium of the Press, on behalf of • the blind soldiers at St. Dunstan's. It was stated that owing to the inoreasing number of soldiers who were suffering from blindness as- a result of the war the authorities had lent to them Regent's Park.College, standing beside St. Dunstan's. in addition to training the men bo that they would be able to reshape their lives and work in-fresh fields of activities, it was necessary that there should bo the, provision of sufficient moans not only to enable the authorities to care properly for the men and ■to train them, but also to provide for them after they had gone through the period of training. Unless they were prepared to provide supervision for the purchase of raw materials, and afterwards for the marketing of the goods which had been made , ) much of tho value of the work that had been accomplished would be negatived.- To get the full benefit of what had 1 been "accomplished, more funds were needed.

.As a.result of the appeal various suggestions- are being mooted. The Red Cross organisation may possibly consider that such a work comes into the scope of their activities. In any oase it is a work that must mak©_ a strong appeal to every organisation and every person who is in a position to assist these men who have given so much for their country and for the safety of those who remain behind. New Zealand can afford to do very much more in this direction than she has already done. School Children's Patriotio Work. Misses P. Myers and S. Fraser, in charge of the Wellington Primary Schools' Patriotic Sewing Committee, submitted the following report at the recent annual meeting of tho committee. The report was unanimously adopted, on the motion of the chairman, Mr. William Foster, who expressedthe appreciation of the committee of the excellent work done in this connection by Miss Myers and Miss Fraser. The report is as follows: : —"During the year 1916 practically all the schools in the Wellington Education Distriot have used the scheme of work compiled by the committee and' approved by tho board. The small isolated schools in particular have derived great benefit from being brought into touoh with the Central Committee, and have done remarkably good work. Hawke's Bay distriot is also working with the same syllabus, and some schools from that district have sent work to Wellington for distribution. Some of the larger schools' in the Wellington distriot have their own arrangements .for dSstributiiig ■ their work'. That which has been sent to the board office has been distributed per medium of the following agencies:—St. John Ambulance' Brigade and Red Cross Association, War Relief Association (for local needs), Lady Liverpool Committee, and Plunket Society. All these agents speak culogistically .of the work sent inr During the September holiday week a display of samples of work done was held in the board room../ The visitors were greatly interested in the exhibition, particularly in the thrift section. Thanks wore due to Misses Bright 'and Helyer for taking charge of the work, and receiving the visitors." '

The following suggestions are made by Miss Myers and Miss Fraser:—(l) That a syllabus modified _ to meet changed requirements ho issued. (2) That an exhibition of work be held in the board building during the May holi- ' days, but that no special effort bo made for" the purpose. , ,