WOMAN’S WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 301, 14 September 1921, Page 2

WOMAN’S WORLD.

MATTERS OF INTEREST FROM FAR AND NEAR,

(By I)

[HOGES.)

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Mrs. C. W. Adams ami Miss Jacobson returned by yesterday’s express from Auckland, where they have been visiting Mrs. J. E. D. -Spicer, Remuera, Auckland, for somo weeks.

The Cheer-oh Girls paid a visit to Karori on Monday nigiit, on behalf of St. Mary's Parish, and gave one ot their excellent entertainments. The Methodist Hall, which was taken for the occasion, was filled with a large and appreciative audience. Tho programmo was bright and cheerful, and proved extremely popular. Misses Rose Carte, Alice Gunn, Beatrice Price, Myra Glegg, Doris Webb, Paulino Brown, Helen Gunn; with Miss Elsie Chapman, gave a capital entertainment, practically every item being encored.. The vicar, the Bev. G. Y. Woodward, in expressing the thanks of tho parishionere, remarked on the splendid service rendered, by tho baud of talented girls, who bore their own expenses, and were always ready to help, never refusing their aid to any good cause. The proceeds of the concert amounted to just on J!27. |

At yesterday’s meeting of the Wellington Red Cross Committee and Order of St. John it was moved, members standing meanwhile, that the committee of the Wellington Centre of the British Red Cross and Order of St. John having heard" with deep regret of the. death of the Hon. J. G. W. Aitken, begged to tender to his relatives and friends its sincere sympathy iu their sad bereavement. In speaking to the motion, Lady Luke said that all good causes had a friend in Mr. Aitken. Miss Nathan spoke for the Mayor, Mr. Wright, who ’also said that Mr. Aitken had always been ready to help whenever help was needed.

The monthly meeting of the committee of the Levin Memorial Home was. held on Tuesday, at which Miss' Archibald presided. Miss Tendall was welcomed as a member of committee. The matron reported that the children wero all well. ,Mrs. A. Gray had kindly given them a tea in honour of her daughter’s birthday. A picnic to Lyall Bay was much enjoyed by the children, Mrs. W. Christie having given them this treat. Since the gift tea J 36 12s. had been received, as well as groceries, etc., from those who were not able 1 to be present.

Miss R. Meredith (Masterton) is visiting Wellington.

Mrs. Rapley and Miss Meta Rapley have gone to Palmerston North to attend Miss Paget’s wedding.

A dance in aid of tihe educational work' qf Point Halswell Reformatory is to be held towards the end of the month. The committee > responsible for the arrangements comprises Mesdames Henderson, M'Gowan, Hempton, Campbell, Misses M'Cleland, Lapworth, Etaveneaux, Helliwell, Bennett, Wolff, and Sutherland, . and Messrs. Rogers, V. Jones, E. Cuuliffe, B. Kershaw.- and K. Morrison. Mrs. S. Hempton is the convener of the committee. ' /

The following ladies were present ,at the monthly meeting of the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Wellington Boys* InstL tuts and S.A. Rhodes Home for Boys, held on Monday afternocm. viz.:—Mesdames JMoorhouse (ton. president) in the chair. Bell (lion, treasurer), M'Ke’rrow, Torrance. Watkins, Troup, Niven, end Parton (hon. secretary), and Miss Gilchrist. There are at present 26 boys in the boarding establishment. ports of the matron, director, and visiting Committee .were satisfactory, and Mesdames Moorhouse, Watkins, and Torrance were elected as the Visitinsr Committee for the ensuing month. 1 ' The recpipt of a donation from Mrs. Ritchie was greatly appreciated. The members of the auxiliary decided to assist in the entertainment of the Springboks at the swimming carnival to be held at the Institute Buildings this evening. 1

Speaking of modern clothing in the course' of her lecture in the Red Cross Hall last evening, Dr. Agnes Bennett asked was it as hygienic as it could and should be? Did it cover us and at the same time keep us Varm? She did not think it did. For tho present fashions in underclothing she could find very little to say in their favour. The silk and crepe de chine garments that were the substitute for the fine linen of our grandparents did not equal it as a substitute. They were washed' in warm, not hot wafer, and they wero not given the heat in ironing/’that was given to linen, nor were they boiled and bleached as linen was. She didl not think, they gave hygienic warmth to the body ; and to-day, because necessity was • sacrificed to fashion, colds, hay fevers, chills, etc., often resulted. Dr. Bennett spoke of the great liability to chill caused by modern evening dress, and of the high heels that made women take to trams instead of walking to their destinations, and so losing the stimulation that walking would give. The use of the powderbox and cosmetics was scathingly condemned. "They bring about plentiful crops of faded old women’s faces,” she eaid, "and I trust that such a deplorable fashion will soon bring about its own decay." ■ . ' , S; Red Cross Committee.

A meeting of the Wellington Red Cross Committee was held yesterday afternoon in the Red Cross Rooms. Lady Luke presided. With regard to a supply of spinal chairs for-service, patients at Trenthom, it was reported that arrangements. were being made for securing what were needed. A letter was received from Surgeon-General M'Gavjn with regard to rumours that Trentham Hospital would bo closed to military patients. There was no foundation for this rumour, he stated. Although Trenth%m! Hospital will in all probability ba taken over by the Department of Public Health, it does not mean that the hospital will be closed. There is not sufficient accommodation in civil hospitals in the district to deal with service patients now at Trentham, and as tho appointments and staff have been selected with peculiar adaptation to the nature of the work they have to do, it would bo very unwise to distribute those patients among the smaller civil hospitals, which have not staff nor equipment to deal with them. Those cases now in Trentham Military Hospital which are suitable for accommodation in a homo for chronic and incurable cases will continue in Trentham after the taking over by the Department of Health, and this handing over will really in no way 'affect tho accommodation at Trentham with regard to service patients. glhere is therefore no more immediate necessity for finding a home than in the past, stated General, M'Gavin. Should u house, however, that is suitable for the purpose become available, he suggested that it bo taken. The committee haring considered General M'Gavin’s reply to the chairman’s letter, agreed that no immediate action bo taken until further information on tho subject be received from General M'Gavin. In reply to communication that was received from the British Red Cross headquarters with regard to medals for Red Cross workers, it. was decided that no application be made, os they had already received certificates. Mr- Taylor, secretary for the Red Cross and Order of St. John peace time work, reported that since the last meeting of tho committee 799 new members had joined the society, and 101 donations hod been received. Further correspondence from overseas was discussed, and accounts passed for payment.

DOMESTIC HYGIENE LECTURE BY DR. AGNES BENNETT. In connection with the peace-time work of the British Red Cross and Order of St. John a lecture was given by Dr., Agnes Bennett last evening iu.the Dixon Street .Hall upon "Domestic Hygiene.” Mrs. Porter, Dominion organising secretary for the Women's National Reserve, occupied the chair, and the Hon. Dr. Collins was also on s the platform. In introducing Dr. .Bennett to her audience, Mrs. Porter said that the health of the community depended upop the work of ths home. Its effects were farreaching, and the subject of the lecture was one which was of vital interest to women. ..

Dr. Bennett stated that a good many people thought of school hygiene and of hygiene generally outside of the horns, but the fact that ths child spent only about five hours in school and 19 hours under domestic auspices was a fact that deserved consideration. It w?s those 19 hours that counted for so much in relation to the health of the child. During the war a tremendous number of men in Great Britain were classed as C 3, and in'New Zealand, too, it was found that there was not the "physical development among our men that we had prided ourselves upon possessing. The point to be considered was, whether we should cc|ngraHmLate upon ’the fact that things were no worse, or whether wo should see to it that our knowledge of the science of living could be further developed.. We had to get back to fundamentals. / There were two standards to be considered from which we could get guidance, viz., a comparison of what had gone before, and the light that we can get from modern knowledge. ' ( In considering the first, the methods of life followed by man in other times, Dr. Bennett described briefly the food habits of man in primitive a£es. He was healthy; he was not the victim of his appendix; his children did not have adenoids, and they did not have artificial foods. Coming down nearer to our own time —to about 100 or 150 years ago, before the invention of machinery, Dr. Bennett told her hearers that people 'lived largely in the country and upon their own products. The Napoleonic wars, which were being waged, did not into the light of day C 3 men. The home was the factory, and it was those people. who built up the , s stock from which we have come. Many . causes had contributed to bring about physical deterioriation, including the fact that people to-day spent the wealth that machinery had helped to build up, in luxury and amusement. Speaking of domestic hygiene in re-i lation to housing, Dlr'. Bennett said she did not think we could expect a better ideal than that every family should have its own house and its own plot of ground and great efforts were being made to-day to realise that ideal, also to evolve the best-arranged and best constructed, dwelling so far as work/ comfort, and health were concerned. The bungalow house which was now frequently to be seen \ about Wellington was, she considered, one of the best types of houses. Nothing was better for tho State or for the family than that every family ehould. have its own house and property. The casual tenant, did not come into relationship with the law as a protector as did the man who owned his own house. The furnishing of a home was uext discussed—the less furniture, the less time spent upon keeping it clean, and more time for leisure. Heavy furniture was cumbersome and dust-accumulating, and to cumber the walls with a multitude of photographs and pictures was to confuse the eye. She thought the example of the little brown man in lus disposal his art treasures might be followed ''jn, advantage by his white brethren, lhe fear of dust kept many windows closed to the detriment of health, and if had to be a choice, Dr. Bennet* advocated air and dust rather than s.ftlit windows and no dust in a room. A preference to open fireplaces in place of gas ana electric appliances was expressed by the speaker. The open fireplace was a great ventilator in a room- -j 4.1, 2 Speaking of fobd, Dr. Bennett said that it was to be viewed from two standpoints—the oncestrai method of feeding and the modern scientific research of food and food' values. Instinct had largely forsaken us, and our knowledge was still inadequate. Primitive man hunted his food, cooked it, and ate it. at once, or else he ate it raw. \ eiry seldom, was any fluid taken with it, and this was' a point that she considered worthy of thought. The food was thus subject to the undiluted action of the gastric, juices.. By frequently changing his location, primitive man 'obtained the necessary salts and minerals. Modern research had in-, structed us : in the fact that vitamineswere 'necessary to our bodies, and a aeii-. ciency of them meant disease more serious than was often realised. . At a recent British medical conference much. ■ time had been devoted to the discussion, of foods. It had been pointed out that animals always tried to get living tissue (not necessarily raw. flesh), and during the influenza epidemic in England it hod been found that allotment holders fought it better than other people, the rea«>n being they had fresh-grown vegetables at their command, and were thus better supplied with, vitamines. . Civilisation meant more or less artificial foods and foods not in their fresh natural statefrozen meats, tinned, meats and vegetables, dried ’foods, etc. Every householder should be encouraged to do his. own growing. Vegetables grown and used freshly /were very much better for the children eth an those that had taken time and distance in their delivery.. The problem was how to combine civilisation with fresh foods. . An added interest was given to the lecture by the display of haybox cooking by Miss Barron—a method that should be of great use to bachelor women.

A verv pleasant gathering took place in the Y.M.C.A. rooms on Monday afternoon when the Ladies’ Auxiliary held an "at home" to members of the various organisations who.had so admirably assisted in the recent Street Day. It was announced that the sum of .£530 hod been raised. The hearty thanks of the association, were conveyed to those present. Blaring the afternoon musical and elocutionary items were contributed bv Misses Reid, Ramsay, and Mueller, Mrs. .and Miss Burt. Displays were given bv some of the teams from the bovs’ and girls’ gymnasium, classes. Afternoon tea was served by MissFrasw and her assistants.