SOCIAL WORKERS

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 301, 15 September 1933, Page 5

SOCIAL WORKERS

Reception at Government House VICE-REGAL INTEREST Fifty of the social organisations working for the good of the Wellington community were represented at Government House yesterday afternoon, when their Excellencies the Governor-Gen-eral and Lady Bledisloe received over 300 guests. The reception rooms were delightfully warm and comfortable, and conditions inside, where lovely hothouse flowers were massed against the white walls, were more spring-like than could have been thought possible from outside. Their Excellencies received in the drawingroom, where cyclamen of immense size gave a deeper note to the fuchsia of pastel-shaded cushions on the couches, and her Excellency’s emerald dress completed a delightful colour scheme. Of wool lace, the dress was simply cut, with puffs at the top of the long fitting sleeves. A velvet toque to match had a plaited swathe, with a touch of silver, and on a beige fox fur a pink and white posy was pinned. Lady Day wore a dress of reseda green, under a brown coat, and a small brown hat. Miss Diana Harris was in a deep rust-red tailored frock, with a patterned scarf, and a small red hat with a becoming eye veil. After shaking hands with their Excellencies, the guests passed on to the conservatory, where the flowers were a cause of general admiration. The pink and rose of tall schizanthus, the blue and white of cinerarias, and the delicate mauve and deep pink of cyclamen made a mass of exquisite colouring. Tall feathery palms and tropical plants grouped in the centre suggested a garden in the Orient. There were bulbs and branches of flowering shrubs among the exotic pot plants, and a great bowl of flowering currant spread its fragrance from a corner of the ballroom, where tea was served.

On each side of the ballroom dais were banks of feathery yellow genista and blue cineraria, which carried on the note of blue and gold in the viceregal chairs. From here, when tea had drawn everyone together, his Excellency made a brief speech, showing the very deep interest both he and Lady Bledisloe take in the social welfare work carried out in Wellington, and expressing their pleasure at welcoming the representatives of so many different societies engaged in relieving the distress that existed in and around the city. Though he had thought at first that there was danger of overlapping among so many workers in the same field, he had realised with satisfaction that.there was no danger of that, and that there was plenty of work for everyone under the excellent organisation that prevailed. His Excellency paid a warm tribute to the work of the Mayor of Wellington, saying that he set a brilliant example to his fellow citizens. If work such as he was doing was to be a success, it had to be a combination of heart and head.

No gathering that had been held at Government House, said Lord Bledisloe in conclusion, had given greater pleasure to him and to Lady Bledisloe than the one that was taking place there that afternoon.

It was a delightful afternoon, with a prevailing atmosphere of cordial friendliness.