WOMEN IN PRINT.

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 54, 1 September 1916, Page 9

WOMEN IN PRINT.

Mrs. J. P- Luke, the Mayoress, is often . asked the-questions, "Have we any munitions? What can women do?" The answer is quite ready. Those who constantly work Lo supply men at the front with comforts, both for those who are well, to help keep them well, in addition to necessaries for the sick and wounded, are providing munitions. Just now a special effort is being made to send away Christmas presents to those in the trenches, and it is hoped to send each man a pah- of socks as well as a pudding, etc., so that 7000 pairs will be required. This means a great deal of knitting, and Mrs. Luke would like to ask some of the early friends who did so well to send in some contributions. The schools are doing good work, the Belgian fete was a great success, the Moutoa School has sent £7 15s for puddings (which means that 156 men will receive them, also a Christmas card bearing the name of the school), Newtown "sth Standard has sent £23 ls, Wetakura , School £1 2s, the Ngaroma Croquet Club contributes regularly, the last donation being £2.for puddings, and the A.N.Z.A. euchre party, the Kelburn Presbyterian Club, and the N.Z.N.A. are also contributors. Mre. T. Ballinger has* added to her gifts £5 towards the sock fund. The address to send to is still " Mayoress, Countess of Liverpool Fund, Town Hall, Wellington."

Mention has been made several times to the Mayoress, Mrs. J. P. Luke, of the fact that the life of the men at some pf the forts is very trying, and although they are doing a very necessary part of the military work of the Dominion, they are quite outside the pleasures so freely offered to those who are leaving the country. Mre. Luke would be very glad to hear of a second-hand piano for one fort,.and gifts of cards and games will be very gladly received addressed to her at the Town Hall.

Hostesses at the Soldiers' Club in Syd-ney-street for the coming week are :~^ Sunday, Mrs. R. A. . Holmes and Mrs! C. B. Morison; Monday, Mrs. H. Hall and Mrs. W. Young; Tuesday, Mrs. A, Crawford and Mrs.". Ei'nest Hadfield ; Wednesday, Miss Coates and Mrs. Shirtcliffe; Thursday, Mrs. Mitford, Mrs. Johnson, and. Mre. Bevin; Friday, Mrs, J. M. Richardson and Mrs. A. li, Meek; Saturday, Khandallah ladies. In charge of coats and parcels : —Sunday, Mrs, Somerville; Monday, Miss Jenkyns; Tuesday, Miss Davidson; Wednesday, Mr. Lawrence; Thursday, Miss Marchant ; Friday, Mrs. H. S. Hadfield; Saturday, Miss Eyes.

A letter has been received written on behalf of the: parents of some of the per. formers in the charming children's.play, "Sunset Land," lately staged for the second occasion. They wish to pay a special tribute to the successful training given by Miss Dall in the vocal part of the performance, which was excellent throughout, and reflected great credit on her talent and care; also to Mr. Didsbui'y for hie stage management, of which it would be difficult to speak too highly. His generous and successful help added greatly to the smooth running of the performances.

A bazaar on a large scale, which has been the cause of a great deal of work to the teachers; scholars, and their friends at Mara-nui Public School, was opened yesterday afternoon by the Minister of Education, the Hon. J. A. Hanan. The school was gaily decorated With flags outside," and inside every available space was. made use of for stalls, tearoomsj and side-shows. The rooms were draped with flags, yellow and green\ being mostly used in the tea room, whije the tables were prettily arranged' with daffodils. There was a special stall for bags, also sweets, flowers, plain and fancy work,--* jumbles, parcels, while a good stajl was in charge of some of the "old girls." The opening ceremony took place in the Infant School, and began with a. song by the senior girls and boys. Mr. Hanan was received -by the chairman of the School Committee, Mr. A. Gellatly, and the headmaster, Mr. Blake, and Mrs. Hanan . (who accompanied him) was presented with a beautiful bouquet of violets and cyclamen by one of the scholars, Myrtle Hall. The official party included -^the • Hon. J. G. W. Aitken (Chairman of the Board of Education), the Mayoress (Mrs.' J. P. Luke), Mr. E. A. Wright, M.P., and Mrs. Wright, the Hon. Mr Carson, .. Mrs. Gellatly, and, Mrs. Bright, Mr. Gellatly presided, and introduced the speakers. He remarked that the object of the bazaar was both to obtain funds to improve the school grounds and to , benefit the Wounded Soldiers Fund. The growth of the school had been very rapid, and they were short of accommodation and understaffed. Tho Hon. J. G. W. Aitken, Mr. Wright, M.P., and the Hon. G. Carson congratulated the promoters of the bazaar, and commended the objects far which it was held. The Minister of Education was, then called up to open the fair. He said it had given him special pleasure to accept Mr. Gellatly's invitation, as they had been school mates together in Invercargill, and he was glad to see by the school history (pnnted on the programme) that his son had won scholarship distinction.He was also pleased to see that the school had a roll of., honour* and that arte of the number oi old scholars who had gope to the front for his country, )y. Millar, had been dux of the school in 1909, ancl had won -a scholarship. He felt sure that the soldiers at. the front would welcome anything done for the children of the country. Good school grounds were ,an increasing necessity if boys and girls were to grow up physically fit men and women, and that should now be one of the main objects of the Government. He advocated more vocational education, boys and girls Should be given some knowledge while at school of the work before them in life. This country depended' on its workers in town or country more, than on its professional men, and we must see that the rank and file were properly trained. Mr. Hanon referred to one of the .Continental nations that provided schools for cabmen, for chimney-sweeps, ancl other workers, in which they were trained to the highest point of efficiency in their own particular work. And so it was in every branch practically of the national life of these people he spoke of. He was glad to see that much attention was paid to .sports in the school, and also to technical education, and he congratulated the headmaster (Mr. Blake) on the good results obtained as shown by the high percentage of scholars obtaining examination and free place certificates. After the ceremony, was over the visitors made a round of the stalls,- and were then entertained at afternoon tea. In the evening two concerts had been arranged. The first programme was as follows: — "The Toy-Duet," Laura Beggs, Sydney Perkin, and chorus; "The French Bonnet," JMona Dayes and Robert Craig; Gavotte, senior girls; song, "Little BoPeep," "Myrtle Hall; cantata, "Sootand the Fairies," junior children. In the second programme the following contributed items:—Musical monologue, Loith Riddell ;'• musical monologue, Miss ■ Griffiths; recitation (humorous), Fergus Reeves; recitation,- Miss - Greening; musical monologue, Mr. Colin • Trim.

The hon. secretary of-'^he bazaar -committee was Mr. H. R. Page, and Mr.. F. J. Evans was hon. treasurer. Miss* F. G-. Roberts was chairwoman of the. ladies' committee, Mr. A. A. Gellatly being chairman of the men's committee. The bazaar will be continued this afternoon and evening. The takings yester-' day came to £200.

The wedding of Miss. Jane .Winifred (Dolly) Ash croft, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Ashcroft, of Petone, took place on Wednesday last to Mi. Reginald James Hill, second son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hill, of Petone. The ceremony was performed by Rev G. 8.. Stephenson in St. Augustine's Church, Petoue. The bride, who was given away by her father, wore a gown of brocaded crepe de chine, with overdress of ninon. She carried a bouquet of magnolias, freesias, and maidenhair fern. The bridesmaids were Misses Evelyn . and Joyce Hill and Edna Turner. Mr. Cliff Ramsden was best man. The service was fully choral, Mrs. W. H. Edwards presiding at the organ.

The committee which is arranging a. dance and musical evening next week in aid of St. Joseph's Orphanage, Upper Hutt, met in the No. 1 Committee Room; Town Hall, this week. Excellent progress was reported, and indications point to the dance being very successful. A sale of work, interspersed with musical items, will be held in the afternoon. The committee will be very grateful for any donations, which should be sent to the secretary, box 105, G.P.0., and parcels may be left at Whittaker's; bookshop, Lambton-quay, or with Mrs. Oscar Johnston, 76, Clyde-quay.

. At tiie fortnightly meeting of the St. •John Ambulance Brigade Overseas, .Wellington Nursing Division, the evening was spent in practice, and. very good work was done. A donation of £1 was received from "H.H. " for August and September, and. also goods from Mi's. Altaian.

On Wednesday evening Mrs. Young, the * secretary of the Kilbirhie Catholic Knitting Guild, entertained Miss Flor. ence George and her adult elocutionary students at her residence in Hataitai, During the evening, on behalf of the guild,. Rev; Father Peoples presented Miss George with a handsomely-bound book of paintings in recognition of her great assistance in giving a concert in aid of the guild, and thereby augmenting the funds to the extent of £30. Miss George returned thanks for the presentation. * On leaving, the guests wished their . host and hostess boh voyage, as Mr. and Mrs. Young, accompanied by Miss Bertha Mac Duff, leave for Mel\ bourne on Saturday for a few weeks' holiday.

The engagement is announced of Miss Beryl Caselberg, youngest daughter of Mr, and Mrs. Myer Caselberg, of "Rosetta House," Masterton, to Mr. B. Van Staveren, son of the Rev. Van Staveren, of Wellington.

Mr. H. H. Jackson, Chief Mechanical Engineer, New Zealand Railways, and the two Misses Jackson, arrived from Auckland by yesterday's express.

Miss Stella M'Lean, daughter of Mr. Murdoch M'Le_n, who went to England about three* ye-a-rs ago, for the purpose of studying at the' Royal Academy of Music, recently gave a very successful recital in the Aeolian Hall, London, There was a large aiid aip.preoiat.ive audi-, ence, including many . New Zealanders, The Morning Post, the oldest daily newspaper in London, contains the following very complimentary notice of the event:—"Miss Stella M'Lean, who gave a recital at Aeolian Hall yesterday, is a New Zealand singer of very considea'able gift. She has an excellent soprano voice, which she uses with uncommon address on a system that has perfect soundness to recommend it. Indeed, our artistic brothers and sisters from over the fleas seem to posses the inestimable advantage of being able to obtain exceptionally good vocal tuition in their midst. Miss M'Lean uses her voice in the best possible way, and consequently is able to make an immediate appeal*: Her tone is also of beautifully soft and musical quality, though a little veiled in the.lower notes, a feature that \vill disappear as time goes on. In fact, youth is Miss M'Lean's sole drawback. With experience and maturity she should win high pk-ce. Yesterday she was heard in all types of song, from operatic excerpt to drawing-room ba-Had, and in all delighted her audience by charm of voice and manner, Her progiramme was varied by some violoncello' solos well played by M. Entile de Vlieger, and Mr. Hamilton Harty accompanied." The London Globe also comments favourably upon the recital, and remarks: "Miss M'Lean is a singer whom" Nature has blessed with an undeniably sweet and pleasant voice."

An account of women munition workers in the Clyde district is given in the Scotsman. : The great number employed consist of all classes, and at the" same bench at one forge a shipbuilder's widow and a charwoman's daughter unite in friendly rivalry over the welding of tubes and polishing of .flanges. It is surprising to learn that, physically speaking, the girl munitioner's long day at unusual labour has an effect rather good than otherwise. "No nerves now," said a pretty West-end worker, " munitions beat the rest cure, but oh! my skin." This was in reference to her hands and neck, reddened by exposure to the beat of the blow-pipe. However, she* continued by saying that she would not for anything* go back to "calling, cosmetics, and card-playing." At the meal, times, when cocoa and

" pieces " have been discussed, the girls have great fun, holding mock indignation meetings, at which the Clyde working man, with Iris seething rebellion and perennial grievances, were adfnirably hit off. A brilliant Glasgow actress was one of the speakers, and her harangues were always looked forward to, and received with bursts of laughter and applause. " The lassies put their heart into it," said a foreman, ancl evidently did not look forward to the restoration of the old regime with any pleasure. The writer says, " She sleeps, my lady sleeps," is a serenade out of date. My lady works and waits. We are.at war. Let any captious, discontented stay-at-home take a trip any morning on the worker's train that conveys the nightshift girls from. Clydebank homewards. The experience is a liberal educator and an object lesson in the art; of making the best of things. Wearied, worn, and dusty the workers are, but depressed never. " Fed up? Dash the fears o' us ! They're no fed up in the trenches!" was the answer given to a sympathetic enquirer, and this is 'the index of the. spirit shown all through the .works.