WOMEN IN PRINT.

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 148, 20 December 1916, Page 9

WOMEN IN PRINT.

DINNER AT TRENTHAM CAMP

A SUCCESSFUL ENTERTAINMENT.

The war has brought about many changes great and small, and a ma.rked on© is the indifference of women now-a-days to carrying parcels, etc. Yesterday morning hundreds of women and girls nocked to Lambton Station carrying parcels of all shapes and sizes, billies, buckets, tins, huge bunches of flowers, find one lady had made a calico sack tor all her belongings and came along smiling with it over her shoulder —a, very convenient arrangement and worth remembering. A special train was ready, which caused those who suffered in the slow train last year to feel deeply grateful, and equally so on the return, :us there was no two hours' wait this year Arrived at Treittham everybody wended their way across the racecourse to the belt of pine -trees which fringes the course, where about a hunared tables were set up. These followed the shape of the course, and were therefore in a sort of horseshoe, which was most effective when all the tables were covered with white and decorated in »a,y colours. It was 'surprising what excellent ehectewere obtained with the materials at hand. Pickle bottles and fruit tins were covered prettily with crinkled paper, some with green,. and a wood effect with yellow flowers, and another charming one where pale pink and mauve paper was used, and the flowers were sweet peas to match. A .tall arrangement of Excelsis lilies was banked up with stones forming a sort of rockery, wluch was filled up with scarlet geraniums, and .elsewhere there were tables with quantities of Dorothy Perkins roses, beautiful carnations, gaillardias, Canterbury bells, and many other flowers. The dinner consisted of cold lamb, ham, salad with cream dressing new potatoes, plum pudding, fruit salad and cream, jelly, apples and oranees. almonds and raisins, dates and sweets ginger beer, etc. Each man had a packet of cigarettes and a small tin of tobacco. The arrangements for giving out the various stores had been excellently planned, as only the ladies with red tickets were supposed to go to the store tent, but there were many blue-ticketed helpers there also, so that the plan did not work quite so well as was expected, though it was no fault of anyone who made the arrangements However, in the end the things were sorted out and satisfaction given all round. A- feature of the day was the roasting of an ox, and the cutting up after about eleven hours' cookin°- was watched with great interest, and another little excitement was when a motor-lorry full of; puddings arrived from the Wellington Meat Export Works—puddings of first quality, and beautifully cooked. A very convenient arrangement made was the placing of two iron tanks with fires underneath so that hot water for tea washing-up, etc., was to be had freely all day. The Trentham Band played some delightful music during the afternoon, and the Doxology at dinner time and finally the National Anthem. The scene during dinner was one that will riot easily be forgotten. The wind had dropped, and Trent-ham was looking its best with the green course, the background of beautiful bush, and the hills in the distance, with long shadows of the setting sun. The horseshoe of white tables, with gay coloured flowers, and the thousands of khaki-clad guests waited on by hundreds of ladies mostly dressed in white, formed a picture of great interest. As Colonel Potter called for cheers for-the Mayoress and the ladies of Wellington, the soldiers rose as one man, and it was generally remarked that as soon as our men became soldiers they certainly learned to cheer splendidly, if they had never done so before. After having some dinner themselves, the ladies packed up and went back to the station,'and all agreed that though they were tired they had had a very happy day, and hoped the soldiers had had the same, Mrs. Luke made all the arrangements in town, and Captam Boon at the camp, and were most successful, as everything went splendidly and the visitors had every possible assistance and attention.

Mr. and Mrs. W. Dalziel left for Manaua (Tenui) to-day.

_ Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Morison are leaving for a trip to Taupo.

The Wadestown Branch of the W TJJf will take charge of the Wellington mc Cross: shop on Friday, and Mrs. Willis aiid her assistants are preparing special blnistmas dainties for sale.

Sirs, and Miss Wilford will spend the holidays, at Rotorua.

Mrs. Henry Hadfield and her daughters returned to Paraparaumu to-day.

Mies M'Lean leaves for Christ-church to-day for a holiday trip.

Mrs. Fitchett is leaving for a trip to Auckland and Taupo. •■

Mrs. and Miss Barron . are goin^ to Fielding foR a visit. ° .

The death is announced of Mrs. Elen Shephard Tripp, of Orari Gorge Station. The name of Mrs. Tripp i s one which will always be intimately connected with Hie pioneering days in Canterbury. She was the third daughter of Bishop Harper, and has resided-in the Orari Gorge tor 50 years. She leaves the following family:—Mr. Howard Tripp, solicitor! Timaru; Mr. L. 0. H. Tripp, solicitor, Wellington; Mr. Bernard Tripp Mr J M. Tripp, Mrs. Hope, wife of Mr. Andrew Hope, of Timaruj Mrs. Stoppford, of Napier; Mrs. Pinkney, of Southland ; and Miss Ellen Tripp. ' Archdeacon Harper, Dean Harper, and Mr. George I-tarper, of Christchurch, are brothers of the deceased, and Mrs. Blakiston, of Dannevirke, is ta- sister.

Mrs. Gerritzen and the pupils of her school at Lower Hutt were amply repaid on Monday for their labour in' preparing a Christmas Tree Red Cross sale of work. Parents and friends found plenty to buy at the produce stall, in charge of Eileen Sladden and Esther Denniston, at the bran-tub, conducted by Marjorie Rose and Erna Gerritzen, and in various competitions. Much of the fancy work sold was made by pupils, and the gross proceeds, which will be handed over to the Red Cross Fund were in excess of Sl2.

The ladies' auxiliary of the Navy League acknowledges with thanks a collection of hand-knitted garments for the lesser auxiliary craft cf the Fleet from pupils of the Girls' College, per Miss Mac Lean.

A short story in the Sydney Morning Herald is as follows : —A few days ago, on a suburban platform, a young couple strolled along, while a young wife struggled with a baby and heavy basket. The girl mildly suggested to her companion to take the other woman's basket.

"Where's her husband?" he growled. The young wife overheard, and indignantly flashed back at him, "He is fighting for you."

1 have written frequently of the manner in which the need for economy influences fashions, housekeeping, and other feminine interests (says a writer to an Australian paper). To-day, a sovereign is only worth 12s, as compared with pre-war times. Meat is s£d a 1b dearer, Eggs are double the price of July, 1914 ;so is fish. Flour, potatoes, butter, cheese, bacon, and milk are 50 per cent, dearer. Nevertheless it would be folly to suggest that these prices have curtailed the demand by 50 per cent., or anything like it. As compared with the days immediately preceding the war, the great stores are doing a bieger business. This is not due to the women of the professional class, who are practising a strict economy. Still less is it due to the society butterflies of pre-war times, most of whom are fully employed as hospital nurses in England and France, and are content to wear uniform until peace times come again. Families which harre been doing well out of munitionmaking or war trade, however, are spending freely. With th« better news from the Somme and other fighting fronts, the Oxford-street and Regent^ street shops and stores have been crowded. Bootmakers in particular are making small fortunes. Instead of 10s 6d pairs of shoes, they are selling patent leather shoes at 18s 6d;. instead of glace kid boots at 16s, they are selling high-legged, .-light-topped boots at 35s a pair. Women who are earning 30s to £2 in a munition factory think little of spending 15s a week upon dress. Sometimes the money is spent in most wasteful fashion upon such tilings as an ermine or imitation ermine necklet. Some of the stores attribute the shopping boom to the many war marriages. The money is not spent upon furnishing, as most war brides continue to live at home. Instead, it is spent upon presents and the bride's trousseau.

The question as to the future of the woman worker in engineering has been frequently asked in England since the revelation of her ability to carry out workshop tasks which were formerly only entrusted to men. While there has been a deep-seated opinion that so valuable a source of labour supply must be utilised by the engineering industry for manufacture after the war, it has not been easy to see how woman was to be assigned a permanent place in the workshop without such an upheaval of old traditions as might precipitate a bitter indnstrial struggle. The announcement of an intention on the part of those associated with a well-known firm to establish in Scotland on a permanent footing a factory in which only women will be employed is an indication, says the London Times, of one way out of the difficulty. -That women are quite capable of undertaking work of the lighter description has now been proved.

Joy-riding (by motor-oar or taxi-cab) became a penal offence in Berlin and environs beginning Ist November. The decree issued by the police authorities expressly forbids driving to "race meetings^ theatres, concerts, cinemas, or other public entertainments" in motor vehicles. The decree applies both to the drivers and would-be users of such vehicles. The only exceptions permitted are trips necessitated by one's calling, such as that of a physician or nurse. Offenders will be strafed to the tune- o? £3 per offence, and in case payment of the fine is not made on the spot the felon will be put m gaol. The Police President states that joy-nding to entertainments has had to be verboten in order to make more motor vehicles available for professional purposes and at railway stations.