INTO SPACE

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 134, 3 December 1936, Page 19

INTO SPACE

orial was an admirable one. He was sure that the Electors' Association and the Plunket Society wouia lend their wholehearted,support to any effort. "Nurse Beckett has done Christ-like work in; Island Bay, and has done it so secretly that.ih many cases even the recipients ,of her. charity have been unaware of the-identity of their benefactress," said, Mr. A. N. Palmer. Her work was known throughout the district, he said, but it was desirable to have a permanent memorial. • A cot could be provided at Karitane. for £50, or a mother's bed and cot, in perpetuity,: for £100- The larger sum should be readily-obtained. - ' Mrs. B. O'Brien, president of .the Island Bay Plunket Society and . a member of the women's auxiliary of the St. Vincent ,de Paul Society, said that Newtown-residents were anxious to co-operate in any effort to honour Nurse'Bepkett's memory. She was a worker whose -equal Island Bay might never■:-find; : -.; ..'O ; [:;',-'';■.■.■'••■;■;' a,,,*: ■■,-.:■ The proposal; was heartily supported by the Re^. G. C.; Blathwayt. He :sa id that besides hbnourjng Nurse, Beckett, the proposal was a movement to ben<jflt the cbmmuhity; ■ : The following committee was! appointed tb further the proposal:,—Mr. A. N. Palmer (convener), Mesdames B O'Brien, P. H. Mason, A. H. Dilloway, S. J. Harrison, M. D. Bird, P. Duffy, the Revs. G. C. Blathwayt, P. J. WainWright, Silcock, and Prosser, Father McGrath; Messrs. B. O'Brien, D. ,S. Craig, S. J. Harrison, A. H. Dilloway, L. E. Aldridge, and L. R. Petrie. The meeting decided to ask the Press to open subscription lists, and Mr. Palmer said he was' agreeable to offerings being sent to his home at 43 Melbourne Road, Island Bay. "Nurse Beckett's work really went to the'poor people," he; said, "and it would not be her wish that they should be asked for anything. The response should come from those in comfortable circumstances who recognise goodness when they meet" it in everyday life."

The affection and esteem with which the late Nurse Helen Beckett was regarded by residents of Island Bay and adjoining suburbs was reflected in the large, attendance at the funeral service which was held at St.-Hilda's Church. Island Bay, yesterday. afternoon. Nurse 'Beckett, who died tin Monday, was beloved by all with whom she came in contact, and her fellowwo'rkers arid the mothers of the Island Bay, Berhanipbre, and Newtown .districts will miss her greatly. Among those present at St. Hilda's were Miss Templeton, matron» of the Karitane Home, Mrs. W. Jowett, president of the Plunket Society, Mesdames D. A Aiken, T. G. Gray, and Tythe-Brown, members of the executive, Miss \E. Ward, secretary of, the society, Miss Hooker, charge nurse, and Mrs. O'Brien, -president of the Island Bay sub-committee. The full staff of Plunket nurses of Wellington, as well- as retired nurses, were also present. ;

The Rev.'G.C. Blathwayt, who conducted the service in the church and at the gravefeide at Karori, referred to Miss Beckett's work- for the sick and the mothers of the district. "She was a great worker amongst the sick," lie said, "toiling.very often night and day, long hours, out of the kindness of her heart, and serving God in her particular vocation. ; . . Let us not be

cast down as we take leave of her mortal remains as they are taken, to their, last resting place, for she has passed on to a higher service." :

The pallbearers'were Messrs. G. ~E., G...W. X., and M,: M. Beckett, brbthers.' of the deceased, Mr t Edgar Beckett, a cousin,,.and Mr;. Herbert Denton. .

CHANGE OF HOME

MENTAL READJUSTMENT

When for years one's headquarter-, have been a house in which every cubic inch must be regarded as a precious possession only to be filled or yielded or allocated to some new purpose after deep consideration, a chang'.' to roomier premises soon reveals the fact that space affects habits of min<l as much as the limitations of physical activities, says a writer in the "Manchester Guardian." rso I found when I moved to a house where there was room to spare. I had talked an.l thought of having extra and larger and loftier rooms, and passages and landings more spacious than would be absulutely essential in order to provide access to all the rooms; I had perceived that more heating would be required, that several schemes of furnishing and decoration would need to be modified or abandoned. I. had, that is, con-

s cerned myself; entirely with the phy--1 sical properties of domestic space. r. y "THE SURPLUS CUBIC." s But-it had not occurred to me that t several mental readustments would be 2 necessary before I could establish a j satisfactory attitude to the surplus ~ cubic or, more;, particularly at first, r square feet that I suddenly found my- ; . self possessing. There were innumer--3 able inhibitions to shake off. During t a long period'of practising economy 1 r where space was concerned I had cvi- . dently become parsimonious in two or : three dimensions. It was difficult, in the> early weeks, for instance, not to } look "upon any piece, of furniture that 3 was not utilised down to floor level [ as taking up and wasting a lot of space, j When I went to buy a kitchen table I 3. drifted automatically towards the disr play of pieces that made the most of j every possible scrap of sub-surface t space, and., it was only after a reminder from my companion that I finj ally realised that I could afford to posj sess a table-top resting on nothing but lggs. . ' It was a similar shock when 1 saw that some furniture could now be . placed in the middle of floors, where we could walk round it, and need no longer always be -pushed against, walls and into corners. Instead of surrounding a jealously-guarded space with a mini--1 mum amount of necessary furniture, I . could now dispose niy furniture in space. An upheaval on, this scale seems to confront one with; a mysteri ously expanded universe, and the 5 natural reaction is rather like that felt (I should, imagine) by anyone who . suddenly "comes into money"—a slight . incredulity at first, then a'wonder, in . spite of so many previous ideas on the - subject, what to do. with it. and next a . surge of rather reckless extravagance. I IMPULSE TO COLLECT. At any rate, I passed through these stages, in the last of which, with space to burn, I indulged in bold schemes; we had now room for a piano, for a more massive and hence more stable dining-table. A divan could now 1 augment our upholstered "pieces' without overcrowding the room; we could have a roll-top desk with lofcs of drawers and a capacious top—for the inclusion of this item the old spacesaving complex was no doubt responsible! Fortunately, for one reason or another,, the impulse to collect what would possibly have proved to be white elephants was held in check, and therefore had time to subside to a more or less fixed belief; that the space was to be appreciated for its own sake and a resolve to interfere with it. to the least possible extent. It (the space) was even allowed to persist under a writing table, Unblocked by anything but slender table legs, my own, and a wastepaper box. Indeed, by my increasing tolerance .of the bare legs of furniture, I am estimating my spatial acclimatisation. Only where the nursery was concrened did I put the new impulse into practice and give up my time-honoured habit of invariably buying something "little and good" and compact. It was a joy to get really large and spreading toys, knowing that I need not now consider all the children's possessions primarily as so many bulky objects in my way and my space. "LEARN TO GAUGE SPACE." In adapting myself to the larger house I did, of course, go astray several times. I stowed things away as the removers,unpacked them only to find out that it now mattered very much indeed whether household goods were kept in kitchen or in dining-room drawers, since there is a considerable difference between taking half.a dozen

steps and taking a walk down a long passage. I have had to learn to gauge space as it affects th,e feet, •as well as for its eye-pleasing qualities; and no doubt it will be some time before I cease to make daily discoveries that some things would be better somewhere else. . ' .

Certainly my experience has given me new understanding of the mythical (I believe) housewife alleged to keep coals in the bath when from living in a single room she has been translated to a new council house. If I hear of any such authentic person, she will have all my support and sympathy I shall say: Give her a little more time and she will settle down unbemused She has to learn where and how to put things; but she must first outlive her old limitations. Space in a house, it seems, means more than a matter of measurement and a container for modern conveniences; the dweller therein must accustom herself to variations of space as carefully and as gradually as she would to severe changes in altitude.

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