WORK OF CRIPPLES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 131, 30 November 1939, Page 11

WORK OF CRIPPLES

f EXHIBITION FEATURE

WONDERFUL DISPLAY

I TRIUMPH .GVEFU HARDSHIP ;f; :: . •. ■ • "^>v;V" "■ ::>P- ■"■'.. •V'/ . A display frPm all branches of the •!;. New Zealand Crippled Children Society | ■"'• is a remarkable feature of the Exhi- . >:;■'• bition. It provides wonderful examples .'; of the standard of work of which these I severely young citizens <*£ i are capable. They, find relaxation and %i :• .■'• mental ease in-all kinds of work with .1 ■'.-; their fingers. The collection, which is I ;-. on the extreme left of the New Zeat; ; land Industries; Court at the northern p/'-': end, is well worthy of inspection, and &■.. there is always someone in charge .' ready to explain the conditions under which the work was done, as well as to f - enlist assistance, for the young people. ,v; r Some of the instances .gl the triumph ; of perseverance over bodily difficulties p, that would seem insuperable are amaz- |: ing. Betty Steele, who lives with her %\t parents,just but of Timaru, has only C ohe limb not subject to paralysis, her r. right leg, over which, she has only V fair control. Mentally alert, and full ' ;, of fun, she has an excellent memory. -v The examples of her work would never ':'?. make one think that she, does it by 1 holding the needle between the big toe v and the first toe. The work is fastened ; on a wooden frame.. She cannct ■ " thread her needles, but a plentiful supi ply in choice of colours is left ready. • Betty has been taught reading, and has 'learnt to use a typewriter, on which * she writesto her friends. She is 16: I:''- - A "MAGNUM OPUS." 'V' ;, Another fine piece of work, is that of j ■ ; • Sydney Elliott, of Wellington.' Though j • •., ' he is 24, he cannot work; without • a.:.! frame to lean on. Hisvw'ork is the '$'-" coat of arms of the Wellington City i% Council in the form of a beautifiri rug, :": : a photograph of which is reproduced ;: on this page. : : ■ The coat of arms was sketched to ■ J;, scale by an art pupil ©f^ the Technical ,': [ College. . ■ .•; The rug is 42 inches wide and 66 !: : inches long, and to make it, 14£Ltr of ' wool had to be cut into 45,000 skeins .: 24- inches long, and each . skein had to be evenly folded to form a loop. A '■%> hook, similar to a button hook with ''■•':, a clip attachment, is passed through i;: the loop, then through two. squares of I;:; the canvas meshj both ends of^^the skein are inserted in the hook,, and ■": -V the hook withdrawn backwards. This ;iiv forms a looped knot, which is drawii ■jI-a, tight by hand. I -I" It is impossible for!anyone who has f'l not seen this lad to judge the, ? magni;V:;-. tude of this work. Those people who sj'V know him are amazed by the wonder- £!>■ ful result obtained with less than one f!; year's teaching. This lad, stricken itt with infantile paralysis at a very, young TiX age, was for twenty gears'unable-to &r§ use' his hands in^ependeiitly; his^left: ;>p hand was the stronger, of the two v but l!ii£- to use that, it was necessary to steady |:jii it with the right, hand.v His lejgs were |s>'r also so badly affected ,as';.to be prac«ii,i : tically useless. It; was painful to watch, f •!'-■ the lad struggle along with the aid of |,';>: crutches. That was two years , ago. No 'f%.' doubt hundreds of peoplet have, seen |^:- the lad in the; streets pushing ■?-:littje .|; -ii supporting trolley:in?fr(mt qi him^Hai^ |}i|. ing along;-at j^m^Mi^^^^ Wrf people would flflavit:..fiaro;tO;^a3Bx!«atnsE I-1!,';- Two years' ago ';■ S^d^y^pu£U)pJ£;|i^iS^ |iii hot altogether:-J3rigiit^bU^b3i^;^Qiai^|j | j to the wonderful interest and kmdnep |;-; shown by thei,laasesi ; .:arid;' gerrtlemen 'of |||?f the Crippled : "Societyj 'and;; ||U' by the direct§fep£;ihe Technical Cpl^ ||P lege (Mr. R.!dr>Ridling) he has per*' ;|;|V, formed work that is a creditfboth to 'i*i. him and those who havfr given him !;•■■ his opportunity. S, ," .DOMINION-WIDE - SELECTIONWI I; £v- There is scarcely a place in Kfew ■?r'. Zealand that 'has not contributed jsi;; examples 6i work"that are astoundmg ■f£.^ when ;4he of the children :; ' are. concerned. Besides the branches fc : of the \ society, hospital schools have ■■^ '■ -^ei?fcmaj3y;^inds. of:. work. Every kind '&..: ■'; .{off^iicyiwrprli: "is-shown, leather work, "° p'fwter and brass work,-basket work, . woodwork, embroidery, teapot stands, tea cosies, fire screens, trays, felt work, baskets of flowers, and ornamental mops, in brilliarit colours. There are even two sets of hasps and staples, hammered out of oldi scrap iron, finished and lacquered, arid a Viking boat-carved in wood. There is in fact ' nothing on this stand that would not find1 Either a useful or ornamental place in the home. . All of these would make ideal Christmas presents, and. cheer the unfortunate'makers with the conviction that their work was appreciated. The society -aims to • give the same •opportunities to every crippled boy or, girl that are afforded to normal child- : ren, to foster vocational training, making such children self-supporting, to keep the public conscious of the problem of then crippled child, whether through T.B. or otherwise, to advance / .prevention of crippling conditions, and wage war:, on infantile paralysis, one of the principal causes. Co-operation is maintained .with State Departments, hospital boards, and kindred societies. There are 500 children on the Wellington register alone. The Wellington branch is'in charge of the stall.