SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Evening Star, Issue 25470, 28 April 1945, Page 11

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

LBy Diana.]

Bishop Frank Houghton and Mrs Houghton, who have recently come from Chungking, China, are visiting Dunedin: Bishop Houghton is general . "director of the China Inland Mission. Mrs Houghton, who is adaughter of the late Bishop Cassels, of Czechwan, will address a meeting in .First Church on Monday afternoon, to which all wpmen are invited. Miss Dora Drake will be the soloist. On Monday evening, at Kaikorai Kindergarten, the first 1945 Mothers' Group meeting of the Dunedin Free Kindergarten was held. There was a good attendance, about 200 mothers being present. The principal of the Dunedin Kindergartens, Miss A. Duthie, welcomed Mrs D. Smeaton, the new president of the Kindergarten Association, and presented her with a spray of flowers. A very interesting talk was then given by Miss Vera Hayward, which was followed by an excellent entertainment, items being provided by each kindedgarten. At the April meeting of the central "branch of the W.C.T.U., held on Tuesday, several answers to correspondence wero discussed, including such subjects as a remit with regard to conscientious objectors asking for a tribunal in New Zealand on the same lines as in England; a resolution urging total abstinence . of engine drivers, guards, and others responsible for public safety; the 'introduction of Montgomery posters in schools; also trust control. A letter was read from Mrs" Ella Boole, world president, asking for prayers for the world convention to be held in Toronto, June, 1945, that the right officers may ho chosen as leaders. • The St. Kilda Ladies' Bowling Club was favoured with ideal weather for closing day. Mrs'E. Lqngworth, the president, entertained members with mixed rinks, Mrs ' Adess's rink gaining first prize, with Mrs Muir's rink second. During afternoon tea trophies won during the season were presented as follows: —Singles championships: Mrs Higginson; runner-up, Mrs Pryde. Handicap singles: Mrs Longworth; runner-up, Mrs Gladding. Club pairs: Mrs Longworth (skip) and Mrs Potter (lead); rnnners-up, Mrs Lee-, don (skip) and Mrs Jones (lead).; . The Logan Parle Croquet Club closed" its season on Saturday, when theprizes won' during the season: were presented by the president (Mrs McKinlay). A grade championship and the Stanley. Smith Cup: Mr G; |Metcalf. B grade championship: Mrs, Knox. Sgnira Cup: Mrs Lamb. - B grade doubles: Mrs Lamb and Miss Flynn. Winners of;the; competitionsheld during the afternoon -were Mesdames Anderson, Piirdie, Burk, Wilkinson, and Hunter. The grocery competition was Tron by Mrs Peterson. Members of thei Montecillo'Croquet; Club assembled at the tfawns urday afWfnoM fair'iHe^ffiSa^closmf? of the season and .■' presentation of-., prizes. The.president (Mrs Beck) pre- s sented the' prizes as follows :---Club /

championship: Mrs Haig. Junior handicap (Russell Cup): Miss Larnach; runner-up j Mrs Collett. B championship (Reid Cup) : Mrs Brown. 0 championship: Mrs Gooseman; run-ner-up, Mrs Brander. After afternoon tea competitions were held on the lawn.

Members and honorary ' members of the Watea •' Croquet Club were the guests of the president (Mrs T. Shaw) when the lawns were closed for the season on Saturday afternoon. Prizes won in the club competitions were presented as follows: —A grade championship : Mrs S. P. Knox; runner-up, Mrs J. Robertson. Handicap singles: Mrs J. J. Henry; runner-up, Mrs Sewell. B grade championship: Mrs D. Chisholm; runner-up, Mrs Crum. Handicap singles: Mrs C. P. Keen; runner-up, Mrs A. Rayner. Combined doubles: Mesdames Pickering and Mercer. Afternoon tea, competitions, and games concluded a successful function. The entertainment of the French Club on Monday evening was in the hands .of Mme Connor. After the singing of the ' Marseillaise ' Mme Connor sang two verses of a national anthem seldom heard in New Zealand, the Belgian national anthem, 'La Brabanconne,' the audience standing as a mark of respect to a brave allied nation. As Mme this particular anthem was born out of Belgium's struggle for independence in 1830, the music being written by a Belgian named Campenhout and the words by a French general named Jenneval, who gave his life fighting for the Belgians against the Dutch. Two French songs were well sung by Miss Keane, Miss Prisk acting as accompanist, and then Mme Connor presented, in costume, one of the best plays that the club has had for some considerable time, ' La Malade Imaginaire,' a modern i\ adaptation of ' Malade Imaginaire ' (' The Man who Thought he was 111'). Those who assisted Mme Connor were Misses Gordon, E. Wallace, M. L. Connor, Dbggart, and Prisk. The Otago Women's-Club ;>held its annual .Shakespeare evening on Tuesday, when the- Musicj Play-reading, and Literary: Circles combined to make the evening a varied, and interesting one: Miss A. MpDougall- welcomed members', before introducing Mrs Soper, who was v responsible.if or the production of the:, first \play-reading Ttemf-ract iv:;"-8cm'e' s ' The Tempest.' This -scene with aVebuntry dance by members, a very beautiful and effective v scene. Those taking: part in this sceheVwere Mesdames Faii-bairn,' Servicew Anderson, Wardell, Lane, Misses Rewa Begg, Cecily Power, Kathleen. Falconer, Maiyine Ross, Beryl Service, Lilian McCarthy, Nancy Alcock, Dorothea Thompson, Helen Wilson. The Literary, Circle's contribution to the evening was a delightful talk by Miss L. Morton, showing the application of Shakespeare to present-day use, illustrated by many extracts recited by the speaker and Mrs W. Holmes. The Music Circle then took over the proframme and provided a programme of hakespearean music,' commencing with a chorus ..of circle members singing several ballads of .Shakespeare's

time. This was followed by a trio item, ' Where the Bee Sucks ? ' by Mesdames White, Turner, and Miss Errington. Delightful solos by Mrs White, and a piano number by Miss Rosslyn Brown, were followed by a duet by Mrs Turner and Miss Errington. Mrs Turner sang the ever popular ' Who is Sylvia,' and violin solos by Miss Stella Bayley completed the musical programme. The programme concluded with two scenes from ' Macbeth,' arranged and produced by Mrs W. Holmes, who herself played the part of Lady Macbeth. Those taknig part iii the scenes were Misses N. Alexander, L. McCarthy, and R. Begg.The speaker at the Travel Club next Wednesday will be Captain Gerald Doorly. The hostesses will be Mrs A. H. Allen and Mrs Chas. Witson. Social events at the Hard of Hearing League rooms recently have been a women's afternoon and a combined social evening. The vice-president of. the women's committee, Mrs Ballard, was in charge of the meeting, when women members were very interested in an excellent demonstration of glovemaking. At 'the social evening, the speaker was Mr W. R. Br ugh, who caried- -his listeners with him in his very able descriptions of some of the towns in Germany and the Balkans which have been recently in the news. The church service this month was conducted by Rev. de Lisle, of the Moray Place Congregational Church. The Austral-Girton Club were hostesses at the Combined Ex-girls' Service Group meeting held at the Otago Pioneer Women's Memorial Hall last Tuesday, when Mrs Cowie welcomed about 50 members. During the evening items were given by Mrs Brathwaite and Miss Heather Smith.

The Caversham Croquet Club was favoured with ideal weather on Saturday, when members who were successful ,in winning both the B and C Shields were entertained. Mrs Anderson, vicepresident, congratulated the teams on their success, and presented a spray to each player. Mrs Carrington spoke on behalf of honorary members. Mrs Barron (captain) returned thanks on behalf of the players. Winners of competitions held during the. afternoon were: Hitting the peg, Mrs Melville; break, Mrs Barron; hurryscurry, Mesdaines Melville and Williams, Newson and McPherson. Bishop Frank Houghton, of' Chungking, China, general director of the China Inland Mission, and Mrs Houghton arrived in Dunedin yesterday, and are the guests of Mr and Mrs George Buckley, " Cleve Garth," Queen street. About 60 members of the Columba Old Girls' Association met at the Savoy on Thursday to honour Miss Frances J. Ross, the patron, on the occasion of her birthday. . Presentations were made to Miss Ross by the president, Mrs S. iR. Crimp, on behalf of the old girls, and by Mrs C. W. Wardell, on behalf of the college staff and pupils. Mrs Crimp referred to Miss Ross's long service and outstanding record as principal of the college and the keen interest she had taken in the affairs of the college and association since her retirement.

The Green Room Club held a social evening in the, Repertory Society's

Rooms on Tuesday last, to welcome Miss Anita C. Webster, of Auckland. Mrs M. F. O'Sullivan presided, and the rooms were beautifully decorated with; bowls of hydrangea and autumtinted foliage. It is not often that Dunedin people have the opportunity of heiaring such a gifted artist as Miss Webster, and the large audience proved most responsive. Miss Webster showed remarkable versatility and her programme was a generous one. During the interval, Mrs John Hamer, accompanied by Mrs O'Sullivan, sang a bracket of two songs charmingly, and Miss Margaret Uftoh gave a character sketch.'

The Mornington Ladies' Bowling Club had an ideal day. for the closing of the season, when the members were the guests of their president, Mrs Hamer. Progressive doubles were played and the Skips' prize was won by Mrs Abbott and the Leads' prize by Mrs Stuart. The prizes won during the season were presented. Mrs Abbott won the championship singles and was presented with the Morrison Cup, president's prize and club trophy. Mrs Whale was runner-up. Mrs Hamer also presented a small gift and a floral spray to Mesdames Morrison and Wallace for their work during the season. ' ' , Red Cross News.

Thirty-five voluntary aids attended the service at the Town Hall on Anzac Day. Four voluntary aids returned from service overseas last week. A case of toys etc. has been forwarded from the Dunedin Red Cross voluntary aids to headquarters m Wellington for distribution. A special demonstration in artificial respiration has been arranged for next Wednesday night in the Stuart street practice rooms at (5.45. All voluntary aids intending to sit for their first aid examinations arc particularly requested to attend. Victoria League.

A meeting of the Victoria League Committee was held, on Tuesday, Mrs A. G. Melville presiding. Arrangements were made for the observance of Empire Day, when. Mr D. Forsyth will give an address to members. Miss F. Allan's resignation as'_ honorary librarian was received with regret. Extracts were read from a letter from Miss Leaf, the secretary of the Victoria League in London, dealing with the work they are doing and hoping to do for ex-pnsoners of war when they are released from' camps on the Continent after the collapse of Germany. She states that the Empire Societies War Hospitality Committee, on which all Empire societies are represented, has set up a special body. known as Hospitality for Empire Prisoners of War, to look after all the hospitality side of this work It had fallen to.her to become organiser of this and to open an office at 15 Charles 11. street, S.W.I. Lady Frances Ryder's organisation, the Overseas League, and the Victoria League, the organisations dealing with most hospitality during the war,. will work together and will provide hospitality in English homes for any officers and men needing it. Navy League Notes. With the wintry weather starting, it is more than ever desirable to despatch on time the garments needed at Wellington headquarters for our men going overseas, and those already at sea needing replacements. It will, therefore, be satisfactory for our workers to know that the blue bags for April and May will be ready to go early next week, also the allocation for ..the two months. The latter-will not\have its full quota of pullovers, unless svime come in during the next few days. More pullovers and balaclavas are badly needed. A most interesting letter has been received by the spinning room from a R.N.V.R. man overseas, when he and his men were operating on the_ Continent under very trying conditions. He was flown 100 miles to check up on engine trouble of an aircraft which had had to make a forced landing. On climbing into the plane the pilot mentioned there were some parcels for him. He could hardly believe his eyes, but they_ " were three of your cakes!" Arrived back at his unit, where all had been feeling a little fed up with heavy snow and bitter cold, . the glad news soon spread around, and "you have no idea what a tonic the arrival of your cakes was, and it is hard to express how fully they were appreciated by all. Everyone had a snare, and all asked me to send you their thanks and kind wishes." Surely a unique coincidence! Business and Professional Women's Club. At the fortnightly meeting of the club, held ,in the Tudor on Monday, Miss Kathleen Falconer gave a talk on ' Theatres Abroad.' Miss Falconer's gift of observation and aptness in description rendered the account of her two years abroad while studying dramatic art well worth listening to. Although seven years have passed since she made the trip. Miss Falconer's vivid descriptions seemed from a pageant of events of a more recent visit. Theatreland, in the West End of London, comprising some 47 theatres in a very small area, included four favourites —Drury Lane, famous for drama; the Open Air Theatre, in Regent Park, for Shakespearean plays; the Old Vic, beloved by all those interested in the theatre; Albert Hall, for marvellous music. The last-men-tioned, which was built in 1867 as a memorial to the Prince Consort, has seating accommodation for 9.000 and standing room for 1,000 people. Lectures given bv famous actors and actresses, and attended by Miss Falconer, proved of immense value in her studies.