SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Evening Star, Issue 25565, 18 August 1945, Page 11

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Mrs G. W. Bowron, George street, has returned from a visit to Wainiate.

The speaker it the Travel Club next Wednesday will be Lieutenant A. D.

(Ryan, D.S.C. The hostesses will be Mrs Dora Smeaton and Mrs G. M. | Dietetic Conference in Wellington

A'ikman. The Otago High School Ex-Girls'. Association will hold its August meeting on Monday in the Women's Club Lounge. All ex-pupils are invited to join, the 75th Anniversary Association. v Mrs A A. Fairbairn presided over the monthly meeting of the St. John i Women's' War Committee held on Tuesday afternoon. It was decided to close down during the school holidays. Sewers are asked to watch the paper for an intimation concerning, starting again early in September. The M.T.A. Students' Club held its monthly meeting in the Pioneer Women's Hall, when an interesting programme was presented by the following :—Piano solos—lslay McKellar, Phyllis Manson, Lenore Smith; songs —Georgina Sanson, Marie Louise Connor, Dorothy Bain, Betty Naylor, June Holmes; piano duet/ Nola Bowie and June Angelo. The accompanists were Molly Anderson, Kathleen Wil-. son, June Holmes, and Ted Carr. j The Society of Women Musicians held its monthly meeting in the Otago Women's Club on. Monday evening. Miss Ruth Moore, president, was in the chair. The evening was devoted o the period of Purcell and Boyce, ! and a talk on that time was given by Miss Ada Knowles. A group of songs by Purcell was given by .Miss Peggy Baker, accompanied by Miss Winifred Gardner. The Trio Sonata (Boyce) ;

•was- given, by. Misses- S. Bayley, B. Paine, and Mrs W. R. Scott. A voca] double duo by Purcell was given bj Mesdames Titchener, Whitworth. Stewart, and Briggs. The Trie Sonata (Arne) was played by Misses S. Bayley, B Paine, and, Mrs W. It. Scott. Three operatic airs by Mozart were sung by Miss Dora Drake, accompanfed by Miss Jessie Jones. The Sonata in E major, op. 109, was played by Miss Mary Frazer. The Gardening Circle of the Otago Women's Club held its' monthly meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The subject was colour schemes in the garden, and the speaker was Miss Lysaght, of the Botanic Gardens staff, who was introduced by the chairwoman, Mrs Orr Campbell. The speaker gave an idea of what flowers and colours were suitable to make an attractive display n both large and small gardens for each season. Starting with spring, crocuses with iris reticujata make an effective combination for border planting. Beds of wallflower ( forget-me-nots, and tulips give a wide range of colour, followed by anemones, ranunculuses, and sweet william, with antirrhinums and daklias as the main summer group. ' Dahlias, said the speaker, were perhaps the best perennial for small gardens, ageratum with pink antirrhinums making a nice show in- late summer. French Club

throughout Ned Zealand, Otago having marked the occasion by a provincial rally attended by companies from all over the province. Mrs Soper said that ■ Guiding and Scouting were the two youth movements which specialised in outdoor work and camp training for young people, and it was very encouraging to be able to l-eport that Otago now had its own camp adviser in the person of Miss Gretchen Williams. The annual balance sheet was read by the divisional secretary, Miss Rewa Begg. The election of officers resulted in Mrs R. F. Shepherd being appointed divisional presideint. Mrs Soper thanked the retiring president, Mrs W. H. Borrie, for the very real interest she had taken in the movement during her years of office. The Divisional Committee elected consisted of the president and secretary of the three districts, as follows: —North Dunedin, Mrs G. Sinclair and Miss M. Anderson; Central, Mrs C. B. Ferguson and Mrs J. F. Poole; South, Mrs C. M. Boss and Mrs 0. E. S, Wood, with the district commissioners. Mesdames C. W. Wardoll, Maurice Arthur, Stanley Harris, and Miss K. Standage. Mrs Borrie spoke of the good work done by Miss Edith Arthur in connection with the Guide shop, and a presentation was made to Miss Arthur in acknowledgment of her help and interest. The annual meeting of the South District Association was held in the Pioneer Women's Memorial Lounge on Tuesday afternoon. Mrs Boss presided. The election of officers resulted as follows: President, Mrs A .M. Ross; secretary,

Owing to the indisposition of tjie president, Mme. Bellugue, Mine. Connor, vice-president of' the club, presided oyer the meeting at the Girls' Higli School on Monday even- ' ing. The evening began with a com"petition in which the names of certain famous French people and places were represented by a series of drawings. One of the main features of the evening was then proceeded witli—the • reading, in costume, of several scenes from one of the most rollicking of French comedies, 'La Cagiiotte,' by Eugene Labiche. TJie parts were taken by a vigorous group of Kings' High School boys, and with such excellent material to work on and in their grotesque costumes—especially in the case of the feminine characters—they lent something of a capping atmosphere' to the whole production. Finally,' to restore the balance by contributing something of a more so.ber nature to the programme, l)r Dunlop read a paper on the subject of what could be seen in the course nf a visit to our own local Art Gallery, describing most capably' some of the pictures which had particularly appealed to his imagination, and presenting his material in such a way as to make his hearers realise that many of us do not appreciate the value of what we. as citizens of Dunedin, have nt our disposal. " £

Women's Legal Rights. At the central meeting held in the Home Science building, Mr W. H. Carson impressed his audience with his talk on law as it affects women. Prior to the passing of the Married Women's Property Act, he said, no wife could possess money or property in her own right—any possessions became the sole property of her husband, who could use and dispose of them as he pleased. The law -gave him these rights, and the wife had no legal right even to any money she earned. In 1870 certain property rights were granted, but it was not until ISS4 that women in New Zealand were granted power to acquire, hold, and dispose of their possessions. As long as the individual resources of husband and wife remained definitely separate there were no complications likely to arise; but in many homes a joint account was kept, and gifts and loans were made in a casual way. Such transactions, unless definite evidence could prove _ the legal ownership, might result in misunderstanding and complicated litigation in later years. Mr Carson stressed the responsibility of everyone with any possessions, no matter how small, to make a, proper will. This was the only way to ensure the desired disposal of one's estate. The maker of a will should nominate someone to administer the estate after death, and must sign the will in, the presence of two witnesses at the one time and place. Any alterations or additions made must be signed by all three. Much other helpful advice was given to show that while laws were made to safeguard the interests of the individual, the onus was on the individual to observe these laws, which dealt with the rights of possession and disposal of property.

More than 50 dietitians from hospitals throughout New Zealanl are expected to attend the conference of the New Zealand Dietetic Association in Wellington, which will open next Wednesday. The conference will be the first since the inaugural one held two years ago,, and will be presided over by the president, Miss M. B. McKenzie, who is in charge of the .diet department at Wellington Public Hospital. Delegates will be welcomed by Dr J. Cairney, superintendent-in-chief, Wellington Hospital, while Miss McKenzie and Miss M. J._ Lambie, 0.8. E., Director of the Division of Nursing, Health Department, will also give addresses at the opening session, which will take place at the hospital. A number of dietitians will contribute talks at the conference. Mrs T. Hamilton, dietitian to an army hospital in the Pacific will Speak on experiences in an army hospital. Miss B. Gentles', dietitian at the Greenlauo Hospital, Auckland, will discuss personnel problems in the hospital kitchen in war time The Department of Health's dietitian, Mi's M.' Barker, will speak on the methods of nutrition publicity available to dietitians. Other speakers will be Miss F. Davidson, tutor dietitian, Wellington Hospital; Miss M. Abraham, Masterton Hospital: Miss B. Holmes, Hastings Memorial Hospital; Miss Redgrave, Palmerston Hospital; Miss J. Hollobon, Dunedin Hospital; Miss E. Puttick, Timaru

' ! Hospital; vr Muriel .den, nutritionist j i to the Health Department; Dr A T . R..' 1 1 SMadkay, and Dr Morvyn Williams: j ,-i Girl Guides. >.; The annual meeting of the Dunedin j Division of the Girl Guides' Local As- • sociation was held yesterday afternoon b ' in the Pioneer Women's Hall. The divi- ■ j sional president, Mrs W. H. Borne, pre- - ; sided. 5 j The annual report was presented by j the provincial commissioner, Mrs P. G. >. Soper, who said that, in spite of war- - j time difficulties, the division had main- .! tained its numbers and its enthusiasm, , j owing largely to the zeal of the guiders ' \ and district commissioners and the ini terest show.n by the lay members of the j • association. There were 458 enrolled i Guides. 227 Brownies, 18 Rangers, and ! 57 guiders, forming 20 companies and 11 packs. The work of the year, Mrs Soper •, said, had to a great extent been con- ! nected with the war effort. Guides had j helped in. the button collection and in : the recent clothes drive for Unrra. i Every company was at present filling I " treasure chests " for sending to | Europe, and toys and money were also | being collected, while clothing had been j sent in for the Polish children. The focal point of interest for the year had been the twenty-first anniversary of iGuidiug in* New Zealand, which had j been celebrated by_Guides and Brownies

Mrs 0. E. S. Wood; treasurer, Mrs F. G. Hall;, committee Mesdames Dyer, Mullin, Kenny, Ryan, Webber, King, Shepherd, Chapman,-and Stewart; lion, auditor, Miss E. Park. Mrs Maurice Arthur, district commissioner, gave an interesting report'bf her, year's work'aihongst the companies' and packs in the district. Red Cross News.

On Monday evening V.A.s from the Central, and Dunedin North Red Cross detachments were on duty when the ■hospital train arrived in Dunedin from the. north bringing sidle and wounded soldiers I 'from the Middle East. A hot suppprwas served to those men going south of 'Dunedin, and as the.: train remained in the station all night* V.A.s were in attendance during the time. Before the train left for Invercargill the next morning, girls from-the two detachments supplied' the 40 men tra-. veiling south of /Dunedin .■■with a hot breakfast, while two of,the V.A.s went on duty on the train to Invercargill. The- home nursing lecture will •be held next Tuesday in the lecture room at tKe Public .Hospital, at 7;30" p.m. - Navy League Notes;

The wonderful news of the victory; over Japan, which means.the cessation' :of the world war, brings joy and. gratitude, to countless, thousands of people, iyet involves feelings of deep sympathy for those, whose men will "never return home. It is hoped that this brancli of the Navy League will keep the widows and orphans or our seamen in constant memory, and continue to send' them tokens of affection so long as the need exists. In addition, though the dangers of war no longer menace our men of the Royal Navy and merchant navy, it will be many months before the former has finished its -work of patrolling and minesweeping, and the work of the merchant navy, with its dangers and discomforts, never ceases. With the world shortage of clothes, woollen garments for our seamen and their children will be needed for sdhle time.

Last week members of the Women's Committee paid an official visit to the spinning room, and the chairwoman paid special tribute to the workers there, mentioning that, • on their efforts depended the supply of wool to be made into the pullovers, seaboot stockings, and cot blankets for overseas. \ During the week 353 Navy comforts were despatched to headquarters in Wellington.