WOMEN’S LEADER

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 February 1939, Page 4

WOMEN’S LEADER

LADY READING’S TASK What manner of a woman is this who was chosen by the Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, above all others, to act as chairman of the Women’s Voluntary Services establish in Great Britain to assist the Air Raids Precautions department of the Home Office in view of the international crisis in Europe?, writes Jane Jamieson in the “Sydney Morning Herald.” Perusal of the memoranda prepared for the guidance of members of the regional and local staffs of Women’s Voluntary Services, which have been sent from Lady Reading’s office in i London direct to the National Council of Women as the convening body for Similar organisations in this country reveals how extraordinarily explicit were the plans for the protection of the civil population of Great Britain in the event of air raids. It suggests also the magnitude of the task and the responsibility which devolved upon the woman chosen to lead this band of 500,000 women which was the goal set by the authorities, a goal which was reached within a very short space ot' time. Although since her marriage at a registry office in London in 1931 to the first Marquess of Reading, one of the most brilliant Jewish personalities of this age, the limelight of publicity has followed all Lady Reading’s activities, it is said of her that "she baffles the most perseveringcollectors of what is called ‘intimate detail.’ ” Pamela Frankau, writing oi’ her in a recent issue of “Vogue,” remarks that although Lady Reading, who before her marriage' was Miss Stella Charnaud, can speak German, French, and Italian fluently, she has no fluency whatever, not even in English, when it comes to talking of matters which she considers unimportant! Since her husband’s death in 1936, Lady Reading has found an outlet for her vitality and her interest in life in public service. She has been a. .member of the. Broadcasting Commission since 1935.

Lady Reading has a. deliglitl'ul, small house in London, where she entertains only her intimate- friends, and she.- spends her week-ends at. a cottage in Sussex. In both London and Sussex a constant companion is. her Siamese cat, called Shadrach, “Shady” for short. A firm believer in women’s rule over the world, Lady Reading is reported as having remarked, “We rule the world anyway. As long as we have thej strength to do so, let men believe they rule. It keeps them happy.” She has also declared that since woman has the most difficult job in life, that of running the men, she must be educated to do it thoroughly. .And the woman who wore a. tailored navy coat and skirt to her wedding has admitted that “clothes matter an awful lot. I wore odd shoes once when I applied for a job, and did not get it.” So that, beyond recognition of her remarkable ability for getting things done, very little is known beyond, llm circle of her intimate friends of the real responsibility of this woman, "ho at Ihe : lg (, of Ji years holds (he most, important woman’s job in Eng-1 land, obviously because she is the woman most capable of doing so. (