Plamerston Doings.

Free Lance, Volume XV, Issue 817, 25 February 1916, Page 5

Plamerston Doings.

Dear Christabel, — THERE is something very wrong about the sort of Avelcome Ave are giving our returned soldiers. The question is, Avhat is the most suitable form this entertainment should take? When to Avelcome the men home is the primary object of these functions, surely the tastes and inclinations of the soldiers themselves should be taken into consideration. If you took a vote among the men you Avould probably find 99 per cent. vote for less speeches and more freedom. There is a dreary round of speeches. First you have the Mayor, then the local member of Parliament, ai:d a parson or Wo, and a few pushing citizens, avlio reiterate the same old platitudes, and the same old patriotic phrases, many of which are AA'orn so threadbare they have long ago ceased to stir us to Avild •enthusiasm. * * •* * The total abolition of speeches would ■be a great blessing. We call it a "Welcome Home," and Ave ask them to sit in a crowded, hall on a hot night and listen to yards of facts and figures. How much the Avar is costing per day, and per this and per that. When it is expected to end, and where and how and why. Advantage is then taken of the opportunity to press the question ■of recruiting, and a collection is taken up at the door to pay expenses and iiave a nice! little balance for some patriotic fund. And we call this a Avelcome home * * * * If the men deserve some public recognition of their gallant service— and they do—then let us give it to them. Don't try .to turn it into a money-making affair, or a recruiting meeting. Do the thing properly, and <lon't be stingy . And see to it that it is the soldiers who are entertained and fed first, not the stay-at-homes. These affairs Ave have had are neither flesh, fowl, nor good red herring. Won't somebody find out just what the men want, and give it to them? We all know Avhat they don't want, and that is the form, of boredom that is being inflicted on them under the title of "Official Welcome." No doubt the officials concerned mean Avell —but they mean considerably better than they co. *• •* * * On Wednesday afternoon, Mrs. R. A. Fuller gave an "At Home" for her sister-in-law, Miss F. Fuller, who is at present staying with her. Miss Fuller, who hails from Melbourne, is an artist. For some years her Avork was mainly devoted to portraits in oils, but recently she has taken up miniature painting, and a couple of these Avhich I saAV, particularly one of Mrs. Annie Besant, were quite charming. Miss Fuller is a much-travelled lady, having spent many years in wandering at Home and in Europe. Lately she has been in Java and India, but she is returning to Australia after her tour of New Zealand. ■*■*•*• Mrs. Fuller received her guests in a frock of black crepe de chene, and Miss Fuller wore white embroidered muslin. Mrs. C. Louisson, who Avas accompanied by her sister-in-IaAV, Mrs. Sheen, wore a smart navy blue costume, with a scolloped coat. Mrs. "Walker and her daughter, Miss Randolph, wore black crepe de chene, and Miss F. Randolph a dainty frock of white voile. Mrs. Bosworth was in a tussore silk costume, and Mrs. J. McGill Avore navy blue, •with a smart navy hat Avith white wings. Mrs. W. E. Bendall wore a frock of champagne voile patterned with roses. There were over thirty guests present, and an amusing competition kept the ladies busy until afternoon tea and ices were served. * * Mr. T. Taylor, accountant of the Bank of Australasia, has been promoted to manager of the Waverley branch. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and their large family of small children are leaving for their new sphere of energy this week. Mr. Dando is taking Mr. Taylor's place on our local staff. «• * * * We have now reached the dry season, and. it is very dry indeed. Everything is in need of rain, gardens, lawns, tanks a.nd roads. Yes, and the buildings, too. The buildings in the square and houses facing busy streets are like the average small boy, much in need of having its face washed. And we are warned not to waste water on the gardens. Yet the parched earth, wilting flowers and burnt grass are crying out for a little moisture to keep them alive and verdant. I am wondering if you are justified in using the hose, provided you pray for rain. s> » . # . » This sort of weather makes you realise what a wonderful country Egypt must be. In a letter I received last mail, the writer stated that in the part of the desert in which he was camped

(place not mentioned) it was just a year since they had their last shower of >ain, and that only lasted a couple of hours. Prior to this, the natives assured them that it had not rained in this particular locality for thirty years. Perhaps it is just as well, as the native huts and houses are composed of a mixture of mud. He adds that if they had a good old New Zealand downpour for a couple of days, all their homes would subside gracefully. You certainly could plan a picnic there without giving a thought to the Aveather. In New Zealand it is the toughest problem in making an outdoor rixtur<s -* * * * The total receipts from the McHardy Art Union were about £9500. But the net receipts are about £7000. The modest sum of £2500 does seem a large outlay in running one single art union. It is rather a pity that patriotic affairs cannot be run on the same solid business lines that men run their OAvn pri--A-ate concerns. There is a lot of gratuitous labour Avhich isn't really quite gratuitious when you come down to bedrock. * * * * A direct letter to the morning paper demanding information on the subject elicited the fact that one official, Avho had been thanked for his kind services, had also been voted £100, but the press had been asked not to mention it. It is this hole-and-corner style of doing things that makes the public suspicious, and Avhen it gets suspicious, it buttons up its oockets. No one says the man didn't earn the £100, but why a secret of it and thank him so heartily for his work, as if it were a gift of labour to a good cause, whereas it Avas a paid service. ■» * * # It has now been decided to send £2000 of the proceeds to the Y.M.C.A. in Egypt for providing the men at the front with any necessaries or comforts they may require, the money to be sent forward in instalments. There is no doubt this Association is doing excellent Avork, and it appears to have the best and most extensive organisation of any body engaged in similar Avork. It is a sort of connecting link between the men in the fighting line and their friends at home, and it seems to be wisely and judiciously administering the funds entrusted to its care. * * * * At Mangatainoka on Tuesday last. Miss Beatrix Bolton, seventh daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. of "Oete," Avas married to Mr. O. H. Dnice. of Kumeroa. * * *• ■* Mr. and Mrs. C. Spooner just returned from a holiday spent in Sydney. ■« # * * Mi-. H. Croueher has just received from his son, Avho is with the Ambulance at No. 1 Stationery Hospital in Salonika, a copy of the "Balkan News," a. small journal printed in English for the benefit of the British troops. It is published every day, price "ten leptas." Private Croueher Avas among the fortunate ones who were rescued from the Marquette. He had a most exciting experience, being someAvhere doAvu beloav amidship Avhen the vessel was struck by the torpedo. He was blown up clean through the vessel and landed clear into the Avater, fortunately escaping serious injury in his sudden. A r oyage through the air in company with portions of the ship's fittings, Avhich went aloft Avith him. **•■»* The Rev. S. J. Baker, who Avas injured in the Tasmanian railway smash last week, Avas formerly minister at the Emmanuel Congregational Church in Palmerston. * * * * Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Geach, well knoAvn in theatrical circles, were in Palmerston North last week. It is many years since Mr. Geach was last in our city, and he was kind enough to note the great progress it had made in recent years. **#•»■ A movement is afoot locally to help the French Red Cross Fund. The various ways of raising money under discussion are the selling of French badges, and a large number of copies of the "Marseillaise" are to be procured and offered for sale . Mrs. Chaytor has been asked to organise a cafe chantant. From these various sources a fair amount of cash should be forthcoming to help our plucky Ally, Johnny Crapaud. * * * ■» At a public meeting in Queensland recently a speaker of the Red Fed. type stated that he had a brother at the front, but, he added, "there was a 'mug' in every family." But we need not go so far from home for incidents of a similar nature. Last week a wellknown business man here, happened to pick up a photo of my brother who is

S «av n 1 ' S \ a J nd hurled he through said, "Well he's a great big MUG" liiere are other people as well as Germans who ought to be on. Somes Island. * * *. * <:J!+ saT r a i vc r rj \ quaint and usefu i pi-e 5 - sent which had just been given by a young wife _to her husband, and I thought Christabel, you might like to pass on the idea. It was a shaving outfit consisting of a very compact little -oabnet made of dark wood, with accommodation for all his shaving uten;i«s and an oval mirror fixed on top, and this was set on legs to make it the requisite height. It fits very conveniently into a corner of the bathroom, and particularly in cases where baby is ot an inquisitive turn of mind it is 'well to have such interesting things as razors securely locked away and out of reach. * * * %. m Mr. Jack Grant, who was one of the six members of the firm of Loughnan and Jacobs to enlist for active service « ,^ st T> assed la three subjects for his imal law examination, viz., Contracts, Evidence and Procedure. Jack Grant sat for tins exam, just before leaving with the hospital ship Marama which is acting the Good Samaritan "somewhere about the Mediterranean. This will be good news for him, as it will only mean a little more "swat" on his return before he can begin to rope in six-and-eightpences. Jack Grant is the only son of the late Mr. Grant the onoe beloved headmaster at Collegestreet School. to *•**■*• On Monday night Mr. T. Wilford gave a very interesting and entertaining speech on the war, which he illustrated with chalk and blackboard. Mr Wilford seems to know his subject from soup to nuts," and the mass of facts and figures, details, dates, and diagrams he dealt with without notes was quite a. revelation to his audience. He was on familiar ground, having visited many of the countries in recent years, which are now the battlefields of Europe, and he has delved into the subject of treaties and diplomatic relations. We look forward to his promised return in about three months, when another instalment of his war talks should be met with a crowded house. Your friend. AWAPTTNI.