SOCIAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18710, 16 May 1924, Page 14

SOCIAL NEWS

S Mrs. ■'■ John Reid and : Miss- Reid, who have been on a visit to England and the • Continent, returned by the Ulimaroa on ".''-V'. ; Wednesday and are staying rati Cargen. : 'Miss Alice Law, L.R. A.M., left) ,on; Tuesday night for Wellington to attend a large -conference of musicians "at which she will act as delegate from the Auck- ;' land Society of Musicians. . : }'" : Miss Jean Stevenson arrived , yesterday 'to take up the position of : actings general secretary of the Auckland Young Women's ■'Christian Association. Miss Sttevenson takes up her duties on Monday. The engagement is announced ■ of Kathleen, younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith, of Bishop Road, Epsom, late of Cardiff, England, j to Stuart J. Henrys, second son of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Henrys, of Wellington. - Miss Elsie Botts, the English pianiste, who arrived recently from the Royal 'Academy of Music to take up the position of directress of music at' the WangaJiui Girls' College, is spending the holidays ml Auckland and is staying at Cargen. • .' ,;' :'■.";/;•;';•"" '■•' '' The.next meeting of the literary circle In connection with the Auckland Lyceum Club will take place on May 30, having been postponed from. the 16th. On May 22 it is proposed' to hold an-open afternoon, at which Her Excellency Lady Jellicoe will be the gues'y of honour and for which a musical programme is being arranged. -- •■■• '2 —_/"■ • '; ■-■ '• Messrs. Redfern, - the Court dressmakers of Bond Street, are considering voluntary liquidation. , The decline in their prosperity is ' said to be mainly due to i the present poverty of the hitherto well-to-do classes and the enrichment of a class lacking in taste for ' the - exclusive. In other words, the New Poor cannot afford to buy "Redfern" gowns and the New Rich do not appreciate them. There aru, however, other reasons for the:, resolve to liquidate. The vogue for . simple styles, executed ' in simple materialswool Instead of the perfectly-tailored costumehas also lessened the demand for "creations." The new Labour Government is said to be investigating the subject of pensions for necessitous widows with dependent children, and estimates of the probable cost are being prepared, says a writer in an English exchange. A statement issued on behalf of the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship declares that the problem is growing in urgency, and that the number of widows in receipt of relief has been increased .by 30 per cent, in the last two years. The Union has drawn up -a ' scheme under which every widow with dependent children under 14 years of age would receive 16s a week, with 6s 6d a week for every child under 14. The scheme also provides for a pension of 6s 6d for every orphan with- safeguards regarding expenditure. It is stated that after the • sum of three million pounds at present paid in Poor Law relief to widows and orphans .is deducted, the total cost of the scheme would be between' fifteen ■ and twenty million pounds. ,';-. ••>-,''