SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19377, 12 July 1926, Page 5

SOCIAL NEWS.

The Misses Pike, of Sydney, are staying at the Grand Hotel. The Misses V. and M. Jackson are on a visit to Whangarei. Mrs. Aitchison is visiting Mrs. Neiley at Branckenfield, Cambridge. Miss Lena Liddle, of Auckland, left by the Marama on a health trip to Australia. Mrs. B. Haggit and Miss Tolmie, of Dunedin, are staying at the Hotel Cargen. Mrs. J. Macky, St. Heliers Bay, leaves to-morrow on a visit to Palmerston North. Mrs. Edminston and Miss McCulloch left by the Marama on Friday on a visit to Sydney. Miss Hanna leaves this evening for Wellington, where she will be the guest Oi Mrs. Miles. Miss L Walker, of Wanganni, is on a visit to Auckland and is staying at the Grand Hotel. Mrs. J. H. Keesing is visiting Auckland, where she is the guest of her daughter, Mrs Van Staveran. Mrs. Taylor, who has been postmistress at Kihikihi for the past 19 years, is retiring at the end of the month. The Misses C. and M. Fitzherbert, of Palmerston North, are on a visit to Auckland and are staying at the Hotel Cargen. Miss P. Hollander, of Christchurch, is on an extended visit to Auckland, and is staying with Mrs. C. Goldstine, of Heme Bay. Mrs. E. B. Davison, of North Canterbury, with her family, is staying with her sister. Mrs. H. Hanna, Westbourne Road, Remuera. Miss Banks has returned to Cambridge after spending some weeks with her sisters, Mrs. E. Firth and Mrs. T. McLaughlan, in Auckland. To pre-war Russia belongs the credit of producing the first feminine engineer. That was Mile M. D. Baudwin, who graduated at the Women's Technological College, St. Petersburg, in 1909, and who was the first woman engineer in the world to prove her ability in practical work. Obtaining an appointment as assistant engineer, she helped to construct the great bridge across tne Neva, which connects the Russian capital (now Leningrad) with the northern suburb of Ochta. Their Excellencies the Governor-Gen-eral and Lady Alice Fergusson entertained members of the Anglican Synod at present meeting in Wellington to afternoon tea at Government House on Friday. Their Excellencies received in the drawing room, which was decorated with cinerarias, cyclamen and other flowering pot plants, and tea was set on two long tables in the ballroom. the decorations heing of red chrysanthemums and anemones. Bright fires made the rooms cheery and an orchestra played during the afternoon. Mrs. D. F. Skinner, who is leaving Raetihi to take up her residence in Wellington, was farewelled by the members of the committee at the conclusion of the ordinary committee meeting of the Plunket Society, which was held at Mrs. W. Feltham's residence. The president, Mrs. R. Sigley, in presenting Mrs. Skinner with some handsome china, said they could not let the opportunity pass without expressing their appreciation and esteem of Mrs. Skinner. She had been a valuable member and an indefatigable worker on behalf of the society, and they wished her happiness and prosperity in her new sphere. To the list of women who have devoted their lives to botanical research must be added the name of Amalie Dietrech, a German. She gave 12 years to the study of botany in the practically virgin soil of Queensland, and spent weeks at a time amid the blacks, securing a valuable collection of. plants, including many previously unknown. Quite a number of plants have been named after her. Another feminine botanist whose activities have been recognised is Miss Ethel Sargant, F.L.S., who in 1913 was made president of the botanical section of the British i Association, the first woman to'hold a presidential post in the association. A most enjoyable concert was given at the Evelyn Firth Home on Wednesday evening by the girls of the Victoria League Ever Ready Committee. Cigaretts were distributed. There were several items in costume —a Spanish dance by Miss Armitage, accompanied by Miss Maddox at the piano and Mr. Maddox on the clarionette; an old-fashioned dance and song, " To a Miniature," was sung and accompanied by Miss St. Clair-Whyte, while the gavotte was danced by Miss De Renzy and Miss N. St. Clair-Whyte. A sketch in costume, "The Lady Who Obliges,'' was given by Miss Adkins. Recitations were given by the Misses Jourdain, St. Clair-Whyte and Wilson-Smith; songs by the Misses Tapper, Faire, Hutchison, D'Audney, St. Clair-Whyte, a pianoforte solo by Miss Ballantvne a duet by Misses De Renzy and Priestly and a steel guitar solo by Mr. Maddox.