EN ROUTE TO FIJI

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22578, 17 November 1936, Page 2

EN ROUTE TO FIJI

LADY RICHARDS ARRIVES On a four days' visit to Auck- S land, en route to Fiji, where she will make her future home, Lady Richards arrived by the Awatea from Sydney yesterday morning. She was accompanied by lier husband, Sir Arthur Richards, who has been appointed Governor of Fiji, and her three young children. Lady Richards takes a been interest in tennis, dancing, golf and riding. Among social organisations she is actively interested mainly -in child welfare. For the past two years Lady Richards has lived at Gambia, on the West Coast of Africa, where her, husband was Governor. There were only about 125 Europeans living at Gambia, she said, but a large amount' of entertaining and such social life as was to be found in golf and tennis clubs removed all feeling of isolation. The climate at Gambia was very dry and hot and for nine months of every year there was 110 rainfall at all. The European residents, said Lady Richards, all employed African servants, who, in her opinion, were most efficient and honest. Although many people considered that there would, be a <x»tain amount of trouble in managing native servants she herself bad?found them no different in that respecft from Europeans. / I , Lady Richards previously- had uvea at Borneo for some timo and before that in the Malay States. She considered that considerable progress baa been made in Malaya in recent ye®rt from almost every point of view. 1 development of plantations and i a tories had gone ahead rapidly. Before leaving for Australia, Zealand and Fiji Lady Richards spen a six months' holiday in Lngla > where she had lived prior to her marriage. She was fond of travelling although she always seemed to be H ■ ing in out-of-the-way places she jov'ed seeing new countries and n} ing new peoples. She had always interested in child welfare orga tions and one of these had beci tablished at Gambia. 1 ' IIS ™'l'J however, did not cater for the population. Most of the wor . the latter was more or ess medi and was carried out by cl °rt° is ; out sionaries and nurses "ho had „ . to West Africa for the purpose 01 structing tho natives.