UNUSUAL VOCATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22687, 27 March 1937, Page 20

UNUSUAL VOCATION

SPORTS ORGANISER AT SEA SYDNEY GIRL'S POSITION The appointment of a woman sportsorganiser by the P. and O. Company, for the various cruises made by their liners, opens up yet another vocation for women, and Miss Margaret McBobert, a. young Australian, i§ filling the post with success. She is on the Sydney staff of the company, and the major portion of her time is occupied in transferring from one ship to another when making pleasure cruises to New Zealand, Fiji, New Guinea, Noumea, or some other selected destination. Miss. Mcßobert works in conjunction with one of the male officials of the company and a junior assistant, but the contacting and rounding up of the passengers and general social activities are left to her feminine tact and persuasiveness. Usually joining the liner at Sydney, Miss Mcßoberfc sets about organising entertainment for the passengers. In this she has *thc co-operation of members of the ship's crew. The quartermaster is a very valuable ally, and various stewards are also called into action. Entertaining Children b In addition to her sports activities, Miss Mcßobert devotes a certain amount of time to the children travelling, and between 4.30 and o o'clock every .afternoon she repairs to the nursery or some other secluded spot and entertains her young charges, reading fairy stories, playing the gramophone, or joining in games in which they joyously participate. Most of the youngsters enjoy the reading, for Miss Mcßobert illustrates her stories with descriptive light and shade in voice and gesture. She usually organises the sports for the first-class passengers, and her assistant performs similar duties for the tourist-class, under her supervision. The arrangement of bridge parties, the allocation of prize-money, and the distribution of literature, photograph albums, and other souvenirs are also included in Miss 3lcßobert's duties. Qualifications for the Post

This ' tall, attractive, blue-eyed girl makes a success of her job for two reasons—she has the temperament and personality for it, and, secondly, she came to her post well equipped in the matter of experience. In 1933 she went to England and secured a position as reception clerk in the London office of the P. and 0. Company, where she remained for two years. During that time Miss Mcßobert made four" holiday cruises, her destinations including the Baltic and the glorious Norwegian fiords; the Canary Isles, Spain, and Morocco; the Mediterranean, which included Italy and such islands as Corfu and Messina; and the lovely Dalmatian coast, where exKing Edward cruised in the Nahlin a few months ago. These trips were not made officially—they were taken during heV vacations, and she gained considerable experience from them. A longing for her homeland brought her back to Australia at the end of 1935. -After a month with her family in Brisbane, she joined" the Sydney office of the P. and 0. Company, and ■was appointed in due course to the position she now holds.