NOTES FOR WOMEN

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10136, 26 November 1918, Page 3

NOTES FOR WOMEN

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL'. Another nurse who has lost her lifts through the epidemic is Sister Violet Lleanor Logic, second daughter of Mr and Mr s 11. Logie, of Kohirnarama, Auckland. j Tho various -worker's in the epidemic, depots agree that a good deal of food, etc., is being given away to people who are not really in need of it. The difficulty of knowing deserving cases from others, however, is too much for most of them, who aro satisfied to bo helping any need at all. Exploitation is undoubtedly going on. Some cases are more glaring than others, and in 'some no doubt the helpers are being bluffed. One case which came, under the notice of a worker has a delightfully humorous touch. A woman, in quite easy circumstances, who usually gets her meals out, finding nil restaurants shut, decided to go to bed, which she did, and several youthful helpers have been taking her soups and jellies, feeding her well, and attending to her domestic needs, tho "patient" all the time being in the best of health, -while the "helpers" are quite sure, they are doing n noble work. In Auckland the. Y.M.C.A. last week accommodated 51 children and 11 babies, temporarily homeless through the epidemic. There was a large number of calls on the food depot at the Town Kail yesterday, and tho kitchen staff -was kept very busy. Though the severe cases are not so numerous, the convalescents have to be fed with good, nourishing food, so there is plenty of work for all the voluntary cooks. Tho death, from influenza, of Mrs Julia O'Brien (wife of Mr John O'Brien, of the firm of Mcsirs J. O'Brien, and Co.) occurred at the family residence in Heaton terrace on Sunday morning. The late Airs O'Brien was born at the Lower Hutt fortv-edght years ago, and -was the daughter "of the late Mr Henry T. Ash ton, a pioneer of the Hutt Valley, and for some years clerk of the Hutt Koad Board. Her mother, who is also dead, was a native of the Taita. Mrs O'Brien exhausted herself in nursing members of her household who were ill from influenza, and was obliged to take to her bed last Fridav week. She has left a son (Mr John O'Brien, jun.>, who is now very ill, and a daughter (Mrs Thomas B. LinklateT). The friends of the lat,o Mrs Norman A. Beagley (nee Margaret M. Dillon)' -will learn with regret that she passed away at the Normal School temporary hospital on Sunday, after a brief illness, which \va3 contracted through volunteering tor service during the present epidemic in Wellington, where she was attached to , the voluntary nursing staff, St. Andrew s Church, The Terrace. The late Mrs N. A. Beagley for three years prior to her marriage (seven months ago) was on the staff of the Wairau Hospital, Blenheim. Yesterday a number of children who attended at headquarters (Town Hall) to be sent to Miramar, were found by the doctor not to be in a lit condition to put among children who are well, so were sent to a hospital. The Kelburn Training College Infant School is now being taken as a temporary home for theso children, where they can be kept and looked after, until it is found whether thev aro likely to develop influenza or not. "The youngsters who have_ been taken to Miramar are quite cheerful in their new home, and the.motor-car rido out is sufficient to prevent any feeling of homesickness. To most of them it is unalloyed 'joy. A large number of garments for these children has been donated by different people, and also material to bo made up- More material, for boys and girls' clothing, especially for nightgowns and shirts, is needed, and oilers of help in making these. They aro being cut out at the Town Hull and all those who will make them > up are asked to apply to Miss Bright, at Council Chamber, between 2 and 5 p.m. Air King, of the Hutt, again donated a quantity of rhubarb for the hospitals yesterday, and workers from the Town Hall went out, gathered it, and brought it back by car. In a production of "Hello, Everybody," at Her Majesty's, Melbourne, it is stated Miss Minnie Love hae opportunities for wearing clothes that fairly take the audience's breath away. There are, particularly, two frocks that are a revelation in the art of the costumiere. These are worn by her in tho Oriental Nights scene, and in tho theatre scene, at which a modern revne is represented. For the second time since the war with the Central Powers of Europe be-. gan a woman has been given a commission in the regular army of the United States. Tho honour has just been conferred upon Doris Kenyon the beautiful motion-picture star. In appreciation of her indefatigable work in connection with the Liberty Loan and Bed CrO;<s drive Miss Kenyon has been mado an honorary sergeant of the One Hundred and Twenty-second Company, Seventieth Eegiinent, United States Coast Defences. Several persons prom- ' ineiit on the stage and screen have been granted honorary commissions in regiments of tho .National Army. Tlieso commissions expire when tho regiment , <;!' the. National Army is absorbed, by ; the regular army. i Mr nnd Mrs H. Brown hare been visit- ''. ing Auckland. | HOUSING PROBLEMS. j In view of the appalling facts dis- ! covered by the epidemic workers in Auckj ;>md, the subject of housing has entered j the sphere of live politics (says the Aucki land "Star"). The subject has also been ! taken up at Home, and Miss Irwin, general secretary of the Scottish Council for Women's Trades, hae been cotleet- , ting the opinions of women in Scotland ■ on tho housing question. In an interest--1 in; booklet on "Industrial Housing from thp Housewife's Point of View," published by the Soottish Council, sho sets furth some of the improvements which most women appear to desire. Included among these are "an abundant supply of hot water," tenement washhouscs fjr every six tenants, and tenement playgrounds for tho childron. More advanc- | ed housewives add to these requirements

central heating, communal kitchens, and —a very practical proposal—a certain number of common rooms for sewing, reading, and recreation for every block of tenement flats. Another subject to which Miss Irwin has devoted attention is the growing need for associated homes for middle-aged and oldish women without children. Many women so circumstanced do not need" the full equipment of a family home. Their requirements might be better met by one good and airy living room, with a small scullery and little bedroom. The greater need in Auckland is a similar municipal scheme for women workers. In both Canada and the United States provision is made for hostels with restaurants attached, whi.'h have proved paying propositions. In these matters wo lag sorely behind the rest of the world. Glasgow has done well by its citizens in this matter of housing, for the Glasgow Improvement Trust has pulled down a rookery, and has placed on the same site bouses which are so arranged as to get their due sbaro of air and light. Admittedly the undertaking was costly, and those who hope- to venture into housing reform after the war might bs glad to have some facts about the finance of the enterp-Hse. In some of the modern dwellings which are illustrated in Miss Irwin's book, the Led and fitted dressingtable are curtained off from tho livingroom in a r»cess. The Scottish Local Government Board ras had some houses put up for the workers in a torpedo factory which embody many improvements.' Miss Irwin herself Ins made a design which tho Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society has carried out with success. To read of what has been done by the Corporations of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Greenock and olher Scottish towns may well make southerners envious, comments an English paper, which also states thero will be treat scope for women councillors in England. WOMEN'S CONVALESCENT HOME 1 . No more delightful place in which to convalesce during these fine days could be found than the Salvation Army Training College in Aro street, where women patients are beinir taken. The building stands so h-igh that it looks over all tho surrounding house?, there is bright green grass below, and sunshine streams into all tho windows durinsr some part of the day. Twenty-seven patients were in the establishment, during the week-end. being accommodated in three wards situated on the second floor. Thero is a comfortable sitting room where they can sit and pleuty of room for tho patients to stroll about outyide, and get strength and health hack to their limbs. Yesterday arrangements were made to accommodate fifteen more patients, two wards being fitted up on the ground floor. Upstairs again there is a good sized dininsr room and another where the staff and Army officials who -are in the building dine, also a fine large kitchen and scullery, and several pantries. Tho Army ha.s placed the entire building and all its convenience? at the disposal of tho staff, who are thereby working under much greater advantage*! than at other emergency hospitals. They have also provided the china and kitchen utensils in the college, with the result that the convalescents are eating in greater comfort. Indeed, the patients here have reason to think themselves in clover. Mrs J. R. Gibbons is in charge, and her chief care is to &>* that her patients get p ; enty of nourishing food, so they nro living, as they themselves express it, bka 'fighting cocks." There are a number of voluntary workers, who are doing everything possible to make tho patients comfortable. A small sitting room and bedroom has been provided for Mrs Gibbons, and two convalescent nurses are also in tho home occupying cubicles, which are bright and sunny. In fact, tho whole place offers every inducement to the patients to get well guickly and they aro all doing so. Tho Salvation Army officials aro giving every help possible to those in charge. DRBSS DEUNK. A very pertinent subject has been brought forward in the Sydnev prdss. Is the intoxicant of dress as deadly to women as drink is to men? In view of some of the conditions discovered in this city, where peoplo who appeared on the streets in the latest flimsy fcolcrv have been found without changes of night and bod linen, the subject needs thought (says the Auckland "Star"). The. Australian paper writes: —"Since the war. both in England as well as in Australia, some women have been indulging in a veritable debauch of dress. On every hand thero aro sad stories told .that men who have been away fighting for their women folk have come home to find all thortr allotment allowance gono in finery. And there are instances whore women have deliberately become engaged to several men simply in order to have a steady income to spend on decorating them•csolves." "Women are dress drunk," decla.rcs Mr Eugene Walter, tho dress dramatist. "It is a passion which transcends in these days of civilisation that of the most barbaric belle of the Congo, who stuffs her head full of ashes and smears it with cocoanut oil. Good, sound linens, that can bs washed and kept clean," he continues, "have been thrown away for insanitary fineries. Women •think dross, talk dross, livo dress. With olothes, of course, go all the accessories of jewels, perfumes, motors, and whatnot." When the crepe-de-chine flimr-inesscs shown in our shops aire considered, the disease docta not seem entirely confined to other lands. It is .time that the senrchlight of public opprobrium should be turned on the women who appear on the streets in *"lvct houso shoe."?, silk stockings, and fur coats. CAIUD or THE COMPLEXION. A course of face massage undoubtedly tends to restore tone and vitality to tho skin, and aB a remedy for premature wrinkles, "bagginees under tho eyes/' and the removal of blackheads and other skin blemishes, there is no bettor treatment. The action of massage upon tho faco is to brace tho nerves and muscles, rendering them flexiblo and healthful, to invigorate and stimulate them by circulating tho blood, to make the skin iirm and able to resist climatic and other influences. Courses of face massage, one guinea. Homo troatmont for the complexion, if carried out according to instructions, produces excellent results. Cost of massage cups and necessary preparations for throe months' home treatment, IG3 Gd. postage Is. I MES BOLLESTON, 256, Lambton quay.