THE NEW ZEALAND PRESS DELEGATES AT HOME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17502, 19 December 1918, Page 8

THE NEW ZEALAND PRESS DELEGATES AT HOME

SPIIIIT OF TJIE WOMEN.

.Nothing impressed us moro during our tour Uiau tlio spirit of, the woincn oi Great liritain. It was woucK-rtul. In Mow Zealand, tho war uit'ort of women is necessarily coDiinod chieily to kiiitting und sowing tot Uio aljsoin, solaier buys, io tno preparation and despatch of parcels of comtorts, to tuu collection ol lunus, and to tne lining ot tno places in cluneal employment vaeiited by juen who are called up on aetivo servujC. The women of the United Kingdom do ulltheao tilings and many ottiei-s beaidos. There is scarcely a department of miiniiiil labour in whicn they are not actively engaged i» order to release men for the front. They are under shell Ore in tho war zone jii iiiuusands, not only as nurses but also as army workers. And in this connection alone they have suffered much in casualties and deaths. They are at work in the Holds, us agricultural la bourers, in the shipyards sido by aide with mechanics who are scarcely more skilled than they, while the factories that aro turning out the shells and other classes of munitions in millions are (stalled very largely .by untiring women workers. We saw theso things and marvelled. Wo also jnarvellcd when wo saw women working as lumpers in tho discharge of ships, saw them busily engaged iis railway porters, and admired them with admirable skill acting as chauffeurs and tram drivers, and again, in tho late hours ol tho night, hanging on to tho tail end of a motor 'bus and patiently and indefatigabiy discharging the trying duties of conductors. Britain in her hour of trial would have been in much sorer straits if it had not been for the achievements of her glorious womanhood. LOOKING AITTER OUR BOYS.

Tho womeu of Now Zealand cannot sufficiently know and perhaps will never realise what they owe to the -women of Britain for tho care ajid attention bestowed on our soldier sons so far away from' home. We have bean in hostels and huts and canteens where the workers were leisured British women, who were giving their time ungrudgingly and doing menial work cheerfully in the service ot .New Zealand boys. "'They are such nice boys, and so brave, and -we feel that we cannot do enough for them." The fepeaker was a charming lady in a New Zealand hut, who had just prepared a tea, tray for a party of live young New Zealanders, and wh'o was living- out the table for them as if tiiey were honoured guests in her home.' That woman had received news only a day or two previously that her only son had been killed at the front. She was not uselessly nursing her grief in secret. She realised that there were mothers in distant Ne,w Zealand whose hearts were throbbing with concern for their dear ones abroad, her own troubles had quickened her sympathy for them," and she was doing what she could to-mother these boys ol ours and make their fow days away from the battlefields moro happy. Tiie episode we relate is typical of many we saw'. We. were at Lady lan Hamilton's London residence on a certain memorable Thursday afternoon, and* found it 'filled with merryfaced young Australian soldiers, who were being entertained at afternoon tea while charming young ladies attended upon them in the capacity of honorary but certainly delightful waitresses. On the following Thursday, we were told, thoguepts would be Now Zealandcrs ,and tliis was happening ' from week to week. It. "was happening also in many other homes throughout London. It was happening all the time at Edinburgh, which is a very popular place with. Now Zealanders on leave. OUR BOYS. ABROAD. It will please the mothers and sisters of New Zealand to know, and this is an undisputed fact, that tho New Zealand soldier atn-oad has maintained an unoxceptionally high reputation for behaviour. This cannot be too widely known and appreciated. " You can always ask a New Zealand soldier to your home and bo assured that he will behave himself as a gentleman," said a lady to tho writer in England, and we heard the-, same sort of thing again and again. The English nurses who have had our wounded under their caro speak most enthusiastically of them, end if a fair •number of our boys have chosen wives in England, this must not bo set down to the superior attractions of the English, Scotch, or Irish girl, but to the winning ways and fine behaviour of our soldior boys amongst strangers. The TiPrsonnl qualities of our boys have won a high name for thrm and this country throushout Great Britain, and one ladv expressed her approbation of thorn intorms that would appeal most to the pride of Npw Zealanders w;hen slie snid: " I wmild like to see and know something more of tho mothers who ham trained nnd sent out such fine sons." Think of this, mothers of New Zealand, in your time of trial and sacrifice, and bo proud of your boys. WOMEN IN FACTORIES.

Tho greater part of women's -war achievement, so far as the Mother Country is concerned, certainly lies iu tho factories. In the darker daya of tho war, when Lloyd George was appealing to the workers to accelerate the stream of mwnitioni, it was tlie women who responded most spontaneously and ungrudgingly and who put in the longest hours of labour in response to that call. It is the women who, for the most part, have done their share without strike for higher pay and shorter hours. . We have seen those women at work, and we shall never cease to admire them, because they constitute a great and most sterling part of the soul of tho nation. During our visit to Glasgow, we visited a great shell factory, where there wero 2500 women employed. "We lunched in the men's <diningroomi, and when lunch had concluded we received an invitation to -visit the girls |n their dining quarters. We shall novor fotget that experience. Seated on a small platform, and surrounded by a couple ot thousand bright-eyed, merry-faced* sonsy Scottish lassies, we .were called on for speeches that were listened to with close attention and the keenest interest. One of the speakers suggested that the girls should come to the colonies after the -war and husbands would be found for them. They laughed merrily. Then their manager, in a telling little address, touched their hearts with the statement: "There is something better than that, 'girls. Keep the shells going till your own boys come back victorious, and marry them_" : How those fine girls cheered. The roof fairly trembled. And when the speeches had ended they gave us three hearty British cheers, prolbably tho only hearty ones we heard in Britain, arid we began to realise something of tho spirit of Scotland that rent one man of every soYen of her population to the war—the record of a race of soldiers and heroes. We -walked through those vast works, and watched that-army of pretty, wholesome young women pro-duc-inp their piles of shells, and we felt that Britain had reason to be? proud of her womanhood. THE W.A.A.C'S. Apart from the Red Gross and the ordinary hospital nurses, there are several thoroughly organised women's branches of the service, such'as the V.A.D's (Volun tary Aid Department), the W R N's (women naval workers), and the \V.A.'a'c's. 'Ibis is a very fine organisation indeed'that has passed nearly 50,000 women through its hands, and had nearly that number still in service m August. At that time there was room and work for an additional 80 000 but recruits wore becoming difficult to tain owing to the great call upon female enort. Many of the trained WAAC's are serving behind tho lines with the'soldiers in .France, and are doing most excellent work. We were privleged to visit the training camp, which is run on strict military lines,, with women officers who hold rank equal to tho various grades in the army, the highest in this camp being equivalent to that of a. colonel. The girls are •trained as cooks, waitresses, paatrymaids clerks, etc., the pay being- £26 a year for household workers and from 26s 6d a week to 42s 6d, for typists, Tnus it will be seen I tnat girls who enhst make some pecuniary sacrifice, as tho pay for most war workers is higher. They woax a serviceable military uniform with breeches are regularly and thoroughly drilled in 'companies, and salute their officers with military precision, though they do not salute nor aro they saluted by the male officers They wear badges of rank, but instead of the customary stripes or stars, their rank is indicated by roses., We were entertained .at luiwh by the staff, who were capital hostesses, tho presiding officer being- a bright and charming young- girl who holds a >ank equal to that of colonel. This was only one of many directions in which the women of GTeat Britain aro not only relieving men for the front, but are providing tho sinews of war; and. in the case of tho WvA.A.O.'s, are actively assisting them behind the lines, indifferent to the dangers from shellfiro to which they are frequently exposed. Tho spirit of tho women of Britain is magnificent, whether in the sphere of war achievement or in the exemplary patience and self-denial displayed under the privations indispensable to severe food restrictions, and is a spirit worthy of the highest traditions of the xaoe fhat cannot be shaken or broken.