WOMEN’S GIFT TO CITY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19904, 25 September 1926, Page 24

WOMEN’S GIFT TO CITY.

BEST BOOM NUMBEB ONE. CRECHE AT BOTANIC GARDENS. OFFICIALLY OPENED BY MAYOR. The women’s rest room and creche which was of such service during the Exhibition and which has been re-erected near the main entrance to the Botanic Gardens, was yesterday handed over to the city by the chairwoman of the Ladies’ Committee, Miss M. I. Fraser, as a g..t from the women of Otago, and was declared open to the public by the Mayor (Mr H. L. Tapley, M.P.). A fair number of representative citizens was present, including the Deputy Mayor and chairman of the finance Committee (Cr VV. B. Taverner), the chairman of the Reserves Committee (Cr J. H. Hancock), Cr J. J. Clark, and several members of the Ladies’ Committee. Miss Fraser, in handing over the building to the city, said she was giving it to the City Fathers and more particularly to the city mothers, as such an institution ■was most important in the interests of the mothers and children of Dunedin. They were told on good authority that “the hand that rocked the cradle ruled the world,” and there could be no doubt that women, especially the mothers, had the highest work in the world to perform. In her opinion, the mothers did more for the rising generation than any school teacher. It was the duty of her commits tee to assist the mothers, and with this end in view, they had initiated what she hoped would ultimately be a complete chain of rest rooms in the city. The committee was very much indebted to Mr Keillor and his men for working as they did to finish the rest room in time. They worked late on Thursday night to complete the seating accommodation, and t heir efforts were appreciated. Miss Fraser then asked the Mayor to declare the rest room open. Mr Tapley said he thought he was right in saying that the ceremony marked an important forward step in the civic and social life of the city. It was a most important step, providing as it did for the mothers and children of Dunedin. When the Exhibition was proposed, the women of Dunedin, realising the handicap which would be laid on mothers visiting it with their children, had come to the conclusion that it was essential that a mothers’ rest room should bo erected. With this object in view, a Ladies’ Committee, under the chairwomanship of Miss Fraser, had sent out subscription lists near and far, and it was pleasing to know that the women, and also the men. of Dunedin, had responded so well It was also gratifying to learn that the Mayoresses of the country towns had worked with a will to further the scheme, and that the subscriptions from the outly ing districts had come in splendidly. The speaker pointed out that the committee had performed a noteworthy feat in that it had been able to erect the rest room without any assistance from the Exhibition Company, and on the closing of the Exhibition, the Ladies’ Committee had ap proached the council and offered the building to the citizens as a gift. It was accepted, and the council had shouldered the onus of re-erecting it on its present site. Personally, he would have liked to be able to accept it .for a site nearer the centre of the city, but unfortunately there was such a thing as a brick area, and the council, recognising the crying necessity for such an institution, had decided to establish it in the Botanic Gardens. It was a building they could feel proud of, and be hoped it would be the inauguration of further mothers’ rest-rooms to be erected in the city.—(Applause.) There had been some controversy regarding rest rooms of late, but he hoped this was now settled satisfactorily, as he and the council r- agreed that it was essential that mothers and country folk with their children should have somewhere to rest when they came to town. Miss Fraser had remarked the hand that rocked the cradle ruled the world, and, in emphasising the truth of this, he would remind them that it was their duty in the interests of the rising generation to make the hie and work of the mothers as happy and light as possible. In conclusion, Mr Tapley said he was reminded of a colleague who ha,. always worked hard in the interests of the mothers and children of Dunedin, and who had been a strong advocate ot the erection of rest rooms. He referred to Cr J. E. MacManus. who, on account of sickness, was not able to be with them that day. He regretted that Mr MacManus was not present to thank the committee for its gift on behalf of the city and the womanhood of Dunedin and Otago. i'hov were proud of their city, added Mr Tapley. and of the puplic spiritedness of its citizens, and ho hoped that spirit would prevail and continue to provide for the erection of more rest rooms. He thanked the donors sincerely for a gift which would bo a boon to hundreds, and perhaps thousands of Dunedin mothers and children. Or Hancock said that the rest room had his committee (the reserves) behind it, which meant that the council was also in favour of it. He congratulated the Ladies' Committee on the result of its labours, and he trusted that the building, which was so adraarably situated, and which he thought should be called “No. 1 rest-room,” would be used to the full by those for whom it was intended. Cr Taverner raid the Finance Committee had not had much to do with th erection of the building, and it was gratifying for the council to have something given it instead of having to give. ile tool: the opportunity of adding his congratulations to those of the previous speaicers, and trusted that this rest-room would be the forerunner of a <rreater reheme. The Mayor then officially declared the building open.