SOLDIERS’ WIVES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3196, 16 June 1915, Page 72

SOLDIERS’ WIVES.

A SOCIAL PROBLEM. MRS PARKER S CLUB. (From our London Correspondent.) Lord Kitchener’s first call for a million -men for the new aimies which England is now putting in the field made an instantaneous appeal to a large class of men who were in receipt of good wages as. artisans and mechanics, and whose wives nad always had the advantage of good homes in fairly comfortable circumstances. vVhen these men went off to their military duties their wives were left in circum.dances to which they were quite mia customed. Thev had never known what it was to be parted from their husbands, and, further, in many cases, they had never been compelled to live on so little per week as they drew from their husbands’ allowances. It was soon evident that a new social problem had arisen on a large scale, and that if it were not tackled there was a risk of much harm being done. Lady Henry Somerset was one of the first to bring the matter forward, and scon the establishment of what were called “ Tipperary Clubs for the wives and mothers of soldiers and sailois had been put in hand. Since tnen the movement has been taken in hand by the Women’s Patriotic Club, and to-day there are many dozens of these clubs in the parts of London where they are most likely to be of use to the wives and relatives of the m-fen who are making Kitchener’s new armies. Lord Kitchener himself has warmly approved the movement, and one of its strongest supporters is his sister, Mrs Parker, who lived for many years in New Zealand. Mrs Parker is now president of the Women’s Patriotic Club, and is in daily attendance at its offices in Buckingham Gate, where the work of organisation is carried on. The wives and children of the regular soldiers are generally all looked after by the officers’ wives. But the men- are joining Kitchener’s armies and the Navy just now are not regulars, and their wives do not understand being parted from their husbands as soldiers’ wives do. Some of the men have given up good positions, where they were earning as much as from £2 to £4 per week, to fight for their country. These clubs have been formed for the purpose of giving both instruction and entertainment to the women and children. There are classes for sewing, knitting, cutting out clothes, and saving money generally. The members can get food of good quality at the cheapest possible prices, and the hours are the same as those of the public-houses. This is a wise precaution against the temptation to women to spend their evenings in the public-houses, although Mrs Parker has explained more than° once that the women are, on the whole, very sober and of excellent character. The mere fact that their home life has received a shock by the removal of the husband makes it desirable that they should be afforded the means of spending their evenings in good company and surroundings without going - to the publichouses, a temptation to which they might succumb if tbev were not looked after. Where possible, disused public-houses have been obtained for the clubs, and comfortably, though cheaply, furnished. There are rooms for sewing, writing, reading, and merely talking, refreshment rooms, and babies’ rooms, banana boxes in the last named doing duty for cradles. The object is to have the clubs open < throughout the day until closing time at night, but ir some cases the premises are in use for other purposes during certain hours, and so the club hours have to be curtailed. Some of the London clubs have as many as 500 members, the weekly membership fee being only one penny. Soup costs a penny per bowl, and tea and bun one penny. There are also frequent entertainments.

Mrs Parker threw herself with enthusiasm into this movement as being a most valuable adjunct to the efficiency of the armies in the field. Besides Lord Kitchener’s approval, it has also been supported by Admiral Jellicoo and General French, and one of its most strenuous workers is Lady Jellicoe.