TRAVEL IN INDIA.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12453, 20 September 1933, Page 5

TRAVEL IN INDIA.

PAHIATUA WOMEN S INSTITUTE.

A TI>IELY MOTTO

The monthly merting ofiheabove Institute was held in St. Be ter s Schoolroom yesterday at ter noon, between sixty' and seventy members being present. After the singing or the “Ode to Friendship’" Mrs W. i,. Tattle (president) referred to the passing of two more of the Institute’s members, Mrs Alice Marlamd. and Mrs H. M. .B Marshall, and asked members to stand in silence as a mark of sympathy with the relatives of the two deceased ladies. iS-h© quoted the motto for the month, “Do not put your wishbone where your backbone should be,” and made reference to the resolution passed at the annual conference in Christchurch regarding the setting up of an Obstetrical Hospital m Dunedin. Mesdames G. G. Taylor and Houston were appointed the delegates to the annual Council meeting of the Federation to be held in the foresters 7 Hall, Pahiatua, on Tuesday, 31st October, and as arrangements have been made with Mrs A. East luncheon will be in the hall at a small charge. Members were asked to endeavour to carry out the remit from this Institute passed at the last Council meeting with reference to the preservation of our native flora by planting native trees or shrubs wherever possible. Mrs Tattle extended a warm welcome to their visitors, Mrs Nixon (president) and Mrs Nelson (vicepresident), of the Woodville Institute, and Mrs A. C. Armistead, ol Kuuieroa, who had come to give them a talk on India. For the benefit of those members who had been unable to attend the recent Group meeting, Mrs. Thornton lion, secretary, read an interesting account of the proceedings that had been prepared by Mrs E. 3D. Etz. Mesdames Ross and Ellers were appointed to take charge of the potato competition for the coming season.

Members were asked to bring, next month, an account of some interesting event or personality of the early days, to be used as a competition, with a view to collecting history of the early pioneers and pioneering days, and a tried reliable recipe for cooking, thrift, handcraft, etc., for sending as acontribution to the Dominion Federation Cookery Rook. There will also be a debate next month entitled “Is the Modern Woman better than her Grandmother 77 and several members were asked to act as leaders. For the paper mosaic demonstration they were asked to bring a pair of scissors and a* plate cr anything of a peculiar shape to k—rer, or if they preferred a foundation and some pine needles for a pine needle basket. There will also be a competition for the best arranged bowl of flowers.

Mrs J. G. Green, lion, treasurer, reported on the finance, which is in a satisfactory state.

AN INTERESTING DEMONSTRATION.

Owing to being indisposed Mrs Godfrey Taylor was not able to be present, so Miss S. Taylor and a iiriend demonstrated the making of footstools from syrup or other tins, the method being fully explained and two very pretty and useful completed stools, one the work of Mrs 'Taylor and the other of Mrs I ox, handed round for inspection. Afternoon tea was dispensed by the hostesses, Mesdames Burr and Houston, and Misses Ruskell and Ellis. Miss Ruskell was particularly thanked for the very beautiful bowls of flowers everywhere and for lendg - crochet and embroidered cloths that were on the various small tables, the whole hall looking most attractive. TRAVELS IN INDIA. On rising to give her ‘‘lnformal talk on India, 77 Mrs Armistead was greeted with hearty applause and tor all too short a time members were treated to a delightful description of a holiday spent in that wonderful country. When the speaker left Woodville, some four years ago, she had intended being away for about six months, but such is the fascination of travel that it was two years before she seturned. In imagination she took her fellowmembers to Bombay where from the barbour can be seen the enormous atewa y , probably on account of which Bombay is termed ‘‘the Gateway of India 77 : from there to Poona, termed second-class Hill station, being not more than 5,000 u * l» above sea level, a military station, probably over 100 years old. Alter a. stay of some two months there a trip right through the .jungle to a first-class Hill Station, 500 e< sea level, was taken. Mrs Armistead hod expected to see lions and leopards and snakes when they entered the “jungle, 77 hut the 800 miles of motoring was rpiite uneventful, “and, 77 she said, 4 ‘except for the wonderful scenery we might have been travelling from Woodville to Wellington for all the wild animals we saw. 77 She described the l weird shapes of the towering hills. At that station she was surprised and pleased to find large numbers of our own native trees and Australian wattles and gums. Beautiful groves of our tree ferns, our ■cabbage trees, grove® of macroarpa and th< beautiful gold of the wattles. Some New Zealanders and Austri 3t have been stationed in the military forces there and had large quantities of our trees sent to them, which had all flourished in a wonderful manner. She there witnessed the taming of two wild

elephants, their terrific strength being most awe-inspiring, as also was their trumpeting. She was fortunate enough to witness, from behind a purdah screen, the celebrations m connection with the birthday, in June, of the Maharajah of Mysore, a wonderful character, who has devoted himself to religion and the good of his people in every 'possible way. The streets of Mysore are very beautiful and wonderfully kept • every facility is given his people for education, good, health by swimming baths, large open spaces, beautiful homes and so on, and recreation by large playing areas. The music of India was touched upon—there music is spontaneous and appropriate to the time and the occasion. No Indian would dream of playing in the morning the same music that they would play in the afternoon or the evening, any more than a man would wear a dress suit in the morning. Another military station, Bangalore, was visited and the Kola gold field where one goes down to a dis- • tance of between 7,000 and 8,000 feet below the level of the surface. There minor earthquakes go on the whole time, always one or two every day (they felt quite homelike to Mrs Armistead!) and there "They are termed “rock bursts. 77 Now and then a more severe one breaks the windows and brings down the plaster in the houses. On leaving India the journey from Bombay to Venice was taken in an Austrian Lloyd boat and took only eleven days. The entry into the Grand Canal on a cold, frosty morning, with church bells ringing everywhere, was a wonderful contrast to the heat of India. The journey oil the Italian side to the Simplon tunnel happened to be on a cold misty day but when the long run through the tunnel was over they emerged on the Swiss side into sunshine with wonderful snow-capped mountains shining in the brightness. Short glimpses were given of Paris and the Homeland, Wales, the Lakes, Gloucester, Bath, Dartmoor, Bideford, Clovelly, Wells, Glastonbury, and the wonderful beauty, which cannot be described, of the English spring, with the violets, primroses, etc. The country lanes appeared so narrow and buses of the size of those in use in Palmerston North completely filled them, accidents, in consequence taking toll of many lives. At the Isle of Wight the Schneider Cup race was witnessed and at the end of the seven laps roiinu the Solent, each about .fourteen miles, at the almost in-, credible speed of over 300 miles per hour, the pilot shot his plane straight up into the sky. The strain and anxiety of watching such a race was terrible.

It was with great regret that members realised that the delightful talk was concluded and most enthusiastic applause was accorded the speaker. Mrs Paterson thanked Mrs Armistead for coming to visit them and said how they had listened, with intense interest, to her and had, in imagination, accompanied her on her travels.

Mrs Tattle hearilv endorsed Mas Paterson's remarks amidst further applause. She thanked the hostesses, Mrs P. M. Walsh for attending to the sales stall, Mesdames East and Doyens for judging the competition for the “Best Savoury 77 which had resulted in Mrs Etz being placed first and second and Miss Hoggard third, and their musician (Mrs Eilers).

A number of those present contributed “one penny per member 77 to the Governor-General’s Winter Relief Fund, and the meeting concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.