The Social Round

Southland Times, Issue 23930, 23 September 1939, Page 10

The Social Round

The lady editor will be pleased to receive for publication In “The Social Round" each day Items of social Or personal news. Such items should bo •ent In promptly and should be fully authenticated. Engagement notices must bear the signatures of both parties. Correspondence is invited on any matters affecting, or of interest to, women.

Mr and Mrs W. E. Hunt, Dacre, who have been visiting Wellington, are expected to return at the week-end. Miss D. Hatcher, Wellington, has been the guest of Mrs A. Bailey, Earn street, during the past week. Mrs J. McQueen and Miss J. McQueen, Dalrymple street, will-leave for Dunedin today and on Tuesday will continue their journey to Auckland by air. Week-end visitors to Dunedin from Invercargill for the marriage of Miss Joy Reid to Dr Norman McCreath include Mrs T. A. Clark, Mrs F. G. Wilson and Miss F. Stead. Miss Kathleen Stobo, of Wellington street, will leave Invercargill on Monday afternoon for Dunedin and Christchurch. After spending a few days in each of these centres, she will go on to Wellington and will take up a dental training course. Tlie marriage of Winifred Kathleen, second daughter of the late Mr and Mrs M. Gonley, Otautau, to Daniel, second son of Mr and Mrs P. Davin, Morton street, Invercargill, is of much interest in Southland. The marriage took place

at the church of St. Aloysius, North Oxford, on July 22. Both bride and bridegroom are well known in Southland and Otago where both had distinguished scholastic careers. The bride gained her M.A. degree at Otago University and afterwards taught in France and Surrey, England, while Mr Davin was a Rhodes Scholar in 1936. Their present address is Balliol College, Oxford, England. Mrs L. W. Hemmings and Miss J. E. McLeod entertained the executive of the Southland branch of the Trained Nurses’ Association at a supper party in the Tudor Lounge recently. The guests of honour were Miss J. Ross, matron of the Southland hospital, and Miss Paterson, of St. Helens hospital, who has left for Wellington to take up another position under the Health Department. Those present were Mesdames Marshall, Riddell and P. Wilson, Misses A. G. Ingold, Goodson, Rose, Smith, Richardson, McCrostie, Sceats, Mclntyre and Miss Bridges, of the Health Department. Wellington. Apologies were received from Misses Fitzgibbon and Rattray.

COUNTRY NEWS GORE Miss L. Page, of Dunedin, who has been the guest of her sister, Mrs C. H. Richardson, Gorton street south, will return to Dunedin today. Miss B. Trembath, Medway street, spent the week-end at Invercargill. Miss R. M. Treloar, who has been visiting Invercargill, has now returned to Gore.

Mrs Pinch, who has been the guest of her sister, Mrs S. B. Taylor, Ardwick street, has returned to Dunedin. Mrs W. J. Tither, Irving street, who has been the guest of her sister. Mrs C. Crisp, of Winton, has returned home.

Miss Ida Campbell, who has been nursing in the Gore district, has now taken up a position at Cairnsmore Hospital, Invercargill. Mr and Mrs C. H. Douglas, of Arrowtown, and their daughter, Miss Clair Douglas, who have been the guests of Mrs D. M. Cochrane, Albany street, have returned home. Mrs M. B. Edwards, of Dunedin, who has been the guest of her son and daughter-in-law, Mr and Mrs C. P. Edwards, William street, has returned north.

Mr and Mrs Wilmot Penney, who have been visiting Southland, and who were recent guests of Mrs W. Chittock, East Gore, have now returned to their home at Morrinsville, North Island. Miss Miriam Worsfold, of Wellington, who has been spending a holiday at Gore, has returned home. Mrs R. J. Telfer, of Invercargill, who has been the guest of her sister, Mrs L. G. Thomson, Pomona street, has returned home.

Miss J. Pollock, of Akaroa, who spent the school holidays as the guest of her mother, Mrs J. E. Pollock, Hamilton street, East Gore, has returned to Akaroa.

Mr and Mrs R. W. McCreath, Devon street, who have been touring Australia with a New Zealand croquet team, have returned home. Mr McCreath was player-manager of the team. Mr and Mrs E, C. Smith, Afton street, who have been visiting Canada and the United States, returned to the Dominion at the week-end, landing at Auckland.

Miss Elizabeth Wilson, of Gore, and Miss Maud Wilson, of Dunedin, who have been abroad for some months visiting Great Britain, Canada and the United States, arrived at Auckland at the week-end. Mr and Mrs W. Mitchell, who have been the guests of Mr and Mrs D. M. Mitchell, Hamilton street, East Gore, have returned to Gorge Road. Miss C. Williamson, Broughton street,

spent the week-end at Invercargill, where she was the guest of her sister, Mrs M. A. Pasco. Mr and Mrs B. Falconer have returned to Gore from a short holiday spent at Dunedin. Mr and Mrs M. Hormann, Main street, spent the week-end at Invercargill. WOODLANDS Mrs E. McQueen and her son, Graham, Dunedin, were the guests of Mrs J. C. Hannan during the week. Miss Hetty Millar, who is on the nursing staff of the Milton hospital, spent a few days with Mrs C. Frew recently. Mr and Mrs R. Douglas, accompanied by Mrs Anderson, East Taieri, visited Mrs C. J. Roseveare recently.

Mrs C. E. Gregory, who has been on a visit to her son and daughter-in-law, Mr and Mrs V. L. Gregory, Bay of Islands, has returned to Tuatapere. Miss E. R. Bridges, of the Health Department, Wellington, who spent about a week visiting Invercargill and country districts, returned north earlier in the week. A former Invercargill resident writing from New York after a visit to the World Fair, mentioned that on entering the New Zealand section she came face to face with a very fine picture of the Invercargill water tower. Mr and Mrs England, Crinan street, recently entertained friends at a dinnerparty at the Grand Hotel, to celebrate the coming-of-age of their daughter, Nelson. Those present were Mr and Mrs J. Baillie, Misses J. England, M. Mackay, I. Manson, I. Macintosh, Messrs R. Johnston, S. Davidson, N. Moffett, G. Corbett and G. McChesney.

MISSIONARY WORK IN INDIA

MRS E. N. GORING’S TALK AT WOMEN’S CLUB There was an interested audience at the Women’s Club yesterday afternoon when Mrs E. N. Goring entertained with a talk on “Life in the Zenanas of India.” Mrs A. F. Ritchie Crawford, before introducing the speaker, announced an invitation from the Horticultural Society to members of the club to exhibit decorated tables at the flower show, to be held on September 28 and 29. Tire exhibits in this class will be restricted to the first 16 entries.

Mrs Goring, a former missionary in India, gave many interesting details of her work among the high caste Hindu women, where a joint family system is followed, and the mother-in-law reigns supreme, and has the power to punish any of the family as she may wish. In a menage of this kind, the wives are mere chattels, and take it as a matter of course that their husbands, in carrying out the laws of sacred Scriptures, beat them with certain types of sticks, dealing so many blows, as decreed. The Kulin Brahmin, Lord of the Universe, is the name given to the highest of the four principal castes, and the attitude of mind of the Hindu, is to kiss the feet of the one above, and kick the one below.

A first visit to a zenana of Kulin Brahmin women, was described by Mrs Goring, who found a room containing about 50 frightened women, who ran into little adjoining rooms on appearance of the visitor. Assurances of friendliness caused even the shyest ones gradually to emerge, wearing graceful saris, some four yards long, with jewel bedecked hands and gold bands on their foreheads. These gracious but childlike creatures evinced the greatest curiosity as to the visitor’s presence, remarked about the gold fillings in her teeth, and asked in hushed voices if it could possibly be true that she followed the nauseating custom of using the same tablecloth for two meals. Considering that a tablecloth is an unknown article in India, this remark seemed rather ironical.

The wife, heavily veiled, in a manner of complete servitude, waits upon her husband at meals, serving him with as many as 12 kinds of curry. The casual habits of the men, coupled with the fact that betel nut, wrapped in a leaf and fastened with a clove completes the meal, gives the room the appearance of a slaughter house at the conclusion of the repast.

These sheltered women of the zenanas have no opportunity of hearing of the outside world, and firmly believe that Europeans’ white skins are obtained by being dipped in brandy when babies. The difficulty of teaching them Christianity may be imagined when they say they are unneedful of Christianity as they have no sin. They practice no restraint over temper or deceit, treat lying and stealing as a joke; but only consider ceremonial defilement as sin. They gradually display interest in the power of Christians, and though no open declaration is made, become secret disciples and will, no doubt, declare themselves when caste is eventually broken down. Several factors are already tending to bring this to pass, the education of the children, the raising of the marriage age from 8 to 14, tending to weaken the ignorant superstition of former generations. Little girls, formerly needed attend school until only four or five, where they learned to hem a handkerchief and make a marriage chemise and off they would go. Today the wives of judges and lawyers on holiday in Darjeeling, drive in open conveyances, smoke cigarettes, and taste that freedom of mind that will some day set them at liberty from 'the bondage of fear Mrs Stanley Brown thanked Mrs Goring on behalf of the members present for her interesting and instructive talk.