Notes for Women

Southland Times, Issue 25434, 5 August 1944, Page 6

Notes for Women

Mrs Eric Preston has left to live at Queenstown. Mrs L. W. Spencer, Albert street, has returned from a visit to Christchurch. Miss Gloria Allan, “Allandale,” Birchwood, left yesterday to spend a holiday at Dunedin. Miss E. Ewan, Wellington, arrives today to visit her parents, Mr and Mrs John Ewan, Tweed street. Mrs Eustace Winslow, who has been the guest of her mother, Mrs T. M. Rankin, Yarrow street, is visiting Dunedin before returning to Mt. Benger, Roxburgh.

Miss Marie Cording, only daughter of Mr and Mrs C. Cording, Petone, and a grand-daughter of Mrs E. Erickson, Bluff, has left for Sydney to train at the Helen Kirsova Ballet School. Miss Cording has attended the Diana PalmerPowers School of Russian Ballet, Wellington. She will join the company and make dancing her career. Miss S. Foster, of Dunedin, has been invited to accept the position of president of the New Zealand Basketball Referees’ Association. She is a vice-pre-sident of the Otago Women’s Basket-

ball Association and a former Otago

representative player. Recently Miss Foster was responsible for a revised version of the New Zealand rule book. Advice has been received that Sgt. Mrs Kenneth Webb, N.Z.W.A.A.C., formerly Miss Joyce Gilmour, Invercargill, and lady editor of the Southland Times, has been promoted 2nd Lieutenant. From Cairo, where she has been working in the No. 1 N.Z. Forces Club since October 1941, Subaltern Webb has been transferred to Bari and is now in charge of the No. 2 N.Z. Forces Club there.

The meeting of the Invercargill Central branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, held on Wednesday, was a special occasion, being the sixtieth anniversary of the first meeting of the union in 1884. Mrs J. D. Cameron presided over a big attendance, including visitors from other branches. Mrs E. M. Brown conducted devotions. A short outline was given of the history of the early days, and mention was made of a few of the benefits to Invercargill for which the W.C.T.U. was responsible. Mrs J. C. McDonald and Miss Simon sang brackets df songs and the cake with sixty candles was cut by the president. It has been disclosed that Mrs Harry Truman, wife of the Democratic nominee for the Vice-Presidency of the United States, is on the Senate payroll as a clerk in Senator Truman’s office at a salary of 4500 dollars a year. Senator Truman said: “She is my chief adviser. I never write a speech without her aid. There is nothing secret about my wife’s position. I need her there; that is the reason I have her there.” Senator Truman’s office explained that Mrs Truman handles the senator’s personal mail, knows his old Army friends, and whom to call “Dear Bill” and whom to address as “Dear Mr Jones.” She does no typing and takes' no dictation, but writes some personal letters in longhand. Senator Truman’s senatorial salary is 10,000 dollars a year. The Invercargill branch of the W.W.S.A. has received three newsletters containing details of the work British women are doing in war-time. When Mrs Peter Fraser was in London she made arrangements with the Ministry of Information to supply these letters so that the women of New Zealand would be kept aware of. what is being done by women in Britain and oh overseas fronts. The paper states that in Birmingham a food leader scheme has been started. A housewife is select-, ed in each street as food leader, and acts as link between the Ministry of Food and the ordinary woman. She undertakes to keep herself fully conversant with all new food plans, ideas, and regulations, passes. them on, and advises her neighbours about them. Another item of interest concerns 18 girl dispatch riders in East London who are taking a commando course. They belong to the fire service, and before the war, only one of them could ride a motor-cycle. Housewives help to lessen absenteeism in factories by collecting shopping lists and doing the buying for workers. The letter states that industrial workers who show signs of strain are being given holidays at country houses. Details are also given of new war jobs open for women, and news of the A.T.S., the W.R.N.S., the R.A.F., the W.A.A.F., the N.A.A.F.1., the Land Army, and many other branches of the services. The impression gained is that there are very few types of war work in which women are not assisting.

OBITUARY.— The death has occurred at Palmerston North of Mrs K. M. E. Buchanan at the age of 86. One of her sons is Mf A. G. H. Buchanan, of Invercargill. Mrs Buchanan was born in Australia and educated in England. She came to New Zealand'in the pioneering days. Three of her sons have seen service overseas and three grandsons have won decorations during service in the Air Force during the present war.

The Travel Club Social afternoon will be held on Monday, August 7, in the Tudor Lounge. Speaker, the Bev. J. H. Harris. Members ring 1497.