W.C.T.U.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 38, 9 February 1912, Page 8

W.C.T.U.

LECTURE BY M ISS ANDERSON HUGHES. (Contributed.) Those ladies who were fortunate enough to be at the W.C.T.U. meeting on Wednesday afternoon will not easily forget the splendid address given by .Miss Anderson Hughes. She gave a brief outline of the very great work this large organisation is carrying on. Branches of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union are found in almost every part of the world—America, Egypt, Japan, Ceylon, and many other placet: too numerous to mention here. The W.C.T.U. missionaries are far too few for the demand. India is calling for more, Japan is calling for more, and many other places. In telling us this, Miss Hughes said: “You in your little Stratford branch find yourselves perhaps wondering what you exist for, you seem to be doing so little and are so low, hut just think you are a branch of this vast number of Christian women, and a penny of your yearly subscription (2s 7d) goes towards the expenses of the world’s W.C.T.U. And when you think of

the gratitude 1 of the mothers who have written thanking the Union for watching over and shielding their soldier and sailor boys in foreign lands you will take fresh courage and seek to increase your membership so /that we may bo able to send more workers out.’'

We think the part of flu’s gifted speaker's address that appealed to us most was about prison work. This

iranch of work, we believe, is taken

up wlierever the Union is found and prisons exist, hut she spoke particularly of Australasian prisons. She told how many and varied were the inmates—some for very long sentences, some old and feeble, some coarse and others refined. They have a narrow cell in which—at the time of her visit—the prisoners were confined for 15 hours out of the 24; they had nothing to sit upon but the stone floor. In some cells there was a wooden bench that served as a sleeping couch, in others a hammock swung, and many of the prisoners—especially the oldj—were ill through sitting on the cold stone floor. In

these dreary hours the prisoner had nothing to do, and Miss Hughes said:

“It is no wonder that some of them go quite mad.” Through the wonderful persistence of the superintendent of the Australian branch of our Union, a mat and a slate and pencil have been placed in the cells, and we visit every two months to each prisoner and the permission to write a letter monthly. , M'any of i the prisoners have been persuaded to sign the temperance pledge. These asked if they might drink beer for their Ghristm'as tea. “Oh, no; that would be breaking their pledge. They certainly must not.” The ordinary food is a dinner of meat and vegetables;

breakfast and tea consists of bread

and tea (the poorest it is possible; to obtain), without milk or sugar,but on Christmas day the brewers sent a present of a mug of heel’ to

every inmate, and it must have, beep

a very great sacrifice to give it up. The laws of the prison were looked up and it was found illegal to supply liquor to the prisoners, so no more beer was sent. After a very great deal of trouble the W.O.T.U. gained permission to send to each prisoner tor Christmas tea, Jib of good cake, a mug of the best tea procurable, and a plate of beautiful fruits. After this simple act of thoughtfulness the letters that came from the prisoners were touching in the extreme, for although Adelaide abounds in delicious fruits the inmates of the prison were never allowed to soo it. When the sentence lias expired a small number of women welcome the released prisoners and show them that someone cares, and they help as far as they can to something better. Miss Hughes spoke of many bran T dues of work, but there is neither time nor space for thorn here/ We sincerely hope that when Miss Hughes again visits New Zealand she will make time to come to Stratford and that many more may seize the opportunity of hearing so charming a speaker.