THE SOCIAL ROUND

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 616, 31 January 1916, Page 4

THE SOCIAL ROUND

Dr Jessie Maddison has returned to ! Christehureh, after a round of visits iiij the North Island. Sister L. Brandon, of the hospital ship Maheno's nursing staff (under her. first commission), has been appointed j matron of the Soldiers' Sanatorium at Rotorua. She left Wellington for the' Beene of her duties last night. Miss Florence Birch, general secretary of the Wellington Y.W.'.'.A., is returning to that city to-morrow, after a lengthy visit to Australia, undertaken for health reasons. She is to be formally welcomed back at a big garden party at the residence of Mrs Campbell, Duncan Terrace, next Saturday afternoon. Mr P. C. Skerrett, K.C., and Miss Skcrrett are now back in Wellington, after a motoring tour in Canterbury and centres further south. Mrs Jacobson (Akaroa) has gone up to Wellington to meet her daughter, Mrs (Dr) Adams, who is returning from America by the Maitai, after a year's residence at the Lick Observatory. The Summer Conference of the Young Women's Christian Associations of New Zealand is to be held at Broad Bay, Dunedin, this year, from March 7 to 16 inclusive. Delegates to the conference will be in attendance from all parts of New Zealand. Miss Barnard (Christehureh) is holidaying at Radnor House, Auckland. Mis Ella Helmore has returned to Christehureh from a visit to Mrs Palmer Chapman, South Canterbury. Mrs C. E. Thomas and Miss Moaua Rhodes (Timaru) were in Christehureh last week to say good bye to Mr E. Cordner, who left, by the. Kuakine for England, to join the A.F.C Canon and Mis Knowles are back in Christehureh from a trip south. Miss K. Gresson (Christehureh) is staying with Mrs Gordon, Timaru. Mr and Mrs Seth Smith arc back in Christehureh, from a visit to Mount Cook. Mrs E. J. Le Cren and Miss Ethel Le Cren have returned to Maori Hill, South Canterbury, after a short stay in Christehureh. Mr and Mrs Me.Oonville arrived from the West Coast on Saturday evening, and are staying at the Clarendon. Miss Rothenberg returned to Wellington on Saturday night, after a few weeks spent in this city. Mrs Peache (Mount Soiners) is staying at the United Service. Miss Madeleine Crofts left for lnvercargill this morning, after a trip north. Mr and Mrs W. E. A. Gill, Miss Richardson ami Miss Kirkcaldie arrived in Christehureh yesterday from Wellington, and left to-day for Timaru. They are making a tour of the South island, and will visit Timaru, Dunedin, the Cold Lakes, Mount Cook, and various ether centres of interest before returning. Mrs and Miss Paull (Wanganui) have left for the south, after a few days spent in this city. Miss isla Macfarlane (Kaiwara) is to be married on the 17th of next month to Mr Sholto Douglas (Waikari). They will leave for England immediately, from whence Mr Douglas will leave.for the front. A lady writing from England to an exchange gives a glowing account of the splendid treatment New Zealand soldiers receive at a huge military hospital in South Wales. An amusing point about it is, that this great place, which has five miles of corridors, exclusive of wards, was formerly a mental hospital, and some English folk, hearing of the number of soldier patients there, took it for granted that they were "mental eases," and wondered what had happened to drive so many New Zealanders mad. As a matter of fact, wounds of all kinds arc treated there, and on making the rounds the visitor was •struck with the cheerfulness and contentment of the men. They told her that the half of Cardiff kindness could never be told, nor yet the infinite kindness and care of the surgeons and nurses. There was no instance of a want unfulfilled, and no individual was lost sight of in the seething crowd of wounded soldiers. In a side ward was a Christehureh lad who had had a very had time, but he was most cheerful, ami had nothing to say about Gallipoli, exeept, that it was a place where men are apt to get hurt! A ward sister asked the visitor if she would come and talk "Mary" to a homesick man in her ward. She acquiesced, but wondered what on earth she could find to say about "Mary." On meeting the so'l-

dier she found that lie was a Native, and the sister meant "Maori/' They had a good laugh at the mistake, and a quite fluent conversation in English. Amongst the sights which never fail to draw the attention of curious Londoners is that of girls perched high up on enormous vans manipulating the reins and guiding fresh horses through the maze of city traffic, writes a London correspondent on December 14. During the last few days a woman lias been seen in one of the London parks acting as riding mistress for parties of young officers who have joined the Royal Horse Artillery and some of the mounted regiments. As many as half-a-dozen young men at a time this riding mistress has under her tuition, and she coaches them most carefully in the art of managing a horse. Recently the general managing the horse supply in the Reading district paid a surprise visit to three depots managed entirely by women (chiefly members of the various hunts). The report he gave was that these depots were the best-managed of any tinder his supervision.