WELLINGTON NOTES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16464, 17 June 1919, Page 2

WELLINGTON NOTES.

NAVAL SOUVENIRS. FROM THE NEW, ZEALAND. by YBMSOSAFH. —OWN COEEIBPONDENI. WELLINGTON, June 16. The wheel which steered the New Zealand into action at Jutland, the silk ensign and the Union Jack which were flown throughout the action on the stern flagstaff and the battleship’s bell, which were some little time ago handed over to the New Zealand Government, have been received at the Dominion Museum. Unfortunately the crowded state of every department of the building prevents these interesting exhibits from betng displayed as they should be and the wind-tattered silken flags must, until space can be made, remain folded and consequently of less interest than would be the case were it possible to drape them' on the wails. Every day the museum is receiving gifts of valued exhibits which emphasrse the need for the provision of a fireproof building for their housing and adequate room tor their display. .WOMEN’S NATIONAL RESERVE. When the end of the war was in sight a number of ladies, who had Tendered excellent and unostentatious service as members of the Women’s National Reserve, cast round for soma sphere of usefulness in the coming days of peace. A suggestion was made that they should endeavour to solve the problem of providing help for overworked mothers. Voluntary workers were enrolled to'give some of their spare time to caring for children, sewing, mending, cooking and generally assisting mothers who are unable to procure domestic aid. The work has now been in progress for some time and has been much appreciated. Requests for assistance have been far more numerous than the voluntary workers have been able to cope with and the reserve is now resolving to engage paid workers. The experience gamed by the voluntary workers has proved the necessity of something of this kind if many women with young families are to be saved from breakdown. In support of the reserve’s.proposals it is pointed out that assistance is as much needed by mothers as advice and while there is an excellent service for giving advice (the Plunket Nursing Society) there is no organisation to help mothers in doing those things which they are taught to do. The Plunket Society started in quite a -.small way and if the new system of domestic aid can be similarly established to provide efficient help in the home by a body of well-paid and welltrained workers one of the problems intimately connected with the decreasing birth-rate should be solved.

GIRLS IN BUSINESS. From time to time lately there have been vague statements that some girls who took up office work in order that men might be relieved to go to the front were now showing an indisposition to relinquish their positions and that some employers were aiding, ‘and abetting them, because they found female labour cheaper. Particular inquiries made in Wellington do not bear out the assertion that either the girls or the employers are not playing the game. The Post Office has taken back all returned members of its own staff and some 500 other discharged soldiers as well. This department is taking as many men as it can place in positions that are likely to prove permanent and not merely dead-end occupations. Base Records employs a number of girls as it always lias done, but only for the reason that it cannot get men. The work is of a temporary character and,. while it is a good stop-gap for a soldier who is regaining his health, it does not attract the man. who is looking for work with permanence and prospects. The banks and insurance companies without exception have taken back the officers who have returned. This reinstatement has been carried out without any hardship on the girls, as a proportion of the female workers resigned to marry returned soldiers or to set up housekeeping with who had just come back. The expansion the work in various offices has made them up to the present glad to retain girls who are willing to stay, whose efficiency has been proved. In most cases efficiency has been proved within certain limits, though of course there have been some butterflies who took up office work for the novelty or for the extra pocket-money which it meant.