GERALDINE MANY ACTIVITIES REVIEWED

Timaru Herald, Volume CL, Issue 22133, 29 November 1941, Page 3

GERALDINE MANY ACTIVITIES REVIEWED

Half-yearly Meeting Of Red Cross Fewer Hospital Comforts Needed On account of the highly mechanised warfare of the present day there was not the same call for hospital supplies as during the last war, said Mrs R. H. Orbell (chairman of the Depot Committee) in her report to the half yearly meeting of delegates of the Geraldine County Red Cross Centre in the Parish Hall on Thursday night. It was for that reason, she said, that during the last nine months they had not been called upon to do as much sewing and knitting as in the past. This was offset, however, by the prisoners of war problem which, at the present moment, was the absorbing factor. The Mayor (Mr D. C. McKechnie) presided and delegates were present from most of the sub-centres in the country. The waste of time, material and cotton through mistakes made by some of the workers in the sub-centres, in the making of pyjamas, was criticised by Mrs Orbell. It was well to remember that one well made article was better than six badly made ones. Useless Gifts Thanks were expressed in the depot report for the many gifts Including those for wounded children and civilians. “We do not however thank you for the following, rusty tins which were supposed to be used for honey and had to be consigned to the rubbish heap; women’s journals and dally papers six months old; and dirty books without covers suitable only for kindling fires. Please remember these articles are for our sick and wounded men and therefore should be clean and wholesome,” the report concluded. Covering activities of the last six months, the Centre Commandant (Mrs M. H. Tripp) said that as the Junior Patriotic Society was well organised in the main Geraldine schools it was decided to see if the children's efforts could not be co-ordinated with the Junior War Workers. Steady progress had been made with the domestic unit, 84 women having put their names '"own for the service.

Three voluntary aides from Geraldine and one clerical aide from Temuka had been submitted from members ready and willing to serve overseas, the t iramandant reported. Results had not yet come to hand. They were proud of the type and standard of the girls whose names had been submitted and hoped that they would be successful. Prisoners of War Mrs Tripp, in her report of the Joint Council, said that a personal parcel department for prisoners of war had been opened in Christchurch and worked as a branch of the Post Office. To date 413 prisoners of war with next of kin in the district under their administration had been notified and 128 parcels had been examined for censorship and dispatched. She reminded the meeting that the Geraldine Centre had undertaken to supply all cakes and biscuits for the soldiers at Hanmer for the month of February. The financial statement disclosed a credit balance of £2OB/16/5. After discussion as to whether annual reports of the sub-centres should be read by the delegates at the annual meeting of the centre, it was decided by vote that these reports be circulated three weeks before the meet’ng. BOWLING The following teams will play Ashbury at Geraldine this afternoon: A. J. Burmester (s), W. Willoughby, T. H. Hughes, Smith; W. Hamilton (s), A. G. Malins, C. T. Borrell, E. H. Logan; E. Simpson (s), J. Johnson, W. T. Turner, F. O. Prosser; E. N. J. Hannah (s), J. Campbell, W. H. T;oad, E. B. Logan. PERSONAL A motion of sympathy with Mrs E. G. Temple in her recent bereavement was carried in silence at a meeting jf the Geraldine County Red Cross Centre at Geraldine on Thursday evening.