Women Folk

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12409, 29 August 1918, Page 7

Women Folk

6y “STELLA.'

Mrs "Walter Macfarlanc (Kniwava) is staying,at "Warner's. Mrs Duncan Jdacfarlane (Lyndon) Jias taken a house in town.

Mrs Q. G.. Stead is back at her house Li Park Terrace.

Mr and Airs H. F. Luors (Oxford) Pro staying'at the ClarendonAir and Mrs A. Ellison (Wellington) Arrived this morning from the north, nnd arc staying at Hotel Federal.

Air and Mrs "Watts and Alias Anderson motored to Christchurch from Ashburton yesterday. Air nnd Mrs J. Holdgato have gone hack to Timaru, after spending a few days in GUristcluircli.

•' When the last mail left London, Mrs D. B. Blair, wife of Lioutenant-Colonol Blair, was staying at Langhatn Street, London.

Mr Marshall, Miss Cargill, and Mr imd Mrs MontCath have returned to (New Zealand from Australia, and went fto Dunedin to-day.

The past and present pupils of Miss Adams’s dancing classes spent an enjoyable time last, evening at, a dance in tho Montreal Street Hall. The chaperones were Mrs Alexander and (Mrs M’Jlillan. Tho committee responsible for the arrangements were Miss Betty (Love, Miss M. Genn, Miss D. Marshall, 'Miss B. Richards, Messrs Genn, Hodgkins and Martin. Amongst those present were Misses D. Clark, G. Taylor, iR. Roaindalo, I. Tankliu, B. Jarman, I. Gould, D. Marshall. Messrs A. Wilson, W. Geoige, 0. Sharp, W. Sisson, A. Holler and 0. Mole.

Lady Butler Is probably the only English artist for whose sole benefit a cavalry charge was ordered. When she was painting her stirring picture “Scotland for Ever” she one day expressed a regret that she had never Keen a body of cavalry in tho act of charging,'with the’result that a General in whose hearing she had spoken arranged that a charge should take place for her special benefit. Mrs A. M. Chalmers Watson, M.D., Chief Controller of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, which includes the thousands of women who are serving with tho British Army in France, is sister of Sir Brio Geddes, tho First Lord of the Admiralty. A niece of Sirs Garrett Anderson, tho famous woman doctor, she was herself the first woman to be capped M.D. at Edinburgh lUnivorsily, and, curiously enough, was married on the same day. Both Mrs 'Watson and Sir Eric Gocldcs appeared in tho first list of recipients of, tho new British Empire Order—Mrs 'Watson as a. Commander and her brother as a Knight Grand Cross. A woman of groat energy and intellectual power, Mrs Chalmers Watson, is an organiser of marked ability, and her appointment caused great satisfaction. On June 11, at St Mary Abbot’s, Kensington, tho marriage was celebrated of Lieutenant-colonel Stephen 'Shepherd Allen, D.S.O. and Bar, son of the late Mr W. S. Allen. A1.1’.. and of Mrs Allen, of Woodhead Hall, Staffs., and Miss Mary Isabel Hay Foster, eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs AL. Foster, of Auckland, Now Zealand. The service was choral, and a guard of honour was formed by men from the bridegroom’s regiment. The bride, who was escorted up the aisle by Sir Charles Wade, .and in the absence of her father was given away ’by her smother, wore a graceful gown of ivory charracu.se. with touches of silver and pink. Her veil was worn with a wreath of myrtle and orange blossoms, and she carried a bouquet, of white roses. Major West was best man, and the bride’s sisters, the Misses Esther and Dorothy Foster, and HUTo Miss Eila Morley, were bridesmaids, the first two wearing primrose crepe do chine and georgette, and tho little girl a jade frock with a tulle cap and wreath.

" Stella" will be glad tit receive items cf interest and value to Women for publimUofl or reference in this eolunm

WOMEN’S NATIONAL RESERVE.

CITY BRANCH.

WEDDING.

STEEL—HARRIS.

A mepting of tho General Committee + • branch of tho Women’s National Reserve was held in tho associa!'oo™s yesterday afternoon, Airs tvauiam \Vood. president of the Christchurch \\ omen’s National Reserve, preslt}m over . a fair attendance, Iho main business of the afternoon was tile e ection of a president for the city branch, Mrs Danvers Hamber having resigned from the position owing to a rule having recently been framed stipulating that all Deads of branches must live within the- radius thev reprefn e t! lte t c ' Eric Harper, Mrs H. T. J Thacker and Sirs H. J. Raphael were nominated for the vacancy, but Mrs J hacker who was present, declined to stand.. Mrs Raphael was elected by a substantial majority. Mrs Mood, in the course of a brief acldi ess, said she regretted the resignation of Mrs Ham her. Mrs Wood also explained the reason for not registering with the Wellington Women’s National Kescrve, thus making it part of a registered body throughout the Dominion, saying that it would mean that-the difrri'cnt branches would be controlled bv the Wellington branch; and the executive there could rearrange and perhaps upset the work here. Mrs Wood concluded by extending a welcome to Mrs Raphael, who. 1 suitably responded.

St Peter’s Church, R.iccnrton, was prettily decorated on Tuesday afternoon lor the wedding of Mr George* Steel, only son of Mr and Mrs Steel, Spreyclou, and MBs Margery Harris, second daughter of Mr and Mrs George Harris. Hoon Hay, Halswoll. The Rev H. 1. i orko performed the ceremony. The bride, who was given away by her tatlier, wore a beautiful wedding' gown of white crepe de chine and taffetas, the bodice being composed of crepe de chine and lace, with straight shoulderstraps of taffetas. Her veil of lace was caught in place with clusters of orange blossom, and she carried a bouquet of freesias and lilies, tho gift of the bridegroom. Her bridesmaid was Miss Irene Steel, who wore a charming gown of forget-mc-not blue crepe de chine relieved with touches of pale pink, ’with which was worn a putty-coloured Georgette hat adorned with email blue and rank posies. Two little flower girls, Dorothy Harris and Olivia Ferguson] also attended tho bride. They both looked exceedingly dainty in 'quaint pale pink frocks and mop caps, and carried Early Victorian posies of mixed blossoms. The bridegroom was attended by Mr 'William Macartney. After tho ceremony a reception was bold at the residence of tho bride’s parents, amongst tbo guests being.Air and Airs J. Steel, Al.v and Airs G. Harris, Air and Airs Ferguson. Air and Airs Macartnov, Aliss Alacartncy. Air and Airs, Ballnntyne, Misses Steel, Airs Nelson. Airs Birdljng, Air Cochrane and Air Clarkson. Later Air and Airs Steel left for .their honeymoon, the bride travelling in a. suit of fawn gabardine, black fox furs, and a black velour hat trimmed with fawn ornaments.

MASK AMD DOMINO DANCE.

A mask ami domino dance was held at Canterbury College last evening, the hostesses being members of the University T eimis Chib. The committee were Misses R. Andrews, 0. Robinson and G. and E. AVillcox, and the secretary was Miss Irene Taylor. The chaperones were -Mrs Hight, -Mrs Kerr and-Airs G. H. Mason. The danco was a very jolly one, and much interest was' shown when the masks were removed and con,lectures were proved and disproved. A delicious supper was served, tho tables being decorated with spring flowers. Those present included Misses Kato Taylor Molly and Hu by Grant, Rose Garrick, Jicrtlia Rhodes, Pearl Stuart, Gertrude and Ethel Greig, Muriel Aides, Doris and Sybil 'Thompson. M iveage and Kerr. Messrs L. AY. Gee. I. KimanfUl. Hardioy S. P. M’Callum,’ Baird, Sullivan, Brittain, A tack, StewaN;, Gordon (2), Clemons, Kippenberoer Bayorstoek, Frost, Harvey, Corcoran and AVdkinson. •,

“TEMPORARY WOMEN.” "The pay Is nil right,” said my predecessor when she initiated me into the work two years ago, “and tho hours are not Jong, but—theso ‘temporary w,omeu ’ can bo most frightfully trying 1 Vet after two years’ experience in a Government office I think the fault is not altogether on the side of those temporary women clerks. True, there are days when the supervisor’s temper is most sorely tried—days when voices are exceedingly quenilous and fingers seem “ all thumbs,” when you are thought “faddy” if you insist that an Archbishop shall not bo addressed as “The Bov and inconsiderate if you remark that it need not take over a quarter of an hour to fetch a handkerchief from an adjacent dressing-room. But look for a moment at the other side. These temporary women clerks are of all ages and all classes; von may have an ex-governess of sixty, hard hit by the war, entirety dependent on hor weekly salary, sitting next to a skittish flapper of sixteen, out for extra pocketmoney and wrapped up in thoughts of her “ hoys.” A girl whoso allowance runs into three figures may sit next to a, bankrupt shopkeeper’s daughter who keeps herself on 2ds a week, in a hed-sitting-room, while beyond them sits a. maiden lady—“ wo were nob brought up to work, my dear!”—who nevertheless has answered the country’s call.

For many of them, too. work does not unci with office hours. “It really only begins then,” said one tired woman; “the shopping is so awful and tbo children’s clothes seem to wear out twice as quickly now 1” “ They’re a scratch team,” said ono supervisor of her clerks, " but they can play up when they liko!” And to they can l Get a, real press of work and seo how these elderly women, these' chilcHe,n fresh from school, can put their backs into it. But, naturally, they do not like being harassed, and. equally naturally, they appreciate -politeness. And there arc complications—so many compensations that yon will probably look back upon that time of supervising as one of tho happiest in your life.— From the "Daily Mail.” THE QUEST FOR FOOD. An English correspondent, writing lo tho Now-York “ Evening.Post,” says; Shopping has become in these days a veritable ordeal. It has been truly remarked that woman lias now reversed her original relationship with primitive man, for she has become the hunteri-nd adventurer, while ho is the domesticated animal who follows the familiar tontine. “ Alan is the keeper of the tent to-day; woman follows the chase. Everything she wants she has to find. She has to arrange for the transport of most of all she buys. She docs not sit at home, plan a meal, and then sot out to buy it She goes out, sees what there is available, and improvises her menu as she passes through the shops.” The process consumes an inordinate amount of time. It is no longer a matter of sending an order, to the stores for a month or two’s supplies. Even if the storekeeper was able and willing to do more than dole out a small quantity at a time, there would still he Lord Rhondda’s order against food to be reckoned with. Scores of journeys have to bo taken' where formerly one would have sufficed, and there are long waits before, one can get attended to and while one’s purchases arc bcing_ wrapped up. A day or two ago a friend of mine waited three-quarters of an hour in a butcher’s shop before she could bo served, and three times. t after her order bad been cut off and weighed up. it was snatebo-d away by some impatient customer. Another friend, who bought more greengroceries than she could find room for in her basket, was asked to pay extra for a paper hag in which to carry away the rest. To supplement nil this, the “ eternal servant difficulty” has become more acute than ever before. what with the eagerness of maids to take up omnibus-conducting .and other forms of “ war work.” and tile reluctance of many of those who remain to submit to the food economies that are now inevitable. _ By the time the. wails over a considerable proportion of English housewives will well deserve an official decoration for tho energy and resourcefulness they have, displayed in their discharge of duties which public opinion has been accustomed to regard as ordinary and commonplace.

FATE.

A SONG OP WISDOM. They I dll you it. ain't, no good A-wondcving when you'll die, Or lying low as a soldier should When Aeroplanes ia by; Por whether it comes in a sudden way, Or lingering long and late, You won’t go under until lie day That's settled before, by Pate.

Ah, well, and it may be true — But the lads I .like to see Ate the ones that do ns they’re told to do And stay whore, they ought to be; Por Fate may fix a far-off date And a death bl an easy kind, Bnt it ain’t no use encouraging Fate To change hor feminine mind.

I'vo been out many a day And seen too many a mate With « leg or an arm blown clean away By a. thing he thought was Pate; Bnt when six men will monkey about With a rusty old bomb gone bad, Thou what is it knocks the six men out? Not Pate, hut folly, my lad. So I keep my rifle dean And I use my eyes and ears, And 1 don't go wandering oft the scene A-lookiug for soovencers; And maybe the bullet that bears my name Is mount for a distant day, But I don't, get playing the idiot game When tho other one comes my way. And it's bolter alive than dead You'll fierce the. old platoon. So try to do as the office: said And nft to die too somi. Though you may not add to your earthly span, It's a. thing worth trying to do; You take good oars of yourself, young man. And Pate won't matter to you. ’ —A.P.H.. in London "Punch.”

LITTLE WAR MOTHERS. '

I met her first at the local national kitchen~a tiny little figure in cheap black, with bright but shabby hoots many sixes too large, and old cotton gloves, many sizes too small, that left bare an inch or Two of red wrists above them.

She carried in one hand a jug almost as large as herself, and in the other a, poor little purse. On her am there hung a, market basket of rush, and to her little short .skirt there clung n, mite of about throe, with great blue eyes and a round wet mouth! Two small hoys, of about six and eghb, eagerly watched her as she peeped over’the high white counter critically examining the tempting dishes arranged there before making’her choice. Only after much deliberation and a great deal of consultation with the children did she make her purchase. “ Two of soup, two of vegetable pie, two of tapaoca—and how much will that leave out of a shilling?” she asked of the kind-faced women behind the counter. "NVibli the odd coppers she wisely bought fruit. I helped her to put the good food into her basket, and she,told me her age was ten! “ Baby ” would soon he three, and had never seen “Daddy,” who had been killed “ killing Germans.”

_ “ Her name's Gladys May," the little .mother told me t as she proudly took off tho close-fitting crocheted bonnet to show me the golden baby curls that clustered damply round the little, head of that very self-possessed small person who wn.s evidently well used to admiration.

We walked along the hot, .sunny road together—l carried the large jug of nourishing .soup, she carried the laden basket. “Mother,” I was told, was working in a munition factory. Of the two little boys, Archie, the elder, worked “a,t a lady’s” before and “after school, cleaning the knives and boots, for 4s 6d a week. Bert, the younger, went round with papers. “And I keep house,” she said simply, with a, quiet dignity far beyond her ten years.

Eventually wo turned down a dim and narrow court to a tiny little house, half of which they call “home.” With a very big key Archie opened the door, and I watched the little trio mount the steep steps to the “upper.” Sincp that day .1 have come to know my “little mother” well, and through her I have found that sho is but one of a, great and wonderful army of such brave little mites “keeping' house” and mothering the younger children in the many homes where mother is awav all day fighting in the factory ancl father is away fighting on the field. Dear, loyal little heroines! War has robbed them of their blessed youth: hurried them down the stream of life, past tho happy, careless fields of childhood, on to the troubled- waters of maturity, while still in the years they are babies.

True daughters of their war-waging parents, theirs is not the spirit of sac-rifice—-it is the grnncl. innate snirit of the race—the glory of onr England.— (F>t G. Try Sanders in the “ Daily Mail”).

FOR THE CHILDREN.

THE MESSENGER BOY,

They were all getting very tired and perhaps just a little crass" when he came. And somehow, he had such a bright smile, and he seemed to take such an interest in what they showed him, that they all liked him directly. He had come with a message from Uncle Fred to Mother, and lie was waiting for the answer in the nursery. Ho thought that Peggy’s doll was beautiful,/’and ho made Hmnfroy laugh, at ouco hy lotting him pull off his cap. Ursula asked him if ho had erer seen the King, and when ho said he had,' she was delighted with him.?' Frances found that he knew something about geography, and. just as she was talking to him about Asia, the door opened and Father and Mother came in. .

He had brought tickets for the pantomime from Uncle Fred. AVasn’t he a nice messenger hoy?

COUSIN DOROTHY’S STORY

“Once upon a time,” said Cousin Dorothy, “there was a Princess—— ” “Oh, I know,” said Marjorie, “and she found a Frog and knocked it against a wall, and it turned into a Prince. I don’t like that story a bit.”

“That wasn’t my story at all,” said Cousin Dorothy; “mine was about a Princess who-—” “ Slept oiti?a-r,bed with a. pen. in it,” broke in Mnfjoriiy again, “ that is a silly story.”

Marjorie was rather cross, I am afraid, but jllicu she bad been ill and ha.d a headache, so there was some excuse, for her. .

“No.” said Cousin Dorothy, smiling and drawing Marjorie closer to her, “mr story is bettor than that; I think you had better wait and boar the end of it. My Princess’s name was Marjorie. and the King and Queen her father and mother wove far away over the sea.”

“That’s like me,” said Marjorie sadly.

“ And one day there came a letter looked nj). “'Which said they were coming home.” went on Cousin Dorothy. “Oh when? Vvhen, Cousin Dorothy?” asked Marjorie. “ Now—to-day?” “No, to-morrow.” paid Cousin Dorothy. “How do you like my story?”