MISS SHEILA MACDONALD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 31, 6 February 1935, Page 7

MISS SHEILA MACDONALD

IMPRESSIONS OF DOMINION. NEW ZEALAND A PARADISE. [ Per Pr«M Association. 1 AUCKLANID, Feb. S. After spending two months in the Dominion, mostly in the country. Miss Sheila MacDonald sailed to-day jn the Aorangi. In her farewell remarks she said that she had been much impressed by the southern mountain scenery, but on going into the New Zealand bush she was struck by the absence of bird life. She had been told that this was due to ravages of deer upon plant life. She hoped that something would be done to protect and restore bird life. In the English country birds were everywhere. In an informal talk at the Women s Club she said that there was still an enormous amount of work to be done in New Zealand by women’s organisations. Excellent work was being done on domestic lines, but there it seemed to stop. The intellectual side of life seemed to be neglected. One thing she had noticed all through New Zealand, and could not understand was why all the brilliant young people left the Dominion. “It seems so strange to me that instead of stopping in your own country, and making the atmosphere vou all crave, you go away and take your culture with you. You have a womlerful country crying out for people to make it great, and yet you go away instead of staying to bring about the change.” Referring especially to the sunshine a.nd open-air life, she said: “You live iu a paradise, and you do not. know