“OUR ELEANOR”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 205, 31 August 1943, Page 4

“OUR ELEANOR”

WELLINGTON VISIT CONCLUDED MRS. ROOSEVELT TALKS WITH WOMEN ON WAR WORK (P.A.) Wellington. Aug. 30. Completing another full clay in Wellington with a civic reception at the Majestic Theatre and a private dinner at which she was the guest of the United States Charge d’Aflaires in New Zealand, Mr. Ra>niond Cox, Mys. Eleanor Roosevelt to-night boarded her special train and left for Rotorua, where she will fulfil a round of engagements to-morrow. Mrs. Roosevelt devoted this morning to visits to United States Marine Corps camps, travelling in the Gover-nor-General’s car, which had been placed at her disposal. She was accompanied by the Minister o£ Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, the Commanding General ot the Marine Corps in the area, Mrs. Fraser, Lieutenant-Com-mander H. D. Moulton and Captain H. G. Helmore. A.D.C. to the Gov-ernor-General. At each camp she visited Mrs Roosevelt, who was wearing her American Red Cross uniform, paid particular attention to the hospitals and sick bays, speaking cheery words of encouragement and wishing all good luck in the future. Possibly because her son, Lieutenant-Colonel James Roosevelt, contracted malaria in his term of service in the South Pacific, she seemed specially sympathetic towards malaria sufferers. She took a keen interest in the arrangements made for the comfort of the sick men. The short time available and thi number and size of the camps she had to visit made it impossible for her to see much of their activities, but she drove round them to as great an extent as possibly, waving to the men at their duties. At one of the camps she had an opportunity to see the Marines as they were when in action in the Solomon Islands. Full defence guards were mounted at vantage points, including anti-tank, anti-air-craft and mobile half-track units, the crews of which wore forest-camou-flaged tunics and tin hats. Following luncheon, which was partaken in the officers' mess of one of the biggest camps, Mrs. Roosevelt spent the afternoon visiting war factories, in which she saw women at war work, a women war workers' hostel and a prisoners-of-war parcel packing depot. At the first factory visited she inspected girls engaged in a specially-protected area, from which all but the principals of the official party were excluded. In other departments she talked with women working lathes and finishing precision parts for war purposes. The girls gave her an enthusiastic welcome. On this part of the tour she was conducted by the Director o£ War Production, Mr. G. H. Jackson.

At the entrance to the new physical testing station ot the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Mrs. Roosevelt was met by the Director of the Department. Lieut.-Colonel E. Marsden and was shown the activities carried on there, including the production of precision tools ana gauges, the manufacture of which had been instituted in the Dominion to satisfy the demands of war production. A wee model cannon produced by one of the students in his spare time was presented to Mrs. Roosevelt as a memento of her visit to this establishment. The next call was at a new hostel for women war workers in Hutt Valley, where Mrs. Roosevelt was received by the chairman of the committee, Mrs.' David Ewen, and the matron in charge of the women’s hostels, Miss McMillan, the last-named explaining the hostel facilities to the visitor. Mrs. Roosevelt was the guest of the hostel committee at afternoon tea. At the prisoners-of-war parcel packing depot, Tory Street. Wellington. Mrs. Roosevelt was met by the chairman of the Joint Council of the Orcer of St. John and the New Zealand J Cross, Mr. C. G. White, and watc:.. . the packing of parcels provided through the Patriotic Fund Board lor dispatch to prisoners in enemy countries. In other parts of the same building she saw the censoring of quarterly parcels sent by next-of-kin. So interested was Mrs. Roosevelt, in her activities during the afternoon that she finished her round of visits well behind schedule time and left herself barely time to return to Government House before she was due to leave again for the civic reception.