NEW LADIES’ REST-ROOM AT NEW PLYMOUTH.

White Ribbon, Volume 13, Issue 158, 15 August 1908, Page 4

NEW LADIES’ REST-ROOM AT NEW PLYMOUTH.

OPENIN’H CEREMONIES. It wag a happy moment for the Committee when the last touches were put to the pretty room that had been set apart by the Borough Council for the Ladies’ Best-room in the new r Carnegie ' I 4 rt*e Library w hich was opener! on I dune 2 4 Hi. I hey were happy in the thought that the Council had learned to value the good intentions of the wearers of the white bow, and had invited thenu to take charge of the new room when the old one should he vacated ; and proud, justly proud, of the result of the thought and labour which they had put into furnishing ;t. It is indeed a dainty and pleasant room to rest in, with its tine, sunny windows looking out on the sea. A thick cork carpet softens the tread. Near the entrance door is the reading-table covered with a handsome cloth, spread with the most up-to-date Temperance and other literature. A writing table, furnished with everything 1 necessary, stands between the sunny windows, and over it hangs, as in benediction, the picture of our beloved Frances \Villard. A large screen in gieen and gold shuts off a secluded table where sandwiches and other refreshments brought in may be eaten. All about are chairs of various kinds, some with cushions and some without; the rattan lounge, finished otT with frilled ambercoloured cushions, gives a decidedly homelike finish to the whole. The windows are draped in cream Madras muslin ; pictures and temperance charts hang on the walls; ferns and flowers grace the tables; and on the opening day our banner proclaimed the fact that the W ,C. T.U; held a corner in one of the most public buildings in town. At the opposite end from the entrance a door leads into a toilet-room, which is also furnished with the most refined taste. Clean towels, soap, sponges, brushes, combs, pins, needles, thimbles, scissors, cottons, buttons, and tapes, are provided by the Committee free of charge Of couise there are contribution l>oxes in the rooms, and the expenses are met by the contents, as a rule. The Council have generously installed an electric radiator to warm and brighten the room on dull nays, and helped with the furnishing to the extent of £lO. In his opening address the Mayor spoke words of praise of the ladies who would care for the room, and asked a generous support from

the public. On the opening day the Council also granted the Union the free use of the former reading-room for an afternoon tea-room, the returns from which augmented the funds for furnishing. The Mayor and Mayoress and Councillors and their wives were our invited guests to tea, and on leaving, Me Tisch the Mayor)gave the Committee £l, to show his personal sympathy with us in our work.

I hat the rest-room is a great comfort to tired mothers with child• eu, and indeed to all who visit it, cannot be questioned ; but what it is to us in our work, our alert Secretary, who makes it a means to an end, only can tell.