It was a beautiful afternoon, and the grounds looked so pretty with their blaze of spring flowers. Tea was served in the dining room and on the verandah, while an orchestra played selections. The function was in aid of the funds of the St Kilda Free Kindergarten, and there were stalls of sweets, ices, flowers, produce and dainty goods suitable for Christmas gifts, those in charge being: produce, Mesdames Laney and Dove; fancy goods, Mesdames Harkness and Kirk; sweets and ices, Misses Betty Harris, Ray Taylor and Molly Hudson; and balloons, Miss Nancy Patrick.
Over £40 will be added to the Kindergarten funds as a result. Mrs Hudson, who wore a beautiful black French robe, received her guests on the lawn.
A man, a plan, a canal: Panama
On Saturday evening a large audience assembled in the Wakari School hall to hear an illustrated lecture on the Panama Canal by Mr H. Fawcett (head master).
The lecturer made reference to the construction of the Suez Canal by De Lesseps and to the many proposals for the construction of a canal through the Panama Isthmus, which culminated in the formation of a French company for that purpose. The failure of the enterprise, owing chiefly to the terrible effects of malaria, and the eventual acquirement of the rights of the
French company, and the purchase of a strip of land through Panama from the Panama Republic by America were briefly explained.
The difficulties encountered and overcome by the Americans in the construction were referred to, and views of the work and the gigantic machinery were exhibited on the screen. Some fine illustrations of the canal were then shown, the raising and lowering of the ships in the locks being explained.
In referring to the great advantages of the canal to shipping and the popularity of the route, the lecturer said it was anticipated in the near future that the canal would not be able to cope efficiently with the traffic, and that proposals were already being mooted for a sea-level canal through Nicaragua.
I let it fly in the breeze
That there is no better tonic than fresh air is a fact recognised by competent authorities. Hence the providing of open-air schools for delicate children, and the plea of health specialists that all schools should be constructed on the same principle, so that already-healthy children may be kept healthy.
The beautifying effects of sun and fresh air "baths" upon our tresses is undeniable, and I, who remember the times when little girls wore chenille hairnets and ponderous headgear all the year round, can only wonder that headaches wore not even more plentiful and "commanding," and that hair attained to any beauty at all.
"You mustn’t go out without your hat," was an iron, inflexible law in all weathers.
Nowadays, particularly in the time of roses, when milder breezes blow, young heads may go uncovered without fear and without reproach, subject, of course, to laws of common sense, which forbid a child to go bareheaded in a storm or in great heat. — ODT, 20.10.1925
Compiled by Peter Dowden
