Show I r i i 1 b by It J i IA oi W Eleanor Roosevelt AN N UNFORGETTABLE SUGGESTION One WASHINGTON-One nig night t I had the pleasure of having Mr Earl Robinson come down from New NewYork NewYork NewYork York city to play us a new tion Lion One of his favorite themes is Abraham ibraham Lincoln and this has a haunting quality and is a stirring and nd stimulating composition Later we all went over to the Stage Door Canteen v i 1 is scarcely a stones stone's throw from the White House being in the old Delasco Belasco De- De lasco asco theater Miss Perry Perry Perry Per Per- ry Miss Helen Menken Mr Milton Berle and various other artists were making a great success of the eVening evening eVe eVe- ning for the soldiers I took part partin in a broadcast listened to Earl Robinson sing some songs in which the audience could join in the chorus chor chor- us heard Mr Alexander I add another laugh to the many which Mr Berle had already elicited elicited elicit elicit- ed and then came home to an hours hour's chat with Mr in my sitting sitting sitting sit sit- I ting room He lie is a most delightful guest even though hough a most distracting one because because because be be- cause one would like to ta steal more time out of ones one's busy day to talk with him and to listen to him He gave me a page from a magazine in which he describes a wedding present given a young couple separated separated separated sep sep- by the war Of course what he has done is isto isto isto to give thousands of such young couples to parents and children and to friends an unforgettable sug sug- In this particular ease case case the girl told him Right now we have to build our marriage on paper so letters overflow my bureau drawer and have to be stored downstairs in my trunk S WAR POST-WAR REBUILDING After dinner one evening Mr Charles Palmer showed us the movies he took in Great Britain of various devastated areas Of course there is practically no rebuilding goIng going going go go- ing on in Great Britain at present The thing which he brought out however and which interested us usall usall usall all is the amount of planning which has been done for the dev development in all these cities Improved housing can be undertaken undertaken undertaken under under- taken as soon as the war comes to toan toan toan an end and normal transportation is resumed This will be a source of employment which is basically very valuable because the building materials used require much labor in hi addition to the labor required inthe inthe in inthe the building of the houses Of course we have ave no devastated areas but we shall need much add addi- additional additional addi- addi housing I hope we shall study the plans made in Great Britain Britain Britain Brit Brit- ain and use any Ideas which can can can-be be adapted to our own need I hope we shall offer the occupied countries encouragement by making it clear clea that we intend to help them along the same lines Hitler apparently has made a master plan in which he develops develop Germany industrially and drains from the occupied countries as much muchas as he possibly can leaving them primarily agri agricultural nations If he is doing this it is quite evident eviden that we should offer something better better better bet bet- ter to all these people who struggle in underground ways to keep up a vision for the future of better things thing than Hitler offers OLDER WOMEN AND WAR EFFORT We had a aa short but very pleasant meeting of the Chi Omega Achievement Achievement Achieve Achieve- m ment nt Awa Award d committee a few days ago I can not remember ever arriving arriving ar ar- ar riving at an agreement as quickly as we did on our choice for this years year's award I always enjoy meeting with this group In the course of conversation conversation conversa conversa- tion several questions came up which I have be been n thinking a good deal about of late What is the place in the the- war effort I wonder of older women who are trained in business or office work of some kind who are college graduates still sUB quite able to do a full days day's work and yet not apparently wanted anywhere anywhere any any- where Of course I realize that this would not be so if we actually needed every every every ev ev- ev- ev ery bit of manpower we had in the country I saw in Great Britain how everybody is needed even even the physically phys handicapped handicap are used o J NURSES' NURSES AIDES Mrs Harry Hopkins and I recently recent recent- ly gave a tea for the nurses and the nurses' nurses aides at Columbia hospital They are using nurses' nurses aides Inthis in inthis inthis this hospital with great success I Ican Ican Ican can not help thinking that the attitude attitude atti attl tude of the superintendent of nurses in a civilian hospital has a great deal to do with the successful use and development of nurses' nurses aides I saw in some magazine the other day the suggestion that we need to develop better qualified people to help in hospitals I know of no way to todo todo todo do this except by taking in nurses' nurses aides and keeping them under supervision supervision su suo su- su until they develop skill enough for responsibilities Actual practice in doing things inthe in inthe inthe the hospital is s the very best training that one can have The more we can encourage the aides to stick at their jobs over long periods the more qualified people we will have who can accept increasing ever-increasing |