19 JULY 1919, Page 15

'I[HE WESTMINSTER MOTHERS.

LTo THE EDITOR OF THE " SPEOTAT011."1 cannot help wondering how many of your London readers know of the splendid work being done for the West- minster mothers at 60 Greek Street, Soho, and 100 Rochester Row? I wish at any rate that they could all have seen the Exhibition that has just been held of prepared food, children's garments, and so on, most of the exhibits being made by the mothers themselves. But still more do I wish they could see the mothers crowding into the centres in order to get advice about their little ones, and realize that there is actually insuf- ficient room to receive them. It would be a splendid thing if the mothers of Mayfair and Belgravia (all citizens of West- minster, odd as it seems) could sea for themselves the apprecia- tion of the work that is being done, and the love and friend- ship poured upon the lady workers. If they would only come they would appreciate what these other mothers want. An open-air nursery for the ailing infante who can be watched while the mothers are taught how to tend them is one thing, and where that is impracticable there is in view a novel and, to the outsider, rather an exciting experiment in a roof garden, the only " open space " available for the crowded inhabitants of Soho. Then mothers' helps are sorely needed to look after the mother incapacitated for her work by illness or recent operation, and more of the splendid classes now being held for cooking, making children's garments and infants' trousseaux. The newest patterns for these last are eagerly laid hold of. We all care for the health of the nation in a way we never did before we were awakened to its absolute necessity by the rude a-wakening of war. And it surely is the mother who is the centre of that care, for it is she who determines what our nation shall be, whether in peace or war.—I am, Sir, &o., [We are obliged to maintain a rule against local appeals lest we should cease to exist as a newspaper. We may, how- ever, we think, make an exception for this piece of good work in the Royal City, since it affords a working model which might well be followed elsewhere—a model which deserves, as it needs, support. That support should be sent direct to Miss Haldane. —En. Spectator.]