Evening star., 1952-06-20
Society News:
Australian Parties
Planned for Official
Ambassador and Mrs. Spender Hosts;
Secretary, Mrs. Acheson Give Lunch

are at SoeStdijk near The Hague
where the Queen and the Prince
of the Netherlands went to live
when they were married and now
make their home the year around
During the serving of tea one
of the daughters, dressed in the
uniform of the Brownies, opened
the door and stuck her head in
to ask permission of her mother
to go somewhere on her bicycle
Her mother invited her. in and
introduced her, which appeared
to make no impression on the
youthful one. but with the per-
mission granted she rushed out
and moment later Mrs. Menzies
saw her ride past the window. "All
quite informal and like any family
where children and parents are
close and fond of each other"
Returning to this country the
Prime Minister and Mrs. Menzies
are having taste of the Capitals
midsummer heat. When they were
here on their way to London they
struck very rainy few days. So
between conferences and the few
parties-which frequently for the
men are continuance of the last
conference-they are doing scme
sightseeing. One Of the things that
impressed Mrs. Menzies while with
the Churchills was the beauty of
the old castles now opened to the
public. There were two near Chart
well which they visited. Mrs.
Menzies hopes to visit Mount
Vernon and the Lee Mansion,
which for this young republic are
old.
Mrs. Menzies expressed her ad-
miration of the architecture of
the houses, waving her hand
slightly to indicate those in the
neighborhood of the Embassy. She
said there is not the attractive
ness nor the variety in the Aus
tralian homes. But" she said, 1--WE
have something in Australia which
you do not have in this country.
The sessions of our Parliament are
broadcast and can be heard by
every one with radio. And radios
are very general in Australia"
Miss Heather sMenzies
She spoke of her daughter. Miss
Heather MenzieS. who has been
executive secretary for the show
ing of the film Kangaroo" which
was presented simultaneously in
all towns and cities in Australia.
The proceeds went to the Red
Cross, for which Miss Menzies has
been driving for the past year. She
is a gifted pianist and suspended
her studies in music at the Uni
verSity of Melbourne to assist her
mother in Canberra when Mr..
Menzies was made Prime Minister.
Mrs. Menzies spoke yesterday of
Canberra as having been pat
termed after Washington, with
only the seat of Government there.
She emphasized that they still
keep as much commerce and trade
away from there as possible and
no manufacturing is permitted at
the Capital. Thus Canberra has
grown like Washington and like
this Capital it has a wealth of
trees and many parks throughout
the city.
Mrs. Menzies is a native Of Mel
bourne and Mrs. Spender belongs
to Sidney. the eighth largest city
Of the British Commonwealth of
Nations. The former had letter
yesterday morning from Mel
bourne telling her of her 9 months
old grandson, Alexander Robert
who has two teeth and now pre-
fers to stand, if someone gives him
a hand, to sitting, lying or crawl
ing on the floor. He is the son of
Mr.. and Mrs. Kenneth Menzies,
Ian, younger son of the Prime
is ION the land" the Au-
stralian way of saying farming.
The Prime Minister and Mrs.
Menzies will go to Canada from
Washington, then come back to
New York and from there to San
They will have a very
short stay on the West coast be-
fore taking off for home. When
they reach Canberra July 2 they
will have been absent just six
Uookc