ALICE'S LETTER TO HER READERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1971, 14 November 1889, Page 33

ALICE'S LETTER TO HER READERS.

Several correspondents have, since " Jupiter's " letter appeared, written to me in a disturbed state of mind concerning the charges therein made. Again, this week a lady writes : " I noticed in the Witness on the 3rd October a letter signed 'Jupiter,' the writer of which seems to be rather hard on the fair sex Judging from the tone of his leLter he surely has not had an opportunity of mixing with young ladies, neither can he have had any sisters, or surely his opinion would be different. Probably the ladies who walk out, as he asserts, simply to see and be &cen have in most cases been hard at work all day, and before their appearance in town have had the pleasure of cooking the meals for father and brotheis and younger sisters, cleaning the house, and looking after the buttons, which I can in many cases vouch for." There is a good deal of truth in this, and my advice to " Jupiter " is not to search for a wife in the streets, but to go to the homes of the girls and become intimately acquainted with them in their domestic life. Any respectable man can gefc an introduction to the homes of the parents, and it is by a girl's conduct at home that a man may judge. Many a girl is the pet of her father, the comfort of her mother, and the staunchfriend and ally of her brothers and sisters. Sucha girl is possessed of enough good qualities for one man. A man in his desire to obtain a wife " whose price is above rubies " must not overlook the fact that very few of the modern young men deserve such a gem. One half the women who have done the best and noblest work in the world are unhappy wives. Women who have gained their patience, endurance, courage, and wisdom, like a forest tree gains its strength through long exposure to changing seasons and fierce battle with the storms. Men, seeing their knowledge of life, look on and say, " That is the sort of woman I want," bat quite overlook the fact that experience has made them what they are, and that included in that experience is a knowledge of mankind that would not make them half so tolerant of a man's selfish and weak points as the girl who plucked the rabbit. Very likely the husband of that ignorant girl was a hero in her eyes. She could not see through him any more than she could through the rabbitskin, and while it is not necessary for me to say that such ignorance of domestic matters is anything but a shame to any girl in these days when knowledge is so easy, still, at the same time, the very patience and perseverance the girl displayed in sitting there all the morning " plucking a rabbit, " showed that she had the stuff in her to persevere in greater things. J think I should have thrown it out of the window after the first hour. I wonder now what her young husband said to her? I expect he was either cross because his dinner was not ready, or laughed at her ignorance. I could be almost certain that he did not thank her for the patient perseverance of those hours ignorantly wasted. Want of knowledge there was— appalling ignorance; but the loving heart was there, or she never would have persevered till her fingers ached. And, men, I put it to you ; if you marry a girl with a loving heart, who has modesty and who is not idle, do you think that many of you deserve much more ? but if a girl loves you, and is naturally clean and industrious, you may have all the rest in time if you only know how to go to work, and be a little appreciative, encouraging, and patient. With a dirty, idle girl you can do nothing. A girl who has not self-respect enough to keep her person and belongings clean will not trouble her head much about yours. Idleness is at the root of more crime than wickedness, but where there is simply ignorance and not uncleanliness and idleness, everything can be hoped for.

It is much nicer, much wiser, and happier certainly, to marry the daughter of circum • stances, or training that has fitted her to be thoroughly competent to manage a house without those serious blunders that do so much to mar its peace and comfort, and if gitls only fully realised how close a man's peace and comfort was to his love they would hesitate before becoming incompetent wives, and strive all in their power to remedy sins of ignorance before becoming mistresses of homes of their own ; for very few men can patiently bear discomfort and the knowledge that their substance is being wasted. One must admit that there are many thriftless wives— too indolent too learn, or to put to use the knowledge they |may possess. Xheir husbands becoming hopeless of a better state of things, little by little put by with bitter regrets the laudable hopes and ambitions with which they began their harried life, and drifting into the general thriftlessness become as careless as their %v ives. Instead of the home of peace and comfort— perhaps of prosperity— there might have been, there is misery. This would be quite bad enough did it end here, but jnno*

cenfc children are the victims. ■ They suffer morally and physically. 111-cooked food, a ditty body and dwelling, does as much tode-l moralise the mmd — to say nothing of the ills of body— as does an immoral atmosphere. Oae can almost; go a step further than the old proverb "Cleanliness is next to Godliness," and say that it i 3 impossible to be good and not be clean and orderly. If thoughtless girls fully realised all the illhealth and sin that results from ignorance they ■would stand still with fear at the bare idea of taking the responsibilities of wife and motherhood upon their shoulders, totally unfitted for it. Having done so, a little ordinary intelligence, industry, and perseverance will soon put matters right. To take the opposite view of the subject, it often happens that young husbands are not' the only ones that suffer in the early days of matrimony. Many young wives have as much to bear. Young wives, who are thorough good housekeepers, have the morfcitificatipn of learning that any place but the neat and well kept home is a place of attraction for the husband for whose sake father, mother, brothers, and sisters were renounced, aud many a lonely tear the disappointed girL lets fall. I knew a girl who kept the home like a little palace— not only clean, but bright and beautiful by many little devices of woman's taste, and who, after a whole afternoon or morning spent in skilful cooking, would ask pleadingly, anxious as loving women are for a little praise, "Is that nice 7" yet would only get the sullen reply, "If it wasn't nice I shouldn't eat it 1 " — a pretty sort; of thing to toil a whole, day for — a nice recompense for youth and beauty, innocence and skill. Nor is she the only girl who, by slow and heart-breaking degrees, has come to admit the humiliating fact that she was purchased much as a good horse might be— for what she was able to perform. Before men take up the stones against women they have much to remedy in their own sex. There are good and bad alike among both, only it so often happens that the good husbands get the bad wives, and the good wives the bad husbands.

While on the subject of these social afflictions I will reply to an appeal from one who signs herself " One of That Despised Class— A .Servant Girl." Mrs Todd, of Sydney, in writing on the servant girl question, advocated engaging the girls at Home at a low wage andjbriuging them here, as, she asserted, they were not to be obtained in the colonies. The class in question were naturally very very much hurt. Good girls, ia New Zealand anyway, are to be got by the hundred, as well as bad or indifferent ones. We cannot say of any class of the community, " They are good," or " They are bad," — net even the mistresses, for there are bad mistresses as well as bad servants ; and good servants as well as good mistresses, and it almost always happens that the two go together, for a good mistress will not retain a bad servant, and a good servant will not stay with a bad mistress. But why should servant girls be a " despised class "1 Ido nob think they are by people whose opinions are worth having, although it is true that by selfish and unfeeling people they are treated as though, of different flesh and blood — tolerated as necessary evils, while they minister really to the comfort and health of the home. They are too often regarded as machinery that can work without weariness, no matter what the demands upon their strength may be. They are in many cases expected, for the'paynient of a certain sum of money, io have no personal likes and dislikes, but to become part of the family in soul as well as body. And how often they do- so, if they are kindly treated. They grieve and rejoice in the troubles and joys of their employers just as though they had no life apart from them; but if meanness and purseproud arrogance make, their life a burden, where is their remedy? Only in giving notice, and, if I may use a common expression, getting " out of the fryingpan into the fire " perhaps. Good, servant girls make good wives, and have presided in thousands of our tradespeople's homes as dignified and respected wives and mothers. They have always been, and always will be, regarded asa useful and respected part of the community-, 1 at least by all sensible people. It was very pleasing to see such a good house on Thursday night to encourage the Seymour - Walshe Company in their new venture. Perhaps some of my readers are not aware that I refer to the new company that has been formed from a portion of the Simonsen's troupe with the object of visiting some of the country towns. Considerable sympathy was felt for these artists; and every good wish follows them in their venture. On Thursday evening very warm applause greeted them in their efforts, and indeed all were agreeably surprised at the good production of the "Bohemian Girl" with such a limited company. Miss Seymour and Mr Walshe were both in remarkably good voice, and received several lecalls, and the plucky company were twice called before the curtain. Before the last act Mr Walshe thanked the audience for their very kind reception. In the circle, Mrs Branigan looked very nice in low cut black lace evening dress with sleeves, opera cloak of black faced and lined with pink silk; Miss Isaacs wore a lovely sea foam green silk with white broche opera cloak ; Mrs A. Finch, black dress and red plush opera cloak; Miss Kempthorne was becomingly attired in pink, and Mrs Muir in red opera cloak, bordered with ermine; Miss Fitzherbert wore a rich black silk cut square at the neck and trimmed with white lace ; Miss Muir was attired in white muslin; Miss Poppelwell looked remarkably nice in black, with soft terra cotta silk folded round the neck to form a vest. A week or two back a correspondent took exception to some of the recipes in the " Leavitt House Cookery Book " on the score of their containing too much acid. Another correspondent in a letter which follows shows the other side of the matter :—

Dear Aliok,— l observed a communication from Mr Richard Norman, Albertown, in last week's Witness in which tho writer or j acts to the '• LeavittHouse Cookery Book on pee junt of its advocating the use of soda and acid or cream of tartar. I am prepared to admit at once that where sour milk or butter-milk is obtainable, acid or cream of tartar ia not required j but at the sametimß l maintain that tartario acid or oream of tartar is just bb wholesome if intelligently uaed.' What does chemistry say?;— Bicarbonate of soda— or, as it is, sometimes called,

supercarbonateof soda,, a tM made from a protoxide of thesilver-like metal Bodium-is anti-acid and antilithio, and'possesses simila* properties to/the Wearbonafce of potassa or saleratus. The dose is from sto 60 grains. Tartaric acid, a white six-sided crystallised solid" prepared from cream of tartar, has an agreeably acid taste and possesses refrigerant, antiseptic, and anti-scorbutic properties. Bitartrate of potassa or cream of tartar— a preparation of caustic po*ash— is a refrigerant, diuretic, and cathartic. Dissolved in water and sweetened with sugar it forms an agreeable, cooling drink in fevers. The dose as< a catharl ie i* from 2 ,to ft drams. Taken in. tho above quantities they are beneficial instead of hurtful, and when 25gr df tartaric acid to 30gr of soda are taken in water they form what is well known as soda powders, while the gentle ■aperient' known aa seidlitz powers is composed of 35gr of tartaric acid and 2dr Bochelle salts, added to 2sc of carbonate of soda. , ; The too common prejudice against these useful articles iß the result of ignorance as to their properties If the good wife who' cannot make scones without their having the colour of a Biok Chinaman would use more acid and letsßsoda and the proper quantity of each to the quantity of flour to be operated upon, the result would be bread light, white, and wholesome.' Perhaps Bhe would ba astonished to learn that the baking, pow^dera of commerce are nearly all composed of soda, acid, and arrowroot. One 1 of the best in the mark" et is made up of two parts of acid to one each of soda and corn starch. When the eliminating process of baking is taken into consideration it is safe to say that a person who takes a course of seidlitz or soda powders takes more soda and acid into his system during that course than he will be asked to swallow in bakers' small goods throughout tho whole term of hia life. I must apologise-, for taking up bo much of your valuable space with what seems a trifla, but then life is made up of trifles. — P. 0., Waimate, ' [To ensure publication in the. forthcoming lasae letters must reach the Witness ofiice nob later, than Saturday night.] >' CONCERT AT MATAKAXCI. A concert aud dance was held at Matakanul on the 18th ult. The following area few of the dresses worn I at the dance:— Miss Eaylor, white embroidered.] dress, pink sash; Mrs B. Sheppard, black with jet I trimmings ; Miss Gibb, Boft delicate grey ; Miss j Hueston, cardinal, black lace overskirt ; Miss L. Hueeton.creara, striped sash ; Miss Sheppard, very pretty white embroidereddress.pale blue trimmings ; Misses ; A. aud K. Harley, maroon cashmere, goblin braid trimmings ; Miss Gieenbank, neat brown cashmere, plush to match ; Miss Carson, light dress, cardinal plush collar aud cuffs; MissJ. Mellor, navy blue; Miss and Miss B. Norman, black cashmere, plush to match ; Mrs Williams, neat grey dress.— Visitor. GORE ODDFKLLOWB' SOCIAL. On Friday, November 1, a moist enjoyable concert and ball was held in the Oddfellows' Hall— the last of a series pf socials held in connection with the , society this winter. Uhe concert began at 8 o'clock, ] andwas largely attended and thoroughly enjoyed. 1 The da-ice commenced at about half-past 10, and was j very largely attendei, about 150 being present, or, perhaps more. The floor wasia splendid condition, j and all seemed bent on enjoying themselves, dancing being kept. up with spirit till 330 a.m. Several tasteful dresea were noticeable, and the regalia of the ] Oddfellows had a very-pretty effect mingling among j the ladies' costumes. Several ladies wore dark dresses, as the entertainment was not a full dress ball, but there were a very large number of light j toilets. The dresses were mostly very becoming, but in tuch a crowd it would of course be impossible ■ to mention everyone. The following area few of the many stylish dresses in the half :— Miss Nellie Gardiner wore a white skir'fc and a pink Norfolk bodice, and her hair was prettily arranged on top of her head ; another Mlbs Gardiner was similarly attired, only her«bodice w«s light blue : and a thir<i was dressed in cream with carnation ribbons ; Mrs ] Oollie, black satin ; Miss Collie, pink mußlin ; the j three Misses Canning, light' pink cambric; MissJ Morgan, black silk; and Miss Tracey, blaok cashmere with white waistcoat front aud white lace; Miss Whittingham. white brilliantine ; Mrs Low, black ' satin ; Miss L. Taylor, blue figured muslin ; Mrs Dewar, white .Norfolk bodice and drab I skirt- Mrs Bust, brown costume; Mrs Wallace, j pretty blue muslin; the Misses Robin, grey with ruby velvet facings; Miss O. M'Lennan. grey cashmere with grey silk brocade I facings; Mrs King, cashmere . toilet ; Mrs M'Pherson, light grey costume ; Mrs Broadbent, black silk ; the Misses M'Kenzle, light blue muslin ; Miss L. Bobins, ; figured yellow muslin; Miss Taylor, black silk trimmed with lace and satin ; the Misses Stewart, white nun's veiling; Miss Wallace, black net; Mrs j Canning, light grey cashmere. There were many other ladies whose coßtumej ought to be mentionfd and who were also very nicely dressed, but it is im- j possible to mention- all. Most of the Oddfellows wore their regalia— sashes and aprons— which looked very well. The following wore decorations :— Mr B Dewar, Mr Low, Mr Bust, and some dozen others, who passed their ribbons to the ladies at the latter end of the evening. Both ladies and gentlemen entered thoroughly into the enjoyment of the evening. The entertainment was enlivened by a step dance and some comic s<-.ngs. The ball broke up at 3.30 with a valse and polka. The entertainment was the most enjoyable of the whole series.