The Ladies' Column.

Bruce Herald, Volume IX, Issue 802, 12 May 1876, Page 3

The Ladies' Column.

A. GOSSIP OST KWICKNACKSi A new and useful trifle for ladies is a small oval leather box, containing six reels of cotton, a thimble, and a shield. The ends of the cotton pass through small holes on the outside, so you can use the ..thread. without removing, the reels, and a • Very portable wbrkbox .is i the result. An uncommon device for a pincushion is an exact facsimile of a lifeboat in metal, and sold for the ' benefit of the Lifeboat Association.^ As a pretty wedding present, I would suggest one of the now fashionable teapot cosies made of Japanese embroidered , satin, many of them having the monogram ; of ■ .the: owner in small . point lace letters at the top. I find the Russian tapestry is gaining much favor for vallances for mantelpieces, brackets, &c. It is a sort of coarse bvown damask 1 linen material, qf * two shades, fringed at the edge, and the design is worked on either silk or wool, and is extremely rich looking. But for rapid work and excellent effect there is nothing like crewels. I have of late seen many houses where revived rneSiseral art finds special favor, and here crewel work was in its glory. Dark green serge curtains, .worked with sunflowers in natural tints, form an admirable accompaniment to leaded casements and preRaphaelite pictures. The mantelpieces I found covered with crash, fringed at the 4 edges, and worked with small distinct *' sprays in crewel wools. The oame sort of work applied to bell-pulls, screens for the back of wash-stands, bedhangings, mats, and antimacassars. Some excellent covers for the tops of chests of drawers, dressing tables, &c, had been made of unMeached kitchen damask, fringed at the edges, and having just in the centre a circle worked in crewel wools, with a monogram in the middle, the design of the damask within the circle being sketched out in crewel stitch. There never certainly was a time when feminine industry could be so well adapted to the producing of artistic results at such a very small cost of time and money. Crash window curtains, for example, worked in crewels, and headed by ruching of pinked-out cotton, are a cheap investment, but have an admirable effect. A good idea for the centre of a round ottoman is to cover the top with three Bmall square antimacassars, put on in diamond form, all the points meeting at the top of the ottoman. I have seen some pretty penwipers lately, one having a kitten curled up on the folds of cloth ; another with a miniatuie pie, the crust off, the heads of various little birds peeping through the aperture, and beneath, the lines, " And when the pie was open the birds began to eing." Small morocco cases are being sold with a pocket, "a pencil, and an almanac, the almanac having some specially written sentiments at the beginuing. They are intended for carrying in the pocket, and many have been purchased by the mothers of our royal family to give to their children. The latest fashion for 5 o'clock tea sets are gilt and china combined, the tray and all but the cups silver-gilt, these being of gold and white china. Sometimes with these a tray of wine, water, &c, is introduced, and "the latest novelty in these is a sort of rack attached to the traj, to hold a sodawater bottle. Another novelty under the same head is a basket cradle for holding wine-bottles when brought from the cellar. The new toughened glass is a most useful invention. You may buy candle glasses in this of all colors, and they are so strong that they can literally be thrown from one end of the room to the other. Considering how often these sort of things are broken by the candle burning too low, it is a valuable introduction. Violet glasses for the dinner and drawingroom tables are now beginning once more to be required, and a new design is a sort of squat vase in white glass, with a wide mouth, and apparently tied round the neck with a colored ribbon — aleo, of course, of glass. In wine-glasses the old German form is revived, narrow at the ystem and very wide at the top. Pretty w specimen glasses for single flowers are set in a gift stand, with a receptacle for salt at the baee ; and china table napkin rings are now made with a wide base, so as to stand on the table. We are so devoted to the antique at the present age that you can rarely enter a fashionable drawing-room without seeing a brass repousse worked coal-scuttle in form not unlike a Roman helmet, and it is certainly ornamental as well as useful. The wickerwork newspaper stands are now made of a smaller size as paper racks ; they hold a great deal, and are very useful. THE ABUSE OF VINEGAR Taken in moderation there is no doubt that vinegar is beneficial, but in excess it impairs the digestive organs. Experiments on artificial digestion show that if the quantity of acid be diminished, digestion is arrested. There is reason, therefore, in the vulgar notion — unhappily too often relied on— that vinegar helps to 1 keep down any alarming adiposity, and that ladies who dread tbe disappearance of their graceful outlines in curves of plumpness expanding into "fat," may arrest so dreadful a result by liberal potations of vinegar, but they can only arrest if; afc the. far more dreadful expense of health. The amount of acid which will keep them thin will destroy, their digestive powers. Portal gives a case which should be a warning :—" A few yeara ago a young lady in easy circumstances enjoyed good health ; she was very plump, had a good appitite, and a complexion blooming with roses and lilies. She began to look upon her plumpneea with suspicion, for her mother was very fat, and she jfw afraid of btfowng like Her. Ac-

cordiDgly, Bhe consulted a woman, who advised her to drink a .glass P? vinegar daily. The young lady followed the advice and her plumpness diminished. She was delighted with the experiment, and continued it for more than a month.' She began to have a cough ; it was dry at its commencement, and was considered as a slight cold, which would go off. Meantime from dry it became moist ; a slow fever came on, and a difficulty of breath ing; her body became lean and wasted away; night sweats, swelling of the feet and legs succeeded, and a diarr t b«a terminated her life." Therefore, young ladies, be boldly fat! Never pine for graceful slimness and romantic pallor; but if nature means you to be ruddy and rotund, accept it with a laughing grace, which will captivate more hearts than all the paleness of a circulating library.