WOMAN’S WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 19764, 14 January 1928, Page 21

WOMAN’S WORLD

[By DIANA.]

THE RIGHT RECIPE

—Cake Filling.— Half a pint of mashed peaches, apncots, strawberries, or raspberries, the same amount of castor sugar, the grated rind of one lemon, and the whites of two fresh eggs, beaten all together until stiff, makes an excellent cake tilling. —Risotto.— To serve four people allow half a cupful of nee, three tablespoonfuls of butter or olive oil, two large onions, halt a cupful of grated cheese, and two or more cupfuls of clear soup or stock. Slice the onions and cook them for about five minutes in the oil or butter —very careful that they do not brown. Add the rice and let it take up all the butter it will, then turn all into a double saucepan. Add the soup and cook until the rice is a soft, thick paste, adding more liquid as needed. At the last moment season with pepper, salt, and the grated cheese. Serve very hot, accompanied by fingers of crisp toast. —A Savory Supper Dish.— Take two large Spanish onions, two carrots, one small cauliflower, some sliced potatoes, and half a cupful of green peas which have been previously steeped and cooked until tender. Fry all except the last item until nicely browned, then strain off the frying fat and add to the pan one cupful and a-half of brown gravy to which have been added one large teaspoonful of curry powder and one dessertspoonful of flour. Mix in also the peas, cover and, cook over a gentle heat for about ono hour or until the vegetables are all] quite tender. Serve in a ring of rice. I —A Vegetarian Lunch Dish.— 1 Nut Mince With Sippets of Toast and Mashed P.otatoes.—Required; Coz of milled nuts, 4oz of breadcrumbs, loz of butter, one largo spoonful of grated onion, a pinch of herbs, a little mar-, mite, two gills of vegetable stock,_ loz of proteid food. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the milled nuts and allow them to brown slightly; then add the other ingredients, and lastly tho. vegetable slock. Stir "'ell over the fire, and when hot serve with sippets of toast* or fried croutons of bread. A few chopped mushrooms are an improvement.

ODDS AHD ELDS

Massage is useful for clumsy or toofleshy legs. A photograpner's rubber squeegee makes an excellent massage roller. Roll it for three minutes daily over any fat area, always rolling upwards, and with perseverance you will notice decided improvement. This must be done at regular _ intervals to keep the fatty places slim after reducing them. Long, curling eyelashes are always an attraction and a pretty setting for the eyes. Straight lashes can be gradually induced to curl slightly upwards by .simple means. Wrap the merest shred of cottonwood _ round a match or orange stick and clip this in olive oil. Then brush the lashes gently upwards from roots to tips several times. Do this daily. To Protect Wire Mattresses from Rust.—ln order to prevent wire mattresses from rusting they should be protected by a thin film _ of grease or vaseline, which it is advisable to dissolve in petrol. About one tablespoonful of vaseline should be put into a pot, covered with petrol and stirred. If necessary add more petrol until the vaseline has just dissolved. _ Quickly paint both sides of the_ wire spring with the petrol containing the vaseline in solution. The petrol will evaporate, leaving a chin film of grease over the spring. It is hardly necessary to add that the mixture must be well brushed into the wire mesh. As petrol is inflammable it should not be_ used in a room with an open fire or light. Paint Stains.—Treat with turpentine or, in the case of a delicate garment, petrol. Copying Pencil Stains.—feoak tire fabric in methylated spirit, rub gently, if necessary, and afterwards rinse in a little fresh spirit. . Grass Stains.—The green color is due to the presence of chlorophyll, and as this is soluble in methylated spirit the latter can therefore be used with success.

lodine stains are best removed by soaking the material in a solution of sodium hyposulphite or, as it is more commonly called by photographers, “ hypo.” .v Mildew stains are due to the growth of a mould, and are among tho most difficult to remove, especially when old. Sometimes merely moistening, rubbing with soap, and placing in the sun proves successful, but when this simple method fails in the case of white cotton or linen a solution of an oxidising agent, such ns bleaching powder, can be used. A thorough weekly manicure should never be missed. Begin by soaking your finger tips in a hot lather for five minutes. Dry the fingers, then push the cuticle on each gently but firmly back with the blunt end of an orange stick. Use the pointed end, dipped in peroxide, to clean away any stains under the nails.

WOMENS’ RIGHTS IN INDIA

The report of the Women’s Indian Association for 1926-27 shows a record of growth and much successful work. The association was founded in 1917, and has now seventy branches and over 3,500 members, which seems a wonderful record for ten years’ work in a country where the organisation of women meets with some special difficulties. The report states: “With but few exceptions all the women who are members of Legislative Councils, local government boards, municipal councils, the magistracy, the Bar and educational boards are members of the association. It includes women of all communities and all religions, and its work is everywhere held in respect. An atmosphere of religious toleration and mutual understanding is promoted in all the work. The association is strictly non-sectarian, but believes that woman’s best work can be done when it is dedicated to the God of her religion.” The association has been one of the great factors in securing suffrage and eligibility for the women of India. Women have now the right to vote in Madras, Bombay, the United Provinces, Assam, Burma, the Punjab, Delhi, Bengal, and the Central Provinces. Behar is the only British province where women are still unenfranchised. The Government granted the right to sit on the councils this spring, but so far laws to this effect have 'been passed only in Madras, Bombay, the Punjab, and the CcmtirJ Provinces. _ ’ In the course of its work the association has added to its objects the securing of compulsory education for every child and the raising of the age of consent to sixteen and the abolition of child marriage, its agitation for the latter object helped to get. the age of consent raised from twelve to thirteen, Vint tho fixdit in a till BniM <m_

TEA DANCES

LADY CHAMBERLAIN SETS A FASHION THE NEW WALTZ. When Lady Chamberlain introduced jazz music, mah-john, bridge, and the other paraphernalia of the tea dance up to date into her recent afternoon party at the Foreign Office she did more than provide a notable item ot diplomatic news for foreign chancelleries (says a writer in the ‘ Observer ’). She sat (.he seal of official social approval on the afternoon dance, which hitherto has been regarded among serious people either as a regular function, to be taken as ceremoniously as 'an evening dance, or as an extravagance suited oulv to the dance-mad. Now we are going to see many more tea dances and a new sort of tea dance. For the essence of Lady Chamberlain’s party was this: she did not give “a tea dance”; she gave an afternoon party, at which facilities for dancing were provided for those who find stimulation and amusement in this pastime. There is a difference. The new fashion is a decided improvement on the time—a mere season ago—when we made afternoon dancing a regular function. It is too much to add to our strenuous evenings—-which get later and later—a preliminary two hours’ afternoon dance, at which hostesses are perturbed if one is not busy on tho floor most of the time. But a 4-till-6 affair which is not primarily a dance, but where one may enjoy all tho social pleasures, eat a comfortable tea, smoke, and chat, and perchance flirt, but also dance if one feels inclined —that is an admirable innovation. Sophisticated hostesses are resolutely preventing saxophones and drums from dominating their tea parties. A certain restfulness in the atmosphere, aimed at —a judicious mingling of gaiety and relaxation. To achieve this general effect the tea-time music is carefully chosen from among languorous pieces, and is played quietly, with good pauses between fox-trots, waltzes, and tangoes ; and every encouragement is given to the guests to do other things besides dance. WALTZING. Tho leisureliness of the new tea dance will be helped by the interest taken in the new waltz this season. Waltzing had lost some popularity owing to the difficulty many dancers found in making the forward turn. But a leading dancer, Mr Frank Ford, who was finalist in the world’s dancing championships two years ago, and is a waltzer of note, has perfected a simplified tum which has been generally adopted. Instead of making a full turn —many waltzers only manage it by getting round with a jerk at tho end of tho movement—a partial turn is now made, and the feet are then closed. This makes the dance infinitely simpler and smoother, especially for people who are no longer young or agile. The new turn is begun as in the usual forward turn, but instead of making _ a half-circle by facing in the opposite direction the man makes only three-quarters of tho usual movement. Then the man goes back on his left foot. This completes tho turn, tho couple having taken about seven-eighths of the circle.

WOMEN IN RUSSIA

By Alice Mexdhau. Women of Soviet Russia are tho comrades of their fellow men in more than the mere universal salutation of tovarisch (comrade) implies. Not only have the Mrs and Miss been dropped from the Russian vocabulary, but women are no longer the object of all the little discriminating courtesies that characterise our bourgeois civilisation. Proletariat society is-simple and direct, if somewhat blunt. One meets women in all spheres oi occupational activity; as directors of a government bureau, as research workers, as street car conductors, as museum guides, as technicians in factories. Tho salaries in these various employments cover a wide range, but in no case is the woman paid less than her co-worker of the opposite sex. Equal work demands and gels an equal wage. In connection with the factories the union maintains a day nursery where the working mother can leave her infant during the day, free of charge, under the supervision of a woman doctor and nurses. - The mother is given two months before and two months after the delivery of her child in a sanatorium, and when she returns to work, is allowed as much time as necessary during the day to nurse her baby. Women now constitute 34 per cent, of the students in the universities and 17 per cent, of the students in the Rabfaks. These latter are secondary schools where the worker who has had no previous chance at higher education may study with his expenses paid by the local Soviet or his union. The Soviet woman is absolutely liberated morally. There is no question of a double standard in Russia. Divorces based on mutual agreement are as easily effected as marriages—appearance before a court and declaration of intention is all that is required. Where one party wishes a divorce and the other does not the case is heard before a committee of judges. The children of a divorced couple are supported by both the father and mother —each one contributes a percentage of their wages, and if the woman, happens to be earning a larger salary than the man, she pays the greater unit. Usually the children are kept with the mother.

There is no such thing as an illegitimate child in Soviet Russia. A woman’s word as to the identity of the father of her child is always accepted if she has any evidence whatever, and the father is compelled by law to aid in supporting the child. The peasant woman is not less active than the proletariat woman worker. She participates in the local Soviet (in one village visited the Soviet consisted of thirty-three members, eight of which wore women), and is very proud of the red handkerchief she wears on her head, which means that she is a member of the Communist Party, or a sympathiser. There is usually a womans’ clubhouse in the village which is the centre of their various activities; political propaganda, classes in reading and writing, etc. Day nurseries are beginning to be organised in the villages where the mothers may leave their infants while the other children are at school, thus freeing them from their work in the fields or about the household. These observations, made after a month’s travel in Russia, seem to establish the opinion that Soviet rule has done much toward making woman the equal of man in Russia politically, industrially, and socially.

TEACHING BABY

VALUE OF PLAYING THE CASUAL SMACK. In the childhood of all higher animals there is a period, more or less long, when practically all their energy is spent in playing (writes Francis Aveling, M.C., Ph.D., D.Sc., of the London University, in the Daily Mail 1 ). In human childhood this period is a very long one indeed, beginning with the baby’s earliest random movements. Play has no motive other than itself. It is essentially activity for its own sake. And, though we grown-ups play long after our playtime proper has come to an end, yet the main business of life is then work, or activity for the sake of something else. Up to tho seventh year, or thereabouts, the chief characteristic of the child’s mental life is play; and it is one of the instincts of motherhood to respond to the play-impulses of the child. The mother plays with her baby with no other prompting than maternal love, no other thought beyond the playing itself, no reward other than the mutual joy she shares in common with her child. WHEN CONSCIOUS LEARNING BEGINS. Midway between the seventh and tho fourteenth years the more serious business of work begins to be divorced from play. The child, of course, does not cease to play because he has begun to work. But, while up till then he has been unconsciously developing his lunate powers chiefly for himself, now he begins, or is made, to cultivate those powers more systematically by conscious learning. . A third stage follows in which Ins interests, formerly occupied with outside things, begin to turn inwards upon his own mind. His sense of personality develops. His aims and purposes, drawn from within rather than impressed upon him from fully his own. He chooses and judges for himself. He learns to stand alone.

THREE STAGES OF MENTAL LIFE. To these three stages of growing mental life correspond the nursery, the school ,and the university. It is difficult in after years to look back upon the earlier stages with anything like sense of proportion-: The university graduate is tempted to consider his college training the most important. The boy or girl leaving school, if either think of it at all, is apt to think that school has fitted him for Ht«. He forgets that he could have made no progress whatever at school unless he had had a deeper and more intimate previous “education.” Even the kindergarten age, itself largely a playtime, would have been impossible without the simple, unmixed play of earlier infancy. The child himself cannot appreciate this. Only the onlooker can see it. THE FIRST TEACHER. It shows, however, the immense importance of the years of piny during which the foundations are laid for all advance in after hie. In those years it is not the professor or the school teacher who counts, ft is the mother, by nature and by instinct the real teacher of her child and of the race. Teacher bv instinct? Yes, hut instincts sometimes go astray, defeating their own ends, and then mothers have something to learn, not in regard to primitive forms of solitary “play,” perhaps. in which the “Toys ” are the baby’s own body and limbs—the babbleplays and limb-movements-plays _in which the tiny mite finds such infinite, perpetual enjoyment; nor in the rudimentary “social" games which need two for the playing, ns when he throws his spoon down again and again for the sheer pleasure of having it picked up for him. Here little can creep in to harm, save when the mother-playmate wearies of the game too soon and baby* feels her indifference or annoyance. The feelings of tiny children, well before the end of the first year, are far more delicate and real than most (if ns imagine. WHAT DESTRUCTIVE PLAY TEACHES.

There is danger ol this, too, also oi the little one being “ punished ” for the “touching and handling” play of which he is so fond and in which lie learns so much, or for the “destructive ” play so natural in children. But even this sort of “ play ” has its use. In it the child learns much —the sense of power and many of the properties of tilings, for example—necessary _ for him later on to know. Sometimes mothers think that this, and other “ naughty ” play, is sheer wickedness, an outcropping of original sin; and that the only remedy is corporal punishment CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. ’That is wrong. Such punishment should only lie given when the play is really dangerous to the child himself. Then, sharp and short, physical pain should be cemented by association with the dangerous action. In all other cases correction, whether of faulty learning or undesirable habit, should be by appeal to the child’s own sense of honor and affection. Affection, and—above all—honor! Yes,even in a baby not yet twelve months old. As the months go on he even grows more sensitive to any “punishment” touching his sense of honor. Train up a child in the way he should go. If honorable motives are to he the springs of action in the adult, begin with the baby while he is in the school of play. It is a school through which we all pifss. Wise mothers will see to it thal their children graduate from it with honors.

FOOT BEAUTY

Generally speaking, women do not. give suilicient time 'to tnc preservation and improvement of the arches of 'the feet and contour of the ankles and legs. In the beautiful architecture of the normal foot there are two arches, one longitudinal from the heel to the bases of the toes, the other transverse from the base of the big toe to that of the little toe. These natural arches are produced by the bones of the foot, and are kept in place by ligaments, also by the action of the muscles in the sole of the foot and in the ankle and leg. It is by strengthening and reconstructing the foot arches, when flattened, that improvement can be effected. Fortunately everyone can, and should, correct any defects by carrying out every evening a selection of exercises regularly and thoroughly. These will not only give the feet time to breathe and relax out of the boots and shoes, but will assist Nature to preserve the arch on which we are poised throughout our lives, and thus keep the natural buoyancy and grace of youth. The weight of the body should be supported by the heels, the outer sides and balls of the feet, and the line of the heel tendon at the rear of the foot and shin bone in front must be quite straight, avoiding any pressure.— ‘ Good TTmißolraArung. l

WOMEH-A SPECTACLE

Women appeal more to the eve than men. A crowd comprising both sexes would far sooner behold a spectacle which consisted of women than a spectacle which consisted solely of men; and a crowd comprising only women would obtain more ocular gratification from looking at women than a crowd comprising only men would obtain from looking at men (writes Arnold Bennett, in ‘T.P.’s Weekly’}. You may say what you please against the phenomenon that I have described. You, may attribute its origin to base instincts or to fine instincts; you may assert that, in a double and derogatory sense, there is more in it than meets the eye. No matter I The phenomenon exists, and it is permanent. That it has tremendous value in the world can be instantly perceived by imagining what would be the result upon our daily lives if women were never publicly seen, or if they always wore uniform, or if they had to keep to sombre colors, or if they ceased to feel an interest in costume and looks. Conceive a theatrical audience exclusively male. Conceive streets full of female dowdies and slovens. Conceive dances where the women were dressed all alike as men are, and where they despised grace The women might without exception be angels of goodness and acquiescence, and their invisible souls might be marvellously beautiful, but the world would be a different place and a gloomier place and a worse place, and the aest of life would be diminished. Indubitably an appreciable proportion of that which renders existence desirable depends upon the physical aspects of women in public. Part of the felicity of mankind has thus been committed to their charge. And although in giving more attention than men to complexion, costume, attitude, and movement, they may bo obeying an instinct, they are at the same time fulfilling a solemn social duty j they are making an essential contribution to the well-being of the body politic; and they are doing something which men cannot effectively do. An'd men are never jealous of their success, any more than women are jealous of the success of men in, say, feats of strength or masculine endurance.