WOMAN’S WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 19841, 14 April 1928, Page 22

WOMAN’S WORLD

—[Bv DIANA.]—

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS “ A.G.”—Thanks for your letter. If you have not already washed the stained dress, you would be well advised to make a warm lather of “ Lux.” “ Mrs L.P.”—I find this method of preserving beetroot quite satisfactory—it will keep easily till the next season:—Boil or steam it till it feels soft. Then peel off the outside skin, cut the beetroot in thin slices, and pour over it boiling vinegar and water (or vinegar alone if preferred). Bo sure that the vinegar is well over the contents. Then pour a layer of hot dripping, and finally cover with paper as for jam. “Constant Reader.”—This is a good green tomato jam recipe:—To 41b green tomatoes allow 31b sugar and jib preserved ginger or two lemons. Cut the tomatoes in small pieces, slice the lemons or ginger. Put tho sugar in the pan with just enough water to dissolve it. Add the fruit and cook till tender and transparent. “Invalid.”—This method of cooking brains would, I think, suit you :~Soak the brains for about one hour in cold water, then drain and take off the fine skin and fibres. Boil the brains in a little water for smin, then leave in tho water to cool. Meanwhile cook together a cut-up onion, a carrot, and season with herbs. When quite done, drain off the liquid, add a little butter, and thicken it with flour. Put the brains in this sauce and just heat up sufficiently. Or a white sauce may be served with the brains.

E. Huntsman) has found himself in the position of a busy matrimonial agent. Some tirpe ago it became known that he had received a letter from a man in Australia who wished to marry a Nottingham girl. Since then tho mayor has received some seventy letters from men seeking wives and some 170 from girls and women seeking husbands. Recently he said: “I received two letters from men in Australia seeking wives, and yesterday two letters from men in New York. I have written to the original writer from Australia, sending him the photographs of sevtral girls who have applied to me, and also their letters, without, however, tho names and addresses. I have asked him for his photograph and other particulars. Where I think it advisable L may put people into touch with each other.”

St. Clair’s Methodist Church was on April 4 tho setting for the pretty wedding of Linda Geraldine, oldest daughter of the Rev. and Airs Clement, and Victor MTherson,. son of tho late Mr and Airs Maitland Jones, of Invercargill. The father of the bride performed the ceremony, and Mr lan Strang took tho duties of best man. The bride looked charming in ivory and silver brocade, trimmed with pearls, while here and there were placed sprays of orange blossom. Tho bridal veil was of tulle, edged with Chantilly lace, the bouquet consisting of white roses, Easter lilies, and maidenhair fern. Afiss Alina Cuff, wearing a dainty frock of apricot crepe do chine, held tho train. Airs J. Ailansnn, sister of the bride, was matron of honor, and looked handsome in apricot brocade French crepe de chine gown and a coronet of the same shaded flowers. After the ceremony a, reception was held at the Strand Salon. Airs Clement, who wore a model crepe de chine gown of tho new russet color, with Oriental trimmings sil a hat to tone, received the guests, who numbered about fifty.

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL Mrs Stock returned from Wellington yesterday. Mrs John Peterson, of Dunedin, is now visiting her daughter in Nelson (Mrs Lloyd) for a few weeks.

Miss Naucarrow has gone to Christchurch for a few weeks.

“ MATERNAL MORTALITY.”

The following letter, addressed to “Diana,” speaks for itself:—

On Tuesday evening Mrs J. JO. Macassey gave a jolly little party for Mrs Rhodes-Williams, of Wellington, who has been here for tho tennis tournament.

“Tho remit visit of Dr Bouncy to New Zealand and Australia_ has done a great den! to arouse the interest of the public in tho all-important question of maternal mortality. There is demand from many quarters that Otago must have a professorship of obstetrics. Tho Auckland branch of the National Council of Women is prepared to act in a practical manner to bring about a change in the teaching of midwifery. I listened with much interest to the admirable address which Dr Bouncy delivered to tho members of the Otago Women’s Club, and I can confidently assert that Dr Bonney stressed the necessity not for an improvement in the teaching of the subject, but for improved lacilities for the doctors who are training the students. Doctors and matrons have carried on courageously and quietly for years, in spite of great difficulties; they have been severely handicapped by tho lack of an up-to-date hopsital. The public showed little or no interest in the work being done. “Dr Bonney assured us that childbirth should bo regarded as a surgical operation. This, then, brings to light tho need for the Health Department to take a survey of its Nurses and AlMwives Registration Act, 1925, whereby a woman who undergoes a course of training for twelve months .with a qualifying examination, followed by twelve months’ experience in private

Early in the week Mrs Leslie Mills envited several of her friends to spend a gay evening in dancing. The French Club opens its now session next Monday, when a social evening will ho held at the Girls’ High School at 8 p.m. All interested are cordially invited.

Recent Dunedin guests at the White Star Hotel, Queenstown, include Mr, Mrs, and Miss Lane, Mrs Spaul, Mr and Mrs Harraway, Misses J. and E. Barrett, Miss M. Dodd, Miss J. Kaye, Mr and Mrs Holden, Miss Meadows, and Miss M. Aitchison.

The gentle art of angling is becoming increasingly popular with women. Mrs Aspinall and Mrs Elder have just returned from a most successful fishing expedition at Lake Wanaka. Their catch totalled thirty-five_ rainbow trout in fine condition, and this included two weighing 341 b and 14-Jlb. the average weight working out at sJlh.

The Arts and Crafts Circle of_t.be Women’s Club has opened a new little exhibition, this time_ of all kinds ol beadwork. Some choice old pieces are there, notably a cigar case, an old clothes brush of tortoiseshell inlaid with mother-of-pearl, with a fine bead inset; a footstool and table runner. There are also specimens of Egyptian and Chinese work.

A recent visitor to our town was Miss Robertson, a prominent English Girl Guide official. Lhilortunately, owing to the holidays, Miss Robertson, was not able to see much of the work here, though she did manage informal interviews with officials. However, she expects to return to Dunedin in a few months, when she hopes to see a lot of Guiding work in Otago.

Thursday altcruoou saw the official dosing of the bowling season, and to celebrate the occasion the Dunedm Ladies’ Club invited the gentlemen of the Dunedin Club. Forty players thus spent a very pleasant afternoon, when Mrs AFHugh iron the ladies’ prize and Mr J. Higginson the men’s. An excellent tea was provided, after which Mrs W. Dali (the president! thanked the directors and other gentlemen who had helped during the year. A little present was then given to Mr Drummond, the greenkeeper, for his small child. Mr W. Burt suitably replied and thanked tho ladies for their hospitality.

The engagement is announced of Wynn, youngest daughter of Air and Mrs Henry Harraway, of G 7 Warrender street, Dunedin, and Walter, youngest sou of the late Mr and Airs John Kipling Eowell, of “ Rokeby,” Kew, .Victoria.

The New Psychology Club held an open meeting on Thursday, with the result that the View Street Hall was packed. Mrs Begg took the chair, and Miss Anderson introduced the speaker, Madame Alwyn. Questions followed, after which came supper. A vote of thanks was passed to Air Bircheli lor the loan of a special gramophone, the invention of a Dunedin man.

A novelist who is still at work, although she is nearly cighty-ouc, is Airs Flora Annie Steel, who achieved literary fame in 1894 with ‘ The Potter’s Thumb,’ a book with Indians the basis of tho story (observes tho ‘ Daily News’). Airs Steel spent the first twenty-two years of her married life doing social work in Bengal. She expects to bring out her nest book in April.

The name of Lord Oxford and Asquith is likely to live not only in history, but in geography, for two far sundered places on the map were named in his honor during his long Premiership (according to the ‘ Star’). The first such honor was paid him by Sir Ernest Shackleton, who named a newly-discovered peak in the vicinity of the South Pole Alount Asquith. The second was the bestowal of his name on Asquith Town, near Regina, Canada, which is said to be the exact geographical centre of the British Empire.

Twenty-five grandchildren, six sons, and one daughter, sat down to luncheon to celebrate the diamond wedding of Air and Airs Arthur Pawsey ; of Wivenhoe, Colchester, The original family was eleven sons and one daughter, but one son was killed in the war and another died during the war while serving as a special constable. There are fifty-three grandchildren in all, and two great-grandchildren. The Archbishop of York sent the following telegram: “congratulations on sixty years of happy married life, and ray benediction on the years that remain.” Mr James Arthur Pawsey, the eldest son, in proposing the health of his mother and father, exclaimed, looking round the crowded room: “It is not a family but a clan you have created.”

With nearly 250 letters from men and women in search of a life mate, 'J& mayor of Nottingham. .(Addenuan

Reports'Of social functions will be welcomed for this column. Diana ’ will also answer alll reasonable quo#tiona relating to the home, cookery, domestic science, and any topic of interest to her sex. But each letter or renort must bear tho writer’s name and address as a guarantee of genuineness, and questions that-do not permit , of' a nultlie reply cannot bo answered* .Questions should be concisely put and the writer ■ nom do plump * r - clearly written.

practice (during which time she must assist at not less than twelve cases), and then by an additional four months’ training and examination, is allowed to take solo responsibility for maternity cases, only calling in the doctor in abnormal cases. Surely there is somejiing wrong with a system that permits"a woman so inadequately trained and with little experience—to assume so much responsibility in cases which such an eminent authority as Dr Bouncy assures us should be treated as surgical operations. “As a nurse I realise that there are very few nurses who would willingly accept such great responsibility, but I feel that the Health Department should not sanction such a state of affairs. The present training field is one that does very little credit to the city oi Dunedin, w’hich boasts of its educational institutions. But this institution is not alone Dunedin’s responsibility; it is a charge on the whole dominion to see that better provision is made lor the training of doctors and nurses. The public, as well as the students, need to be educated, and the best way to accomplish this is by the establishment of an up-to-date maternity hospital. While this demand for an up-to-date maternity hospital is an urgent necessity, we must not forget to pay duo tribute to our doctors and matrons for tho good work that has been done in the existing institutions. Forth Street Maternity Hospital was founded by tho late Dr Batchelor (whose name it now bears) in 1907- With the exceptional: structural alterations and the provision of adequate equipment by the Otago Hospital Board, very little has since been done by cither the Government or tho University Council to keep abreast of the ever-increasing demands of science. “ It now behoves the women to play their part and assist not only their own sex, but also the doctors who are devoting their time and energies to tho training of students under groat difficulties. The women of this city have always taken a keen interest in all that affects the welfare of women and children, and I feel confident that they have it in their power to organise a dominion campaign to raise the necessary money to provide a maternity hospital and training school worthy of the mothers of tho dominion. I trust that through your paper the enthusiasm and interest of the women will be aroused, and that in this cause_ they shall be ‘ mighty as an army with banners.’— (Signed) Sadie Macdonald.”

THE RIGHT RECIPE TOASTED CHEESE. Mix well 4oz of breadcrumbs, 2Joz of fresh butter, 3oz of grated cheese, the beaten yolks of two eggs, a tablespoonful of cream, a teaspoonful of mustard, and a little salt and pepper. Put all into a saucepan and stir till

the mixture thickens and is hot. Spread it thickly upon small pieces of toasted bread, and put them into a hot oven ton a few minutes just to brown the top. Serve hot and crisp from the oven.

(Continued from page 22.) DEVILLED TONGUE. Mince the remains of a boiled tongue very finely and season it with cayenne, ancl add a few chopped mushrooms. Cut some slicres of dinner rolls [French rolls, if obtainable), and toast lightly on both sides; dip them in beaten egg in which a tablespoonful of claret has been mixed; sprinkle over a. little chopped parsley and a little grated lemon peel. Pile a heap of tongue on each piece of toast, with a small mushroom on the top. Pour a little cream over it, heat in a coveted dish, and serve very hot.

Leeks Au lirauii, —.Required: A bunch of leeks, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, white or brown sauce. Wash and trim the leeks. Roil them in salted water or stock till they are tender, then take them out and drain them. Well butter a gratin dish, put the leeks in layers, covering each layer with white or, brown sauce. Season well. When you put in the last layer coat it with sauce and then sprinkle over the top' a good layer of grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Put a few dabs of butter here and there over the top and then bake in a moderate oven till the top is a nice delicate brown. •Serve at once.

Stewed Kidneys and Cut Vermicelli. —Three-quarters ounce flour, four sheeps’ kidneys, one gill stock or water, half ounce butter or a small piece of fat bacon, sprig of parsley, pepper and salt, three ounces curled vermicelli, two ounces cheese, one onion. Wash and clean the kidneys and cub them into small pieces. Melt the butter in the saucepan or fry the fat bacon, and when cooked remove from the pan. Fry the onion golden brown, add the kidney, and when fried stir in the flour. Cook for a few minutes. Add the stock, pepper, salt, and parsley. Bring to the boil, stirring meanwhile, and simmer gently for one hour. Remove the parsley and pile in the centre of the dish. Arrange the cooked vermicelli around the dish. Vermicelli requires only a few- minutes to cook; when tender a little butter and grated cheese should be added, and the'whole reheated before serving.

ODDS AND ENDS These stains can be removed as follows : Cocoa.—Wash in cold water and then pour on boiling water. Coffee.—Pour boiling water over at once. Fruit. —Place a piece of bread, soaked in cold water, over the spot at once, or, if this is not done, pour boiling water over. Grass.—Damp the place with cold water, and then apply cream of tartar. Grease. —Before washing things on which there arc grease marks, rub the spots with glycerine, and they will come out with soap and water. Don’t put tin dishes in greasy water. It deadens the brightness. Don’t wash glasses in cold water. Use a little soap. To peel apples easily and without waste, pour scalding water over them. Turpentine, mixed witli stove polish, prevents rust, and gives a brighter gloss than the use of water. The crisp white parts of a tender cabbage may be used in making salads when celery cannot be obtained. _ Don’t moisten your food with the idea of saving your teeth. It spoils the teeth, and you will soon lose them. Vinegar and salt mixed together will take away stains on china, glass, flower vases, and water bottles.

DIET AND BEAUTY

[By a Sydney Doctor.] Do “liquid days” remove flesh that the modem girl doesn’t, want? Do all these beauty fads really make women beautiful? The evidence at our disposal all points to the fact that the world’s first medical practitioners were chiefly employed in attempting to restore the lost beauty of their elderly female patients. Women in the main rely on beauty as an asset in the business of attracting the opposite sex, and, as the cruel hand of Time snatches that asset away all too soon, it is of supreme importance that they should do all in their power to frustrate his work. In Egypt, 1,500 years _ before the birth of Christ, the medical men of the day did an enormous trade in cosmetics and “ secret ” beauty remedies. They specialised in ointments, face creams, hair restorers, hair removers, hair dyes, nail polishers, rouge, and various other alleged modern inventions. Not only did this branch of “ medicine ” interest them, but the surgeons of the day even performed surprisingly successful operations in the realm of plastic surgery. At present there are just ns many beauty experts in the world as there were in the days of Moses.

But it has taken the world many thousands of years to learn that one of the greatest safeguards against the ravages of Time is simple cleanliness. Perhaps the best cosmetic yet invented is what is called a neutral soap, used with warm wate*. Soap softens and removes the foreign bodies that stick to the face. It also loosons the scales of dead epithelium, and dissolves out all the greasy substances that form an unhealthy coat over the skin. ]f rubbed in well and heartily it will reprove blackheads and stop the formation of now ones. People who have very red complexions should uso cold or tepid water, and pale-faced folk should use water that is very hot. Attention to the action of the stomach is of the profoundest importance to the possession of a good complexion. The sin of the negligent in this regard is writ largo on their faces. In the same way, it doesn’t take a student of medicine to pick out those who use the midnight hours for revelry instead of slumber. In these days a woman is not considered beautiful unless she has the contours of the male. It is only a few years ago, historically speaking, that fashion decreed the direct opposite. The old masters believed in prominent hips and a reasonable amount of superfluous flesh for their female figures. Norman Lindsay and others have remained true to these traditions, and their works have been subsequently dubbed “sensual” and “coarse” by tbe mannish modernists of to day.

“ Liquid ’ days,” “ fluidless days,” “ secret remedies,” physical culture, and a hundred and one other devices are in daily use- at present for tbe removal of the ordinary deposit of reserve tissue generously provided by Nature. The inevitable result is that when the semi-starved modern woman suffers an illness that prevents her absorbing her full nourishment for any length of time, her medical man is at his wits’ end to keep her alive till she is once again able to eat the required amount of food for her daily need. For those who really desire to get

[By DIANA,]

slim, here is a diet that will accomplish the deed if they will only stick to it long enough. One day’s break a week will render it quite useless.

—Breakfast— An apple or orange or a few prunes. One slice of bread and butter. One cup of tea sweetened 'with saccharine.

—Lunch.— Tea or coffee, with a small teaspoon of cream. A small roll with a large tomato. Salad and a little cheese. One softly-boiled egg. —Dinner.— Soup. Seven ounces of beef, chops, chicken, any fish (one dish to bo selected), with a "few green vegetables. One large baked apple, or one banana, or one pear, or a small bunch of grapes. There is not enougli calories in this diet to support tbe daily need of the ordinary mortal, and the body will have to draw on its reserve supply of fat to keep it going. Only, remember Unit ' - ou will tinrt to put on weight again as soon as you return to your normal diet!

ON KEEPING FIT Keeping fit at the moment means keeping slim. This not only applies to the very young, but also to the middleaged and elderly, who do not see why they also should not profit in the general smarten ing-up_ (says a ‘Manchester Guardian’ writer)- Probably tho Jungle film accounts for a good many methods of keeping fit. There is the “ boar roll,” which is guaranteed to provide limberness in shoulders that might otherwise he stiff. There is the “tiger slink," which makes the muscles ripple like those in Jack London’s novels. There is the “honeypot rock,” warranted to remove in the shortest possible time all redundant curves about tbe human equator. Tbe “ bear roll ” seems to _bo the most popular, most people being unable to cope satisfactorily with the “tiger slink.” Tbe “ roll ” consists in going down on all fours, and then imitating as far as possible a bear out_ for_ a walk. The “ boney-pot rock ” implies silting on tbe ground’ with one’s knees drawn up and one’s hands clasped round thorn. The rocker then throws himself to and fro in this position like a swing boat. It is well to have a pillow on the spot where the bead is likely to land. Last, and most difficult of these performances, but one which induces tho maximum of slimness, is the “ boa-con stricter glide.” Hero it is necessary to wind oneself round and round a stout kitchen chair without touching the ground, and the less there is of oneself the easier tho task becomes. Those who become really cxncrt at these exercises find it difficult to refrain from doing_ them when opportunity offers, and just as the mention of the Charleston makes everyone’s heels instinctively turn out, so the mere sight of a kitchen chair is apt to arouse a passionate desire in a keeper-fit to wreathe himself round its otherwise uninteresting form.

FDR THE CAR PETROL V. CHOCOLATES. Nowadays, when so many_ more fortunate folks have a car it is easy to give them an acceptable gift. Many girls running their own cars prefer gifts of petrol to chocolates, in these dieting clays. Something to add to the comfort and convenience of the car will always he appreciated. For both men and women there are charming little accessories. As for amulets and mascots, they grow in beauty and variety every clay it seems, and yon can pay anything you like from half a guinea to twenty or even fifty guineas, In addition to the big colored leather, fleec'l-lined motor coats, there is a most chic selection of suede coats, made in the Russian style, with berets to match. There are electric torches, which are things of beauty, radiator lamps for the woman who houses her car in a cold garage, and which will save her the trouble of “ starting from cold.” There are smokers’ companions, specially fitted cigarette cases_ for side pockets, ash trays with rotating bowls, and neat little engagement books with fountain pens. There are picnic baskets, small and big, either beautifully fitted, or empty, so that the clever woman can fit them up herself; and there are the delightful trunks for luggage grids, which vvll take several suit cases packed inside them.

To-day in the City of London the national dishes of Franco, Italy, Spain, even China and India, can all be served, complete with local color, within a quarter a quarter of a mile of Piccadilly Circus The restaurant habit is growing on the English nation. With very many people it is no longer a question of “ shall we lunch or dine out,” but, taking the fact for granted, (< where shall wo go and what will it cost?” Table d’hote lunch in the marvellously proportioned restaurant of the Pita Hotel, decorated in Louis XVI. style ami with wide windows overlooking Green Park, costs os 6d. Expensive? Perhaps, hut the Pita table d’hote isn’t as most table d’hotes. It is so ‘‘infinite in its variety,” that ordering a la carte, always ultracostly, besides being a wearisome business, is entirely unnecessary. To say nothing of the buffet, groaning under a sumptuous army of cold food—birds ami joints and lobsters—set out and decorated according to Pita tradition. Dinner, which includes dancing to a, first-rate orchestra, costs 17s Gd, and is always a meal to set before a gourmet —there is no need to order a special one. Lunch in the Pita grill room costs 7s 6d, and dinner, for which, of course, there’s no need to dress, 12s Gd.— 1 Ladies’ Field.’