TOPICS FOR WOMEN

Franklin Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 107, 12 September 1938, Page 3

TOPICS FOR WOMEN

EASIER MOTHERHOOD SHOULD BE MORE ATTRACTIVE Modern young women are not prepared to be “submerged” in motherhood, declared a delegate at the annual congress of the Royal Institute of Health and Hygiene, at Blackpool, the other day. “it may be ihe case that women of today are not so naturally fitted for the child-bearing as their mothers and grandmothers were,” he continued, “but having children must be made more attractive —something that need not upset the whole course of women’s lives. “Women wish rather to be companions to their husbands and perhaps even to carry on outside work than to be submerged in motherhood. Hence there must be great extension of such means as will make motherhood less burdensome. “The whole business of bearing and rearing children must not be regarded as a grim necessity, but something which brings new joy into people's lives.”

CLEANING BOTTLES Bottles that have become furred wdli milk or other liquids can be easily and quickly cleaned by placing a few used tea-leaves and warm water in the bottle and shaking two or three times. FASHION’S DECREES London decrees black and white for evening—white satin glints faintly through a gown of lucked black sheer chiffon, and white roses trail over one shoulder and top a charming shoulder length evening veil. A delightful morning tailor-made is composed of a grey-woollen jacket, a rust skirt, and a brown woollen hand knitted blouse trimmed with cordlels.

Golden sealskin—soft and pliant—carried off fashion honours at the Paris Exhibition. I'se it for trimming pockets or collar-line on your nexi new taillcur or wool coat. Schaparelli pinches I lie crown of some felt hats together with clothes pegs, matches them with clothes pegs fastenings for bells. She also presents an adorable little round black hat with lacquered fringe, which covers the forehead. I A WOMAN SOLDIER Hannah Summs, nee Snell, was in a black rage with the whole world, and | with one man in particular —her husband. Summs was a sailor, and after the wedding he turned out to be a ruffian. He drank all her savings and deserted her. Their child died. Hannah, living at Whipping on the charily of a married sister, suddenly made up her mind that she would follow and find her husband and square accounts with him. One night in November, 1745, she borrowed a suit of her brother-in-law’s clothes, cut her black hair short, and stole out of the house. She walked from London to Coventry and, still disguised as a man. enlisted in the army under the name of Gray. All went well till, at Carlisle, her sergeant, named Davis, asked her to carry a note to a girl named Sally at the Pigeon's Inn. “Gray" asked one o'- two questions and finally said. “Are you going to marry her?" “You're a simple fellow," retorted the sergeant. “Why, I’ve got a wife at Portsmouth!” Hiding her feminine indignation Hannah took the note to the inn and ordered a pint of beer, which was served by Sally. “Here is a letteer from Sergeant Davis," said the pretended soldier, who next leaned forward, and asked, “Are you in love with him?” Sally, at first indignant, confessed that she loved Davis and that he had promised to marry her next month. Sc Hannah, alias “Gray,” revealed that the sergeant had a wife already. Tc the tearful and grateful Sally “he” remarked, “Davis won't love me for this, but I’ve a good reason for thinking your sex better than the other.” Ancl “he” drank up “his” beer. Davis soon learnt who had betrayed him, and reported “Gray” for neglect cf duty. After the brutal custom of Hie time, the luckless woman-soldier was given five hundred lashes. As no medical attention was given to the victim, her sex was not discovered. When her back healed and she could walk, she went to the tavern and whispered her own secret to Sally. The two girls embraced and wept over each other. “I've been longing for a good cry for months,” said Hannah. A few days later this extraordinary woman deserted, walked from Carlisle to Portsmouth, re-enlistecl, helped to fight the French in India, returned with her regiment, heard that her husband had been executed tor mur- „ cler —and forthwith put on petticoats again. When her story came out, she was given a pension, starred on tlie stage, and opened at Wapping a publichouse called “The Widow in Masquerade, or the Female Warrior.”

UNOFFICIAL AUNTS An adventure in friendship, recently started in England, is proving more than satisfactory for many lonely women, and for many mothers whose purses are not as full as they could ];e. states a writer in the "Sydney Morning Herald.” When a spinster named Clara Hardy of Manchester, read a headline, “Fire i in a Workman’s Cottage: Three Children Burned,” she conceived the idea of becoming an "unofficial aunt and of offering- her services as a voluntarx minder of children. These children had lost their lives because their mother had been obliged to leave them alone at home while she went 1o work to help her husband, who had only casual employment. Miss Hardy notified hospitals, public health departments, and baby welfare centres that she was willing to stay v.ilh children or to take them out. In short, to be an unofficial aunt. Her offer was accepted, and soon she bad so many "nieces and nephews ' that she could not visit them all. Today there are over 100 unofficial aunts in Manchester. And over 100 less lonely women.