EVE’S Vanity Case

Feilding Star, Volume 7, Issue 2305, 7 September 1929, Page 2

EVE’S Vanity Case

TO CORRESPONDENTS

Tile Lady Editor will be pleased to recelv 0 for publication iu llie “Woman’s Itealm” items of social or personal news. Such items should be fully authenticated, und engagement notices must bear signatures.

SOCIAL NOTES

Miss Gwen Bramwell., of Foil ding, is visiting Ilawora. BEAUTY AND BUSINESS For better, for worse, the advertisement wont in': “Wanted, capable shortlmml-typistc; salary- such-a.n-sucli, prospects for advancement, And leaning back in his leather swing-chair, the Tired Business Man sighed wi|,h what migJUt hav« been either pessimism or relict. “It’s no wonder,” lie said, “that business men arc tired. . . not when you come to think ol shorthand typistes '* Now that opens up a fine range of questions. Bdlteld the girl ol today, moderately ambitious, entirely independent, usually with the debonair heart of the early twenties, out in the world hunting for the typewriter or adding-machine which, as -#<e has docidod, will be a very suitable

partner lor her in her career. Even in. Now Zealand, twenty or more girls may apply lor 0110 cleri cal position. "Which of them will triumphantly bring 'homo the monetary equivalent of the bacon 2 lu story-books, it’s always the sweet young thing whoso eyes are a,s darkly purple a s’pansies, or tailing that, as an apoplectic subject’s nose, who occupies flic little stool for quite three weeks before her infatuated employer decides fka l this sort of thing is no good to him and

that, therefore, lie will marry the j lass/ Wlui,t, lie docs about fhe next typiste nobody ever seems to know; 1 probably she wears spectacles." But; several employers gave Blues reporter their opinion ol‘ beauty in business. “About beauty,” said one, cautiously, “there are pros and- cons. In a. modern business, rooms are pleasant, conditions are good, and it’s only in keeping with the general scheme of things that one’s secretary should be trim and dainty. But the trouble is that beauty so rarely goes with real efficiency. “I ‘bitvo frequently employed girls for scrotarial purposes. Take the last—Miss X. Nobody, ' except a futurist, could have called licr beautiful. She was a big, healthy Irish girl: you knew the moment you saw her that she wouldn’t continually require days off for reasons of (bjoalfli, nor bother the office with what hasn’t quite gone out with Victorian age—fainting or .hysterics. “She was making £3 as a shorthand typisto; and didn’t think s’, ie could intake any more Before I’d employed her six months, she drew C 4 15s. But slic wasn’t dear. She

was the cheapest thing in the office. I demonstrated that to one or |,\yo people who thought she was overpaid simply by letting them watch ' her tube the mail. <‘My letters were brought in. simply said, “Tell this man “Yes,’’ or ‘Look up the accounts about that, ‘and the thing was done, She mayn’t have been * ncaui/y, but she was a labour-saving device. Manv girls in the clerical world do two men’s work for half a man’s wage.’’

“There was Jane Smith,” said another business man, “Stfe certainly wasn’t impressive to look at, and i couldn’t get her a . five shilling rise out of the directors. Yet another firm took her on, and gave her £2 10s, where we’d been paying her thirty shillings. “In till© same office, there was «. pretty little assistant who came to me and said that she was leaving because she was ambitious, and wanted a better job. “Please yourself, I said, “but it’s no use being ambiimns wlip.ii vou arcii’f efficient.

LIUXU3 J # . , “lu my opinion', tlio efficient pud is 111© one who is never out of a job. I’vc nearly wept over tile difficulty of replacing a second-rate shorthand typist*. In the cuc! > 1 liaci *r'° take a third-rate one and tram her.”

"Of course, If at any opening, there Are re two girls, botli unknown quantities, and one was more attractive than the other, she might stand a better chance of getting the job. J3ut girls aren’t unknown quantifies to the business man avlio wants success. They must have recommendations even if they’re only sfai fmg out in life, their sei.ibol teachers 1,., ve .something to say on the mat-

tor- —;mcl l think that tho best girl nearly always' wittn. t Certainly, «ko always keeps the job." “The plainer (,he heller lor me;, was ano Mar mail’s brief dictum," preferably wifli hotrn rimmed spt'elades: 1 don’t mix pleasure and business,"

“I don’t care much about beauty, buf I do about* behaviour," said an other, “A girl’s private Me is imthing to me, provided it doesn't ailccf, her jwork at the office. But) she’s holding., any position ol importance, prestige is a necessity. A girl who is foolish;, over-familiar villi visitors or indiscreet concerning office business with outsiders, can lowei the |,onc of a whole office. I don’t •very much care for the “vamp" type, though, like everyone else, J. appreciate neatness and charm in ai woman. But t’ ;o “vamp" is so very fond ot admiration that she'll, go to loolish lengths to get if. and can't he trust ed; with any inside knowledge of th® firms business."

“it all depends on what you call beauty,” was another contribution, “Jf you mean a painted doll, you won’t see many of them sitting at my office desks. That sort ot girl trades on her looks, and is hurt and surprised, if they aren’t accepted {, .s coin equal to honest work. But I see no reason in the world why a, pretty girl shouldn’t be as loyal and efficient as another. The mind is frequently gil'tcd in relation to t'h« physical side, and anyhow, callers would! far rather do business with an agreeublo and charming girl'Man with a secretary of the old-fashioned kind, who was merely a particularly ugly parody of a man. I don’t put shabby linoleum or second-rate iurniture in my office; neither Ho I put,pink hows on the end of the pencils. I like a girl t° fit in with the rest of t'Lto place—which ineania that she should he pleasant, hut not frilly” .“The trouble with a pretty girl is that you can’t be a brute to her.’’ another employer’‘considered; “If a hoy makes a tiiistakcr you can say. : si[ down here; amp don’t get up till that’s straight > rid it’s a girl, you feel that you’re a slave-driver, and dpneitig on the grave of chivalry.” • -no “But I think that girls, pretty or otherwise, develop a. loyalty to their firms, which, many young men would do well to ■.. emulate. You don’t find girls complaining, when overtime is required. Tilley may spend five mimitcs ( . powdering' their noses in the morning, but many of them spend twenty at night setting things straight anti finishing off little details. A man, ’’when 5 o’clock strikes, flies straight as a homing pigeon for his t&a. It’s always a girl wlfo’s last in (he office." And the final dictum is perhaps (Ikc most comprehensive. “Beauty is all right, hut as-: far as I’m concerned), it must be beanity plus efficiency and Intelligence. Otherwise I’d be delighted to take it out to tea, but I don’t want to work with it.”

A FASHION FABLE “The handkerchief you arc using now is square, and all the handkerchief's in your sachet are square, and it seems si: perfectly natural tking, no doubt, as natural as it *s for grass t° be green and forget-me-nots blue, says a. writer in an exchange. “And yc(, it is so uul.v because pretty Queen Marie Antoinette scratched her finger on a rose bush one fine jSeptemjbcr ’ln'orniug in 1784. “She ivas walking with Louis XVI in the charming gardens of Trianon. and she was in an abominable temper. The sin.light irritated l»or, anti so did Louis, he being so equable | and discreet; and so did the workmen who were bungling with their, task 'of turning the small diningroom at the palace into a billiardrooin. “Then Marie Antoinette scratched i ter finger. The Jving at once offered lii.s handkerchief t° hind it V. and all her pent-up annoyance burst and descended upon the .innocent oblong of fine cambric that the Kdnrr > had offered. H was perfectly j absurd, said the Queen, to have suelrf a handkerchief, twice as long as if, was wide. And her own were

equally idiotic, not . fit or oue use, all triangular, oval, and goodness knows what filso*. And so sho declared that in future every handkerchief tised in franco should bo sensible and, square. “The King hoped 1 devoutly she would forgef, if. when her mood had changed. But not so Marie Antoinette. And she v/as. so determined,

that oil the 23rd of the month) 1784 (you can still sec the parchment among (ho national arehieves at Paring a. Royal edict was passed, and a lift)o later became law', than in lufure all hundkorehiels were t° ho square, and what was more, ii thc> shrank after they were washed loi tho first time fl'-cy must, st* ll r€ ~ main exactly square, or they would bo confiscated and the manufacturer heavily lined.

WHEN CHILDREN ARE DIFFICULT Many parents, who see tho wisdom of allowing a small child us much freedom as possible in order that ho may develop his own individuality, feel, none tho less, tho need of exercising womc sort «1 eoujro] over him, ldr they realise: |;h« danger of His growing up without any idea of self-disciplmo and sellcontrol. Unfortunately, in their attempts, lo control (,ho child, too many parents allow their feelings to get tho getter of them, and matters uro usually made worse. It can ho taken as a sale rule tha|. parents should never attempt* to control a young child while they arc under the influence oi strong best, way of controlling the feelings is t« “think out” tho behaviour that has provoked t-hewi Tbs dissipates the feelings and, by, restoring tlm parent to a reasonable lvalue of mind, Sfcdps him to rccpvci his self-control. ... Take the case of a child who uses “naughty words.” Think it out. To the mother it is simply dread! ul What is it t° the child? Nothing at all. Calm reason says,, ignore the child and he will probably stop using the words. If he does not, then some such phrase ns “Mother doesn’t like those words, dear,” may work wonders, and if she can direct his attention to lus favourite nursery hook by saying, 1 “Mother likes these words, she Iras controlled him in the right way. Without self-control it m imposfor parents to control a small eln effectively. In P» atmosphere of parental self-control, the child will gradually -become accustomed to the idea of self-discipline.

LINES ON A MEMORIAL SUNDIAL Here, ’midst the woodland sun and shade, I mark the spot ■Where fell a. shadow on Lie’s dial that passctU no.t. —Millicent Boeselager. the jumper There is no doubt whatever that m the near .future we shall see .the ■end of the jumper, for in Pans its days are already numbered, and nearly all the new country out sports models are finished with skirts and tuck-in .blouses. Tl.*(se suits arc. made with abort coats, and tho. skirts, are usually pleated, and have a belt-of the same material. ROWS AND RUFFLES Bows and ruffles will be worn in prolusion ou spring ami; summer frocks. Some of the advance fashion plates show frocks as frilly and feminine as any young woman couid want. Belts are tied in a bow on the hip; collars are tied in a looseknot at the- neck; there are.flyaway bows on the shoulder; jabofjs and long falling ruffles are seen on. innumerable frocks and skirts are pleat, edi or flounced or flared. Flares are specially fashionable.

BLANKET WASHING A bright, breezy, sunshiny day is thu wcat'H'jr ;i'or \blankejt washing. Use plenty of hot water and melted s oaj>, and ammonia in the proportion of two fablespoonfuls to L ' a< -' l > S ail °n of water. Use two baths of this, knead and press to remove the dirtIf a suction presser and tub are used, be sure to press up and down, but not to t"'ist a t all - Wash one blanket at a time; wrrng well, to--r/move the dirty water, and rinse m plenty of warm water. A little blue is sometimes added to the lasf i insing water t° improve the colour. Blankets must ho very hg-'Yly wrung, and before being hung out two people should give them a good shaking in the garden. Hang on the line, putting the selvedge hvo or six inches over the rope, and so keeping the blanket* single. leg closely. When dry blankets slfcjuld always be aired very thoroughly.