MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 June 1928, Page 4

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

(Notes by

Marjorie)

“HENPECKED HUSBANDS." OVERCROWDING A BL'S. The driver of a Halifax corporation omnibus carrying members of the famous Henpecked Club, Halifax, to a secret destination on Easier Monday as related on this page recently. was fined £1 at. the local West Riding court, for overcrowding. A police sergeant, said that he counted 30 passengers in a, twentysix stater omnibus which was labelled ‘‘Henpecked Husbands.” The summons against the driver was resisted by the Halifax Corporation for whom Alderman Waddington, a. justice of the peace, gave? evidence that, he was V. distinguished member of the club and that when more people entered than were entitled, thirteen got out at his request. The omnibus arrived and departed from, the place where the police held it. up with thirty-two passengers —six standing as allowed by the regulations. The beautiful Queen Souriya. was bound to leave a few fashion ideas behind, and I hear that the new Afghanistan boudoir slippers, now to be see.n in Bond Street shops, have become quite the craze (says a ‘Star’ writer I. They are something like Turkish slippers in appearance, with long, curly toes, and are said to be very comfortable. Made of soft, highly-polish-ed leather and gaily lined, they are decorative' as well. Unlike the mule, they give support at the back ol the foot, and are made with tiny heels.

HANDBAGS FOR DANCES. Even with the greater fullness of the new dresses there is still such a complete dearth of pockets as to suggest a conspiracy on tho part of the handkerchief makers to ensure a loss of the greatest number of handkerchiefs per annum, (states an English fashion writer). At dunces it has been difficult Io carry a bag. and money, handkerchiefs, powder puff have had to take their chance. New bags have now been designed for dance purposes which can be hung on the arm without detracting at all from the appearance of the dress. . Very often thej r are made of the material of the dress, or form part of its decoration in pearls or diamante. In shape they are almost round, and they have a little round loop which fastens tightly round the arm at the elbow. Where very plain dresses are worn, the bag is often made in the metal colourings, and with black taffetas or other black material it is nearly always covered with strass. One very pretty bag was made entirely of tiny pearls sewn on to look like a kind of cross stitch. It had a little fringe of the pearls round the lower edge and up to the handles. Sometimes the bag exactly matches the jewellery of which it. becomes a. part.

International Feminism lias now been well launched with the actual sel.ting-up of the Pan-American Commission of twenty-one women, ami the announcement of the appointment of Miss Doris Stevens as its chairman (says “Time and Tide”), it was to I he initiative of the. National Woman’s Party of the United Slates, and in particular to the brilliant and forceful address of Miss Stevens (chairman of the Committee ,on International Action of the National Woman’s Party) before the Pan-American (tonfere nee in Ha vana last February I hat (he decision of that, conference to institute the women’s commission was due; and it is therefore particularly fitting that Miss Stevens should have

been chosen as its chairman. The twenty-one members of the commission represent the twenty-one American republics which participated in Um Havana, conference; and their immediate task is to study the status of women in the Americas, and to prepare for the next Pan-American ('(ini’' ronce, Io meet in Montevideo in 1933, ;t report and recommendations for the improvement of their status. 11. is to be noted that the Commission has permanent standing, and is not merely an ad hoc body.

IN VARIED STITCHES.

RABBITS WOOL WORK. The soft Angora wools, obtainable in a. wide range of both futurist and pastel shades are more fashionable than ever. Waistcoats and cardigans have gay embroideries on their fronts ami pockets, and some of the newest jumpers are stem-stitched with lines of rabbit woo! in contrasting shades, says an English writer. The. actual working of such designs, however often presents a. difficulty. On fine, material, such as crepe de chine, the holes made by the wool needle are 100 large, the threads break, and the stull puckers. With thick cloth and flannels there is the opposite trouble. The stibslance of the material breaks the lightly twisted wool, and a fresh strand has constantly to be taken. The best way with rabbit wool is never to work, directly through the materia! al all. Take sewing- silk of the exact sha.de of the, jumper or cardigan. and. tor the very new stemstitched lines couch on coloured wools in strands of the correct length. The couching stitch goes through and not. over the wool, and is quite invisible, the wool fluffing up at once after working. For flower embroidery find a, cheap curtain net, of which the main pattern is a dainty spray or basket of posies, not too large. Work on this in rabbit wool, getting as solid aw effect as possible. Then cut away the surrounding net, leaving just the threads which hold the outside -i itches and applique on with fine silk the colour of the groundwork. Button hole stitch is, of course, best.

TRIANGLE PLOT FAILS. A ('heltenhain Spa laundry manager, Thomas Henry Cavanagh, who, it. was alleged, planned to leave his wife and run away with, another woman, made a mistake which led to his appearance at Maidstone Police Court recently. lie wrote two letters, one to “the other woman,” making arrangements to meet her on the Continent, and one to his wife; but. ho put the letters in the wrong envelopes, and the wife received that which was intended for tlie other woman. At the police court the wife was granted a separation order, the husband being ordered to pay 25s a week. PLAIN HEROINES. Charlotte Bronte once told her sisters that they were wrong, and even morally wrong, in making all their heroines beautiful as a matter of course (said a -writer in ‘T.P.’s and Cassell’s Weekly’). They replied that, it was impossible to make a heroine interesting on any other terms. Her answer was, “I will show you a heroine as plain and as small as myself, who shall be as interesting as any of yours." Hence, ‘Jane Eyre,’ whom nobody but Mr Rochester thought so v<iy handsome, for she was a little snia.ll thing almost. like a child. Limy Snowe, the heroine of Willette.’ is a. pale diminutive woman of the same type. Lucy is forced to eke out her limited means by leaching al the Pensionnat in Villette. Jo Marche, (he most striking figure in Louisa Alcott’s ‘Little Women,’ is undeniably plain. “Jo was tall, thin, and brown, reminding one. of a colt. She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, nig hands and feet, round shoulders, and a fly-away look to her clothes.” Jo and her friend Laurie are. the instigators of all the family pranks. When Jo grows up she takes a post as governess in order to es-

cape Laurie’s repeated proposals. At ibis place she meets “her professor,” who later becomes her husband. The unromantic courtship and successful marriage of Maggie, the plain little heroine of Sir James Barrie's play. ‘What Every Woman Knows,’ reveals the triumph of a plain woman over countless obstacles. Among the vast, collection of purchases and presents which the King and Queen of Afghanistan are taking home with them is a beautiful black horse, which will be used for stud purposes. A friend of,mine was at Windsor when our King and Queen nrid--■ fho present a Lion (says a. “Daily! News" writer). The animal is named c'rim i'-'n Ttambler, and I hear that its | harness and coverings, in gold and j nickel, were truly magnificent, and j cost something like J,’so". ,