MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 August 1931, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

(Notes by

Marjorie)

SHEIK’S OFFER WANTED A WIFE LONDON, July 20. “We had many adventures,'but the most thrilling was tactfully declining the offer of a desert Sheik, who fell in love with our 20.-year-old maid, and wanted to buy her for his chief wife.” Mrs Fuller made this statement on her return to London after a motor caravan triy acioss the Sahara. With her husband, and accompanied by a maid, they drove through French equatorial Africa, ending the trip at Lagos. “The chief was so anxious to marry our maid that he promised to make fifteen of his wives her slaves,” said Mrs Fuller. The Fullers have returned home with a small elephant, three antelopes, and two leopards, which they captured for pets. “Although the desert crossing was a refreshing change from London, ’ Mrs Fuller said, “I am glad to be home again.”

ON SUNNY BEACHES BLOUSES AND TUNICS At the moment blouses are a big feature in fashions, due to the fact that this promises to be a tailored suit season. Later we will have the silk suit, requiring fluffy blouses of georgette, dotted swiss or batiste. The best of these show considerable handwork and such details as the oldfashioned jabots and frills (writes a .fashion expert). On sunny beaches and gblf courses linen blouses supply the finishing touch to 'the suit of silk, cotton, linen, or wool. Bright coloured handkerchief linen makes smait blouses for this purpose, and for the strictly tailored costume heavier linen of pique is favoured. In the realm of linens the newest comer is liven, lace, the logical successor to the popular wool lace of last season. For immediate wear in town one cannot do better than choose the blouse of plaided or Paisley patterned silk. Here are two materials brought back from grandmother’s day, and made in styles to accord with the modern tempo. News of blouses through past seasons reports them now short, now long, now of the tuck-in variety, or again of the overblouse or tunic type. Orly a few months ago it seemed that every blouse must tuck inside a skirt. Then designers presented us with the tunic, and with the peplum, and now shoit blouses are appearing outside the skirts in abbreviated tunic or peplum style. Welcome news, this, to the woman whose figure is ' not all that she wishes it were. CHINESE GIRL SLAVES APPALLING CONDITIONS Appalling accounts of the conditions of some', 150,000 girl slaves in the province of Yunnan are described in a message from Yunnanfu, published in the “New’ York Sun.” In Yunnanfu alone there are believed to be 22,000 girls 'of the “Ya-tou” class. “Ya-tou” means "yoke creatures.” It is an apt-term. 'The, “Ya-toil” girl has no rights whatever. She is in a faf- worse plight than the “Mui Tsai” class of girl slaves to be found in Hong Kong, who ,at any rate can appeal to the courts and can win her freedom 'f she can prove that she has been maltreated. Most of the girl skives of Yunnan are sold for life —their parents giving up all lights and renouncing all claims to them. They never return to their homes unless,- becoming chronically diseased or mentally unfit, they are sent back by their owners as bad bargains. They are clothed in the cast off garments of their mistress (or even master) and eat th© scraps from, the table. They seldom retain any self respect. The humiliating conditions crush their characters. They are often beaten mercilessly,' a not uncommon punishment—which is given for even trivial offences- is to hang the wretched “yoke creature” by her thumbs.

MARRIAGE TROUBLES DUE TO SMALL FAMILIES Mr. 11. Critchton-Miller, the Harley Street nerve specialist, addiessing a conference on mental health at. the Central Hall, Westminster, said thr.t 1 the phase of civilisation we had reached had uncovered a large amount of marital discord, says the “Daily Mail.” This had existed previously, but, owing to pressure of religious 'authority and public opinion, hud been carefully kept secret. “When the parental ideal has waned,” he continued, “the mere mating aspect of marriage has been inadequate to take its place, and the stability of the marriage bond has suffered in consequence. Thus we see that in the important sphere of marital relations the inexorable demands of civilisation are again responsible for much discord. “The small family is the product of economic pressure and at the same time the cause of diminished harmony and stability in marriage.'

HOW FASHIONS CAME SOME ANCIENT ORIGINS Habitiis truly second nature, and we usually accept the things to which, wo have always been accustomed without giving them a thought. But| in doing so we often miss a whole world of romance and beauty. How many of us can give the reason why orange blossoms ’are the favouiite bridal flowers? Why gloves have three “points”up the back < f the hard? Why umbrella tassels are fashioned like acorns? (asks a writer in an exchange). The triple lines on the back of our gloves originated in the days when knights wore armour, and their steel gauntlets were marked in this fashion. The “lines” showed where the fteel joined, and also formed protective lidges for the bones of the hand. When court dress was used instead of armour the • glove-makers copied the “points,” embroidering them on to the Idathern or velvet gloves. The design was afterwards put on ladies’ gloves, possibly first on those of a knight’s wife. Then, because the. fashion “caught on,” it became general and survives to-day. When a man draws off his glove before he takes a lady’s band he is really, unconsciously maybe, following the action of some remote ancestial knight, who naturally removed his steel gauntlet lest it injure the lady’s delicate hand. The sweet orange-blossom flower, which has formed so many a bridal coronet was introduced into England by the Crusaders, who brought it back from the East with many, another innovation taken from the Saracens. They found it growing in all its beauty under the blue skies of Syria, and were charmed by its fragrance, its use as a marriage flower thus began in the early Middle Ages, for its snowy whiteness immediately ■ suggested the purity of a pride. Strange how a flower which reached England as the result of long warfare with a bitter enemy has ever since held such a prominent place in love and unity. Probably very few people know that the acorn-shaped tassel or “bob” with which their umbrella-handle is adorned, is a pure relic of superstition or witchcraft, call it as you like. Acorn amulets have been used for many centuiies because the oak tree was held sacred to Thor, the God < f Thunder, and it was believed such an amulet would preserve from lightning. So the umbrella tassel is, appropriately enough, a charm against storms.