NOTES FOR THE LADIES.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1761, 27 March 1874, Page 3

NOTES FOR THE LADIES.

The power required to drive a sewing ' machine ranges from 500 to 1000 foot pound's per minute, varying with different machines. At Birlcenhead a young lady named Nutallhas obtained L3OOO as damages for a breach of promise of marriage on the part of a gentleman named Wildes. A young Mahomedan of Lucknow, after losing his money, horses, aud jewellery by gambling, finally staked his wife and lost her. The poor women when claimed by the winner is stated to have committed suicide. Both the men are in custpdy, The managers of the Edinburgh Infirmary Jiave agreed by a majority of six to refuse admitance to females at the same time with the male medical students to the operating theatre of that institution. The Lord Provost and the' chairman declined to vote. Mrs Fawcetfc in a recent lecture on " Women as Educators," criticised, with considerable sharpness, the prevailing public sentiment as to the main elements of female excellence, blie charges that sentiment with encouraging frivolity, a3 it " raises into a position of 6rst-rate importance, as far as women are concerned, all matters of dress, manners, and personal appearance." She alleges that the first question generally asked in regard to anew comer into society has reference rather to looks and dress and voice than any higher and better qualities. A London correspondent writes : — " All sorts of new ideas are expected to come over this year from France. Fashions we always expect to have but something more, of a scientific kind, is expected. Mention ought to be made be fore going on to a deeper subject of the last new fashion, Ladies are to wear little flowers in the button-holes of their jackets. Those of tight, rough cloth, which are, it must be confessed, rather masculine-looking garments, yet so extensively patronised, are considered to require something to soften the outline, and a dainty flower tinds acceptance with a great number of the fair sex. May there never be a fashion to whicn so little exception can be taken." There are many men in oxistence who deem it no harm to speak slightingly of women. According to their idea, it is quite meet that the strong should assail the weak. One of these robbers of reputation received a severe rebuke on a recent occasion. At a dinner at which no ladies were present, this man, in responding to the toast " Women/ dwelt almost solely on the frailty of the sex, exclaiming hat the best amongst them were little better than the worst, the chief difference being their surroundings. At the conclusion of the speech, a gentleman present rose to his feet and said, "I trust the gentleman, in his application of his remarks, refers to his own mother and sisters, not ours." The effect of this just and timely rebuke was overwhelming, and the maligner of women was covered wifcl confusion and shame. A lady correspondent of the Glasgow Matt writes from London as follows : — "An odd place to wear flowers is round the waist, but many of the newest ball dresses have waist-belts of flowers, shoulder knots of the same being also worn. A dress in the very extreme of Parisian fashion Has a very wide sash of something that looks like a woven tissue of crimßon and gpld, with a deep bullion

fringe. This sash is knotted loosely on the right side of the back, and from the side of the knot a large spray of flowers trails over the dress behind. Another ball dress has festoons of ribbon all round the train, so arranged as to show each side, the ribbon being reversible, one side velvet and the other satin. The rage for point lace increases every month, I think, the latest fancy in that very pretty work isboots. Laceboots! The id ea seems ridiculous, (but they are very beautiful to look at when they are done. They are intended for balls or wed dings. I was shown a pair— the price of which was five guineas — a few days since. They were for a dride, and the lace was from a design copied from the antique. The boots themselves were thick white silk, lined with satin, and fastented up the fronts with a very pretty arrangement of rosettes. For balls these lace boots are mounted on silk or satin to match the dress. Very broad scarf ends in this beautiful work are likely to be fashionable this winter. I have seen several ball sashes finished off with hand made point lace instead of [ fringe. The lace is laid on the silk, and the latter cut away to the shape of the edge. The effect is very good." The following, respecting grey hairs, is from a book just published, entitled — " Beauty : What it is, and how to retain it. By a Lady" :— "Grey hair, the glory of old age, is apt in the present day to arrive before befittingyears, and then an innocuous dye is not so objectionable. We would warn our fair readers against, pulling out grey hairs. It is quite possible that improved health may restore their colour — we have seen an instance of this in our own family ; and if not, the soft grey hair which has never been uprooted (or broken off under the delusion of uprooting it) will always lie hidden amongst the hair ; while grey hairs which grow again after being pulled out, are stiff, short, and have a habit of standing erect ! Never prill out a grey hair. But prevention is better than cure. How are ladies toperservethe colour and abudnance of their tresses? We believe that the best and most important rule for so doing is to keep the head cool and clean. But the former is nearly an impossibility in these days of frizettes and false hair. One thing, however is certain. If our ladies would preserve their own abundant tresses for another (and probably widely different) fashion, they must get the head cool during the night and before dressing the hair the next morning. To effect this, the hair must be taken down and well brushed at night with a soft brush, parting it about, to cool and clean it ; and then it should be plaited and suffered to hang about the shoulders all night. In the morning the roots should be well washed with rose-water, or cold soft (or rain) water, if possible — the latter is best. Then it must be dried, before it is dressed, by rubbing gently and shaking out, cr brushing with a soft brush. This treatment will remove scurf, which is, we be lieve, one of the causes of premature grey hair, and which undoubtedly weakens the roots of the hair, and prevents it from growing, besides being horribly unsightly." .