JOTTINGS OP INTEREST

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 50, Issue 3056, 31 March 1941, Page 2

JOTTINGS OP INTEREST

Highlight on Hoods Many women are dispensing with hats for the duration, says an English paper. This does not mean that they will go about with head uncovered; instead they will wear a loose turban or hood either to match their costume or fastened on to their coat collar. Odd scraps of dress material can be used up and any extra pieces twisted into a small muff and lined with a warm, woolly material. Hoods are a practical idea because, if cut on the new loose lines, they do not ruffle the hair, and they are becoming to all types of face. Effect of War on Proportion of Male Births Statisticians in Sydney have produced figures to prove that contrary to popular belief, the male birthrate does not lead in wartime. It is true,they say, that more boys are born than girls—los boys to every 100' girls—but that has been the average since 1860, before, during and after wartime. Doctors and women’s hospital officials agreed with the statisticians. The director-General of Public Health (Dr, E. Sydney Morris), said: “I know of no increase in that ratio which justifies the belief that more boys than girls are being born during wartime.”

Official figures show that hundreds more babies were born in the first 12 months of the war than in the previous year.

In the first nine months of 1940, 18,748 males and females were born.

Pipe Smoking for Women The Sydney Sunday Telegraph’s Melbourne correspondent says that pipe smoking is the latest craze among Melbourne women. An increasing number of women pipesmokers are seen in fashionable hotels and leading holiday resorts. Women Grow Vegetables as War Effort A remarkable record for vegetable growing has been achieved by the Manawatu Auxiliary Service Corps. On a plot of three-quarters of an acre, brought under cultivation in November, they have grown approximately 1500 lettuces which"“have been distributed to the camp at the Showgrounds, the emergency committee’s canteen and’ the patriotic shop. Peas and beans also have been grown. About J.O girls work at the plot in their spare time and at present they have fine crops of potatoes, carrots, beetroot, tomatoes, and other vegetables coming on. “Unshrinkable” Socks for Soldiers Soldiers’ route marches will no longer produce toe-peeper socks, if Australian-made unshrinkable wool proves as successful as anticipated. The old practice of boiling wool before knitting, is being dispensed with too.

The first large-scale defence contract for unshrinkable socks for the Australian forces is now being fulfilled.

They are being treated by an Australian process designed to prevent their shrinkage, in even the hardest usage. “Unshrinkable wool is one of the biggest improvements of the woollen industry . . . particularly for sock knitting. Stopping shrinkage means stopping toes from poking through.”