NOTES FOR WOMEN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 1858, 6 September 1923, Page 6

NOTES FOR WOMEN.

Home-grown population is best

Some girls can make up their faces more easily than their minds.

If you do housework at £1 a week, that's domestic service. If you do it for nothing, that's matrimony.

It's a hard world. Your friends won't believe you make as much as you say you do, and the Government won't believe you make as little.

CHOOSING WALL-PAPERS. A well-known woman house-decorat-or in England discussing wallpapers says that there are three simple rules to observe when choosing wall-papers. The first is to decide whether the paper is to be a background for pictures or itself to be the chief decorar tion of the walls, and, if the latter, then the choice must be a plain stippled paper. Thej second rule is to remember that the size of a room is affected by a choice of the paper. The third is never to choose a wallpaper from a pattern-book. No one can judge a design from so small a piece. One should see at least two pieces hung side by side. It was one of Mr W. W. Jacobs' captains whose choice of a "cheerful paper" for his niece's room was a "humming-bird eating a dragon-fly as it sat on the top of an unknown flowering shrub." That is the point of seeing at least two pieces together. You can begin to estimate the effect of repetition. You can tell if you really want humming birds eating dragon-flies all round the room. In a well-designed paper the design grows over the whole wall as a single thing. You know that its are continually repeated, but even when you examine the paper closely it is not easy to find where the repetition comes. This is the basis of a good design, and it is extraordinary what a variety of different things a real artist in wallpapers can subdue to y his purpose, making them all part of the design, and making the design itself the principal thing. I have an old French paper which contains a winding tree stem and leaves, over twenty different flowers, four different birds, two butterflies, and I have never discovered how many different colours. Yet not one of these details stands out from the paper. What one sees, looking round the room, is, the grace and beauty of the design. It is not only one of the oldest, but one of the loveliest and gayest papers that I know.

FACES 11UINED BY SWEETS

THE TOFFEE LURE.

"Sweets should be regarded as being as harmful as alcohol for children," declared Mr H. J. Morris, the new: president of the Yorkshire British Dental Association, in pleading for immediate action to prevent deformed and spoiled faces, child suffering, and adult disease, due to bad teeth. His remarks were made in the course of his presidential address to the annual meeting of the association at Sheffield (states the Westminster Gazette). He declared that the following forms of preventable facial deformity were far too common: —Collapsed upper lips ; prominent chins; receding mouths; wrinkled faces. "Children would be just as happy without sweets as they are without alcohol," he declared. It was easy and pleasant to give them sweets, but they afterwards suffered cruel pains, terrifying visits to dentists, premature loss of teeth, and irregularities, which resulted in premature ageing of thenfaces when they grew up. The public dental clinics for school children were almost useless and a waste of public money because they could not even touch the fringe of the matter. They were an unappreciated blessing, and should be shut down until people wanted them. Dental disease was regarded almost as a joke, except by the unfortunate sufferers. Publicity propaganda, was almost useless to teach people, because it was ephemeral, while toffee advertising was always with us. It was read with interest only by persons with raging toothache. # Any suggestion to deprive the child of its sweets would be regarded with as much horror as a proposal to deprive the working man of his beer. More hygienic methods of feeding were the only true road to any reduction in the appalling amount of dental disease.

WOMEN AND DIVOBCE

.A DEBATABLE POINT

Among lawyers the topic of th© moment is the probable effect of the Matrimonial Causes Bill—now before the Lords—on the volume of work in the Divorce Court should that Bill become law. Would a. law giving to th© wife the right to divorc© her husband for a single infidelity—a right which the husband already possesses—result in a great increase in the number of women seeking to break th© bonds of marriage? asks "A Solicitor," writing to th© Daily Mail. Opinion is very much divided. But solicitors are generally agreed that, although there is likely to be a rush of cases during the first year or so, the rush will diminish like the gush of water through suddenly opened floodgates—and we shall no doubt find that those who in future are most ready to take advantage of the new law are childless wives, who, moreover, have private means. Women ar© invariably slower than men to seek in divorce a remedy for matrimonial ills. The average wife understands her husband far more profoundly than the average husband understands his wife. She is more trusting, has deeper faith in the power and permanence of love, and is far more prone to forgive—if not to forget. A solicitor generally finds it easier to patch up a matrimonial difference when the woman is the aggrieved party. A wife is usually anxious to listen to excuses for her husband and to be convinced that forgiveness can be justified. I always advise a elient to wait a fortnight before instituting proceedings. During that time a reconciliation is often brought about—■reconciliation that would be impossible if the domestic difference had been crystallised by the filing of a petition for divorce.

This is particularly characteristic of young couples who in these days have less regard for the sanctity of marriage than their fathers had. The notion of divorce leaps to their minds at the first quarrel.

But it is a notion that calmer reflection and composed feeling often I banish, and a fortnight's delay affords just the opportunity needed for the couple to discuss their future. If both are normally adaptable the petition will never see the light of day. Lawyers who have much to do with domestic troubles Know that a woman will not break up her home if there is the slightest likelihood of a reconciliation. KNITTED PETTICOAT SLIPS. The rage for knitted wool and silk dresses, which seems to be increasing rather than diminishing, has caused an innovation in smart underwear. This takes the form of pretty petticoat slips made of lightly woven artificial silk. Obtainable either in a plain or fancy weave, these new artificial silk slips are fashioned either in semi-fitting princess style—or cut with a long tunic bodice attached to a knife-pleated skirt, and are dense enough to be really practical under the semi-transparent f 1 r p s s These "pettis" are hailed with enthusiasm by women who are clever at designing colour combinations, for many delightful shot and rainbow effects are achieved by the use of a different coloured underskint worn with a silk woven dress. For wear with woollen suits, one finds similar slips made of Shetland lace, dyed in all manner of exquisite colours. Milanese slips and Milanese underwear, trimmed with dyed Malines lace, are other novelties that are being introduced for wear with the smart stockinette costumes of to-day. These knitted articles must be washed with care and patience. Make a lather of warm water and flaked soap, and plunge the garment up and down, squeezing, but not rubbing, the fabric. Pins© in two or three lots of lukewarm water and squeeze well before arranging on a sheet to dry. Do not hang on the line or allow the weight to fall from the hands, or the petticoats will be pulled out of shape. BOBBED HAIR. A quaint controversy has arisen in the Salvation Army, owing to Captain Mildred Olsen, of New York, being summoned before Qpmmander Evangeline Booth, because she bobbed her golden hair. Captain Olsen pleaded that she is an expert swimmer, and found that long hair hampered her diving. It is now announced that General Bramwell Booth frowns on the practice of bobbing for Salvation Army lassies in England. Though there is no formal ban, it is considered unsuitable in connection with the Army bonnet, and as not harmonising with the recognised simplicity of the Salvation Army dress.

Many hospitals also object to nurses bobbing their hair, and have notified probationers that they must let their locks grow as soon as possible. The nurses retort that bobbing is thoroughly hygienic. HOUSEHOLD HINTS. When a sewing machine will not work, stand it near a fire so that the oil may melt, and then remove and clean with pure paraffin, putting it into every oil hole. Work the machine well, and then wipe every part with a clean cloth. When clothes become stained or marked it is always worth while trying rain water before trying any other cleanser. Rain water, especially if it is slightly warmed, will dissolve almost any kind of stain. It has the additional advantage that it does not injure fabrics. Rain water rubbed on to carpets and upholstery has a brightening effect on the colours. It may also be used for taking away the tarnish on silver and plated articles.

If you use barley for soups or puddings, always bleach it before cooking, as this removes any bitter flavour, and also makes it a better colour.

"Winter salads are specially acceptable when served mixed with meat, fish or game, and form quite a substantial little dish. Here is a suggestion for one with fish: Have the latter free from skin and bones, and flake it with a fork. Add to it some cold potatoes, celery, and beetroot, all nicely cut up. Pile up in a salad bowl, season with salt and pepper, and pour over a mayonnaise or ordinary French dressing. When icing a cake, cut the top of it level, paring off any burnt pieces, then turn it over, so that what was the bottom part now becomes the top. Invert a, dinner plate, put the cake on it, and start the icing. A savoury to vary the sweets at afternoon tea is always appreciated. Put the yolk of a hard-boiled egg, two or three tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, salt and pepper, and a little made mustard into a basin. Rub all together with a wooden spoon, and use as sandwich filling. Sheep's kidneys are tasty served on toast like this: Cut up two of them and fry lightly in a little dripping. Add a dessert spoonful of flour blended with half a pint of stock water. Stir till boiling, add seasoning, and two tablespoonfuls of browned crumbs. Simmer for about a quarter of an hour till, the kidney is tender. Ground ginger always seems suitable as a flavouring for winter puddings. This recipe contains it: Mix together half a pound of flour,« a quarter of a pound of suet, and a teaspoonful each of carbonate of soda and ground ginger. Stir in a teacup of any stoneless jam, and mix with milk (not too moist). Turn into a greased basin and steam -two hours.