The Ladies' Column.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 17, Issue 17, 19 April 1895, Page 5

The Ladies' Column.

PABTED, Brown loaves forget the green May, The eaitn forgets the kiss of spring ; And down our happy woodland waj Gray mists go wandering. You have forgotten, too, they say ; Yet, does not steadily raemoi y creep ArnoDg the mist wreaths ghos6iy f; r 'y Where spell • bounri violets eleep? Ah, send your thoughts somotimes to ►tray E ( f >|>atha tha f , knew our lingering feet. My thought walks there this many a day, And they, at least, may meet. A BEAUTIFUL WOJCAN. . The late Mrs Astoi's boauiy was universally admired. Whea at Rome, Queen Marguerite ones called her ' the most beautiful woman io all Italy/ She was tall and stately, and among her accomplishments she counted an ability to speak French, Ifalian and German fluently. She had a clear, sweet sopiano voice, and tha Ekill to cleverly accompany htr songs on the mandolin. In point of diess her tastes were not extravagant. Among bar jewels, which were a fortune in themselves, sho numbered a collection of diamonds, valued at several hundred thousand dollars, and what were reported to bo tbe finest collection of black pearls in existence. The pearls were inherited from Mrs John Jacob Astor. GOOD ADVICJ3. I Lecturing before a crowded audience at Melbourne, lately, Mrs T. R. Andrews urged that our girls should bs taught to shrink from the flightesfc suspicion of impropriety ia talk as from pollution, and to preserve the attitude towards the other sex which even the most depraved m&n would respect. Next, as to the evening dress. It was merely a belt, and even young girls could not wear it with modesty. They all knew the contempt, for scorn with which the low-cut bodice wag treated by men. One thing more. Our girls should be more earnest, .should feel more responsible. Surely i{j w.ts the destruction of a girl's higher nature to allow her to lire a life of pure selfgratification, as many did when they left school. They should be taught to realise tha extent to which the destinies of men were moulded by their bands. To whom did husbands, fathers, and brothers owe all that wag beet in them — nay, their very lives 1 Lot them reBpect the duties of womanhood, and women could not then try (o thrust themselves into their place. Our girls should be taught that they were the chosen hand-maidens of God lor the highest and holiest of all work — that of training immortal souls. THE WOMAN OF THIBET. The Thibetan female ia an indep?ndent and buxom d^me, very unlike her Hinda sister acrose the border. Her frame is well knife and sturdy ; she can carry any weigh!; you like on her back. Moreover, there is a jollity about her smile and general deportment which would be very engaging if she mado herself a little betfer acquainted with the washbowl. Though she rarely uses water for ablutionary purposes, the black stains which cover (he Thibetan woman's face are not due to dirt. It is a custom, said to be founded on a strict law enacted two hundred years ago, for all the edult females to stain their faces with blotches of black 4ye, styled tuija. This disfigurement, which was originally ordered for the purpose of eubduing the natural attractiveness of the female to tbe other sex, forms almost a complete disguise to the countenance. la reality, a Thibetan girl's face is most comely and pretty. Before the blackening process her cheeka are as pictureetf&ely ruddy as a Scotch lassie's ; and, as the pigment wears off, the ripe wall- fruifc glow which the keen mountain air insists on producing, is continually to be seen overcoming the Booty pateh 83. Higher class Thibetan women frequently traverse the streets of Lhasa ou small white horses, seated astdde the animal's back. They generally have intellectual faces, and are often, sn truth, highly educated and learned. Every better-class female in the streets of Lhasa wears a head-drees called a pa4uh — not unlike the old-fashioned Eaglisa travelling cap with turneddown ear-n\*pg. This is often studded with turquoise and pieces of coral ; sometimes, in the case of the wife of a Slate councillor (Kalon), with emeralds, rubies, and pearls. Its use is very ancient; Another characteristic part of the women's dress is a bib or breast-cover styled paugden. ATTRIBUTES TO WOMAN. Fuitlit^l — as dog, the lonely shepherd's pride; True— as the helm, the bark's protecting guide f Firm— as the* tfhaft that props tha towering dome ; Sweet— as to shipvmci'd seamen land and home ; Lovely— as child, the parents' sole delight j Badisnfc— aa morn, ihat breaks a stormy night ; Grateful— as streams, that in eomi deep recess, * With cryfctal rills the panting traveller bless, Yon&b. THE NEW HONEYMOON. As a corollary of thp New Woman comas the New Honeymoon, which is (according to fcha ' Daily Telegraph ') lamentably described by a gentleman who is now enjoying it, and finds it extremely dull. He lives in the Temple, and ia a lawyer. In a letter describing Mb fate, he explains that he loved a fair damsel, wooed her in the interval between the classes she attended and the examination she passed with honors ia London, and won her by letter while she was taking a medical degree ia Edinburgh. This took four years. No sooner had she obtained the medical diploma than a capital chance for obtaining a practice turned up in Yorkshire. She embraced it. Tho patient gentleman asked her to name the happy day, and she consented. She was rather busy, but would aparo time between her visits lo patients to 4rive to the church and get married, if £he -bridegroom would kicdly run down from Loadon to Yorkshire for the ceremony. He did bo, a week ago, in a dreadful snowstorm. But (so write* 4he gentlemaD;) ■< utterly discarding the

lime-hoaorecl delights of tho old- 1 fashioned honeyiriooo, she at once returned to her medical practice, and sent me back to follow my proaaic business of a lawyer, " alone in London." Marriage in this csso wilt not have the opportunity of being a failure through too close acquaintanceship. But; thn honeymoon is dreadfu'ly dull.' When John Milton's first wife preferred her father's house to her husband's, tho great Puritan avenged himself V»y writing a t»eati?e on Divorce. Th* lawyer ' alone in London ' may not desire to go bo far, but he can console himself with a study of the law cf Tortp. THE PRIVILEGES OF MARRIED WOMEN, The privileges of married women received illustration jt'roai a case decided in London lately. A marriod woman may contract debti?, and a judgment may bo given against hor separate estate, which is quite unenforceable if the have no separate estate unrestrained from anticipation. Sha cannot bo made bankrupt- unices she b 3 trading apart from her husband. She cannot in any casa have a receiving order made against her for disobedience to a bankruptcy notice. And this app'ies, even though subsequent to the judgment she becomes a widow. Though rolling in wraith, she cannot be committed to prison under the Debtors Act for nonpayment of a judgment debt, even though ifc has been contracted for ntcesaarioa; and if by error the Cbunty Ooui'fc Judge comraita har, the creditor may have to pay the costs of the consequent prohibition. At one time a widow's property was absolutely secure against seizure for payment of her debts, but the recent Act changed the law on this point. No means exist, apparently, for getting round the almost impregnable position of the martud woman, and attacks on it end oaly in piling up costs often exceeding the original debt. Does the spoilt child of the law demand anything more ? — 'L',w Journal.' ITEMS. The Chief dustice of Wyoming 1 , whf re women take their turn as juror?,' says : { 1 have never, in my twenty-five years' expsrieace in the courts of the country-, eeen more faithful, intelligent, and resolutely honest jurors than the women who have served in that capacity in my court.' The name Madame Henry, the lady superintendent of the Pari* Maternity, has bern added to the list of Lady Knights. of the Legion of Honor. This coveted distinction has been awarded to her for the excellent services rendered to the important and useful institution of which she is the guiding spirit, by educating maternity nurses of tho first order. The late Mrs Bloomer was a morn sensible and clever woman than many people seem to Buppoep, She spoke, in public excellently, and she conducted her newspaper, the ' Lily,' with considerable acumen and consequent Buccess. It is a mistake to imagine that she was insensibla to the ridicule heaped upon hep notorious costume. The contrary was the case, for after giving it a fair trial of seven or eight years she definitely abandoned if-, and admitted the justice of public criticism. Her philanthropic work was worthy of unstinted praise.