WOMEN’S WORLD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 118, 18 April 1934, Page 11

WOMEN’S WORLD

Mrs Douglas Collis, of Kairanga, is visiting Christchurch. The engagement is announced of Hilda May., daughter of Mrs Murdoch and the late A. J. Murdoch, Palmerston North, to Alan William, son of Mrs M. Walker and the late E. Walker, of Hunterville. An engagement is announced between Roland Edwin, only son of Mr E. J. Young, and the late Mrs Young, ,of Patutahi, Gisborne, and Grace Elva, second daughter of Mr W. Port and the late Mrs Port, Morrinsville. A delightful tennis afternoon was given by Mrs B. K. Thomson (Kairanga) to Miss Elvie Rutledge in view of her approaching marriage. A dainty afternoon tea was served, after which the guest of honour was presented with a number of bathroom gifts. The most entertaining exhibit seen at the Women’s Wear Exhibition held at the Dorland Hall, London, recently, was a folding umbrella. This was so small that it could fit into a woman’s handbag, and yet when put to its normal use gave quite good shelter in a shower. The invention is an ingenious development of the umbrella handbag combination which has been on the English market for some time. Two Lower Hutt bridge players, Miss Bunny and Mrs W. J. Hutchison, have been adjudicated winners of the New Zealand section of the world-wide contract bridge competition conducted .on February 1, states a Press Association message from Wellington, The competition, which is held annually, is organised by leading players in America and is popular in almost every civilised country in the world. This year s entries were limited to 200,000 and 600 people competed in New Zealand.

Some interesting figures were given by Mrs J. Cracroft Wilson, president of the Christchurch Plunket Society, at the annual meeting of the Opawa-St. Martins sub- branch. During the past year, she said, -the number of breastfed babies throughout the Dominion has increased'from 80 to 87 per cent. Altogether 30,000 mothers, responsible for 24,000 babies and 3000 children of preschool age, had received advice. These inumbers showed a decrease oil the figures for the previous year owing to the declining birth rate in New Zealand. SOCIAL FUNCTIONS. The old-time dance held by the City Band on Saturday evening last was a successful function. The varied programme was enjoyed by the large number present and' music from a professional orchestra, an excellent floor, and a plentiful supper were greatly appreciated. The winners of the novelty dances were: —Monte Carlo, Miss Wright and Mr Drown; lucky Ga.y Gordons, .Miss Smith and Mr Sherman; competition, Mr Lewis. Messrs G. Beattie and E. Thomson carried out the duties of M.C.The fortnightly old-time dance held by the Takaro Progressive Association in the Takaro Hall was enjoyed by all present. The floor and the music left nothing to be desired, and a dainty supper was served by the ladies committee, Mesdames J. Wass, D. Evans and G. Jarrett. Mr R. McCulloch was MC. A much appreciated extra was played by Mr J. Morris. The first Monte Ca.rlo dance was won by Mr and Mrs Carter and the second by Mr Jarrett and Miss E. Watts.

OPIKI WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

The monthly meeting of the Opiki Women’s Institute on Saturday last marked the entry of that organisation upon its third year of activity. Jhe prevalence of sickness among the children of the district prevented the attendance being larger, but some iUodd members wer# present. Mrs Wilde presided. The president delivered the motto for the day, “It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing, because you can only do little,” and extended a welcome to a new member, Mrs W. Jackson. It was also mentioned that Mrs Akers, the institute’s first , president, had returned to Opiki and had again linked up with the movement. Invitations were received from the Longburn and Linton Institutes to attend their birthday celebrations. Mrs Wiklc and Sirs Claridge were elected as delegates to attend the annual meeting of the North Wellington Federation to l>e held in Palmerston North on May 17. It was agreed that the second birthday, of the institute be held on May 14, this being the actual date of the formation meeting. It was decided to continue _ giving prizes for monthly competitions and to award a points prize at the end of the year, these to come out of the funds. . Further to the suggestion of Mrs Cooksley relative to institute babies, it was decided that a savings bank account be established for each baby, and Mesdames F. Nagel, Wisneski, and R. Horne are to be asked to attend the May meeting in connection therewith. A Drama Circle was formed, Miss Cora Seifert being appointed to act as producer, and it was decided to commence on a play as soon as one can be procured. Miss Grant, of Palmerston North, addressed the meeting on the aims and ideals of the movement, which was bothing interesting and instructive. On the motion of Mrs Wilde, a vote of thanks was accorded the speaker. The next meeting was set down for May 9, when the competition will be for the best decorated tin in the pantry, no tin smaller than a 21b. tin to be used, although the decoration is left open. The roll-call will be for “Things I would like to see on the year’s programme,” and the hostesses will be Mesdames J. Hansen and Irwin and Misses R. and M. Ellery. All the members with names commencing from A to L are asked to supply afternoon tea, the members to bring their own teacups. A pleasant afternoon concluded with the singing of the National Anthem, Miss J. 1 Allwright being at the piano.

MITTENS RETURN. Mittens are the newest craze —mittens of black, white and every coloured lace to match the evening dress. They can also be worn in the afternoon, and are really an economy notion, for the long, loose rucked-up velvet gloves seen at smart dress shows are costly fancies. CLEANING IVORY HANDLES. Make a paste of whitening and peroxide of hydrogen, rub all over handles and allow to remain until perfectly dry. Then brush off, and finally polish with a piece of soft felt or wash leather. SCRATCHED" MIRROR S. Mirrors which are only slightly scratched should be rubbed with a soft cloth dipped in a paste made of olive oil and crocus powder, obtainable from an oil store. MOROCCO LEATHER. For Morocco leather there is nothing better than linseed oil. It is important to see that all dust is removed from the leather.

WOMEN’S NOTES.

NEEDLEWORK. (By Miss Mary. Tallis.) A Pretty Little Pleated Lampshade. —Chintz is having a great come-back as a furnishing material. The P terned variety and the plain, self-col-oured kind are both perfect in modern schemes with the picturesque touch. Beautiful for curtains, cushions, and loose covers, it also makes trim petticoats for the dressing-table. Quilted, it lends a luxurious air to upholstery, and quilted pelmets or plain chintz arq used above patterned chintz curtains with the same background colour. A rose-patterned chintz can be used to make a little pleated shade for a bedside lamp, for a room with matching chintz curtains and rose-coloured bed-covers. 4° make a shade of this kind, you will need a plain wire frame, fitting your table-lamp; iyd, of chintz, and 2yds of jin. wide fancy ribbon or furnishing cotton braid, in the deepest colour in the chintz design. Out an even strip, measuring just over 7sin. deep, and stick the ribbon or braid along the lower and upper edges with seccotine, leaving free the two selvedge ends, where the join in the chintz will come. Now told and crease the material with the thumbnail in inchwide pleats. The shade is supported on the top of its wire frame by a series of little notches. ~ To make these, measure down Jin. from the top of the shade all round, marking the measurement with a pencil dot on the inner edge of each pleat. Make a tiny snip, as for buttonholding, at each dot: Next overlap the two selvedge ends of the chintz, so that the design fits, and stick them together with seccotine. Cut a second series of little notches, liin. l>elow the top edge, on the outer edge of each pleat. Thread a strand of embroidery silk through these. Draw up, until the upper notches rest on the top wire of the frame, and tie the silk in a bow. COOKING. Good cakes. —No branch of cookery is more popular than cake-making, and there is none in which experience counts so much, for different people may produce entirely different results from the same recipe. It may be they have not been sufficiently, careful in measuring and in their choice, of materials —inferior sugar, for instance, lia’i been known to ruin an otherwise admirable mixture. Then the manipulation of the materials has much to do with the lightness, or otherwise, of the cake, and, finally, a knowledge of the oven used is an absolute necessity. Certain instructions may be given and certain simple tests applied but, after all, every cake-maker should know how to regulate the heat of her particular oven. Yet there are some leading causes of failure which should be guarded against. Cracks and uneven surfaces, for example, are caused by too hot an oven or by too much flour in the mixture. A freshly baked cake that seems dry or bready inside may have had too much flour or too little fat allowed; or the kind of sugar may be responsible—powdered sugar generally resulting in a drier cake than granulated sugar. A heavy sticky, result means too much sugar. Carelessness in baking, such as banging the oven door, causes the cake to drop in the middle;'too much fat in the mixture will also often cause this fall. A mixture that looks coarsegrained is caused by insufficient mixing, too slow baking or too much baking powder. Methods.—As to methods, there are several. In some cake mixtures —the plainer kinds—the fat is rubbed into the flour; in others the fat is beaten to a cream, sometimes in conjunction with the sugar. Again, for other mixtures, eggs, or the yolks only, are creamed with the sugar, the melted butter being added. When baked, cakes should be turned out either on to a wire tray or the top of a sieve and allowed to cool gradually, but not in a draught. For a layer cake the following foundation mixture may be used. The proportions are 2jibs, of flour, a teaspoonful of baking powder, 4oz. of butter, 4oz. of sugar, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoonsful of milk, and a few drops of vanilla flavouring. Put the butter into a warmed basin, add the sugar, and cream them with a wooden spoon until light and creamy. Then add the egg-yolks and the vanilla and work these well into the butter. Have the flour and baking soda rubbed together through a sieve, and the whites of the eggs whisked stiff. Stir these lightly into the mixture, sprinkling in the milk as you mix. Put the mixture evenly into two wellbuttered tins that have also been lined with buttered paper, and bake in a quick oven. When cold, spread a layer of chestnut cream between the layers and press, lightly. On top put a thin layer of plain sugar icing and cover with finely chopped chestnuts and crystallised sugar that has been browned in the oven; cover this with another thin layer of the icing. For the chestnut cream to go inside, cream together 4oz. of butter and 6oz. of icing sugar. Add 4oz. of finely chopped chestnuts. HOUSEKEEPING.

Take a pride in his clothes. —The modern wife who makes it her job to care for her husband’s clothes, as well as doing his washing and mending, is a wise woman! Because this means that her husband will always look well turned out and his clothes will last very much longer than they would otherwise. Also there will be more money available for other things —a truly happy situation in these hard times! And this work must be done in the right way or more harm than good may result. Here’s how! A suit: To keep this in good condition it should be pressed and cleaned at frequent and regular intervals in the following way. Brush out every particle of dust and then examine it carefully fpr spots and stains. If you don’t know what these are, sponge them with warm, soapy water, to which a little ammonia has been added. If this is not successful in removing ing the spots, then use a little petrol. One word of warning—petrol, being highly inflammable, must never be used except out of doors and right away from any light or flame. Having given special attention to any spots there may be, the suit should then be cleaned all over. Put a teaspoonful of ammonia into a pint of very warm water, and using a. clean brush go all over the suit with this. If the suit is very soiled, it may require a second treatment. When clean, press well all over with a hot iron oyer a wet cloth. Another way of keeping a suit clean is to treat it regularly with a special dry-cleaning brush. If the trousers are inclined to be baggy at the knees, damp with warm water and hang up for a time. While still damp, cover with a wet cloth and press. After this treatment the bagginess will be much less noticeable, for the dampness tends to shrink the cloth. To remove shine from a suit: Put a tablespoonful ,of ammonia in a quart of warm water and sponge over any shiny parts with this. Sponge over a second time with plain cold water, and then cover the shiny part with a wet cloth, press with a hot iron, lift the cloth while still steaming and brush vigorously. This will raise the nap.

In the case of very shiny cloth it may be necessary to use a little fine sandpaper or emery paper to raise the nap. This must be clone with the utmost care, however, because cloth only becomes shiny after a lot of wear and, as a rule, the shiny part is rather thin and so might easily be rubbed into a hole. Use sandpaper for a light suit and emery paper for a dark suit. Having cleaned and pressed a suit, put the trousers into a press and the coat and waistcoat on a hanger. Looking after your husband’s clothes in the right way may take up a certain amount of your time, but it is work which is always appreciated. MANAWATU LADIES’ GOLF CLUB. SILVER AND BRONZE MEDALS. Members of the Manawatu Ladies’ Golf Club engaged in the initial competition of the new season yesterday, when good fields contested the L.G.U. silver and bronze medal rounds with the following results: — Silver Medal.—Miss E. West, 86— 13—73; Mrs L. Speechley, 88—14 — 74; Mrs J. F. Field, 89—12—77; Mrs H. McDowell, 94—17—77. Bronze Medal.—Mrs G. Trevor, 99 32—67; Miss Baigent; 104—36—68; Miss S. Thomson, 108—36—72; Mrs B. Jacobs, 98—23—75; Mrs A. E. Hansel, 107—32—75; Miss B. McFarlane 102—26—76; Miss A. Griffen, 107 —31—76; Miss K. Garner, 107—31— 76; Miss M. Kearins, 96—19 —77. Juniors (over 14 holes). —Mrs W. Jacques, 90—25—65; Mrs R. Porter, 93_20—68; Mrs H. C. Hill, 94—21 73. The following - new members have been elected:—Mrs P. G. Tizard, Mrs H J. Rees Mrs Walker, Mrs Siddells, Mrs R. Hooper, Miss Betty Fannin, Miss Harvey, Miss P. Edwards, Miss S. Edwards, Mrs R. T. Tidswell, Miss T. Boniface, Miss N. Raven, Mrs R. L. Harding, Mrs Hamilton Murray, Mrs H. Northe, Mrs W. Jacques, Miss G. Skelton, Miss AVhitehouse, Miss A. Hourigan, Miss Wischnewsky, Miss L. Long, Mrs E. C. Dixon, Miss E. Wanklyn, Mrs R. 11. Eecloston) Mrs H. « . Petre, Miss C. Ongley and Miss J. Reid.