WOMEN'S NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 9, 9 December 1936, Page 12

WOMEN'S NOTES.

GENERAL. (By Miss Mary Tallis.) A Career For Your Girl.—A secretary: Parents sometimes breathe a sigh of relief when their girl announces I hat she would like to be “something in an office,” for they see no difficulty in placing her, and may tell themselves hopefully that a course of shorthand and typing is well within their means. So far, so good; hut the girl who is going to make good in the clerical world must know rather more than shorthand and typing. Ask yourself of your daughter: Has she tact, and can she write a letter on her own initiative? Will she learn easily to interview callers and deal with them resourcefully in the absence of her employer? Can she keep her poise—and a secret? If so, then let her have her way and become a secretary. The girl who wishes to be successful in this work must certainly know shorthand and typing, but she must also have had a good general education — many employer's insist oil at least a school-leaving certificate—while a good working knowledge of at least ono foreign language is a great advantage. Secretarial training is given at many commercial colleges, while the keen and ambitious girl can also attend evening classes in many helpful subjects at various technical schools where the fees are very moderate. Even secretaries must begin at the bottom, however. 'The keen and industrious girl who will go on adding to her knowledge and efficiency may work her way up to a really respectable position, however, and then she will earn a really worth-while salary.

HINTS. If the neck has become discoloured through wearing dark furs, rub a slice of lemon on tho skin once or twice a week. If left to dry on the skin all night, the lemon will help to whiten tho neck. The treatment foi the morning is to bathe the neck with cold water and add a few drops ol the cheapest white wine to it. This will bleach the skin and will act as a mild astringent, too. Tho housewife will find that a goodsized pair of scissors are a boon in the kitchen, and should be kept solely for culinary purposes. Slices of bread may be cut into squares for crutons etc., much quicker with scissors than with a knife, and the same applies to tho cutting up of vegetables and herbs. If no food chopper is available, the scissors will again be found handy lor dicing ham or meat. In many homes there are leadlights in the windows. The host method to clean and polish both lead and glass is to buy a penny cake of ordinary blacklead. Alix part of the cake with water to a paste, and apply to the lead and glass with a brush. Allow to dry for a few moments, then polish off with a brush and you will find a splendid polish on both lead and glass which will remain for months. THE HOAIE.

Renovating Leather.—Spotted or greasy leather is an abomination. First-aid here consists of an application of rubber solution (such as is used for mending tyre punctures). Place a thin coat of the solution over the spots, and peel off before it is dry. Upholstery which has faded and lost its good looks should be prescrili?d for like this: —First wash with a cloth wrung out in warm water to which a little vinegar has been added Dry carefully, then whisk up the white of an egg with a dash of turpentine, and apply until a flannel. Afterwards polish with a soft cloth. If the leather is badly cracked, treat it first with vaseline. Leave this on for 12 hours, then doctor it when the vaseline has all been absorbed. If you own any shabby leather chairs, which have begun to perish, or split at the corners, gum all the stray edges into place and patch any holes with a bit of leather laid underneath. Then clean off the old furniture polish with weak sodawater or benzine, and apply a leather stain, which can be bought from any handcraft shop in a great variety of colours. The leather should be made damp first with a sponge before applying the dye, so that tho colour will bo distributed evenly. After staining remove all surplus dye with a clean rag. then a wax polish and a triumphant finish until a velvet pad, and your leather chair will look liko new. “Enamelled” leather, which you find in car upholstery, and other imitation leathers should bo dosed liberally with castor oil to prevent them cracking. Leave the oil to do its good work for about an hour; then wipe off any superfluous oil with a rag.