WOMAN'S WORLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13399, 30 January 1907, Page 9

WOMAN'S WORLD.

IF I WERE A MAN*. Hki.k.n Mathers, writing in P. 1.0., under this interesting title, tells us some; of the things which she would, and would not, do if she were a man. Thus: —1 would not marry one who talked too much, principally scandal, was witty at the expense of others—the .Japs rightly regard intemperance in words as a crime to be severely punished—or one who was irreligious, or i frequented beauty doctors, or clamoured j for the suffrage, or who expended -ill her | brains outside the home instead of in it | (to do a man's work spoils her as a wo- , man). Above all, 1 would not many one , who did not regard motherhood as the : noblest profession in the world, with the most magnificent, as the most enduring, j rewards and honours attached to it. i lie i woman who loved little children and flow- | ers. and nature, whose life was ruled by the law of love, and to whom (lie tilings | bought with much money did not count. I who had courage and loyalty, would lie the j wife for me—though I would not marry j an ugly girl. Hood temper is the finsl thing to count in domestic happiness, _ and to see a pleasant face in the glass on rising is conducive, to cheerfulness; hut a pretty girl would not tempt me, unless she had a mind to back her complexion. It is a truism to say that all women should marry and no men. for nearly every woman is originally horn with (hi' makings of a good wife and mother; hut the man win. does not feel that lie can remain trim to one woman, otherwise do his duty to his neighbour, which is ihe one Inn* religion in" Ihe world, should never marry, 'l'o quench, the joy in one soul I hat is born with its inalienable rigid to happiness, is, to commit a crime, and one committed daily, -eyed, by men.

A BUTTERFLY PARTY. The newest idea for evening entertainments is a butterfly party, and is carried out in this wise. Each guest is provided with a sheet of paper, a paint brush, and three successive dabs of paint from three saucers containing red, yellow, and blue. These are dabbed on the paper, and the filter is folded whilst, the paint is wet, so Hun when opened again the impression of a whole butterfly is given. A small prize is awarded to the best. One would thinkthat this, like a soap-bubble party, would be most efficacious in amusing children, but their elders seem to enjoy it at least equally. Of course, the prizes should be good of their kind, and small brooches, buckles, charms, and things of the sort a c always much appreciated.

LADIES AND EARRINGS. j Earrings and nose-rings are probably the | earliest ornaments of a manufactured kind j wit.li which primeval woman, ami even primeval man, decked themselves, says a contributor to the Connoisseur. It is one of the strongest and most primitive instincts | of humanity to adorn and decorate itself. After it had emerged from the Garden of Eden stage, when possibly garlands of Hewers and berries sufficed to realise .is I decorative ideals, it soon began to east about for otlu .• and more lasting ornaments. It made unto itself earrings and not-■'••ngs, finger-rings and bracelets of wood a- d shell, j stone, and bronze, and when it gazed upon its own image, thus bedecked, in earth's first mirror— pool of clear water—it saw, or thought if saw, that the effect was an improvement on nature. Often then, as ' now, it put itself to intense physical pain and discomfort in order to gratify this craving for self-adornment. In some of the savage tribes of Africa to this d;)v the " exquisites" and leaders of fashion 'bore holes in their lower lips as well as in their ears and noses, and force into them rounded pieces of stone about an inch long, which they gradually increase in thickness until they'are as large as one's middle linger, and weigh down the, lip till it. touches the chin, and they appear highly pleased with the result. "And we who Hatter ourselves that we are the most highly civilised of nations, still have enough of the barbaric instinct of self-adornment left in us to pierce our ears, and to do many other things to decorate ourselves, which the savage tribes of Africa Mould, no doubt, think extremely foolish. Jo some parts of (he Hast, especially in Malabar, where the nose-jewel is not worn, the ears, as if to make up for the deficiency, are tremendously loaded, and travellers have spoken with great astonishment of the j bored ears of its inhabitants. When chil- I dren are a year old. or even younger, their I ears are pierced, and a small quill is insert- j ed in the lobe; as Hie irritation subsides, , a, bit of lead is substituted, and when this has enlarged the hole sufficiently, a piece of plantain leaf is rolled up and. put in. This is gradually increased in size until the entire lobe is expanded into a large circular hole, capable of containing a round plug of polished wood, the circumference of which is often as large as the top of a wineglass! This enormous orifice is made to enable, the women to wear on their wedding day a gold ornament of about the size of a lien's egg, or even a turkey's. Sometimes a numbtr of smaller trinkets, of a crescent shape, are fastened in. These are never worn before marriage, are taken out afterwards, and rarely reinserted. The Mohammedan Moplali girls have a succession of holes pierced in the lobes of their ears, into each of which it ring is put.

THE SOCIAL SMILE.

The language of social smiles, says s writer in the London Globe, is absolutely meaningless. The modern smile is a convention, a- habit, a regulated and regular contraction of the cheeks, a sort of vi siting card, a, testimonial of gentility, a form of St-. Vitus' dance, anything but what Fortune intended it to In-, a spontaneous manifestation of delight. The degradation of (In- smile may be lamented on sentimental or poetical grounds, but it is sufficient to consider its more immediate and practical disadvantages from which we all suffer. These chiefly flow from the law, for law it is, imposed by society upon every one of us, namely, " Thou shalt smile."

For" the many there is practically no escape from this'eleventh commandment, and it must be admitted that the majority are rarely conscious of wishing to disobey it. Things being as they are. it is simpler and wiser to conform: to bear and grin. The dav of smiles is. in retrospect at least, not without comedy. We arise from our beds the glum children of Nature. We assume the clothes of civilisation and its smile. The first moment of meeting a fellow creature is the signal for displaying our social badge..: ."Good morning" (smile)—" Another wet '&m" (smile) —"Tea or coffee?" (smile)" Tea!' please" (smile)" Sugar? One lump?" (one smile)— lumps" (two or more smiles). And so, wreathed in imbecile grimaces, the smiling morn gives place to the smiling afternoon, and that again to the smiling evening, when at last we put off our masks, and sleep will give us strength to smile again.

Of course, there may be no smiles at the brc'kfast table u: elsewhere. Hut that is only le. cwma w< are ill or ill-tempered. From the social standpoint nothing else can plain an unsmiling face. And in general this explanation is somewhere about the truth. If you meet Mis. Jones casually in the street, and say "How do you do?' am' further inform her of a fact that she knows already, and which you know that she knows, viz., that it is a warm day. and if Mrs. Jones, hearing, does not smile, you may be tolerably sure, not that Mrs. Juries is a rational being, who did not smile oceans? there was nothing to smile at. but that she is " offended."

A :<1 so all who set their faces against fixed smiting, and yet mix freely with their neighbours, must expect a degree of martyrdom. Try it for yourself. If only there could be a general and public covenant, Smiles optional," or if the people wno set the fashions would grant even a temporary dispensation of the Rule of Smiles, then we should all be in the same box, and might, so far as our faces are concerned, cease to worry about each others feelings, i.e.. about our own. .and the. vicious semi-circle of forced smiles would he fairly broken. Those whose nature it is to radiate sunshine by perpetual smiles could still go on doing it, and the light of their countenance* would shine all the brighter when the false lights were dimmed. The rest of us wotiM be free to enjoy in peace our respective standards of specific gravity. ,

I NEEDLEWORK NOTES. Seams of sowing machine, work are bert finished oft' by turning the material around and working back a short distance. Dressmakers who have difficulty in pressing curved seams will find a rolling-pin a good pressing- it a clean cloth is wrapped around it. When putting a steel or whalebone into a' bodice bend them slightly at. the waist before putting them into casing. Yon will find the bodice will lit to the figure much better. When putting on a collar make neck of bodice or blouse slightly smaller than base of collar hand, and' notch bodice here and there while putting collar on. By so doing you avoid wrinkle-. Never hold a skirt on your lap while basting—remember (li;>t it is most important to keep it flatmi lay it on a table and baste front top to bottom, with small, even stinhcs, keeping your seams level and straight.