HOME TOPICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14146, 23 August 1909, Page 3

HOME TOPICS.

THE AM 1 OF HANGING PICTURES. Do not hang too many pictures, and do not sky them. They should be as nearly on the level of the eye as possible. Remember in crowding that the beauty of an individual picture is lost. Do not hang the pictures so that you can sec nothing but lines, and lemember it is the picture that counts, not the frame. Have as few bright, gilt frames as possible. Group the pictures according to their kind. A jumble of water-colours, prints, and oil paintings of gilt, silver, white and wooden frames on the same section of the wall is ugly. Frame oil paintings in gilt; watercolours in narrow gilt or wood. Etchings and engravings look best in narrow dark wooden frames, and photographs and prints should have a frame of wood harmonising with the darkest tone- in the picture. STAMMERING: ITS CAUSES AND CUR]-;. Stammering or obstructed speech may be due to more than one cause. There may be a brain defecti.e., the centres that supply the material of speech may he slow and uncertain in their operation, or the nervous apparatus that operates that mechanism, i.e., the cartilages and muscles of the larynx and the throat, may be defective or weak. Usually stammerers are nil right, so far as the brain is concerned, but there is a want of harmony in the action of the mechanical system, of articulation. A habit of nervousness may be at the bottom of the trouble, which can he helped by attention to the hygienic relations of everyday life. Out-of-door exercise, bathing, nourishing food, avoidance of everything exciting or unnecessarily fatiguing, are important in the treatment, as well as daily vocal practice in uttering the vowel sounds until they can be pronounced with fair rapidity.' Then consonants should be taken up and practised with equal deliberation. Then one should commence reading aloud very slowly, due expression being given to every word. Patience and steady exercises will accomplish much, and, in time, perhaps, entirely overcome what was a most disagreeable and mortifying condition.

THE COIFFURE AND ITS DECORA-

TIONS.

Among the numerous decorations for the coiffure the ribbon wound bands which come singly and in clusters for filets are both popular and becoming arrangement*. Thin wide bands set in the front with fancy jewels, that suggest the regal coronet, are still much in use, but those that lie flat on the head, decorating the back more than., the front, are the favourites. The latest vogue in smart hairdreesing is the wide velvet ribbon strap that is fastened under the puffs and curls at the sides; sometimes it is brought over the top of the head and attached with a tiny bow or fancy buckle, set with sparkling jewels. Some of the jewelled bandeaux of one, two, or more bands are arranged to fit either the front or the back of the head. Such ornaments are often made of jet, of shell or its imitation, or of platinum get with brilliants or jewels. Aigrettes and Paradise plumes are the most used of feathers, flowers are seen in abundance, and roses in faded colourings of natural sizes are prominent. The waved tresses have almost straightened themselves, and the head is made to appear as flat as possible. Most attractive are some of the coiffures reproduced from old portraits. Many of the charming modes seen on old canvasses are deftly copied by fashionable hairdressers, and the hair presents a loosely-waved effect, with clusters of soft puffs and ringlets. Sometimes the back of the head seems a mass of combed out curb? standing out far from the head and caught underneath with a little bandeau of ribbon or flowers. Directly in front of the ornament the hair is very flat, and in many of these styles there is a centre parting which is generally becoming to young faces. The woman with a fair complexion and light hair is rejoicing over the revival of jet. One thing is noticeable in all the jet seen now, and that is that. it is lighter in weight and highly cut. Jet hair ornaments of all kinds abound, and are. becoming in the extreme on the right person. Huge cabochons and graceful bandeaux are- offered for hair decorations. Among the new ornaments are ball-headed pins, studded with tiny nail heads, that glisten with every motion of the head. Another graceful arrangement is a string of jet beads, wound in and out of the puffs and coils. Jet baretteo in various shapes accompany other ornaments of similar design, and cut coronet and tiara shapes are found amon« the newest styles.

THE CARE OF YOUNG GIRLS. Youth must have its happy time; it is right and natural, and a mother is in duty bound to help make it so, and keep her own heart young for her daughter's sake. This is not easy. Middle-age has domestic cares and anxieties. When evening comes it is more comfortable to sit quietly at home than to dress for a concert or entertainment which the girl has set her heart on attending. _ It is only a short distance from the house. Other girls are going. Why can't she go with them? She will be home before 10— and middle-age, which is a trifle indolent as well as weary, decides not to make the exertion, and trusts to luck that some of the neighbours or young people will see her safely home. It is a dangerous experiment. The very fact that the girl is unattended by parents or some older friend of the family tells against her in the eyes of the young men she may meet, and some of them will express it by adopting a freer tone with her, a shade less of deference in manner, than, for the girl who is hedged around with thoughtful care and attendance, which in the best society is given to young girls. More than this, the mother loses ground with her daughter. The latter may be inclined to tell her whom she has met, or what occurred, or she may not, and it often happens that " some other girl" is the confidant rather than the mother, who does not make the exertion to keep herself in touch with her daughter's pleasures and friends. A girl's mother should be her. nearest friend, and nobody has the right to come tween them until she marries. The mother's clearer insight and broader knowledge of life will guide the girl in her choice of friends, will restrain youthful impulses, and prepare her to enter marriage, knowing its responsibilities, and ready to meet them. With such a mother there will be no story to be hushed up in the family, no betrayed trust, no broken heart or ruined life. A girl who has been kept close to the mother's heart all her life will understand that her parents have a right to know when, how, and whom she is to marry, even if they do not approve her choice, and that a proposal for a secret marriage is an insult to herself as well as to them. If she does not know this, somebody is to blame for it. If she does know it, but has not rational control of her affections sufficient to reject it, her training has been de- j fective. |