WOMAN'S WORLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15566, 25 March 1914, Page 12

WOMAN'S WORLD.

THE DAUGHTER OF THE HOUSE.

HER ALLOWANCE.

Ix the good old days, she was satisfied i with her dress and her keep, sixpence for | the Sunday collection and the price of an : occasional concert. Now —well, if you i happen to have a daughter or if you hap- j pen to be one, you know how it is your- . self! From either view-point, you consider you have fallen on hard times indeed. "G'rls want so much more nowadays than we did !' wails the mother. '"Mothers don't realise how much more we actually need!'' wails the daughter. And in search of a way out, the daughter goes off and enters business life and then our wise men get up and solemnly tell us the daughter j place is in the home and she has no right j in the business world. They don't men- j tion how she is going to keep up to the j standard of dress and living she cons ders j is hers by divine right- Probably that standard is all wrong, but the girl herself certainly didn't set it; she is but following the trend of modern life. Ot course, extravagance is a purely relative term. A joy-ride at the Exhibition may be sheer recklessness for one poor soul and a thousand pound automobile just on the verge of extravagance for another, hut they both feel they won't be happy till they get it, so they end up by getting it. Where Does Her Money Go The modern daughter of the house usually argues naively that slh: nas more need of money *lian her mother had, because there are now so many more wave of spending it. So now, because she chooses •er own dresses and good concerts are reckoned more "in the light of a necessity than a luxury in her scheme of things, she usually gets an allowance. What does she do with it? She alone knows, and even she herself sometimes has to admit she doesn't! Some girls are born thrifty; one could tell you without so much as a ilicker ui the eyelid what she did with that shilling you lent her the week before last, " whereas another would stare at you and then demand blankly, "What shilling?" This is the type of girl" whose allowance is eternally inadequate. Give her a couple of pounds on the first of the month, and she'll come and ask you casually for a penny to get home to Farnell with on Jie second. If you were to ask her what she had spent her money on, she would say she couldn't, remember afternoon tea with a couple of friends, a few knick-nacks at the bargain sales, tickets for Paul Dufault—"Oh, I can't remember 1 There were lots of little things I wanted- I only know the money's all gone!" she will tell you pathetically. Those Unconsidered Trifles. And that's the secret of the shortage in her allowance. Not the things she needs, but the things she wants eat up her allowance and reduce her to that financial shipwreck so embarrassing both to herself and to her long-suffering family regularly once a month. The odd pennies here, the unconsidered sixpences there for trifles that she could very well do without,what a hole they make in that little hoard! keeping Within the Limit. To many a kindly parent it brings real pain that the daughter should have one ungratified wish. How many a mother is there who haunts bargain sales, picks up for herself a cheap ready-made in order that her girl may have the money saved to put towards a brand new "tailor-made?" But is it always the kindest thing for the 1 girl? Is it teaching her independence? | Allowances may be large or small ; they are not all arranged on the same basis, but independent of the amount, learning to keep within their limit is most excellent : training for a girl, and if she marries later ! on, of inestimable value to Her in her j capacity of wife.

MUNICIPAL HOUSEKEEPERS. SUCCESS OF "CITY MOTHERS/' Here in Auckland we axe just beginning to think of women as Municipal housekeeper The women, who are the first to awake to a sense of women's respon«i-' bility in civia,matters, always find the way rough and hard, as is all pioneer work. There is eo much prejudice and opposition to work against Things have been going along very comfortably arfeue those who are averse to the introduction of any custom that has not been established for at least a hundred years; why should there be any change? Women aren't really needed anywhere but where their Maker put them— them stay there. But women during the last score of years have firmly, determined not to stay there. And wherever women have united and fought wrongs intelligently—not with fanatical frenzy—good has resulted. Examples of Civic Reform. In New Zealand cities there is not the 6ame opportunity for judging of what women have done at civic housekeeping, as older cities afford. As examples of the work accomplished ! by women in other lands, there are the splendid pure-food laws of Tacoma, said to be the finest in the United States, and important health reforms recently instituted in another, Washington City. The woik ia this latter city is of the utmost interest because of the alarming prevalence of typhoid before the agitation of club women. These women asked for, and obtained, the municipal collection of garbage, extension of water mains, and a sufficient salary to be paid to a health officer to enable him to devote all his time to the city e health problems. Having accomplished this, there followed such a campaign against t/he house-fly and in behalf of pure milk, Dure water, and pure food that in one year's time the typhoid rate has been reduced 90 per cent! ihen, recognising that cleanliness and beauty are both factors in civic progress they distributed 6000 rose bushes and a great number of trees and vines, and inaugurated a " Blossom Parade." They have also censored picture shows employed a police matron, and stand as a m ' fo ' "U good things in their city. All these improvements were brought about because women realised their responsibility, and in a sane and rational keeping ab ° Ut tileir municipal house-

VAGARIES OP FASHION. HOW WOMEN AKE BEGUILED. Word has just come from Paris that the slit skirt is now banned by the leading fashion houses. It has already been banned by Koyalties and the Pope and various other people who sit in hieh piaces, but the edict of the fashion-house is greater than that of church or throne! or years past much breath and much good paper has been used in denunciation ot .Dame Fashion and her vagaries. In the days of our grandmothers the worst that could be said about their dresses was that they were eccentric, ridiculous, and much too bulky. Crinoline and 'bustle" died a natural death; then followed a campaign against the overlong skirt, which collected more dreadful things in five minutes oS floor and street than two people <3ould name in half an hour. Now we've done away with these death-dealing draperies. The modern skirts fit close and creep up anywhere half way between knee and ankle. Yet still the storm of protestthis time On moral grounds. The hobble and the harem skirts both led a brief but excessively stormy existence, and now the split skirt is to follow in their train. Where Do Such Fashions Originate

They are supposed to originate in Paris, but Parisian designers are now denying it and putting the blame on the daughters of Uncle Bam, for whom they say nothing is too daring

The average "smart" woman buys a' gown, fondly imagining it to be the last " word in Parisian fashion. If she only • knew it, no French gentlewoman would »■- be seen wearing some of the atrocities . that are perpetrated in her name! These styles originate with the "mannequins" of the French racecourse and the only Parisian women who wear them are those on whom nice women would not for a moment dream of leaving cards ! These styles are but eccentric and parodies on true French styles. " lhe I'arisienne," saysagTeat fashion designer. knows just how far to go. She would never have those gowns that make an alarm clock of every woman who puts them on !" Nobody could for a moment impute even a blind following ot French fashion to the ladies we see on Queen Street, but till, there is sometimes more than an indication of the "alarm-clock type. Extremes of fashion ale bad enough, but badlv-made, ultra-tight and ultra-short dresses, even though innocent of the faintest suggestion of the Parisian influence, are distasteful to every woman who has any idea ol what constitutes good dressing. REFRESHMENTS AT THE PLAY SUGGESTIONS FOR EATERS. At His Majesty's Theatre the other night, follower: of a soulful ene found themselves listening with one < :, ar to the breathless plairt of the heroin-.- and with the other to the loud and soull;'s crunching of toffee by the lady in fro-t, and the disconcerting crackle of sev ral paperbags by varioui ladies, back ard front. We all know this crackling f id crunching and munching, it's as common as the sound of the voice that assets during sudden pauses how " she frys ' ';rs. Tile stalls and dresa-circl- consume chocolates and caramels, the ga. ;?ry waxes merry on pearuts and toffee. But they, none of them, really need all these nuts and candy! Most "of the auc ience have dined well, a few will sup wel not very well, be it admitted, unless they're going to sup at home, for Auckland ;ias not yet succumbed to that alluring tatte for theatre-suppers that makes things merry and bright in larger and mc re reckless cities. A Welcome Innovation. Sweet-eating is a time-honci red theatre custom. Cities in other lands hive another that appeals strongly to every unwise one who ha 6 consumed chocolates till the throat is all closed with stick} sweetness, and all who find the clo:e theatreatmosphere so oppressive. Du.-ing the interval boys bring round trays containing glasses of clear, cold water, so that ladies as well as their escorts, may have a chance of dispelling that dryness of throat so inseparable from an evening at the theatre. What a boon it would be if only some manager could be found sufficiently enterprising to- establish the custom in this thirsty city of Auckland ! Even at a penny a glass it would be worth while. Another welcome innovation would fee a rule that consumers of theatre refreshments must a~oid things with shells, and things with ciackly covers, or else let it be ordained that people whe persist in eating these dainties shall eat them shells, I covers and all! .