Ladies' Column.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 271, 7 April 1877, Page 3

Ladies' Column.

WOMEN IN BULGARIA. (From the Queen.) IVCy mission to Bulgaria was a purely political one; but being of a philosophic turn of mind, I thought I might obtain some information concerning what I will term the “ the fair sex although I was soon convinced that beauty in Bulgaria is something like the blossom of the aloe, only to be met with once m a hundred years. During a term of some weeks I obtained a good deal of information, which will now, no doubt, be of considerable interest. ! The progress of a Bulgarian from the cradle to the grave is (in an ordinary life) a kind of pilgrimage through various forms and ceremonies, such as exfst in perhaps no other “ Christian country ” in Europe. First, every village has its witch, or wise woman, who acts as general adviser, and even aid 3 the priest in many eases which are beyond his very limited powers of comprehenfion At such a very important event as the birth of a child this good lady must of course he present, not simply in her capacity of doctor, but in her more mysterious “spiritual,” or rather “ anti-spiritual,” function. She arrives with various charms, which are presumed to be requisite to ward off all evil spirits. To her hands the babe is first consigned, and has to submit to a process which, I fear, will greatly shock English matrons. The witch rubs the baby all over with salt, and, after reciting a long kind of benediction, returns the child to its mother* (I have token the greatest trouble

to find out that this “ saltim?” n„ According to the rules of the Bulgarian Church, it is a crime to wash a child until £ has arrived at the “age of Th Church has actually taken the trouble to fix this age at seven years, when, and not till then achffdmay have its first wash; but W before '5 18 ca^ ull y taught the hundredlndone httle formahties of the Bulgarian faith. Even m its most childish actions “young Dickie” th a e d a i7Tl to “ bCWare ° f s and the dreadful consequences which would be ft th % mOSt ordinar y action of daily life if not counteracted by some Z? T p T a , I ' or “ sent to the fountain for a i U g 0 f water it is taught that it must throw a small portion away before dnpking it, and ever so many smniar foolish things. Presuming the child to be a girl and that she carefully performs all these rules, and is thus spared from all the dangers of life, the next important step will be that of accepting the yoke of a lord and master. The Bulgarian youth chooses his future wife as the bride of the Vicar of Wakefield did her wedding dress; he looks out for something that will stand hard usage, and considers good bone and muscle the primary qualities in a helpmeet. The Bulgarians are very free from any kind of romance or sentimentality ; they look upon marriage as a purely business transaction. The subject is usually first arranged by the parents. The suitor then sends a deputation of his friends to the fair one s father, with a formal offer of his hand and heart (to which he might add, « a strong arm and a good stick”). The offer beinl accepted, then comes the important financial question. The mother is loath to part with her daughter, and can only be solaced with a httle money paid down. Then there is the amount, or rather the value, of the presents to be given by the young man to the bride, and this must be arranged between her father and the suitor. Each drives as bard a bargain as he can. These financial subjects being arranged, the next step is the betrothal, and this is a sort of orgie, to which the mutual friends are invited. After a “ banquet,” consisting of various coarse dishes and plenty of wine, there is a dance and songs. Then the intended brings in his presents. These are of a very useful nature, such as clothes for the bride, and a necklace of coins of gold or silver, which latter is a sort of dower, and is usually alone worth from £3 to £lO. This revel is kept up till daybreak, when most of the company bride-elect included, are often far from sober. For some reason I have failed to discover, the marriage never takes place till several months after a betrothal. It is true the bridegroom must build himself a “ house;” but, as the ordinary peasant farmer’s hut is a oneroomed hovel—without even a window, and .not ten shillings worth of fitting or furniture inside this need, not ;be a very serious task. When, however, all .this is prepared, and everything else duly’arranged, the marriage is celebrated, either at the house of the bride or in a church (provided there is one near enough). is one fact which I nearly forgot, and that. is, that about two days before the marriage the bride is actually obliged to take her first bath, which is the only one that a Bulgarian is ever permitted to take. This performance and the marriage over, there is another great feast at the house of the bride. The newly wedded couple are “ anointed ” with a shower of grain, which is poured over them to insure their prosperity in future life. After much eating, but considerably more drinking, the bride and bridegroom are conducted to their “house,” and there shut up to pass the honeymoon, which in that country (being a very practical people) only lasts seven days ; but during that time they are kept close prisoners, until a deputation of matrons calls for the bride and take her to the village fountain, where, after making the tour of the same three times, the contents of a bucket of water are thrown over her, and she is then considered what some would call “ very much married.” The married life in Bulgaria is not what you would expect in a rural and purely agricultural people,

AMERICAN SOCIETY. (From the New York Times.)

A regular customer at a great New York jeweller’s watched one afternoon with amazement the proceedings of a very common-look-ing woman buying, to use the phraseology of the most renowned auctioneers, “ regardless of expense.” Rings, bracelets, and earrings were selected with as much carelessness as ordinary persons might buy yards of ribbon, and his astonishment grew when, on the shopman’s preparing to wrap up the purchases with all the deftness of his calling, the customer exclaimed : “ Oh, never mind that bother j” and, opening a handkerchief, placed the goods within it, knotted the ends together, pulled out a bundle of 500-dollar bills, paid the demand, nodded familiarly to the man who had served her, and left the shop. Inquiry proved this valuable customer to be the wife of an Oregonian lumber dealer who had made his pile, and could afford his wife diamonds to any amount. Probably there are only two countries in the world where such a scene could have occurred—the United States and Australia. The incident is an illustration of that want of harmony which more than anything else in our social life strikes the observant foreigner of . the highest class, who is for the most part entirely ignorant of the mode of life prevalent among the lower middle class of his own country, and consequently supposes that peculiarities he observes among those who correspond with it here are altogether exceptional. But very similar traits, although less conspicuous and pronounced, are certainly found in England. Given a man rising from the position of a tradesman or a country attorney to considerable wealth, much the same lack of harmony will be found in his surroundings. For example, his table will be alternately inferior and profuse, while the plate placed upon it on gala days will be gorgeous, but probably vulgar in design. s?he house will be gilded all over, but the servants inferior to

those at the rectory, where the whole income is £7OO a year. The contrast between the house and the establishment is, however decidedly stronger here than there, and this, it must be confessed, is not always confined to merely nouveaux riches. There are establishments in New York belonging to educated people where, duly allowing for the difficulties incidental to domestic arrangements, the appearance of the servants especially certainly presents a ludicrous incongruity with the pretensions in other respects. It is not very long since a gentleman went out one morning to present a letter of introduction at a house in orn d nn°n n l q u are ’ Wh ° Se °' TOer at least 250,000 dollars a year. He rang and rang again. At length there appeared a dirty slattern, wiping on her apron hands wet with soapsuds. He presented his card, on which she impressed her autograph, and leaving him standing in the hall, disappeared. Presently she returned, saying, “She’s busy, and can’t see you. Now, the lady had in fact said: Give my compliments to the gentleman, and say that I very much regret that I cannot see a*® morning, but I am specially engaged. Again, the same want of harmony is very common in the. matter of the table. If those persons who look envious at many of the great brown stone houses imagine that luxuri- • ous fare is always to. be had there, they may console themselves with the reflection that they themselves probably dine quite as well. A lady who has a thorough knowledge of the culinary art hired, some months ago, a cook who had lived with a family inhabiting one of the largest houses in New York. When she came to order dinner, the first day after this treasure’s arrival, she that she would > like some peasoup. The artiste seemed bewildered. Thinking that perhaps she had expressed herself too barbarously for a cordon bleu of the cuisine, she put the order in French. The bewilderment was intensified, and the artiste blurted out, “ I don’t know much about soups, mum.” “ Why, surely, you made them at Mr 3. s? ’ « Oh, no, never.” The lady raised her eyebrows, and passed on to the fish. Having carefully given her order, the rejoinder was, “ I don’t know nothing about fish, mum.” “ Nothing about fish ? Why, what in the world did they have for dinner at Mrs. s • “ Why, mum, you see there was no regular dinner, except early on Sundays. Then. sometimes there was roast beef, . and sometimes boiled mutton. On other days the ladies just took a lunch like, and the gentlemen only came home to tea.” She parted with the artiste. The fact is that harmony in the formation of an establishment fa not to be learned in a day. People unaccustomed to wealth, who quickly become possessed of it, no more perceive absence of a harmonious whole than does a man who has no artistic taste discover the absence of it; in statue or picture. Such persons, .cannot(comprehend bow utterly incongruous are Marcott’s furniture and Tiffany’s costliest’ Vpiate. with an ill-sorted meal and a slovenly waitress. Yet there is nothing in a new country which more painfully grates upon the cultivated, whether native or foreign. It is, in fact, this want of harmony between the parts which helps to make so many rich, highly eduo&ted Americans absentees. They get to feel as Europeans feel—that a lady in clothes and jewels worth 10,000 dollars is soutterly ridiculous in concert with ill-appointed surroundings that they turn longingly to Paris, and finally are off. Surely the newly-rich . might condescend to follow more closely in the wake of those who have a right to be regarded as good models, and there are many such here before their eyes. By doing so they would help to remove a large and painfully conspicuous blot upon our social life. RECIPES. . , Diet of Children.— Tea and coffee dietary for children is as bad in I ts effects as its use J is now universal. Dr. Ferguson found that children so fed only grew four pounds per annum between the ages of thirteen and sixteen; while those who got milk night and morning grew fifteen pounds each year. This needs no commentary. The deteriorated physique of tea-and coffee-fed children, as seen in- their lessened power to resist diseases, is notorious amidst the medicial men of factory districts. It is not the mere difficulty of procuring milk which prompts the adoption of a tea dietary. The convenience of it is one allurement, while the idea of feeding their children like those of the better classes around is another.

Unfermented Wine.— This is a healthy beverage, and it is easier to make than is usually supposed. Ripe fruit only will answer. If the fruit is sour or unirpe' there will be too much acid in the liquid ; it will blacken any metal it may come in contact with, and will he a dirty, turbid, ill-looking liquid. As the juice in this case is boiled, a copper or enamelled vessel is neccessary. Squeeze the fruit between rollers and run the juice into the boiler, or squeeze it through a sieve, keeping, back all unripe fniit, stalks, and skins.. ‘ Heat should be raised in the boiler as the juice flows in, and as the liquid boils skim off all scum that rises. When the seeds sink to the bottom take the vessel from the fire and allow the contents to cool. Strain off the liquor, first through a sieve or colander, then through a cloth until perfectly clear. Put it into bottles (filled to the bottom of the neck), place .the bottles so filled in a boiler, with straw between and under them ; fill the boiler with cold water as high as the liquor in the bottles. Put fire under the boiler, and boil about an hour ; then., take out the bottles, and while hot cork? and seal them. Wine made in this, way has the true flavor of the grape, and becomes bright and sparkling ; it does not intoxicate, and it keeps good for years. It will be observed that, in mailing this wine, it is necessary to have the juice raised from its natural heat as rapidly as possible. The . reason ~is that; the’ seeds' (germs) of fermentation attack it between the heat of 50 degrees and 15Q degrees. By “excluding the air after the vegetable and- animal life in the juice is destroyed, it will keep as safely as preserves or other substance.