NEWS AND VIEWS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1202, 15 March 1895, Page 13

NEWS AND VIEWS.

By “ Aunt Ellen."

ADVANCED RUSSIA, hardly to, Russia, that one' would /j-a recognition of the right of , women to enter the ranks of the various learned professions, but nevertheless it is fact that in the Czar’s dominions women , have been allowed to practise medicine for 'vX' the past fifteen years. There are, so I read • in an article in the Educational Review, some 700 or 800 woman doctors in Russia, many more than can be found in any other European country. Of the twenty-four doctors employed by the municipality of St.' Petersburg, fifteen are women, each of whom hold a thousand more consultations than is the average of her male colleagues. - ' When shall we see a “lady physician ” on v, the consulting staff of our Wellington Hospital ?

WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN NEW YORK. In the Forum, an American magazine of high reputation, Mrs Mary P. .Jacobi, says that although the women of New York are excluded from the polls, nevertheless they are going to make themselves more and more felt in politics. She states that in New York City curious object-lessons upon “woman in politics” have been offered by - the organisation of groups of women, many of whom had pronounced themselves “anti- ’ suffragists,” to aid in the work of a reform , election under the leadership of men who had previously opposed, with considerable emphasis, the immixture of women in ' Women who had been told that: they should not vote were now' urged to instruct men how to vote, or, at all events, to stand by them and see that they did their duty in vo#n g. No more theoretically incongruous, but practically admirable situation could have been devised than this, which followed so promptly upon the defeat of the claim by women to be allowed to exercise the rights of citizenship. “It was,” says Mrs Jacobi, “a complete giveaway—and the most elaborate explanations can make nothing else out of it.” NANSEN’S WIFE. • Rrau Eva Nansen, the accomplished wife • of the Arctic explorer, Dr Nansen, who more than 18 months ago left his peaceful • ' home to embark on a voyage of discovery in the now famous ship the Framn, has ! beeh, I read in an English paper, giving concerts .in Copenhagen, Christiana and other large cities of Scandinavia. She has a. beautiful voice and a charming manner, J but, no doubt, it is the fact of her loneli- ;/ and of the universal respect in which - her husband, who is risking his life in the cause of science, is held that have had' tnucb to do with the success of her enter prise. Her little sou, her first child, was only a few months old when J)r Nansen set d forth on his arduous voyagp. j BEWARE OF THE OYSTER. “ Beware of the oyster ” is the advice ; • given of late by a good many Home papers. A good many thousands of the delicious ■ bivalve are eaten in Wellington every year, and when the above sensational headline met my view in a London weekly, I turned with some anxiety to the article to see what reason, if any, there was for the startling warning. It appears that | two or three of the London fashionable - doctors have discovered, or pretended to i ' . have discovered, . that the oyster is a . ' specially suitable medium for the transferV . ence of typhoid germs to the human system, / .and the old. story is revived, I notice, that . the serious illness of the Prince of Wales . some years ago was not caused, as was / widely supposed, by defective drains at the country house where he was stopping, but by H.R.H. eating some oysters which had' - ' become impregnated by typhoid microbes. ; : Quite a. sensation has -been, I hear, caused ; in London by the article, and; the sale of vipysters has dropped to a most appreciable *=-a»d to the oyster vendors—a most niarmiog extent. As far, iioweveT, as onr colonial oysters are concerned, I can hardly ' see that they can be so affected, that is, of course, if they are sold and eaten very speedily after their arrival from Auckland. If they are “ bedded,” then wo must be , sure that the waters in which they are laid , are free from any suspicion of sewage iaint. gILK CULTURE FOR WOMEN.

A most interesting 1 article on this subject appears in the last issue of Daybreak. The writer, I am afraid, takes a somewhat roseate-hued view of the financial side bf the question, but I should like to see some experiments made in silk culture by my New Zealand sisters. On the Continent and—so I believe in Japan —silk culture is largely in the hands of women, and here in the North Island we have a climate which is quite equal for this particular purpose, to that of France and Italy. Who will make the necessary start ?

FLANNELETTE. was recently the subject of much learned dispute in an English court of law, a well-known London draper 1 being summoned for selling it as a woollen material. Now, flannelette, although a yery useful material, does not contain any

wool, but the draper got off upon a technical point of law. Commenting upon the case to which I refer, a writer in Modern Society makes the following interesting remarks: —“I could not help laughing over that droll case in which it was argued that flannelette is frequently mistaken by many people for a woollen material. Why, I thought everybody knew that it was only cotton, rasped up in a way to maire it feel soft and warm. You can find this out in a moment if you take a small piece and pull away some of the threads. It has proved a most formidable rival to flannel, not always on account of its much lower price, but because it does not shrink. If you once adopt flannelette for underwear, you will keep to it for quite eight months of the year; the main recommendation being that it does not strike cold/ like linen or calico. The better qualities in white or cream, embroidered in coloured silks, look good enough ‘for anybody. , I was buying some riig'htdresses the other day for an invalid, and was on the point of choosing white flannelette, embroidered with white silk, when the idea struck me that this might remind her of the things people are buried in. For myself, I should not have troubled in the least, hut some unfortunate people are so sensitive over such matters, so lugubrious as well' as superstitious, and ready to accept anything as a ‘ sign ’ that something will happen to them. I, therefore, chose pink and blue borderings, quite gay and tasteful, while my own heart yearned over the white edging.”

THE GREAT MAN MILLINER. The death is reported of Monsieur Worth, the famous man-milliner of the Ruede la Paix, Paris. As a matter of fact, Worth was an Englishman by birth, but had lived many years in Paris and was thoroughly with Gallic tastes and prejudices. All sorts of ; strange stories have been told about his curious habits. He was, it is said, the most independent of men and would not deign to “ compose ” a costume for any lady who, he considered, treated him with any hauteur, As to his' prices, they were terribly high. I remember reading some months ago that his bill,' for four dresses for an English bride of noble family amounted?to no less than 8000 francs —L 320. Had' lie been in business in New Zealand I am* afraid his customers would have been few and far between. ", THE JAPANESE WOMAN. Just now when we are hearing.; so much about the coming prominence of Japan as a great power, a little information about the women of “ Chrysanthemum Land” will be of special interest. An English lady, writing from Toky.Q to a London ladies’ journal gives the following particulars respecting Miss “Yum Yqm and her sisters :—Plumpness affrights the Japanese wpoiap, and a blonde complexion is repugnant tr> her. 4t a reception the women stand wbije the men are eating,; but in some cases women are wholly absent: from fetes. No social class distinction is marked by the dress of Japanese women, although, needless to say, it exists. The wife of tfle Mikado, the workwoman, and all the intermediate classes are clad 1 alike as to style, tfre only difference being in the quality of material. When European women use artificial means to enhance their beauty, tinted lips, pencilled eyebrows, rouge and powder, they endeavour to conceal the artifice, but Japanese women paint themselves so as to frankly show that their beauty is the result of art, and they are proud of their skill. European women are embellished by their maids j in Japan that office falls to the hairdresser, who .is called “the painter of the Jiving.” The Japanese language owes some of its pro- J gress within the last century to Japanese women, who. were forbidden formerly to study a foreign tongue, and made the most of their own. They are prominent, if not predominent, in contemporary literature. More than 30 women, at the head of whom is Madame M’uraski, are writing at the present time. Japan has its women demagogues, and even its advanced women. A Japanese belle is small and very slender, lost in large garments which hide her neck, arms and hands, but not her feet. Little of her face is visible hut her dark eyes, which convey an ineffable smile.

We must certainly congratulate Ourselves on the lovely weather we have had this summer. If there is anything to be complained of it is the exceptional heat we have experienced during the past few weeks. After the arduous household duties have been attended to is it any wonder that all ladies relish a cup of “ Matchless Brand Tea " —it is simply delicious. Samples forwarded to any address. Wardell Bros, and Co.’s complete price list will be found on page 4 of this issue. The Chief Justice has remitted the fine imposed upon Mr J. Hunter for failing to appear when called upon to act as a common juror, it having been shown that Mr Hunt*?)' wag absent from Wellington.