THE GIRLS’ CORNER

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1746, 23 August 1905, Page 28

THE GIRLS’ CORNER

fThe Editor will be pleased to insert results of matches, tournaments, etc., and school and college news will be received with pleasure for publication.! VICTORY. Not to have won the laurels of success Earthbound about her broadest brows of thought; Not to have marched untrampled through the press Which in her market places sold and bought; _ , . , . Not to have won her purest, noblest kiss Of reverential love and spotless name; Not to have sat in any higher seat Nor wrested any of her shronds of Fame, But on her lofty peak, o ’"lowly plain. True to have toiled amid'her sun and storm, - . And woven with her threads of joy and pain The seamless vesture of a god-like form, And to have found the Tree that age has grown Rooted in earth but branching to the ©ky; And, faithful to the vision of the soul, Have eaten of its fruit, to live or die— This is the victory methinks thou'lt prize, This the success that gleams before thine ' eyes. This little poem, written by Mass EL M. Holden, authoress of ‘‘Songs of Dawn" and “Slangs of Christinehas hitherto been unpublished. It was addressed to a friend who, at the time it was written, was engaged in fierce conflict with strong and bitter foes. _ It as an' exquisite little poem and must inspire courage and strength to those whose lives are difficult, and need cheering on life's rough way. PAPER HATS. Paper hats have been quite the rage this season'. They look . delightfully pretty, are light and cool to wear,- and anyone who is clever with -her fingers can make them at a very small expense. The paper used should be the ordinary crinkled paper used for lamp shades, .and you can choose any colour; black, white, pink, pale green, pale blue, primrose, while mauve hats trimmed with violets are among the very smartest. For a toque you will need two roll© of paper, but for a shady hat quite 2£ roll© will be necessary.. “You will also require one or two rolls of millinery wire, according to the shape you choose to copy. Unroll the paper, fold it into four parts so that y-ou can cut four strips at once, cut aoross) the paper in a line with the crinkling. E'ach strip should be about an inch wide. It is better to cut across the paper than to cut it the length of the roll, as otherwise the crinkle is destroyed and the hat is not nearly so pretty. The next thing is to join the lengths. The first three, or if you are making a plait in six, should be cut into different lengths, so that the joins of the strips do not all come together. Join them one at a time in separate places, and these will be hardly visible at all. The new strand should be folded round the end of the old one, with the edges turned in on to the. wrong side, and the two pinned firmly together. As soon as the new strand is firmly plaited in, the pin may be removed. The plaiting may now be done. It can be done in three, six or eight strands. Gather the ends firmly, together and pin them down. A plait in six looks very well indeed, but for a large shady bat, a plait of eight, rgaily looks better. For a plait of three the paper should be cut a little wider. When you have plaited about eight yards of paper you may begin the hat. Turn the beginning of the plait inside, and hide it under the first row of the crown. The hest lesson you can have is to look at one of your old straw hats and see how each round is' sewn firmly on to the edge of each preceding one until the crown is of the size required. I always wire the top of the crown inside when it is finished, as it is then less likely to get out of shape. . Then the rounds for the sides of the crown come next, These are sewn at right angles to the top and two or three rounds will be required. /Finish each round neatly by turning in tbe edges, and again look at your old. straw bat, for another'little object lesson. Tbe brim comes next, which should be made in the same way as the top of - the crown sewing the first round at right angles to the crown. Here again, it is a good plan to wire the bottom of the crown to make the bat firmer. Sew the paper round and round until you get the. hat the width required. If the brim is to be turned up, the neatest way is to make a double brim, that is instead of one plait, to use two, each pair fitting between tbe edges of the preceding pair. Then wire round the brim, and add a last row of plaiting to cover the wire. Then tbe hat is ready to he trimmed any way you wish. In making paper hats there are several things to* he remembered —to cut the paper carefully with smooth edges. Plait evenly, pulling the strands downwards, as this makes a smoother and a firmer plait. TREASURIES OF THE POETS. For a little birthday present or a Christmas gift, there are some beautiful little booklets published by Alfred Broadbent, “Light of Reason" Office, Ilfracombe, Eingland .They are very cheap, only 3£d each by post from England. They are sweet, dainty little books outside, and they wall be appreciated intensely for the delights of their contents. The “Treasury of Consolation" has reached a sale of twentyseven thousand, and the poems it contains are among the most beauffciful and spiritual in the world. At present there are eleven books, but the “Treasury of Consolation*' i© the most popular. The others are “Rose's Diary," “A ‘F estus’ Treasury," “The Mackenzie Bell Treasury," “Treasury of Translations," "An Emerson Treasury," “A Treasury of De-

votional Poems," “A Brotherhood Treasury," “A Whittier Treasury," “A Russell Lowell Treasury," and “A Treasury of Love." Twelve copies will be ©ent post free for 3s. One girl I knew bound some of these books for Christmas presents last year, and very pretty they were. She embroidered violets on white satin and worked “Consolation" across diagonally, bound the book in this with gum, turning in the edges neatly and gumming over the inside of the back a sheet of paper. This made a delightful gift. The “Treasury of Love," she bound in a soft green corded silk embroidered in white snowdrops, while “Rose's Diary," presented to one of her girl friends, was bound in pink course linen worked in cross-stitch design. OCCUPATIONS FOR BLIND GIRLS. It is good news! to hear that blind girls instead of being useless encumbrances to their relatives, can have a thorough training for a career at the Royal Normal College for the Blind, at Upper Norwood, near London. In the report issued by the college, it is to be noted tbat eighty-nine out of every hundred' blind students are enabled to be self-supporting. They become music-teachers, organists, .pianoforte-tuners, many past ©taadents are successful in business, and others have become proficient masseuses, typewriters and some blind pupils have, even taken up farming with success. This is cheery new© for blind girls who may, now, find in their work a continual joy, not to ©peak of the happiness that comes from in dependence. AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIPS, FOR WOMEN. The Society of American Women in London have made a new departure. This society proposes to do for women what the late Mr Cecil Rhodes did for men, in providing them with scholarship© to complete a course at the older Universities of England. They expect to obtain the co-operation of the General Federation of Women's Clubs in America, of which the membership is about 700,000. They hope to be able to send two women from each State for a year, thus making 92 American women in the Universities to absorb that learning and culture which has been the glory of the British race for the past 500 years. The two system© of American and English University life have many points of difference and a year at Girton or Newnham for an American girl wonld be of inestimable value to her. Similarly English girl© would gain equal advantage in a year's course at an American college. In any case the taking and giving what each needs will benefit the race, bringing both countries into nearer touch, until England and America become a Power to dominate the world. A RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS. The words of the late Professor Drummond, if faithfully followed and adhered to, will prove the best recipe for a happy life. “I shall pass this way but once; any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it, or neglect it, for I ©hall not pass this way again." I recommend all girls to copy this out in clear letters and pin it to the wall or place it in a conspicuous place on the dreasing-table for instance, a© a constant reminder. It is a very high aim to try to be always a source of pleasure to other people, and it is not only a high endeavour but the only way of bringingtrue happiness to ourselves. MANNERS AND GIRLS. The girl of 1905 is free to come and go as she will, but she has lost something of that gentleness which we associated with girls a generation or two back in those days of great restraint, although we are spared the “languid gentility” which masqueraded as refinement then. The standpoint of girls now-a-days is “How much pleasure can I take?" rather than “How much can I give?" and this is much to be regretted. There are the giggling girls who whisper vulgar little criticisms about their mother's guests, who live in a crowd, talk of the crowd, and imitate their manners. There is the athletic girl with a boisterous greeting, who grips your hand like a hockey stick, and nods familiarly to you, and j t ou find her conversation is entirely about her games. She can talk nothing else. She thinks feminine traits are idiotic and has the rough manners of a boy. At any rate she is honest, and has no parlour tricks and is very mueffimore pleasant to meet than the sniggering miss, although she thinks a “score" the most important thing in the world. Another trial is the prig who thinks the opinions of those at home “out of date" or “narrow." She thinks that her “vocation" is anything but the duty that lies near to hand, and although she reads books by the score, she never learns enough to make her sympathetic. It is so easy to point out types of girls and their defects, but hoAV difficult to point the remedy. Perhaps we shall do a little if we admit that the secret of (true womanliness is to be rich in human sympathy. So cultivate this sympathy for those round you and you will escape the modern tendencies which I have noted, and above all try to carry out the recipe fo “happiness hy Professor Drummond, and don't forget what Rusrkin said, “Wherever a true wife comes, home is always round her." ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. M.G. (Wellington).—A good cold cream recipe for which you ask is:—Put into a close vessel two ounces of oil of almonds, half an ounce of spermaceti, and half an ounce of white wax. Set the vessel in a saucepan of boiling water, and when the ingredients are thoroughly melted beat them with two fiablespoonsful of rose water until cold. Keep in a tight box. I have always found this an excellent

cold cream and it is much esteemed in! Paris. C.S.: (Pctone).—For blackheads I should use the following lotion:—Carbonate of magnesia and zinc oxide, each on© drachm, rose water four ounces. Thi# should be shaken and mopped on the ©pots. Cleanliness will keep therm away unless you live in a smoky neighbourhood, _ which evidently you do not. Yon ought to wash, your face once a day in warm water, preferably at night, but a cold icy sponging in the morning keeps the skin in a healthy, condition and gives you a fresh colour. A.D. (Levin). —No, I do not think you too old yet to wear the sailor style, a pleated skirt and a sailor blouse always look well, I do think you are joung for stocks and high collars. You could wear the wide flat turn-over collars of linen or silk cut like a boys Eton collar, with a tie and belt to match. Your dresses should reach to the calf of the leg, but your sister's skirts should end at the top of her shoes. A tall girl of fifteen looks better in a skirt made ankle length. Nothing looks worse than to see a tall girl in short skirts, it is silly.