WOMAN'S WORLD.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10671, 21 January 1911, Page 4 (Supplement)

WOMAN'S WORLD.

In Japan. In Japan it is considered complimentary to tell a lady that she looks older than she is. That is taken to mean that she must have lived long to have acquired so much culture, knowledge, and all the things .that make for distinction.

The Coming of Grey Hairs;

One cause of fading hair is said to be too little sleep. If the hair is showing signs of turning color, reform should be made in, the sleeping hours, and an extra sixty minutes secured, preferably at the beginning of the night. Simple, nourishing food is another remedy which is prescribed. This is ordered to take the place of unwholesome dinners with highly seasoned French courses.

The Sensible Girl,

The smart girl prefers a strong, wellcut skirt to a piece of cheap jewellery. Smartness of dress does not .consist in a huge hat and a toby frill. The girl who can look smart at the end of a long railway journey will look smart throughout' all the troubles of life. All workers get tired and weary at times, but it is the smart girl who keeps the tired expression out of her face.

A Lasting Influence,

Visitors to the Mosque of St. Sophia in Constantinople notice immediately they enter a beautiful fragrance pervading the entire building. The solution lies in the fact, says the Sunday at Home, that when it was years ago, the stones and bricks were laid in mortar mixed with a solution of musk. -'•• Those who laid these stones have been long forgotten, but the influence and fragrance of their work remains.

Kissing Tolstoy's Crave.

Tolstoi's grave -at Yasna Poliana. is. likely to become one of the chief places of pilgrimage hi the Empire, says the Moscow correspondent of the Mail. Since the funeral large numbers of peasants arrive therey daily. . They come mostly on foot, and many are now on the way there, tramping from places far, distant. At.the grave many, hundreds may be-seen on ;their knees chanting and kissing the'soil. The pilgrims are allowed "to..'pass' through the rooms, which Tolstoi occupied, where nothing has been disturbed.... ._,..;

The fHobble: Skirt,

Can anyone doubt, asks a writer in a French newspp.;ju7 that the ladies of Jerusalem in Biblical times were impeded'in theiY walk like the ladies of to-day. In the latter part of the thirdchapter of the Prophecy of Isaiah, says the writer, wc get a glimpse of how these daughters of Sion- dressed on gala occasions. We learn from a passage in the.Talmud that the robes of-the ladies were so tight that they -could only walk with short' steps. By w .this means a greater opportunity was afforded to their admirers ttT'observte them. The suggestion evidently' that the hobble skirt was in vogue in' very far-away times.

Waifs,

To those unacquainted with Hungary it. may come as a surprise, says the Lancet, to find existing in that cduiitry a. system of public care for destitute children conceived in a spirit above anything as yet achieved in England. The children who are not invalided or otherwise disqualified are boarded out as soon as possible. This is effected in selected villages under selected fosterparents without regard to locality of birth or distance. The executive in each centre supervises the colonierstrictly, and provides carefully for tliv future" of each child on his discharge from tutelage. Each child's medical history furnishes not only statements as to such ordinary points as insanity or

tuberculosis, but contains remarks as to hereditary neurasthenia, perhaps the first official recognition of "Weary Willie" as an hereditary factor in the State.

To Tax Oats,

It is announced that the municipality of Paris propose to put a tax on cats. The tax is to be Is 8d a year. A meeting of the Society for the Protection of Animals has been called to consider the question, and several resolutions of indignant protest are to be moved. One of the democratic, leagues has also decided to protest on the ground that the tax on cats is, or would be, entirely anti-democratic, for there would be no means of arriving at a fair apportionment between the £SO Angora prize-cat and the tabby mice hunter, which is kept in every restaurant and grocer's shop.

The Hand Losing Its Cunning,

A French paper fears that' we are in danger of losing the \ise of our hands. The:theory is ,that our hands in effect become less cunning and adroit through our availing ourselves of every mechanical appliance at our disposal. In times past women were skilful embroiderers and workers of lace, but the sewing- machine has deteriorated the work of the hands and fingers, because, in the case of the mercenary worker, it renders a better return for her labor. By degrees the hands become stubborn, and in time, says the authority before cited, there will be nothing for the ten fingers to do.

Expensive Gins

According to the New York Sun the girl of the family is the most expensive item in. the American household. The extravagance of the fashionable mother seems to know no bounds where her daughters are concerned. From the age of eighteen months to seven years about £l5O a year is spent on clothes, this sum not including furs, a set of which would be provided one or twice in the five and a-half years. As much as £66 is paid for a winter fur coat and muff for a child of five years old. Between the ages of seven and fourteen a girl's wardrobe is .calculated to cost her parents £IOOO. Five complete outfits are usually necessary in that time, while the expense may be considerably more if a great deal of entertaining takes place. When a debutante is finally launched, the first year is regarded as the most expensive of all. There is her trousseau as a "bud." There may also be her trousseau as a bride. But in addition to frocks and parties, amusements and sport increase the expenses. A 1 girl expects her pony-cart and a groom. Saddle horses, riding lessons, an automobile, a finishing trip to Europe, as well as expensive lessons in singing or the piano from some celebrated musician, still further "augment the cost of a daughter' to an absurd degree.' ■ '

Recipes and Hints,

Stewed Fish and Onions. —Required: A Spanish onion, £oz butter, pepper 'and salt, boiled rice, tomato sauce, pieces of fish. Thinly, slice a Spanish onion and fry it in butter without letting it take color; add somo pieces of white fish free from skin and bone, and flavor with the tomato sauce. Shake the saucepan over the fire till the fish is quite hot. season with pepper-and salt, and serve in a border of nicely boiled rice. Braised Ox-Tail. —Required: 1 ox-tail, jVoz butter or dripping, 2 carrots, a turnip, an onion, pieces of streaky bacon, -1 pint good stock, pickled walnut. Thoroughly soak and wash the tail, and cut it into joints. Melt a piece of butter in a stewpau, and fry the pieces in it till nicely browned. Cut the vegetables in slices and place in a <:tc«Ti:i!!. and on this put the bacon and, ]:"t'y. the meat. Pour over all one pint of good stock, and braise as slowly as possible till .the meat is cooked thoroughly, whicfi will take two hours.

Arrange the joints of ox-tail on a Lot dish, strain the gravy, thicken it, and pour over. Garnish the whole -with a little pickled walnut, and serve. Leslie Tart. —Required: Short crust, 2oz breadcrumbs, 4oz golden syrup, lemon peel, and juice. Lino an open •tart tin with some short crust, and fill it with the breadcrumbs, treacle, and grated lemon-rind, and the juice of half the lemon. Stir the mixture together thoroughly. Bake in a quick oven for 15 minutes and just before serving lightly press leaves of baked pastry on the treacle mixture as a garnish. Custard Apple Tart. —Required: lib sliced apples, sugar, and a few cloves, i pint milk, 1 egg, 1 teasponful flour, 1 sponge cake, a little butter. Stew "the apples with sugar and lemon-peel or a few cloves. When cold place in a piedish and pour slowly over it a. boiled custard made of the egg and milk. Lightly place on this sufficient slices of thin sponge cake to cover it. Put over the sponge cake a few bits of butter and bake till lightly browned. Serve hot or cold. Shortbread Biscuits. —Mix together in a basin ilb flour, Jib rice flour, 2 or 3oz castor sugar, and a pinch of salt. Rub gently into this a gib fresh butter. Slightly beat an egg and mix with it a tablespoonful cream. Pour this into the shortcake mixture and stir it in with a knife. Finally knead with the hand to a soft paste. Turn the paste on to a floured" /board and roll out to the thickness of half an inch. Cut into various .shapes, ornament, and bake very'slowly/ Store in airtight tins. Ginger Shortcakes. —Rub half a pound of fresh butter into a nound of fine, dry flour, to which a pinch of salt, half a pound of caster sugar, a small teaspoonful of baking powder, and .three, of ground ginger'have been a<3ded. Mix into a paste with two or three beaten eggs, according to size. Roll out the paste on a well-floured board till it is quite thin. Cut _ into shapes with cutters and bake in a slow oven. ' Shortcake Bicotins.—Make a quantity of the foregoing little shortcakes, flavoring half with ground ginger and half; with caraway seeds. Form the latter into sandwich shape, using a filling "of jam mixed with thick cream. For the sandwich.bicotins flavored with ginger "use a filling of chopped preserved ginger mixed with a small quantity of syrup and cream. Serve on a lacepaper .'-d'oylejr. :; When cooking onions set a tin cup of vinegar on the stove and let it boil; no-disagreeable odor will then be in the room. If a saucepan be burnt rub with a damp cloth dipped, in fine ashes, or a:damp cloth dipped in coarse salt will have the same effect. : 'lf you suffer ' from cold feet try placing a bolster at the foot of the bed. This works wonderfully. All the" cold air is kent out and the result is a comfortable, "warm bed. ; 'Never use a metal spoon ior. stirring tomatoes or stewed fruit, as unwholesome; matter immediately forms. Use instead a wooden one with a short handle, or one of white enameL -.'■■-: Parcels Wrapper.—A cloth wrapper exceUehd thing whem the package is to go a • long distance and stands a Tchahce of having a paper wrapper torn before reaching -its destination. Unbleached muslin is-a good covering ".'■'■- It should he made in the form of .a bag., '.Write-- the address in pen and ink," slip hi the parcel and sew up the open end with strong thread, in an '■- overcast stitch. ; Guest Towels—When, providing towels for the guest room, use-them until they have lost some «f that uncomfortable stiffness which; many of us remember -to have experienced when visiting. Tinned Goods. —It is absolutely dangerous to open a tin of food and leave it in the tin until all is finished, because the air acts upon metal containing moisture. Every cook knows it is impossible to leave soup in a tin or iron saucepan; the same knowledge applies to moist food left in any metal vessel. The fact that it is the custom to leave sardines in the tin is that the food is protected by the oil in which it is preserved.