NOTES FOR WOMEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21300, 2 April 1931, Page 21

NOTES FOR WOMEN.

By Phillida.

SMALL DINING ROOMS Au example of what may be accomplished by making good use of limited interior space was afforded in the dining room of a London West End flat described in an oversea exchange. The smallest room in the flat, measuring only nine feet by eight, was selected for dining in because it was felt that better use could be made of larger apartments if they were equipped as a lounge, reception room, and bedrooms. To make of this a really liveable interior was no simple problem, especially as it was necessary to provide seating accommodation for six people. The decorator has successfully surmounted all the difficulties by having all the equipment built in. Even the pedestal dining table is immovably fixed to the floor. Against one wall and part of two other walls is a semi-circular built-in seat which is just sufficient for the six diners. The table itself is also approximately semicircular in plan, or, to be more exact, it resembles the obtuse end of an oval. It is fitted with a plate glass top. All service is done from the straight side of the table on the right, and against the wall opposite to this is an excellent built-in sideboard. This sideboard, while occupying extremely little space, gives as much and even more accommodation than the ordinary movable sideboard, which is generally very bulky. This built-in sideboard has four capacious cupboards, and there is an ingenious arrangenient of tiered shelves with surfaces equivalent to three side tables. The wall above is fitted with a fairly large mirror, which improves the light and gives an illusion of greaterspaciousness. In modernising the interior the walls have been lined entirely with Italian walnut plywood, and the built-in furniture is constructed,of similar timber. The carpet is a brown Axminster. fitted flush with the walls, and the curtains are a rich green silk with an applique band of gold. The ceiling also is in green oil paint. The method chosen for the artificial lighting is rather unusual. In each of the fou r corners is a quarter column, and instead of these being surmounted with the conventional decorative capitals, each has three opaque glass panels through which the light is distributed. The effect somewhat resembles that of miniature lighthouses. The quarter columns box in the wiring, and as the light is sent out from each corner of the room it is very evenly distributed, and the complete absence of disagreeable shadows is a result. THE USEFUL HINT. ' When an unrolled umbrella stands in a crowded rack it foretells a cover soon to be torn. A patch of court plaster applied betimes to the inside of a leaky umbrella suggests a dry hat in the next shower. A leather loop round the wrist is better than an umbrella in the lost property office! An umbrella open indoors used to be a sign of ill-luck. If the umbrella be wet it signifies to-day that its owner has the good sense to dry it before putting it away. Frame joints brushed occasionally with an oily feather indicate long life to the umbrella; but too much oil is the forerunner of a stained cover! An umbrella left to drain on its head instead of its foot implies an owner who objects to rust and to damp-rotted covers. A silk-cover umbrella that exactly tones with its owner’s mackintosh indicates a girl with a pride in her wetweather appearance. The odd masculine umbrella languishing in the hall shows that somebody borrowed an umbrella weeks ago—and forgot all about returning it! If your ferrule sticks out at a rakish angle under your arm beware of an irate man with a blackened eye! Add a little lemon juice to stewed apples. It not only improves the colour, but flavour as well. To render boots and shoes waterproof, rub a little mutton suet round the edges of the soles. . , , If an egg and a little milk are used instead of water when making pastry, you will find a great improvement in the crust. Powdered starch, if applied at once, will take out almost any stain from table linen. Mustard made with milk will not turn the spoons black, and, mixed with vinegar, it lias a delightful taste aud makes a nice change. , , , .. Salt rubbed on the hands and on the knife after peeling onions will remove the smell. PERVERSNESS OF WOMAN. Fifteen hundred years ago a Shah held sway over Persia whose name was Bahrain' Gor, writes F. G.W., in an English paper. . . , , . , Everybody in Persia praised him, declaring him to be a very mightly hunter indeed—everybody, that is, except his favourite harp-player, a bewitching beauty called Azada. She would not believe the tales that were told of his magic with the bow and arrow until she had seen proof of it with her own eyes. “ Let me be with you at the hunt, my lord,” she urged, “ and let my eyes follow the flight of your keen arrows.” She pleaded so persistently, and withal so sweetly, that he at last granted her deTbe story of what happened at the hunt has been pictured by Persian artists almost since the day that Azada had her wish. It has been painted exquisitely on fragile pottery, woven into the designs of marvellously beautiful carpets, used, xn fact, in every form of Persian art. Nowhere is it more delightfully illustrated than on two twelfth-century plates, included in the American collections lent to the Exhibition of Persian Art at the Royal Academy. Every woman who secs these plates wants to know the story that lies behind the quaint design. Bahrain Gor is depicted mounted on a camel, with Azada riding pillion behind him. The tale of what befell during their expedition was told to me by Dr Phyllis Ackerman, who is the wife of Professor Arthur Upham Pope, director of the exhibition. Dr Ackerman has expert knowledge of Persian art, and has travelled in many parts of the world with her husband securing the loan of all kinds of treasures for the exhibition. “As they rode along.” she told me, “they saw a gazelle. Drawing his bow, Bahrain Go r let loose an arrow which pierced the animal’s ear. He explained to Azada that this was just to tickle the gazelle. “Now, watch! ’ he commanded. As he spoke the gazelle put up a foot to scratch the irritated ear, and at that moment the Shah shot another arrow which pinned tiie foot. “He turned with a proud smile to Azada, expecting her admiration, but she was furious. ‘ Oh, you are cruel, cruel, to hurt such a beautiful little animal so! ’ she cried, and scolded him for soverel minutes without stopping; “ Bahrain Gor also grew furious, and when at last he could get a word in lie shouted: ‘I wish by all that’s sacred that I hadn’t brought you with me. I ought to have expected this sort of thing.’ ”