DOCTORS AND SEWING MACHINES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1189, 12 September 1874, Page 21

DOCTORS AND SEWING MACHINES.

We think the sewing machine is the greatest ameliorator of the condition of woman that ever was invented. It has done' more to free an entire Bex from the slavery bf the needle than anything else could possibly do. -Yet ' doctors denounce it purely upon principles of medical logic, and say that it is injurious to ' female health. But it enables her to do in two hours the necessary work which she could not do in less than twelve hours with the needle. Unless, therefore, doctors are. prepared to say that woman takes more injury from two hours at the sewing machine than she receives from twelve hours at the needle, ' \ their diatribes against this household blessing go for nothing. m m It is the custom in the Basque Provinces ■ for the female chief mourners and nearest relatives to wear a long black hooded cloak. A fall of lace round the hood varies in depth according to the wealth of the owner. If the mourner should be too poor to possess one of these cloaks, it is usual to borrow one for the occasion, and hence arises the curious custom of the black cloak being worn by a healthy peasant bride at her wedding, to show that she can afford to have one of her own. It entirely conceals both face and figure, and the prettiest young bride cannot be distinguished from au elderly woman, when seen in the marriage procession or kneeling at the altar. During the marriage ceremony, a white scarf is thrown round the shoulders of the bridegroom, its other end being fastened on the head of the bride, and this is not removed until the nuptial benediction has ocen pronounced. The bride is greeted by the firing pf guns and pistols on her way to and from church. The Duke of Edinburgh's wedding-cake plateau Avas exhibited some time since in Wolverhampton, where it has been made. It is silver-gilt, and has a massive look. It presents the appearance of a model of the Colosseum, mounted by ornaments after the manner of pinnacles. It is surrounded at the base by bouquet holders and Parian figures of the seasons bearing fruit-stands. It is sixteen inches high, and over two feetin diameter at the base, and weighs 84 lbs. The top of the cake, when on the plateau, will be nine feet high. It is conical in form, and beautifully decorated with Cupids, flowers, &c. Surmounting the cake is a figure of "Flora," the anchor, symbolical of the Duke's crest, the arms of Russia, and the motto, "Happiness and Prosperity," occupying conspicuous p jsitions on the ornamental pile. One of the evening dresses made for the Grand Duchess Marie is of sky-blue satin, with a deep flounce, reaching nearly to the knee, of silver net. The 'tunic, composed entirely of silver net of the lightest and most delicate fabric, is turned black a /« Venitienne, the facings of pale lemon coloured faille, and bordered by a glittering fringe of silver. Another dress is of pearl grey velvet, embroidered a la hussard in silver, with one silver epaulette, from which depends a thick

silver cord, which, passing under the arm, is fastened on the bosom by a large oval ornament of polished silver, somewhat larger than a brooch, and highly wrought with talismanic devices. A man talking to a woman irrationally concludes that he must adopt quite a different tone to that which he would take if he were conversing with a being of the same gender as himself, He is uncertain as to what vein he should strike, and it is this uncertainty which so often brings him to grief. Vapid small-talk is invariably his sheet-anchor, and as the conventional small-talk of to-day is rather calculated to keep people asunder than to bring them togetlier.it is not surprising that she to whom it is addressed does not warmly respond to his overtures. His miserable string of trite compliments exhausted, and he having nothing further to say upon things in general and the state of the barometer and the thermometer in particular, the position in which he is placed is, indeed, a pitiable one. By the way, what an infliction it must be for any sensible woman to listen to half the clumsy flattery which is addressed to her by unhappy wretches who are literally saturated with the idea that it/ is their duty to praise her in as many neat and pretty figures of speech as their muddled brains can coin. It is bad enough for her to hear these things from noodles who blunder owing to their ignorance ; it is almost intolerable for her to listen to i hem when they are addressed to her by men old enough to know better, and who evMently take great pride in exhibiting their folly, An odd form of bonnet or hat i 9 being introduced by the milliners called the " Russian." It is something like a Glengarry in shape, and is made of velvet trimmed with fur or grebe. An aigrette made of feathers ornaments the front, held by a huge oxydised silver buckle, and a Urge knot of velvet, with flowing ends, takes the place of the ribbons at the back. Young ladies wear this curious head-dress as a hue merely fastened v> i with the \isual elastic. Older ones add a pair of strings with laoe edges, which mikes a bonnet of it at once.