LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1855, 10 June 1887, Page 33

LADIES' GOSSIP.

To Make Batter, take |lb of flour. Put into the flour' the yolk of one egg and blend it with a spoon ; put in loz (or a tablespoonful) of sugar, and add very gradually, stirring meanwhile, enough milk to make a nice batter, and beat it well against the side of the basin with a spoon ; , then beat the white of the egg and add it to the batter and toss it lightly among the mixture so as not to beat the white of the egg to water.

— The London World says that Lady Rose- ' bery's diamonds caused quite a sensation at the Calcutta State ball last month, at which were present many distinguished visitors. It is presumed that little or no attention was paid to ' the lady herself. That is \ the mistake that people make sometimes in over-decorating — Showy dressing among church-goers comes in for a sharp rebuke by the Baptist ' Weekly. It says:— "Aside from the un- . seemly vanity it suggests, and which .does not accord with the spirit of worship, it not only tends to distract the attention of others, but to excite feelings of envy and emulation under circumstances the' most criminal and cruel. To a greater or less extent, all gay and extravagant dressing is prompted by ore or the other' of these personal considerations. To indulge such feel- " ings under any circumstances is a manifest impropriety, but to do so in connection J with religious services is shockingly sinful."

— In Paris young women students , are numerous (most of them Russians), and generally poor, so they club' together and put their resources], into a common fund. One room is used as a dpmitoryj another , as a study, &c, and a single cook does for all.

— The Chinese Minister at Washington, one of the richest men of his race 1 / ' recently took' with him to a photographer jewels worth 1,000,000d0l and a dozen changes of costume, and had himself taken in' different positions. , — At a recent aristocratic carnival ball at Vienna the toilets of the 120 ladies who formed the cortege represented a value of £50,000, the value of the diamonds "worn being from £100,000 to £500,000.

—The Queen of Italy wore a dress of quite exceptional magnificence at the first court ba}l at the Quirinal Palace. It was of sky blue silk, ' brocaded all over with silver "flowers. The front of the underskirt was decorated with folds ' of lace, and a diamond belt, which fell in front, was contrived so that it was caught and held by these folds. The Queen wore ' shoes to correspond of sky ,blue, embroidered wi^h silver. Her hair was high, and she had on her famous diadem of diamonds, while round her neck she woro veritable " ropes of pearls." , ,— A returned missionary from India say» that during 10 yeadF she ,neve*r saw * Hindoo child receive a caress from its mother. :

— This strange and touching episode in the lite of. the late English poet Jr Philip Bourke Marston, is recalled: Blind from boyhood, when he was still a young man he became engaged to a beautiful young lady, and the time of their wedding was near at hand. They were together in the parlour one day. Suddenly he noticed that she no, longer spoke to him. He called' her but there was no reply. He groped about the * room in search of her, found her on the sofa and put his hand upon.her face,, only to find ' that she was dead.

— I learn, says a London correspondent, that an uncle of Lady Kandolph Churchill in • California — not the Mr Saul Jerome 'whose fortune has alreadyrichlyi endowed, both : her '

and her sisters—has- left her a legacy of £50,000. Her visit to America is due to a recommendation on the part of her New York solicitors that phe should change the present ' investment of this sum. It is . a current report in Conservative society that the Hon. Q. N. Curzon, who; is now one of the rising hopes of the Tory parby, is about to marry a cousin of Lady Randolph, a young lady of 17.

; — Eomantic weddings are frequent enough nowadays, , but years ago might .not have been so common. An anecdote is told of Dean, Swift, who,, being overtaken by a thunderstorm - one day, took shelter under a tree, where he found a party of young girls, waiting for the storm to cease. One girl was weeping, and the Dean learned that she was on her way to church to marry a young » man who was with her. <" Never mind, I'll marry you," said the Dean, and took up his prayer-book, and then and there performed the ceremony, and to make the thing complete, he tore, a leaf from his pocket-book, and with his pencil wrote and signed a certificate, and handed it to the bride. It was as follows : — Under a tree, in stormy weather, > I married this man and woman together ; Let none but Him who rules the thunder Sever this man and woman asunder.

— Fashionable babies are christened at home nowadays, says a New York paper. The other afternoon at 4 o'clock sharp a number of ladies and gentlemen of the ton were gathered in an up-town drawing room. In the centre of the salon stood a small table, decorated with smilax and white rosebuds, and bearing a repousse silver bowl. The clergyman and the god-parents took their places"; the door opened and a bustling personage -in stiff black silk appeared, bearing a bundle of white lace and a very large white satin sash, somewhere in the folds of which was hidden the extremely small red specimen who was about to renounce the pomps and vanities of this wicked world. After the ceremony the little Christian disappeared and the doors were thrown open for the slight refreshment demanded at that hour.

— The etiquette in the best old families of France as regards young girls is very strict, says a foreign correspondent. ' At 17 they begin to be seen at their mothers' "at homes," but at 18 only they make their debut into society, beginning with the opera, Lenten receptions, and what are now generally called dais blancs. The French girl never has any cards of her own ; when she is what we call "out," her name is written below her mother's. The letters addressed to her are always delivered first to her parent's hands, who passes them to her open or unopened, as she thinks fit. She wears no jewels beyond one row of pearls round her neck. She rides early before the fashionable hour at the Bois, escorted by her father ; her brother may take her out driving, and she is even permitted now to take the reins, a liberty which 10 years ago would hay« stamped her as outrageously fast. French girls of almost any rank, including the bourgoise, never walk out alone. They marry young, presumably before 20.

— Combinations still predominate largely for promenade costumes, and the following is a specimen gown which furnishes the theme for, numerous variations. A skirt of heliotrope cloth not hemmed at the lower edges, but turned to form a sort of roll a trifle loose, beneath which, and extending beyond it for about 2in, is a narrow plaiting of the cloth. Kilts above this on each side of the skirt graduate to a deep Vandyke, at the extreme point of which are fastened careless easy bows of lilac and heliotrope picot velvet ribbon. The overdress of a soft sheer wool, in blocks of several violet shades, on a ground of pale dove gray, is simply raised in washerwoman style on tho sides, uncovering the front of the skirt, but hanging to almost an equal length with the skirt in the back. The jacket corsage is of the same fabric as the overskirt, opening over a vest of the violet cloth on an appliqued fabric of the same material. This tailor-made basque is snort, neat, and jaunty in effect. Nothing much simpler than this toilet could be devised, and certainly nothing more essentially Parisian and tasteful to its minutest details. Almost any modiste can concoct a complicated toilet, but few, and those only the most skilful, are capable of completing a gown that shall be at once simple, elegant, and irreproachable.

— Miss Annie Eandall, of Pennsylvania, who was married' lately, received enough silverware in presents to furnish a dozen houses. The enumeration of them takes up threequarters of a column in a local paper, and among the names of donors are many senators representatives, and other men with national reputation. It is noticeable that as a rule the biggest man. gave the smallest present. There were 160 gifts, among which were fjoo-^i nnd several other smaller gifts of cjisli ; .i .i •• onyx clock, three solid silver service*, two lamps, seven sets of spoons — tea, coffee, and dessert— and no less than 27 separate spoons, for sugar, salad, berries, &c, while there were knives, forks, ladles, china, cut-glass, screens, ' fans, and other little momentoes, useful and ornamental in great profusion. It is doubtful' if Mrs Cleveland herself received as many wedding presents as did the daughter of the Pennsylvania statesman.

— All the personal effects of the late Mrs Stewart, widow of the millionaire, were about to be sold at last adyjpes. Mrs Stewart, although past eighty, was so well preserved both as to figure and her delicate pink and white complexion that she indulged her love of dress without incurring ridicule. An evening gown of the palest pink, cut low and trimmed with garnet velvet and the most exquisite lace, is only one of many similar dresses. A fine collection of wigs of a delicate auburn tinge, heaps of the costliest laces, piles of silk stockings, and 40,000d0l worth of jewellery are among the articles for sale. Bidding is restricted to friends and relatives.

Old Bedsteads.

During the Middle Ages beds were made of coarse canvas and filled with straw or leaves. These could be opened and the litter f re-made daily, as is the custom to-day with the mattresses in the old-fashioned inns of France and Italy. In the time of Chaucer'

we are told! that :-r-" As, a, general thine, the young men of (the house .and' the guests slept' on benches in, the . great hall^ where woollen coverlets and blankets were provided for warmth. , Servants, and attendants slept upon the floor. >? . Later on, in , the time of the ,Tudors,- the. "four-post" bedstead, an immense .piece of 'furniture having a canopy supported at each corner by the posts, became, the fashionable sleeping-couch. On some of the earlier bedsteads the columns tef minated with figures representing the four evangelists. t In ai mediaeval ballad there, is mention made of ".the four, gospellers on the four pillars, and heads of angels all of one mould." ■

Latest Home Fashions.

Amongst. those trifling details which every now and then are adopted for a brief while and then entirely forsaken is the fashion of wearing a lace-trimmed handkerchief tucked under the edge of the basque bodice, just a corner or two visible. Handkerchiefs are very much en evidence just now, but none are tucked inside the bosom of the dress as heretofore. It was not an elegant fashion at any time.' If not carried under the jacket, 1 pockets are made either' on the basque itself or on the left side of the bodice above the breast. Manufacturers are making a large number of coloured cambric handkerchiefs, aud ladies are careful they should match the colour of the gown. Pink-spotted tulle veils are patronised by some ladies. They are more becoming to the complexion than the vivid red nets which on some faces gave the appearance of a scarlet rash breaking out upon the face. Even those who had florid complexions aften offended good taste by wearing red-spotted veils'. Indeed good taste,' as the boys say, was not in it, for it always protested against this unbecoming fashion.

Dressmakers are making our gowns inconveniently tight. " Tight as wax," is the expression they use, and verily one's bodice might be a straight waistcoat, so much does it confine the arms. To lift them to one's head is, under present circumstances, impossible. Lace will enter largely into the trimming of all gowns this season. One firm of makers in London recently bought £50,000 worth of lace, and is sanguine of realising a round sum by its ready sale. Silk is to be very popular ; that is a generic term for all the makes that are known as "moire," "brocade," "faille," "peau de soi," " merveilleux," and so on, in endless variety. It is devoutly to be hoped that the manufacturers have had an eye to their own personal interests as well as to ours, and have given us pure silk, even at increased cost, rather than a mixture that caused the silk to cut in the disastrous fashion before people grew tired of buying such very unsatisfactory material. I am afraid it is useless to hope they have discovered a means to prevent the shine, which was another fault complained of . A manufacturer once told me the inventor of a cure for it would be the richest man in the world.

I fear trains are likely to be worn again. I am aware that they add to the elegance of the wearer's movements in a room, but I have not forgotten the nuisance they were in the streets when long dresses were worn years ago. When I was a child the dress skirts were very wide, and the modistes were accustomed to place inside them a curious arrangement for lifting the dress to a walking length ; it was constructed somewhat on the plan used for drawing up Venetian blinds. The dress was festooned, thus making the petticoat visible. This las,t-memtioned part of woman's apparel was thought as much of as the dress itself. White petticoats, tucked and embroidered, were universally worn in the summer season, and very nice they looked when fresh from the laundry, but their frequent visits to that abode of soapsuds rendered their use expensive unless got up at home. Dress sleeves are to reach, to the wrist, so that pretty arms disappear from view. Those who are not endowed by nature with white, well-shaped arms will be glad of this concession to their needs. Fashion always favours her votaries in their turn. Stripes are in the ascendant, if we may judge ' by the number of striped materials we see in the shops. Narrow ribbons play an important part in the evening dresses of young girls. . Gauze and crepe dresses are literally covered with ribbons, satin, or moire ; knots of these arranged in diagonal or perpendicular lines form their sole trimming, and make a very pretty garment. I hear that shoes to match ball gowns are no longer en regie. Bronze or black kid only are in future to be worn.

Though fashionable women have for some time past worn gloves which left much of the arm uncovered, those sold for ,her Majesty's drawing room, were exceptionally long, some quite a yard and a quarter in length. They were " mousqnetaire " in shape, but made of fine white kiu. A present of gloves is always acceptable, anil I quite envied the lady mayoress when I heard the master and wardens of the Glovers' Company begged her ladyship's acceptance of 24 pairs of the first quality of undressed (Suede) gloves of 20-button length., The gift was enclosed in Bussian leather casket with silver mount-ings.-^Sbuth Australian Chronicle' correspondent.

HOME INTERESTS.

Pastry fob Tarts, &c.— Take of flour lib ; baking powder, three teaspoonfuls ; butter, 6oz; water, enough to bring it to the consistence required

Baked Indian Pudding.— Nine tablespoonfuls of cornflour to three pints of milk, sweetened with one cup of sugar or molasses ; three eggs ; a lump of butter the size of a hen's egg ; flavour with cinnamon ; scald one pint of milk, stir the meal into another, and stir this into the boiling milk ; then add Hihe third pint, cold. Pour all into a pudding dish, and bake slowly two hours.

Excellent paste for fruit or meat pics may be made with two-thirds of wheat flour, onethird of flour of boiled potatoes," and some butter or dripping ; the whole being brought to a proper consistence with warm water, and a small quantity of yeast or baking powder added when lightness is desired. This will also make very pleasant cakes for

breakfast, and may be.made' with or without spices, fruits, &c. . ,

Potato Sotjfflee. — Bake six potatoes until they are done; cut them in ; two, length: wise, and scoop out the potato with a spoon, without breaking the shells ; add half a cupful of warm .milk, one tablespoonful of melted butter ; salt and pepper to taste ; beat the white of one egg, and add half of it to the mixture. Fill the 12 pieces or shells, and put the rest of the white of an egg on the top of them, and set them in the oven until brown.

Apple Pudding. — Peel and core a dozen and a-half of good apples ; cut them small ; put them into a stewpan with a little water, cinnamon, two cloves, and the peel of a lemon; stew over a slow fire till soft; sweeten with 'moist sugar, and pass it through' a hair sieve; add,- : the yolks of four eggs and one white, £lb good butter, half a nutmeg, the peel of a lemon grated, and the juice of * one lemon ; beat well together ; line the inside of a pie dish with good puff paste, put in the pudding, and bake half an hour.