LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2014, 29 September 1892, Page 42

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— Miss Tait, daughter of the late Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the heroines of English society, devotes her whole life to the poor of London. Though possessing a comfortable independence, she has chosen to make her home in one of the poor streets in the vicinity of the old ecclesiastical palace at Lambeth which used to be the official residence of her distinguished father. There is no woik which sle considers as too menial for her bands to f3o, provided it. lifts a little tbe burdeo from the poor, sic*, and aged.

— The height of a person with a " perfect figure" should bs exactly eqaal to the distauce between tho tips of tbe middle fingers of either band when the arms are fully extended. Tea tjnif s the length of the hand,' or seven and a-balf times the length of the toot, or fiva times the diameter of tho chest from one armpit to the other, should also give the height of the whole body. The distance from the junction of the thighs to the

magnificence. When she died the largest of the stones were sold singly; but the necklace without them was so valuable that Messrs Tiffany bought it for LI 5,000. —In France and Germany girls are always dowered. In Germany, the thing is largely done by matrimonial associations. Daring a girl's childhood, her parent's pay a small sum monthly to an association; when the girl is able to earn money, she keeps up the payments; and when she marries, she is entitled to draw from tbe association a stipulated sum by way of dowry. The sum is small, but Germany is a poor country ; and a girl who haß LIOO of her own is eligible among bachelors in her own walk of life, Xn Francs, tbe dot is still more universal. A' man who marries a girl without a dot is held to be doing something exceptionally noble. In fact, examples of such sacrifice of interest to love rarely ccenr. From the highest to the lowest class of society it is held to be the duty of parents to provide their daughters with a dot. Among the rich, estates are set apart or mortgaged for the purpose loDg before the girl is marriageable. AmoDg the shopkeeper class the father and mother begin to save a dot for a daughter from the time of her birth. By such economies by the time the girl is marriageable a sum of money stands to her credit in the savings bank, or lies in some old stocking, which renders ter a desirable match for a young man starting in life who wants to stock a shop of his own. It is owiDg to the universality of this practice that every French girl has a chance of marrying.

— Perhaps the secret of the sweet expression and habitual serenity of tbe Japanese women can be found in their freedom from small worries. The fashion of dress never varjiag saves tho wear of mind over that subject, and the bareness of the houses and simplicity of diet makes housekeeping a mere bagatelle. Everything is exquisitely clean ard easily kept so. There is no paint, no drapery, no crowd of little ornaments, no coming into the houses in the footwear worn in tbe dusty streets. And then the feeling of living in rooms that san be turned into balconies and verandahs at a moment's notice, of having walla that slide away as

freely as do the scenes on the stage, and let in all out-of-doors, or change the suites of rooms to the shape and size that the whim of the day or tho hour requires. The Japanese are learning much from us, some things not much to their improvement. We might begin with profit to ourselves to learn of them.

— Princess Marie of Edinburgh, who is to be married to the Crown Prince of Roumania, is one of the few lady members of the Royal Family who can play the violin. As a child, nothing delighted her more than to— unknown to her father, who, as is well known, is a very fine player — get hold of one of his violins and try her little fingers at it. la this way she was caught one day. The result was the purchase of a violin for her own particular use, atid now she plays beautifully.

— Plain India muslins (says a Home paper) are reappearing, with embroidered borders in coloured floral patterns, exquisitely fresh and dainty. These and the quaint old dimities sacred from the starch fiend's desecrating touch, soft and clinging, and sprayed with flowers or powdered with dots of colour, are made over the lightest of taffeta Bilks and in simplest styles. Lace is the favourite decoration for these thin materials, which will be so delightful for warm summer wear.

— Soft falls of dainty lace, floating ribbore, transparent and rainbow-tinted material — this is the summer dress of fashion in Paris. A little French gown, every fold of which suggested coolness, was made of pale green lawn, with daisies scattered lavishly over it. The full skirt was finished roundthe bottom with alternate rows of green and white ribbon— exquisite ribbon, which boasted of a diminutive daisy embroidered in silk. The waist was a round baby waist, covered with a ribbon and a wide lace bertha. Round the waist was a sash of soft' white India silk, the long ends finished with a deep fringe. The sleeves from shoulder to elbow were a succession of puffs made of the flowered lawn, the effect being completed by a ribbon cuff. — Only one instance in which a lady has changed her name three times in one day is on record. Mr Croft, son of Sir A. D. Croft, was married at Weigh Hill, Hants, to the eldest daughter of Mr Marsh, at one time MP. for Salisbury. The Bame day the old baronet died suddenly, and his son succeeded him. Thus the lady was in the morning. Miss Marsh, in the afternoon Mrs Croft, and at night Lady Croft. — You know I never can see the force of the reasoning which leads women to think " anything will do " for their husbands. On tbe contrary, I am certain it is radically wrong. I remember the answer I beard a married woman once make to a friend who pleaded for a longer visit, as so-and-so had no one at dinner to dress for except her husband. "No one but my husband, indeed I Why, the poor dear man is tied to me for life; so why should I remind him more than I can help of what an ngly woman lam 1 " Bj tbe same token tho said husband would have been tbe last man in the world to endorse that description of herself, though it was true enough, for all he ever saw was a soigne little figure, daintly dressed and wreathed in smiles the moment be appeared ; and how be does adore her I I am quite certain that if women would take a little trouble with their husbands we should hear a great deal less of incompatibility of temper. We study a man's every whim as long as wo are engaged to him — make allowances of every kind for him ; think of him and him only, every ribbon and chiffon we put on; and then, a few days later, on the strength of a dozen words in ohnrcb, he fiinks Into " a husband," for whom anything is good enough, and to whom we show ourselves in a deshabille we would hardly venture on with our lady's-maid I A woman who. conscientiously and sensibly makes her husbaud her first object in life seldom has any trouble with tho dear creature, I observe.

—No living monarch, European or Asiatic, not even the Czar of A 1 the Russias, can boast of such a service of plate an tbat owned by Queen Victoria, to whoso guests it is often exhibited on huge buffets at either end of the banqueting table in St. George's Hall— vases, plateaux, cupp, and candelabra, all wrought in the precious metal, tbe net value of which is said to exceed two millions sterling. Conspicuous among tbe tropbiss are the mimic "lyre bird "and tiger's head taken from Tippob Sahib 80 odd years ago, and presented to her Majesty's grandfather, King George 111. The lyre bird's body and tail are composed of solid gold, richly studded with brilliants, rubies, emeralds,, and pearl?. As he stands in all his jewelled pride, one of the costliest follies ever devised to gratify tbe wbim of a lavish Oriental potentate, be represents a perpetual income of LISOO a year, calculated at 5 per cent-, upon his intrinsic worth. The tiger'd head once served Hyder Ali's masterful son aa a footstool. It is a life size model fashioced in solid silver, richly gilt, its iusks of rock crystal, and its tongue of pnre gold. Like the lyre bird, it fell into the bands of the British at the storming of Seringapatam, where Tippoo himself, its valorous owner, met his death ; and, as a brilliant memorial of our Indian conquests, could not be better bestowed than in ornamenting the banqueting hall of Hindostan's firstEmpre3s. , — Madame de Pompadour has very little mind. Her blue eyes, possessing neither brilliancy nor vivacity, betrayed the empUness of her head. Although she had been brought up and had Jived in the financial society of Parie, which at that time was rather distinguished, her style was bad, arid her language was vulgar— faults which sbe was not able to correct even at Versailles. She differed in every way from Madame dv Barry, who, though less well educated, bad succeeded in acquiring a sufficiently pure* style of conversation. Madame dv Barry eyes were not so large, but they were mte.ligent; her face was well formed, and her hair was extremely beautiful ; she liked conversation, and had caught tbe art of telling a story brightly. They both possessed the art of lying to perfection. — Talleyrand. — Madame Patti'B castlo in Walts is filled with all sorts of pets, chief among them are • two Welsh ponies, which cost tho prima donna the sum of LIOO each. The diva is a famous judge of birds, and nnmbers in her collection a' whistling bullfinch that flics through tbe room at pleasure. Jumbo is ti e name of a parrot, which is remarkable for its

ground should be exaotly the same as from that point to the crown of the head. The knees should be perfectly midway between tbe first-named point and the ground at the heel. The distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger should be the same as from the elbow to the middle of the breast.

In the treasure room of the Maharajah of Baroda is a carpet, about 10ft by 6ft, made entirely of strings of pure and coloured pearls, with great central and corner circles of diamonds. This carpet took three years to make, and cost L 200,000. This was one of Kuande Rao's road freaks, and was intended to be sent to Mecca to please a Mohammedan lady. — A bridal couple on arriving at their destination lately found that they had been made ridiculous by some rude joker. White ribbon bows adorned their trunks; there was an old shoe in each handle ; and on one trunk was a placard containing a painting of two huge hearts transfixed with a skewer, and under them the words, " We are one."

— The costliest necklace of diamonds ever owned was worn by the late Mrs Mary Jane Morgan. She had quite a passion for diamonds, and wore them in hairpins, brooches, bracelets, and rings as well, but her special pet was a necklace, a riviere of diamonds', which cost her originally, perhaps, L7OOO, and to which she had made various additions until its total value was L 50.000. One day she astonished the clerk at Tiffany's (the great American jeweller) by buying a diamond for L 12.000, and ordering it to be set in her riviere as the centre stone. Diamonds tbat once glistened in her brooches, hairpins, or bracelets were transferred to this necklace, and diamonds that no longer pleased her in the necklace were reset in the brooches, hairpins, or bracelets. To her it was a perpetual pleasure to see the magnificent necklace increasing its

Intelligence and bad temper. Jumbo is cross and unfriendly with everyone save its mistress, and she it caresses most lovingly. When Patti is away from home' Jumbo sits disconsolate and wails. " I am &o ill, lam so ill. Where is Patti ? " When at home Patti spends much of her time with her gets and Her flowers; loving both to the fUllest extent of her nature. — All the world laugb.9j though the nations have different ways of showing mirth: The Chinese laugh is not as hearty;or as expressive as the European and American. It is of f 6ner a titter than a genuine burst of merriment. There is little character or force in it. An American traveller in Europe remarks the Italian mirth is languid but musical j the German as deliberate ; the French as spasmodic and uncertain j the upper-class Engi lish as guarded and not always genuine ; the lower-class English as explosive; the Scotch of. all classes as hearty ; and the Irish as rollicking. — A gentleman who was invited out to dine lately observed that the chandelier over the dining-room table was of peculiar construction, so that there was a light over the head of each guest. The globes. were of various colours, some amber, some red, and some blue. "What is the object of having the globes of different colour?" the guest asked of his hostess. " Why, you see," said she, "when one gives a dinner or tea, one must invite some people whom one perfeotly hates. Now, last Tuesday, I gave a supper, and I had to invite two women whom I dislike. But I had to invite them, or some of the young men I wanted wouldn't come. I had my revenge on my fair enemies, however. I placed each of these two women under one of those pale blue lights at the table. They are usually considered beautiful women, but under that light thoy had. the most ghastly look >ou ever saw. They were perfect scarecrows. They seemed to have aged 20 years the minute they sat down. The men noticed it of course, but they did not divine what caused it. They were quite taken aback and awfully glum at first. But finally one of them turned with a Bigh and began talking to a very plain little thing that was sitting under a rubycoloured light. Why, she was perfectly charming under it. So you see that when I want people to look perfectly hideous I put them under the blue lights. It kills everything." The gentleman looked up. He was under a blue light. — The Figaro Illustre devotes an article to little Queen Wibelmina of Holland, who is Baid to be a charming child, with pretty manners and a sweet disposition. She is very popular in the Hague, where hardly a house is without her portrait. The writer describes her as a well-grown, handsome, healthy girl, fair and rosy, and fond of romping and childish games. She is, indeed, brought up sensibly and hygienically enough to suit even the most advanced members of the " National Health " Sooiety. She loves riding, skating, rowing. She is much in the open air, and is devoted to animals, especially to her ponies, dogs, and pigeons— even the deer in the park at Loo knew her footstep and run to meet her. Loo is the summer and country residence of the mother and daughter, as the Hague is the winter one. Here little Wilhelmina has a garden and greenhouse of her "very own," to say nothing of a pigeon house, a tiny model farm, and last, but not least, a chalet delightfully fitted up as a kitchen, where the little_girl on Saturday half holidays bakes cakes .and sweetmeats, and hands them proudly round to the court ladles. Whether in town or country Wilhelmina rises early, and begins work at half -past 8. She enjoys learning, and has -quite a talent for languages, speaking English and French well, while German is an accomplishment to come. She works with her governess and her masters till half^past 11, and then drives or rides her favourite white pony till lunch time. There are two hours more of study in the afternoon, and then at half- past 6 she dine 3, generally alone with her mother. She is a sociable child, and has many young friends at the Hague to whom she loves to introduce her numerous family of dolls — dolls of all kinds and of all sizes— who rereceive an infinite amount of care and attention, and are nursed through all their imaginary ailments with the greatest devotion. — The New York Sun thuß describes the dress of two American debutantes: — "Miss Edith Van Buren wore a skirt of rich white satin, heavily embroidered in silver and crystal and of the same design aa the brocaded train. It was specially made from an outline taken from an old French Court picture. The bodice was of peculiar beauty, the upper part being of pale ■pmbpeaudesoie veiled with rich old yellow lace, falling over the bosom in the bertha style, and forming two epaulette sleeves. The train of heavy brocade was embroidered with silver, and fell from the left shoulder in three large folds. She carried a bouquet of white roses. Miss Sands, the daughter of the late Mr Mahlon Sands, wore a presentation gown of dead white gros-grained silk; the bodice was simply gathered into a broad sash of white satin, and the train of brocaded silk was covered with a fine lace pattern. This costume, though one of the Bimplest, suited the fair young beauty of the wearer admirably, and received the special commendation of Princess Louise, the Marchioness of Lome."

— This is what " Clara Belle " has to say

" Hail to the Princess of the hotel verandah, the dear, delightful girl who draws near with a quaint 'Mother Goose' perched on her wavy brown hair, her skirts caught up coquettishly in her right hand, her left grasping a sunshade of poppy-red, and her Eton jacket, trim and jaunty, flying open to display her starched shirt front and four-in-hand tie 1 Shs passes us by like a rippling brook. She walks the earth like a Miranda hunting for a Ferdinand. But, I prithee, dost not note the faint insidious perfume with which this marvellous maiden fills the air?

"Let me explain: She wears a sachet skirt— the very latest leaf on the tree of fashion — the latest spasm of novelty. Let me tell you how to make a eaGhet skirt. You take pale mauve silk and you run two flounces of white lace around the bottom, and under these flounces you run a band of Bilk, which acts as the sachet. This you fill with lavender and verbena. Or you may choose a delicate cream silk and make up the garment with a saw-tooth border, under which you run a pleating of the silk, covered with a hall fringe, and you fill each ball with on i- 1 root and the thing is done. You'll have

perfume wherever you go, 'and the joke is that the boys will 'nsver suspect where it comes from'; tut if on your walks it should become necessary for Jack to carry you over a brook he v 111 pronounce you the sweetest bundle that be has picked up for many a day. So sit your nimble fingers to work, oh, Princess of the hotel verandah, and fashion for yourself a sachet skirt. But have a care, wayward miss, don't try to scatter your perfume by kicking up yjur heels ; but just let the waves of perfume « B jape at their own sweet will : and, above all things, don't tell Jack where the sweet-tsmelliDg substances are hidden."

Decorative If on'ts.

Don t furnish a north room in blue or any cold colour. Yellow or golden-brown hangings will produce the effect of perpetual sunshine;

Don't make a narrow door narrower by a heavy portiere. A small house is made stuffy by too many hangings; Don't put chandeliers in a room with a low ceiling. Side brackets are fashionable, and are to be had in artistic shapes.

Dan't have too much of one kind of decoration in the bouse. Grille work and stained glass repeated in more than two rooms become monotonous.

Don't buy a bright-coloured caipeb to pat into rooms where the furniture is not to be correspondingly toned up. Dou't have the floor, wall, and furniture in a room covered with material which has a decided pattern. Don't put into a room unsteady little tables loaded with meaningless bric-a-brac. — Detroit Free Press.

The Latest Society Craze.

A funny little story is going the rounds concerning a new fancy a pretty and original society woman has introduced to the women of ncr special circle who have the time and talent to spend on the expensive details of life:—

" This fancy is nothing less than a reckless indulgence in assumed afflictions, not shocking diseases or terrible complaints, but nice, gentle, piquant little afflictions that will arouse curiosity, stimulate interest, or excite pity for the subject that pretends to be touched lightly by Fate's blighting finger ; for, after all, there is nothing a woman so enjoys and appreciates as sympathetic pity. "When, at a garden party not long ago, the hostess, in a simple French gown of white muslin, appeared with a black band over her eyes, everyone was torn with curiosity to know what was the matter. Nothing, nothing,' the pretty hostess protested ; she had merely been out on the water the day before, and had her eyes inflamed by the glare of reflected sunlight, so she had tied a bit of black chiffon orer the sensitive orbs to protect them from the afternoon sun, The effect of the chiffon was very oharming. It was cut somewhat in the shape of the black velvet masks Venetian women used to wear in the fourteenth century, and the soft dusky band against the snowy forebead and peachy cheeks was a contrast admiringly noted. Now and then, through the black muslin folds, a bright gleam of the poor eyes could be seen ; and the next day a half-dozen boxes of flowers were received from masculine admirers, who, with the eyes as a theme, composed thrilling notes of condolence, heavily interlarded with appropriate quotations that the little lady enjoyed. The clever woman intended to keep the facts of the case a, secret, but somehow the story leaked out, and the next week she met a bosom friend, whose pretty white band, the left one, bandaged in a brother's silk handkerchief hung pathetically at her side in a ribbon sling. Her wrist had been sprained while driving, and for a day or two the hand was the centre of sympathetic attraction, and the recipient of bon-bons and flowers galore. The third woman who followed these absurd examples went distressingly lame, and found it very amusing ; a fourth imposter suffered for a week from a series of slight fainting attacks ; and the fifth woman, who had been told that her face was purely Greek in outline, and most charming when in dreamy repose, suddenly became slightly deaf. Twice or thrice as she gazed placidly, with smile-wreathed lips, into nothingness, a question bad to be repeated until, with blushes and confusion, she would in a low tone confess her infirmity as she just caught the tones of a speaker's voice."

Good-bye to Bangs.

The Haib Must Now be Tbained in Waves fbom a Pabting in the Oentbe.

There are fashions in fringes as well as in flowers, modes in the texture of tresses, the colour of eyes, the shape of shoulder, and the contour of the figure that one must follow rigidly in spite of Nature's efforts to the contrary. Juat now every fashionable woman must have what not one woman in a hundred ever was naturally endowed with— softly waviDg locks of glossy =ilken sheen. Not the Topsy frizzle of the days of tealead and wire curlers, not the satin smoothness of the early Victorian era, but the shining waves and lightly curling fluffiness that the modern hairdresser has learned to produce from most unpromising straight tresses.

The bang is doomed, according to the soothsayers. We ehall see it for some time yet perhaps, but its days are numbered. It has been one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon womankind.

More women have been made beautiful by a dexterous toss and cut of the bang than by all the jewels and finery that have been consumed in the adorning of Eve's daughters since the mother of vanity began costume designing. We must train our hair now in big waves downward from a partiDg in the centre.

We can accomplish it just as we have squared our shoulders and added a goodly portion of the impossible cubit to our stature. It is only a matter of time and patience. — New York World.

HOME INTERESTS.

Turkish Delight or French Jellies.— Soak loz of Nelson's gelatine in one-third of a pint (three-fourths of a large teacup) of cold water for two or three hours, then mix in a saucepan 21b white sugar with one cup of boilins water. Add to this the gelatine already soaked, aud boil together after it comes to the boil for 20 minutes, stirring the mixture all the time. Mix together one large teaspoonful of

Vanilla flavouring and the same quantity of essence of lemon, and Add very gradually the mixture. (This quantity will fill two soup" plates.) Dip a soup plate or pie dish in cold water, and while it is wet pour in half the mixture. Colour the remainder with cochineal and pour into a second dish which has been dipped into cold water. Let it remain for 24 hours to set: Then cut ifc into stripes about an inch wide', arid again into squares. Roll the pieces in icing sugar and leave" them to harden. Stuffed Potatoes. — Choose "small, evensized, floury potatoes, wash and peel them thinly, cut off the ends of each to make them stand, then (with a caldrrin cutter if you have one) stioop out the centre of each, and fry these cases in boiling fat till of a pretty gold colour. Meanwhile put ioz butter in a stewpan, and when quite hot add to it a small Spanish onion, previously boiled in stock and finely chopped, a handful of grated Parmesan cheese, the yolks of two eggs, and a tablespoonful of freshlygrated ; stir this altogether, seasoning it to taste, then fill the potatoes with this mixture, and bake them for a few minutes in a hot oven. This is very nice, either as a second-course dish or as an addition to a joint of roast meat.

Bath Buns. — There are many ways of making Bath buns. The following is a good recipe : — Pass l^lb fine flour through a sieve into a basin ; let it get warm ; thenput in 4oz flue white sugar, 2oz candied peel in strips, a little lemon peel, grated, and 4oz butter; rub this well in. Mix together in another bowl loz good dried yeast and loz sugar ; when soft add a quarter of a pint of tepid milk ; pour this mixture into the flour, &c, add half as much warm water as you used milk, and two whole raw eggs. Mix the whole to a dough ; then gash it across and cover with a cloth. Let it rise for an hour or more ; then make it into buns the size of a large egg. Put them on a greased tin with a space between, brush over with raw egg, and sprinkle the tops with roughly-crushed sugar. Bake to a pale brown in a moderate oven. A little more liquid may be wanted in making- up the dough. Sometimes sultana raisins are added to the buns. Cbeam Celery Soup.— Wash two heads of celery, cut them into 6mall pieces, stew in a pint of water until tender ; boil a small cup of rice in a quart of milk ; when cooked press through a sieve ; add rice milk to , the celery, and a quart of broth in which mutton was boiled ; season with salt and a little cayenne ; boil together a few minutes. If too thick add an equal quantity of milk and broth. Baked Lemon Meringue Custard.— One quart of milk, five eggs, one cup of sugar, one teaspoonfui of corn flour, two lemons. Beat the yolks of the eggs light, and stir into them the sugar and the juice and grated rind of the lemons. Dissolve the cornflour in the milk, and add this to the other ingredients. Bake in a buttered pudding dish until the custard is set, then cover it with & meringue made of the whites of the eggs whipped stiff with a quarter of a cupful of sugar, and brown very light. Eat cold. Almond Cake. — Blanch £lb sweet almonds, loz bitter almonds, pound them to a paste (with a little orange flower water), add the yolks of six eggs ; stir in eight tablespoonfuls of sifted sugar and five of fine sifted flour with the grated rind of one lemon. Then [ beat 3oz butter to a cream, and add to it the rest ; mix all well, whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and add to the whole. Butter a cake mould, pour in the mixture, and bake for an hour and a-half. Try each of the above by piercing with a small skewer ; if it comes out clear without any of the cake sticking to it the cake has been sufficiently baked.