LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2087, 22 February 1894, Page 46

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— A marriage, under what may be justly called distressing circumstances, is raported to have taken place at Melilla, the bride being the 'daughter of the brave General Margallo, who recently met his death while fighting against the impulsively assailing Moors. The bridegroom was Lieutenant Saltos, who had been an aide-de-camp of tbe general, and was desperately wounded while fighting by the side of his general and defending him. Lieutenant Saltos was brought from his own residence to that of Madamo Margallo, the bride's mother, on a couch carried by servants. The marriage took place in the drawing room, and the officiating priest was one who was in the service of the army corps the deceased general commanded. The words of his nuptial benediction were frequently interrupted by his bitter sobbing. Only three of the family were present during the ceremony. — The " Twenty-minute Club " is a club whose members pledge themselves to divide their day into 20-minute divisions. Tbat is, 20 minutes to dress, 20 minutes for breakfast, 20 minutes for the morning papers ; that is one hour. Twenty minutes for a walk ; 20 minutes to do up" your room, 20 minutes to look over your letters, and so on, giving to eich task 20 minutes. That is all lovely, and you can see what a lot you will get donp. But the very first day you start it your best friend, who doesn't belong to the club, will "run over a minute," and it will be noon before she is gone, and so many 20 minutes will be eaten up that you will give up then and there.

— The minister of the parißh of St. Cyrus, Scotland, has the distribution of what is known as the " marriage money," being the interest of a sum left by a Mr Orr, of Bridgeton, to the oldest, the youngest, the tallest, and the shortest woman belonging to the parish who may happen to get mairied in the parish church during the year. — The fashionable impetus which it was expected the patronage of the Princess of Wales would give to the occupation of training nurses in England has hardly been realised. It will undoubtedly receive a Btimulant in the plan, of which word now comes from there, to have nursing lectures at fashionable houses to instruct the aristocratic pupils in the rudiment?, at least, oE caring for the sick. These " afternoons " are to be illustrated with genuine hospital implements, including a patient, and with tea and biscuits handed round, will take on as well an

agreeable social tone. A story heard recently accentuates the need of all this. It was related of an English peeress who, wishing to master the duties of a trained nurse, procured admission to a hospital for such instruction. She proved an utterly hopeless pupil, and at length it was deemed advisable to ask her to resign. Her martial tread through the wards and general " heaviness " in all that she did actually made her presence a detriment, whiob would seem to indicate that even aristocratic nurses are born, not made.

— A lady who spends a small fortune on her foot covering is Mrs Levi P. Morton. She is very particular about the make, and bas them altered until they fit without a wrinkle — like her dresses. Patent leather, suede kid of four or five different shades, satin, silk, and velvet, with no two pairs alike, either in colour or decoration ; such is a partial description of the lady's footgear.

— You must learn to play on the harp (says a writer in a Home paper). It is to be all the go, and a harp is a nice, expensive thing to have in the house, too. You remember how the heroine in the old play was always just about to sell her harp to save the family from starvation, when the hero would turn up to save her from so dire an extremity. You must not only pay a lot for your harp, but you must pay a lot for lessons, and you must practise, too — that is the real rub. But when you have your harp and can play, you can stand up and look a perfect dream beside the beautiful instrument. Of course, you must have handsome hands and arms. In fact, you can get along with a very little talent, but you must have handsome arms.

— A flourishing establishment in New York derives most of Its income from lending jewellery on hire, instead of selling it outright, to women who cannot afford to buy. The business is a perfectly legitimate one. Only a fair amount of interest is charged for the use of the goods, and nothing is ever attempted in the way of deceiving customers as to the actual value of the jewellery they hire. You can go to this shop and get a watch set with turquoise, to wear on the lapel of your new electric blue gown, and you can keep the watch as lone as you please by paying the rate of interest agreed upon when you take possession of it. Of course, you must pay a deposit amounting to the full vaiue of the turquoise bauble before you take it out of the shop, but when you go back with it all the money will be refunded except the small sum charged for its use. It is so with diamonds and rings. Indeed, the whole list and category of jewellery might be inoluded. On the night of a large ball the shop will be nearly cleared of its rentable stock. Bat by next day noon everything is returned, and the jewels, newly polished, and glittering as ever, are back in their cases waiting for the next hiring out.

— In selecting wallpaper and carpets for rooms, a pleasant effect is produce 3 if one remembers that the floor should be darker than the walls, and that the eye is gratified if the colour lightens from the floor to the ceiling. In a room with a light wall the carpet should be selected of as nearly the same tone as possible, but a deeper shade, and no strong contrasts are allowable if an artistic effect is desired. White walls are never desirable for a room in which ornamental effects are desired, and contrasts, whether in curtains or paper, should as a rule be avoided.

— Many girls who go ouc a great deal are (says a Home paper) taking to wearing false fringes. The explanation whioh they give is odd, but essentially practical. They say that they can tell from the signs of the times that -it Is not far off when all fashionable women will discard fringes, and, of coarse, girls will have to follow suit. Therefore they wish to let their hair grow, so as to be ready for that day, and they stick on a false fringe in order to hide the fact. Beside, they say tbat, apart from this, tbe constant curling with hot irons, which is necessary to preserve the fringe in a proper frizzly condition, has the effect of causing the hair to turn white at a very early age. As they do not like the prospect of this at all, the girls prefer to wear a false fringe now in order to preserve the natural colour of their hair for a longer time in the future. — Among those who have had great influence in the revolution in Brazil (according to a correspondent) is a woman—" Madame Gabriela de Matos— 3l years old, with large blue eyes and blonde hair. At the beginning of tbe revolt she attached herself to the troopa of Yaca Tigre, becoming his adjutant. She accompanied the half-wild leader on all his expeditions, clad in a uniform which was a strange combination of women's and men's attire. Across her shoulders she carried a band on which were the words : • Long live Liberty ! Long live Kio Grande do Sul 1 ' Many deeds of couragp, as well as kindness, are told of this unusual woman, who believes tbat she is a. second Joan of Arc, called to lead her country to independence."

According to the Vieana Tageblatt a great amount of feeling has been aroused over the establishment of the Vienna gymnasium for girls, and the proposal to establish a similar institution in Berlin. Many of the old German ladie3 are opposed to these departures ; and one of their number, representing a solid'body of opinion on the subject, atks — " What can possibly be the use of Litin, Gre.ek, philosophy, and algebra to a hausfrau? She can carve a goose equally well without such knowledge. If her husband refuses to buy her a new dreas or hat can she not soon be equal with him without going in for a -course of philology ?" The Udies scoff at the idea of women lawyers, declaring that as a woman would never admit that her case was lost lawsuits would drag on for ever. At present the education of a middle-class German girl includes a thorough and systematic instruction in general history, the special history and literature of her own country, and one accomplishment — as a rule, music. She can also write a good hand, knows sufficient arithmetic for practical purposes, and in the arts of cutting garment?, embroidering, darning, and cooking she is a highly competent housewife. Add to this fact that one of the most striking features of German domestic life is the quiet happiness of the women, and it is little wonder that the elderly hausfraus of the old school object to the innovations.

— Madame Rodriguez, a noted Parisian dressmaker, died recently in a lunatic asylum. Her fame was great, and she always refused to make dresses for women whojhad poor figures. A certain ducheßs had often desired

to become one of her patrons, but Madame Uodtlgaei invariably said, " When yon have shoulders I will dress you.".. — A certain clique of West End girls in London have established a " Five-foot Nine Club." Every member must be not shorter than 3ln under 6ft, an 4 several are well over the prescribed limit, they are all fair to look upon. All ride in the park, and the whole club is to meet onc9 a fortnight at the different members' houses. — "A royal handshake is a rare and enviable mark of distinction," says " Ex-Attache," in Modern Society. "It is superior, indeed, to the presentation of any decoration or order of knighthood. In order to appreciate this it must be borne in mind that the members of the reigning rouses of the old world are exceedingly chary in offering their hands by way of greeting. Indeed, so great is the honour which they imagine to be conferred thereby, that they expect tbe person to whem tbe hand is extended to bend down and reverently kiss it. The prince who displays the greatest freedom and liberality in shaking hands is the Prince of Wales, probably because he is so thoroughly Jin de siecle, and ye: at levees and drawing rooms he merely shakes hands with his acquaintances, respondiog to the obeisances of the majority of those who pass before him by a slight in- , clination of bis bead. In cases where he i does honour some stranger with a handshake, the latter is wont to look back upon the act as one of the most notable events of his life, and to refer upon every possible occasion to the fact that he had actually shaken bands wilh his future King. Continental Sovereigns are far more catholic in this respect than Queen Victoria's eldest sod, and not only the Emperors of Germany, Austria, and Russia, but even the petty sovereigns of Central Europe, never offer their hand to any of their countrymen, except in the expectation of having it kissed. The only Sovereign who discourages this token of subserviency is King Humbert of Italy, who, while he is most reserved in offering his hand to the great nobles, statesmen, and dignitaries of his kingdom, may be seen giving a hearty handshake to some less exalted subject — An old bachelor who has just died in Paris in a house in tbe Boulevard Richard Lsnoir, at tbe age of 87 years, bit upon an original idea for ensuring proper attention from bis two servants in his declining years. Some years ago he went to his lawyer and made a will, under which he left tbe two women an annuity of £21 each, to be increased by £4 for every year that he should continue to live. The will has just been proved, and the legacies have been allowed at tbe rate of £82 a year each. The old man was in the habit of making great fun out of the motherly care with which he was looked after. " You may be quite sure," be would say, 11 that they will not let me die soon if they can help it." He seems to have overlooked tbe fact that it was clearly not to the interest of the women that he should survive them. — A Scotch correspondent writes in a London paper : — " I had no idea until I went to Balmoral Castle, the other day, that her Majesty was so fond of the Pretender Stuarts and their tartan. The drawing room at the castle is carpeted with royal Stuart tartan, while the ample window curtains of the ballroom are hunting Stuart. A little room close to tbe Queen's dining room is carpeted with the same dark tartan, and the walls are literally covered with famous Jacobite prints. " The place of honour is given to a large plate of the battle of Prestonpans, on the frame cf which is a big brass plate, which tells that the picture was presented to her Majesty through the Countese of Roxburghe oi her first visit to Broxmouth Park. Another picture shows the scene on Tower Hill at the execution of Lord Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino. Beside this there is a fine print of Hogarth's well-known painting of Simon Fraser of Lovat, and a print of the trial of Simon Fraser for treason hangs near by. There are numerous portraits of Prince Charles Edward, the young Pretender, of King Macdonald, who so nobly assisted him to escape, and of Duncan Forbes, of Oulloden, the famous Lord President of the Court of Session, who strove so hard to crush the rebellion ; yet, in whose house near Oulloden moor, the irony of fate compelled the Prince to sleep the night before his crowning disaster. Reynolds's portrait of Charles Lord Cathcart hangs among the rest; but probably the most conspicuous picture in tbe room is that of Miss Jenny Cameron, of Lochiel, a famous rebel's lovely daughter. Beneath tbe portrait is the inscription :—: — If to her share some female errors fall, Look on her face and you'll forget them all. "It is evident her Majesty has a strong Ifking for the bright and attractive Victoria tartan. Most of tbe windows in the castle are curtained with cloth of this tartan, and the lounges, chairs, couches, and sofas in the drawing room are upholstered with it. The effecc is very picturesque. " I bad also a peep at the royal dining tabls jast a few minutes before the royal party, seven in all, sat down. It was set in the library, whence a lift has just been'erected, communicating with her Majesty's rooms above. A more simply set dinner table no one could wish to see. There were no flowers ; the napkins were lying flat, and at four of the places single wineglasses only were laid. At the other three places, one of which was the Queen's, the glasses were doubled. Venturing an inquiry as to the Queen's favourite dinner liquid, I was informed that her preference was for a glass of old Burgundy and water, sipped during the meal, followed by a thimbleful of fine old Scotch whisky as a liqueur. I may add that the salts, cruets, fruit dishes, and table candelabra — candles are the only light at Balmoral Castle— were silver plate, and very heavy and substantial plate too." ' There is something continually interesting in the muffled figures of the women of Morocco. They make you almost ashamed of the unc»vered faces of Englishwomen; and in the lack of any evidence to the contrary, you begin to believe every Moorish woman or girl yen meet is beautiful, as her eyes would make it appear that she is. Those of the girls whose faces I saw, says a recent writer, were distinctly handsome ; they were the women Benjamin Constant paints in his pictures of Algiers, and about whom Pierre Lot! goes into ecjtacies in bis book on

Tangier. Their robe or cloak, or whatever j the thing is they affect, covers the head like j a hood, and with one hand they hold one of its foldsin front of the face as high as their eyes. The only times that I ever saw the face of any of them was wben I occasionally ran off with a little guide called Isaac, the especial protector of two American women, who farmed him out to me when they preferred to remain in the hotel. He is a particularly beautiful youth, and I noticed that whenever he was with me the cloaks of the women had a fashion of coming undone, and they would lower them for an instant and look at Isaas, and then replace them severely on the bridge of the nose. Then Isaac would turn towards me with a shy, conscious smile, and blush violently. Isaac says the young men of Tangier can tell whether or not a girl is pretty by looking at her feet. Ibis true that their feet are bare, but it struck me as a somewhat reckless test for selecting a bride. To Mothers. In these days of bad teeth much trouble in the mouth could be saved, if children were taught to brush their teeth regularly at night as well as morning, and so acquire a habit that will stand them in good stead all their lives. The night brushing is bo important because it gets rid of the debris of food which has collected during the day, and if not removed gives rise to acids injurious to the teeth, and which feed decay. Children should be taught to brash their teeth up and down as well as across, and to use a moderately hard brush. Warm water is also preferable to cold, as it absorbs more grease When a child has taken a cold, it is an excellent plan to well mb the cheat with sweet oil morning and evening. Warm the band and apply about half a teaspoonfol of Bweet oil. If this course were taken tbe moment a child was observed not to be well, many childish ailments would be prevented, for this remedy has a powerlul influence in helping Nature to recover itself. If time allows, rub for five minutes. This is a valuable reoipe to be used when children have troublesome coigns: — Pour two quarts of boiling water on loz of. whole linseed and 12<3r of liquorice root sliced. Add a few slices of lemon. Let this stand in a covered jug for Bix hours, then Btrain lor use and sweeten to taste. Home Fashions. It is an age of extremes, bo one must be prepared for inconsistencies ; still it is rather difficult to understand on what plan fashion is acting with regard to OUB HEADGEAR I quite admit that, outside the Salvation Army, bonnets are universally small, but it is the hats that puzzle me. The only rule appears to be, get the extreme eithef way. If you like a small coiffure, get a tiny toque, consisting of a bow of bright-coloured velvet, a scrap of fur, and a handful ot sequins of any material, and there you are ! Your headgear nestles cosily in your hair, and not the very worsts north-easter would suffice to tear it from its moorings, though what amount ef protection you would derive from j it is hard to say. At all events, you have the comforting conviction that you are in the height of tbe fashion. But round the next corner yon come upon your cousin, also strong in the certainty of the modisbness of her headgear, which flaps wildly in the gentle breeze, testing the resisting power of her hairpins to the uttermost, and leaving you in agony, if you happen to know how much— or rather how little— of her coiffure is due to nature ! Felt hats are the rage, and very well they look. Here is one : — It consists of a widebrimmed chestnut-brown felt, the brim lined with black velvet, and finished with a jet edging. Round the crown a crossway roll of velvet is drawn firmly, meeting exactly in the front, where it is finished off with a group of three ostrich tips set on like a Prince of Wales plume, and mixed with a couple of Ospreys. These are black, as is also the crosscut roll. Now you bend up the brim so as to make it look jnst lik9 tbe " tricorne " hat so much worn a while ago, but more becoming, as the corners can be arranged to suit the wearer, and need not be mathematically exact. In the centre of each " turn-up" is fixed a little cut jet rosette-like ornament. • This hat is really very pretty en the head, and much less eccentric than it sounds from description. But it is distinctly large, and is not the headgear I should chose in a gale of wind. Where felt hats are not worn, velvet-covered wire frames are popular, and have tbe advantage that they can be bent up as suits the wearer's fancy. But remember the crown should be of a different colour from the brim and trimmings ; for instance, a black velvet brim wonld have a brilliant orange or scarlet crown — which, by the way, is usually so draped as to give the effect of a handkerchief tied round the crown, and finished with a bow and upstanding ends a la Creole— in fact, the way a negress tiss the 'kerchief she ie so fond of round her head. THE NEW THEATBB COATS it is eaid, are to run the handsome operacloaks we have all been woaring very hard. This coat is loose and full-fronted, the back being, set in a full Watteau pleat, under a shaped collar of fine black passementerie which forms epaulets for the full, blouselike sleeves, drawn in at the wrist under cavalier gauntlets of tbe passementerie. A garment of this description which I recpntly Baw was of a dull crimson face-cloth (the passementerie collar and cuffs being mounted on satin of a lighter shade), was finished with a handsome black ostrich boa, apparently fastened to the coat. A nicer thing for going home in a cab or the Underground it was difficult to imagine. The difficulty with the opera-cloak generally is that, if you are in full dress, your bare arms look incongurous in either of the above-named conveyances, and this the full bishop sleeves of the new garment quite overcome. By the bye, as the season of little dances and such like home festivals is coming on, let me tell you of a capital invention for preserving the breast knot everyone likea to wear. This consists of an arrangement of nickel or silver-plated wire which is fixed in a moment over the bouquet, and effectually prevents any crushing from the cloak or wrap, and can be taken off, folded fiat, and slipped into the pocket in a moment. It is called the Princess Flora shield, and is made

in two or three sizes, to suit any spray. I believe they are to be had of most good fioristef — " Elepe^h, in Weekly Citisien,

CC7* (Deiarlptloni of balls, &0., must be endorsed by either tho Witness oorreipondent for tbe dlitriot or by the leoretarj to the ball jommitteo. TbeMS. of an; oorroaponaeiitf who do not comply rlth thli rale will h« ««nt to the leoroluy for ondofssmont prior t> appesrini,— EMMELlSK.l To ensure pa»llo»don Ip tno rerthaomlsg tune lettsri mould reaob the Wltnen offloe if po'sstblo on Saturday night, biit tih rio account later than Monday nl^Ut.

WEDDING AT CAMBRIANS. Dear Emmeline,— On Wednesday, the liiti inst., a marriage took place in the Public Hall, Cambrians, the bride being Miss Edwina Johnstone Morgan, third daughter of Mr Samuel Morgan, and the bridegroom Mr John M'Combe, manager for the Scandinavian Company, St. Bathans. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. James C. Gellie, 8.A., of Lauder, and the bride was led into the hall by her father. The bride Hooked charming wearing a dress of pale crushed strawberry trimmed with liberty silk, long bridal veil, and orange blossoms. The bridesmaid, Miss Mary Morgan, sister of the bride, wore a dres3 of white nun's veiling. The best man was Mr George Turner There was a large attendance of the public, and the wedding was of the happiest description. Mrs M'Levie presided at the harmonium and played the bridal hymn as the party entered the hall, and Mendelssohn's " WeddingMarch"astheyleft. The weddinffparty afterwards sat down to a sumptuous repast pro* vided by the father of the bride. The health of the newly-married couple was proposed by the Rev. J. C. Gellie, and happily responded to by the bridegroom. In the afternoon the bride and bridegroom left on their honeymoon for Dunedin. The bride's presents were both numerous and valuable.