LADIES-GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2181, 19 December 1895, Page 31

LADIES-GOSSIP.

• . • The most wonderful baths in tho world are those built by Mr Adolph Sntro, an American millionaire, in San Franc isoo. The great cliffs have been tunnelled, that the water of the Pacific may flow through a succession of oanals into the reservoir, where Ib is warmed ; and thence into the enormous tanks. The baths are more than twice an large as the largest of the famous old Roman bathe, and Mr Sutro has tried to make them as bsautifut. Twenty thousand people can sit, stand, or promenade about the tanks, which are arranged for every possible sort of bathers. There are cold baths and hot baths, swimming and diving baths, baths for children and beginners. The largest tank It 275 ft long and 150 ft witfe. The plsce la full of beauty and colour, with tropical plants and rows of glowing palms, while through glass side walls the ocean view stret ches. The building is of steel and glasp, and its glazsd , roof spans more than two aores. Tier after tier of rooms for the bathers riie, until they are numbered by many hundreds. A great stage 50ft broad is placed at the ocean end of the tank room for an orchestra. The building is furnished with electric lights and elevators throughout. Three resrauranto provide refreshment, and an equarium and conservatory add to the beauty and interest The Cliff Rocks outside are oovered with seals sunning themselves. • , • Tbe Spectator draws attention to an aspect of the Shabzada's visit to Rome that would not at first perhaps strike the casual newspaper reader. Prince Nasrullah Khan and bis suite, after examining the monuments, calmly proceeded" to read theFatihah, or Mahomedan confession of. faith at the tomb of- St. Peter. The Spectator aska us to consider what would happen in- the parallel case of a Christian prince and his attendants who should read the Apostles' Crted af Mecca in front of the tomb of the Prophet. It is suggested that the ineult would b< avesged by immediate murder. Yet tin Roman authorities may not have been so much to blame for tbeir inaction as at first sight would appear. Possibly no one except his own friends knew what tbe Sbalzadaand bis followers were saying, or found it out too late to make resentment of any use. ■ . • I see (says a Home writer) that paper underwear is one of the next things we may expect. What does Dr Jaeger say? How we shall all rustle when we take to this novel sort of tempestuous petticoat. But lam told it is very expensive. I >aw once a pair of paper window curtains which were very pretty, aad looked just like cretonne. But the enterprising Transatlantic upholsterer has left them far behind. He makes carpets of paper, and covers couches and chairs with it. You might imagine that euch a use of it would conduce to fire ; but to think so would be to underrate the ingenuity of the manufacturer. Paper can now be rendered both waterproof and fireproof. The American girl is wearing paper hats to a great extent this season, and finds them cheap, as they only need a bat shape, a roll of prettilytinted crepe paper, and a bit of ribbon to bind all together. ■ . • Quite new is the slang " crushed." It is used in place of the expression " mashed," "struck," &c, and is quite aufait with the summer-resort girls. One bears everywhere murmurs of Charlie Binks being utterly "crushed" on Mabel Banks, and so on with regard to various things. Dora tells Flora that she is " crushed " on Jim's new sailor hat when the really ißn't damaging his headgear at all, and so it goes. • . • A new feminine employment, which requires skill and cleverness rather than means, is the dressirg of fashion dolls fox shop windows. A woman with real taste can thus find scope for her talent in designing pretty costumes for little figures, which must be just ks elegant in every detail as the fullsized ones. Tbe models are about 15in high, and accurately represent the latest fashions. ■ . * The report that an American lady ha& bought a farm in order to plant on it a " New Woman's " colony, in which rational drees and celibacy will be compulsory, may be a hoax, but may also very well be true. There would be defection?, doubtless, from such a community, and it could hardly grow except by tbe accession of outsiders ; but convents labour under tbe like disadvantages, and yet continue to exist. The farm colony would be a revival in a secular form of the religious institutions that once flourished to an extent hardly appreciated by the present generation. As a means of retarding the growth of population the " New Woman's " colony seems to merit approval and support. But we should like to have Sarah Grand's opinion of it, seeing that she invented the "New Woman." ' . * Almoßfc incredible sums are sometimeD expended on slippers. Thus not long ago a countess had a pair made ornamented with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, costing £4150. But at a masked ball given by tbe Dake cf Manchester some years ago, a lady impersonating Cinderella wore a pair of slippers adorned with jewellery valued at over £12,000. • . • It is stated that the dregs to be worn by the Empress of Russia at tbe coronation ceremony next year has just been ordered at Paris, and is to be decorated in pearls and . gold, marvellously worked, at a cost of about £15,000. • . • Chicago has set a new fashion by holding the first bloomer ball, which was a delightful success. • . • An American lady, Miss Annie S. Peck, has succeeded in climbing the Matterhorn. The summit was reached in six hours from the Hut, the weather being fine and clear. Miss Peck now shares with a Miss Brevoort, of New Yorlr, and a Miss Carrel, the daughter of a Swiss guide, the honour among women of having- climbed the Matterhorn. Misa Peck is a Providence lady, a graduate of the

A levere rheumatic pain in the left shoulder had troubled Mr J. H. Loper, a well-known draggitt of Dcs Moines, lowa, for over sixmonths. At times the pain was so severe thab he could not lift anything. With all he couli, do he could not get rid of it until he applied. Coamberlaiu't Fain Balm. " I only mads three applications of it," he says, " and hay* since been free from all pain." He^pow recont mtnds it to persons similarly afflicted. It ifc tax sale by all leading chemists.

oriveTsity of Michigan, and widely known as a' scholar of rare attainments in arcbq?ology. For years she has been an enthusiastic Climber. When studying at Athena in 1885-86, she ascended Hymettus anl Pentelicuß. Two years later, during a trip to California, she rode 4000 ft up to thß snowlice of Mount Shasta, and then climbed the remaining 14,C00ft to the summit. Her subsequent ascent of the Olcud Rest Peak in tbe Yosemite Valley also attracted some attention. • . ■ Mrs Langtry has a pet dog which terries her initials on its back. The dog barber, when sbaviDg the animal according to fashion, leaves sufficient hair on its back to form the initials "L. L." * . * As Japan comee more closely in touch With the rest of the world, many of its customs are being adopted. In Japan the art of massage is widely practised, aud Almost exclusively by the blind. It is a very lucrative profession, and the most skilful operators gain large sums every year. The reason for its being a profession particularly adaptable to the blind is readily understandable. Everyone knows that when one cense Fails, its absence is supplemented by the iccreased acutenees of others. So with people deprived of Bight, tbe sense of tonch becomes highly cultivated. The blind mon and women of St. Petersburg and other continental cities have not been Blow to grasp this idea, and the number of them who aro masseurs is constantly increasing. The head of that profession in the Raeeiso capital is totaUy blind, and he has a large class of pnpi'p, who are likewise deprived of sight, whom he instructs daily in the mysteries of msiEeage. • . • Lady cyclists who affect what is called rational dress, alias knickerbockers, may take a bint from what is taking place in Paris. A. rumour was spread recently that tho Prefect of Pcl-.ce intended to issua an order prohibiting women wearing msssuline attire within the fortifications. Hearing of this, tha professors of the ' great teaching institutions have presented a petition to M. Lepine, praying him not to make his order operative in the Latin Quarter. The reason they assign is that since the ladies of that distiiot took to wearing knickerbockers, whether cycling qr not, they had loat'all charm for the students, who were cow attending to their classes and their duties with an assiduity hitherto unknown. The professors fear that if " rational dress " be prefectoiially repressed, and the young women compelled to resume their former coquettish costumes, their old ascendancy over the students will be renewed, with a corresponding decrease oE study. • . • Her Majesty, while visiting the King of Belgium gome time ago, took a fancy to some biscuits which no one bnt the royal cook knew how to make. Every fortnight a box of these biscuits is sent to the QaeeD, who in return forwards hampers of game from Windsor to the Belgian king. • . • Lowther Castle, where Lord Lonsdale entertained the German Kiiser, is one of the most imposing mansions in Great Britain. Ita great terrace, nearly a mile in length, is carried aloDg the brink of a steep cliff, and its park is filled with fcrest trees of immense size. . . • . • The Pope will shortly be tbe possessor of probably the most valuable chair on earth. It is constructed of solid silver, and is of the value of £8000. It is the gift of Mr Troop, a wealthy American banker, who has arranged that it shall arrive in Rome simultaneously with the celebrations in connection with the anniversary of the establishment of the civil power, against which he intends his gift to be a p:otes>t.