OVER THE TEACUPS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2202, 14 May 1896, Page 43

OVER THE TEACUPS.

Deah RBADBRd,— I hope yrvu aro not so bitten with tho Dt Emily Ryder mania that you look upon avery kind of obat outside of hygiene, diet, improved clothing, &c, as frivolous ?' R<reilly, some' of my acquulnfcancas have developed such a mania for Dr Ryder's, gospel that one wonders if th«y knew nothing about hygiene before. For my part j have no doubt that such lectures do good', inasmuch as they stir up a personal interest in topics which many people - read up as a matter of duty, and ac quickly forget as a matter of conreoienco. Some of the questions asked were vary fanny, you know, there was an adorable simplicity about them. Dr Ryder, though so cute with her patterns, books', &0., yet possesses such a personal charm of manner that she attracts towards her a wava of womanly sympathy, and exercises upon her audience a wonderful influence. Ifc has been good for trade too. There has been a "boom" In' whole-meal' bread a la Ryder, a boom in those cunning mattress attachments for delicate women, a boom in improved patterns for underclothing; and I daresay all these little things " worked together for good " in the genial doctor's private practice. "The Child Wives- of India ir had , to be content with Sunday* I notice, when othW business was naturally at a standstill. No doubt, however,- this was all the space they 'merited under the oirenmstances, for there is Ino denying that our own health; diet, and , clothing awakens deeper chords in our being than " the child wives' of' lndia." . To turn, however, to more varied topics, let o» take a glance through the late magazines and see what we can . find to interest • us. Are you a stamp collector, dear I Then treasure up your letter cards; Listen to tniß extract from a Home journal, which is speaking of New Zealand letter cards :— " The philatelists snapped up the' whole lot at the first issue. The colour of the cards was changed' by the wily Government, and the second issue went nearly as well. Letter cards of tbat first issue will be valuable, especially as many collectors are almost abandoning stamps in favour of po»t and letter cards, as being more interesting." This is scarcely in accordance with fact, as " Old Stamp " in the Philately Column has pointed' out, bat still' the cards are well worth keeping. By the way, do you see that Mr Stead is steadily (an unrehearsed pun, believe met) progressing with the preparations for bringing out his penny hymnal under the guise of' II Hymns That Have Helped Me." The Prince of Wales, when appealed to for his opinion, replied through his secretary : "HRH. thinks there is none more touching, nor one that goes more truly to the heart, than No. 7 on j our list— 1 Nearer, my God, to Thee.' " And while we have the Royal Family in mind, here is a little item for the benefit of some people who make unseemly jokeo on the subject of prunella shoes and elastic-vide boots: "Her Majeuty the Queen still wears them, and the fine black silk stockings which, she affects — woven specially for har by a weaver who undertakes no other work — are so fine that they may be drawn through a ring." I find we have imperceptibly drifted iato those deep waters of dress, so let us speak for a moment of those charming little artioles on various feminine-subjects which, Miss O'Ooaor Eocles contributes to the Windsor Magazine. Her style is so bright and- amusing, and she is so ably seconded by her illustrating coadjutor. In the February number of the Windsor there was a capital article on the coiffures of. ancient goddesses and empresseo as exemplified in the statuary of the British Museum- Qur modern hairdressing is indeed simple in comparison with 'these modes of ancient Rome and Greece. What braids, wbat bandeaux, what ronleaux curls, what frizzed locks, what Qreoian knots these anoleat sculptors delighted ia I What tirewomen these Roman empresses and Grecian beauties must have had 1 A modern lady's maid simply would not he "in it " in a hairdresaing competition with the tirewomen of these regal ladies. Ia the same number, of the Windsor there is an extremely interesting article on "Musical Pitch in England"; a question which is becoming a serious matter of controversy in the musical world — a sort of musical bimetallism or monometallism subject f A semi-tone does not sound-much in speaking of it, and yet that semi-tone higher which marks the difference in the English pitch from the normal or French pitch would seem to be responsible for a great deal if we may believe the article in. .question, "The most disastrous results of our system, are felt by our owu native (lingers, who are year after, year straining, tkeir voices. - to their utmost limit in the endeavour to sing, music that was, never intended to be sung at snob a pitch,, and as the inevitable outcome very few voices ever survive the ordeal." Now this sentence irresistibly reminds' me ; how often our own native singers, and the most promising ones too, possessors of very sweet voices, seem to break down during .training and falsify our brightest hopes. Rang?, style, execution, ara all excellent in their way, but there aro roany voices that are not fitted for vocal gymnastics, or yet for those strange, sweet, soulless trillings like a bird, as shallow as sweet-, that delighted ub with Madame Muein. And yet these simple little mezzo voices if really well and wisely trained — not strained — and used with taste and sympathy go straight to- the heart, and wbat more can yon desire 1 But we must not forget the children — the , children who will want "something todo" ,in the dull winter days, " something to play at " in the long winter evenings. Some of my friends have too few- children- and' too many toys; but most of them- reverse- the I order, and find thai; the- more little curly 1 heads there are 1 round the nnraery table the less- money there is to spend' on toys for those •restless fingers and busy brains. If any of you want to make a capital toy as parb of the i provision- for spending happily those long evenings- tbat will soon be upon us, here is a t good idea. Take some of those old maps that lie thrust away in a corner of the nursery book case, and having trimmed them neatly 1 paste on to some stiff cardboard. When quite dry, lay it on the kitchen table, and with a very sharp penknife cut it into pieces by oarefully following the boundary linas between ; States or countries. X thirls done neatly and

accurately, you will bava a capital geogrW phical puzzle which you can make as interests ing as you like by that half hour's chat in thf gloaming or the morning's geography lesson} which gives all the interesting dstails-anq shows naturo in conjunction with' human nature] In skilful aad sympathetic hands there is really no lesson which proves >Q oharming as- the geography lesson. What! Is that indeed the time I And there were so many other things to talk of 1 Bub we muat flay " Art revoir." Emmemnb