LADIES' GOSSIP

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 52

LADIES' GOSSIP

- The Empress of Austria possesses a i unique collection of photographs taken by herself during her travels of the last nine years. Thej< consist of portraits of all the j beautiful women and girjs whom her Majesty lias seen, a great number of them being Italian and French. Attached to each photograph is a paper on winch are written the name, age, and description of the lady depicted, together with the date on which the poi trait was taken, and the place. Newspaper notices of Lady Randolph Churchill frequently record the fact that she bears upon her arm a tattoo mark. It was when returning from India with Lord Randolph that the peculiar ornament was required. Lady Eandolpii, on board ship, watched a soldier tattooing a. sailor, and was so pleased with the resultHhat shu desircc" the artist to similarly decorate her The pattern chosen was a dark blue snake with scarlet' jaws and green eyes. The snake holds its tail in its mouth— a symbol of eternity The Welsh singer Mr Ffrangcon Davies lias invented a new verb, " to cantillate," which signifies a- further development of the recitation, to 1 a pianoforte accompaniment made popular by many concert and drawingroom performers. — The Kusti, or sacred girdle of the Parsees, is a long flat cord of pure white wool, rather like a broad corset lace It is woven by the women of the priestly class and afterwards consecrated, like the Hindoo sacred cord, by the priests. It consists of 72 threads in the warp — to denote the 72 chapters of the Yasna. Each of the two ends of the girdle is left without weft and fchen braided fco within an inch-of the two extremi tie«, where it is divided into fchrc^ short braided ends. The girdle is tied over the shirt, und* coiled three times round the body by holding the middle of the cord m front of the waist, taking the two halves behind and bringing them back to the front, where a double knot is tied in a peculiar manner The remaining cords are then earns] back behind and another double knot tied there. The shirt and girdle are, in the belief of every Zoroaslrian, a veritable sacred panopiy- *— The starch, should be washed out pf all

t coloured or thin dresses before they are put j away. They will last twice as long if put , away rough-dried as they will if put away i ready for next summer. ■ — Wlien JRoyalty admires anything it is considered tantamount to an expression of ] desire to possess that thing. The German j Empress admired a black horse which tlie j King of Wurteniberg rode at a review of the j j tioops a month ago, and so for her Imperial j 1 Majesty's birthday present his Majesty of 'j Wurtemberg despatched the. horse, which j her Majesty graciously received with much delight. i — There is a wide-awake young woman in ' Chicago who is supporting herself quite com- ' f ortably by taking care " of other people's , birds and flowers She calls herself a " bird , and liowei attendant." and goes daily from j 'house to house to her patrons, feeding and watering pet birds, cleaning their cages, ; watering and trimming drawing-room plants ' and window-boxes, cleansing their leaves, I and in other ways keeping her feathered and : vegetable patients m good condition." — - Ladies are frequently successful inven- J tors, and one residing at Coventry holds ' j several valuable cycling and other patents. { | ' — One of the duties o.f the Lord Qhamber- j I lam on the occasion of a State concert is as ' i follows: — The member -of -the Royal Family ' j representing her Majesty occupies the centre ! chair on a raised dais at the end of the room j facing the orch.es.tra. Immediately she is i se,ated the Lord Chamberlain, bowing very ! solemnly, approaches, kneels down, and | gently takes the right foot of the royal lady and even more gently places it on a crimson ' f and gold foot&tool. * Then the Lord Chami berlam retnes. I —A capital story comes from Biarritz concerning the Queen of Servia and iier jewels. Whilst staying at Biarritz her | Majesty one day missed a valuable portion of her jewels. According to one accoimt it was a parure of diamonds ; according to ■ another, merely a very valuable ring. Whe- j rher the jewel or jewels were stolen, or j whether they were merely lost, appears to ' | be a matter of some doubt. Be that as ifc , I may, the fact is certain that a few days later an advertisement appeared in the local papers to the effect that, if the jewellery were re- ' I turned to the Queen she would present it to | the poor of Biarritz. Two clays afterwards i she received her lost or stolen treasure by | post, accompanied by a sheet ot coarse paper i on which was scrawled in printed characters : " I shall be curious to see if. a queen can keep her word." The Queen did keep her word and presented the restored jewellery | ti< the Sisters of Charity, who 'mmediately j organised by a lottery, which was largely sub- • scribed for by the visitors and residents of i Biarritz. The prize was won by a seam I stress. — The better your gloves fie your hand, without being tight, the longer they will last. — Her Majesty the Queen, though slightly under sfb in height, is close upon j ; 12st hi weight. 'The heaviest queen in j ' Europe is her ex-Majesty Isabella of Spain, i who turns the scale at 14st The Empress of Austria, from her constant exercise and early rising, weighs only 6sfc 71b. The Em press of Germany turns the scale at lost, ami ' the Czarina of Russia can only put to her credit Bst and some odd pounds. | —In the East End little girls still atten- | ding school make their first start towards | I earning a living by constructing match boxes at home, or minding children for a few pence i a week. Twopence farthing a gross is an • average price for the match boxes ; and a fairly quick child may be able to command Id a day Grown girls may make from 7s to 10s a week. — The Duchess of York, whose figure is a beautiful one, has always adopted a very easy waisb. — Eight of the most remarkable marriages on record took place within a few weeks in I tbe parish of St. Mane, Quebec. Two neighbours named Morin and Rheaume have each i jight children — four sons and four daughters. Kheaume's four sons have married Monn's fom daughters, and Morin's four sons have married the daughters of Rheaume — It has been truly said that fashions in jewellery change so rapidly that it is not worth while buying real gold trinkets, as gilded ones serve just as well lor the short time they are required. There has consequently been an increase of late in the manufacture of good gilded articles, or, as they are often called, " gold-cased " or " caratfaced." „____________ — It is estimated that at least 5,000,000 photographs of the Princess of Wales have been sold. This enormous number is being increased at the rate of about 200,000 every year. — At a time like the present, when the . decrees of Fashion. *r<* all in favour o| racb.-

ings and flouncirga of every description, the up-to-date manutacturer puts forth all his energies to produce trimmings which will give the e!e*ired fleecy effect with the least possible trouble to those who desire to follow I fickle Fashion in all her vagaries. One of the latest of these blouse or bodice garnitures is quite a triumph in its way, being soft ruchings of chiffon at intervals on a creamy net lace ground, thus giving the' effect of bars of insertion and puffings of chiffon alternately, ending in a tiny fall of lace. This new frippery rejoices in the name of Bretonne lace frilling, and can be had in several widths. — The oldest marriage certificate in the world is to be^een in the British Museum. It is over 3400 years old, and is supposed to have been written in the year 1540 B c The tablet is Bin long and 4in wide. The curious characters on it record the marriaga of the then Pharaob, King of Egypt, to the daughter of the Kitg of B ibylon. The clay of which the tablet is zaada came from the mud of the Eiver Nile, and the archive is I well worth an inspection by those interested in such an old and important record, which with others have been preserved through bo many generations. — How the widows of great Frenchmen spend their time was the Bubjecb of an interesting article in a Parisian newspaper .recently. One of the most active of the illustrious widows is the wife of the historian Michelet. She lives alone, and is busy producing new editions of her husband's works and in editing manuscripts which he left, including his memoirs. Madame Alexandra Dumas is al3o occupied with her husband's manuscripts, but in another way. Her object is to prevent the publication of any of the numerous works and fragments which the eminent dramatist left. Madame Gounod goes beyond preventing the publication of aew works, as she stops the performance of seme of the great composer's earlier compositions to prevent criticism. The wife of M. de Lesseps lives most of the year at L<* Chesnag?, where her husband died. The Sufz Canal Company gives her £5000 a year. Pasteur's widow lives at the Institute Pasteur, and receives a pacsion of £1000. Madame MacMahon, widow of the marshall and president, lives in her Paris mansion in winter and in her country chateau in sum- ! rrer. She declines a pension, but is well | provided for." Another widow of a president, I Madame Carnot, livss almost retired from the j world, but she still receives visits of con- j dolence from princes and other distinguished people. She has arranged a chapel in her j horns, and filled it with souvenirs of her late < husband. Madame Carnot also declined a I pension effured her by the S r ate. | — Jewellery is now worn in profusion, and i those who have irreproachable shoulders still ! adhere to the long chain of gold and gem?, I caught fancifully here and there to the < bodice, and held round the neck with a jewelledj ewelled safety pin . For.. the angular type of wearer the massive collar of pearls or the velvet band, studded with jewels, find mora favour, and a new way ot using costly paste or enamel buttons is to fix them at intervals to a .high band of velvet, which fastens i tightly, round the neck. — Home paper. ■ — When forks were unknown spoons played a very important part at the table. Spoons of the thirteenth century, and even later, had handles terminating in a kcot, acorn, cr other odd and cumbersome devices, j In some of the unique patterns the "spoon" : part was divided into two, three, and even four parts, and the handle always split or twisted and turned up. — Every fashionable ladies' paper impresses on its readers that hair ornaments ! are in vogue, and that flowers and ospreys j must be worn with evening dress. JcweUed j combs and d?ggers of every description arc i twisted into the fashionable coiffure, and | the simple knot of a couple of years ago is never seen. A good head of hair is rather a drawback to the present follower of fashionable freaks, for the head is so crowded with j combs and bands thai; there is barely room for a couple of coils of hair. The talk st and j thinnest young women accentuate tbeir j height by an ostrich tip, and the short and j stout loosen their hair with side combs and i impart ro their countenances an extra 6in in width. Happy old dowagers adorn their back bair with the coquettish osproy, and the viregary type of female selects a spray of imitation flowers of the most sickly yellow shade. Here and there at dances and "at homes " an unornamented head appears and draws attention to the-vulgarity of the many. This gari3h fad is but a reminder that the barbarous has still an attraction for the feminine nature. The beads and feathers of the lady savage correspond to the combs and aspreys of lbs modern woman. " The bun " was a grotesque fashion, but the bun -at least was no pretence. Regarding the fashionable hair ornaments, the stones are questionable, and as a rule the quantity of " ornaments " ia inversely proportional to their marketable value. — A good hunting ground for uncommon Christian names is a copy of a " Peerage." Lady Aberdeen's name, "Ishbel," is invariably misprinted-jn newspapers and elsewhere as "Isabel." Lady "Aileen" Wyndham-Quin generally comes from the printer as " Alice." Lady Breadalbane's name is "Alma." " Idioa " is the name of one of the daughters of Lord Absrgavenny. Among the original names that a very few moments' turning over of a "Peerage" discloses are Aglaia, Amicie, Alberlca, Fiorinda, Fiorina, Ninfa, Josette, Alrington, Melesina, Leopoldina, | Albinia, Lorina, and Marcia; while many I old names rarely heard are found in the ; same list of titled ladies, such as Lavinia, Cornelia, Ernestine, Joanna, Veronica, i Camilla, Juliana, Adeliza, Araminta, Honoria, i and others of the same description. — "To ladies who desire to look nice," eaid a manageress at a fashionable shop recently, " I can give no more important advice than keep yourself smart always. Far Adyice to Mothers ! — Are yon broken in your i rest by a aick child suffering with the pain of cut1 ting teeth ? Go at once to a chemist and get a ! bottle of Mra Winslow's Soothing Syrup. It will relieve the poor sufferer immediately. It is perfectly harmless, and pleasant to the taste ; it produces natural quiet sleep by relieving the child from pain, and the little cherub awakes "as bright as a button." It soothes the child, it softens the gums, allays all pain, relieves wind, regulates the bowels, and is the best known remedy for dysentery and diarrhoea whether arising from teething or other causes. Mrs Winslow's ! soothing Syrup is sold by medicine dealers every i where at Is ljd per bottle.— [Advt.J

too many women only trouble to look dainty when they are going out or expect company. Do you know, I can tell these women at once •' They never wear their clothes well or appear neat and dressy like those who, even if in a working gown and an old blouse, endeavour ever to keep trim." — Hare are the sums which have lately been spent by well-known Americans on their country houses : — George W. Vanderbllt's Biltmere estate £2,000,000 " The Marble House," Newport ... 600,000 "The Breakers," Cornelius vanderbilt, Newport 400.C00 M. At'K. Twombly's house, Madison, N.J 300,000 Fiederick W. Vanderbilt's new house 200,000 Whitelaw Reid's "Ophir Farm" ... 200,000 W. C. Whitney's October Mountain estate 200,000 Anson Phelps Stokes's "Shadow Brook"- 200,000 O. H. P. Belmont's "Belcourt," Newport 200,000 Ogden Goelet'a "Ochre Court," Newport , 200,000 The mo3t expensive of them all, Mr Vanderbilt's Biltmore house,' has already begb deserted by its owner. The foundations sh<sw a tendency to settle, and the water supply has gone wrong. — Perhaps there is no staple article- of commerce about which less ia known by the average person than human hair, -says the London Mail. Is wili doubtless surprise many to learn that the dealers in human hair 1 do not depend on chance clippings here and there, but there is a regular hair harvest that can alwayß be relied upon. It is estimated that O7er 12,0001b of human hair is used ' ] annually in the civilised world for adorning the heads of men and women, but principally the fair sex. The largest supply of hair comes from Switzerland, Germany, and the French provinces. There is a human hair market in the Department of the Lower Pyrenees held every Friday. Hundreds of bair traders walk up and down the oae street of the village, their shears dang'iicg from ; j their belts, and inspect the braids which the j peasant girls standing on the steps of the i bouses let down for their inspaction. If a bargain is struck the hair is cut, and the J money jjsid on the spot. A woman's hair may I grow to' the length of 6fu A single bair will j bear up a weight of 4.z without breaking, j but the hair thus heavily tried mu3t be dark i , brows, for blonde hair breaks under a strain ! of 2^'z. Dialers in human hair can fcell in a i i moment whether the locks offered them have • been cut. off or combed out. They do this by : rubbing the hair through their fingers. If ; the hair has been cut from the head, and 1 ba3 not been misplaced, it remains in its ; original position. If it has been palled or ] I combed out and put together regardless of j j the direction in which it. grew, one portion ! i of it will slip to the right and the other to j the left. Is does this because the jigged ! e3ges catch upon each other and pull ia opposite directions. - ; Children's Teetli Troubles. The qasation ia often asked, Wheu should a curse begin to brush a child's teeth ? It is impossible to begin the use of the brush i too soon. The first time the child's monih j is washed let a small suitable brush, not a sponge, be used at least twice a day thoronghly anrl carefully. Is is a hopeless j tafck to attempt to persuade boys and girla i of eight to hixteer. — a time of life when the ! will is strorg and neither care for the future i nor interestiu personal appearance bave taken j any hold upon the mmd — to pay attention j I to their teetb, if the habit of cleanliness in j [ th's respect has not been formed in early | 1 childhood. Lsfc the child grow up frcm I ! ite earliest consciousness with a feeling fast j j ft toothbrnsh is a daily necessity, to be j faithfully used, and the habit will not be easily set aside when the mind begins to act for itself. See that the teeth are really brushed in a common-sense manner, as a piece of plate would be cleaned for the table. No good housekeeper would allow a piece of plate to be put on the table with all the prominent parts rubbed bright and all the depressions and crevices full of dirt. That is exactly what almost everybody does with the teetb, and certainly it is what all children will do if they are not taught better. To do the work properly the brush must ba of sufficient hardness or softness to allow of its being forced well into all the interstices, inside and outside, with an upward and downward movement, as well as backwards and forward*, .and transversely across | the front, permitting a good, vigorous rob- ! bicg ef both teeth . and gums, but without ! wounding the latter. Wnen the teeth are i not very handy," a thread of very locsely- | twisted silk or linen, well waxed with com- ■ tnon beeswax, should be passed through all | the interstices, and every fragment of food j temoved, either in this manner or with a toothpick. Few people realise that a tooth has five sides, and it is curious how often the surfaces next to the tongue and palate are neglected. A perfect" tooth brush is difficult to be obtained. For adults it is best made of horsehair, and for young children of the finest hairs, whilst for babies badger hair is hard enough. Any brush will be worthless in a month if always kept wet, since the hairs will rot and come off. It should bg carefully dried and hung up, fully exposed to the air, until required again. If treated thus it will last sis months at least, which is quite as long as any toothbsnsh should be used. Etiquette : Galls of Condolence. When a death takes place among your circle of friends you must at once either call or send a servant to inquire how the family are. Your visiting card and that of your husband must be left at the same time. You must write " With sinceiresy mpathy " or " With deepest sympathy " on the top of the card over the printed came. At the same time you must write a short note of condolence, which you can either leave by hand or send by pest. Black-edged paper should always be used. The depth of the black should be that known as complimentary mourning. If you live too far away to send your cards of sympathy by hand, it is quite correct to send them by post. If yon are an intimate friend of the family, and have a closed carriage, ib is usual to offer them the use of it for the funeral. If you wish to send a cross or wreath of flowers, you should be careful only to choose

white and purple ones to bave them made of. These flowers should be sent to the house the morning of the funeral, with your visiting card attached and the words " With deepest sympathy " written on it. If you attend the funeral services you should be dressed entirely in black. Crape is never worn now in complimentary mourning. You must wait to call on the family who are in mourning till you receive their carde of thanks for kind inquiries. You should then call within a week or two, and though you need not dresa in black, good taste dictates thai; bright, gay dressing should be avoided on this occasion and your dress be as quiet as possible. You should only make a short call, and unless your friend speaks of her sorrow it is bad taste to allude to if, except in as few words as possible o? sympathy for her loas. An American Woman on Taste. One of tbs favourite American lady writers on fashion fcs^f recently put tba relationsbjo between speech, mariners, and clothes pertinently before the public. Between language and clothes (she says) there exists a legitimate and perfect relation, as well as, on the other hand, a repugnant acd distasteful discord. Fine language, fine manners, and line clothes are a beautiful harmony, fotjfc cannot be separated without producing disastrous effects and ,a sorry spectacle.' The beauty of clothes is not always their cost or tbeir colonr, though good things always look better than common ones. It ia the style and suitability of the robes that make them elegant. For instance, a young girl on the threshold of life always looks well in white, or in a delicate shade of colour, and a woman who knows how to gro^v old gracefully wears black and white, or a soft grey or rich velvet. Cultured society recognises the fitness of Quaker tints, relieved here and there by a brilliant touch. Refined talk should certainly go hand in hand with refined and elegaoc dress. What can be uglier than to hear Bfciident tones' and harsh sounds from the lip 3of a sylph in white Bilk or muslin 1 The low, sweet voice that is such an excellent thicg in woman is worth cultivating. A clever modiste who created elegant combinations of dress for dames of the highest dftgree once refused persistently to give at.y details to a woman journalist who thought her own descriptive powers second to none. When pressed by a third person for the reason, the artist in dress said she did not lika to have her lovely colourings compared to raw eatables. " Why," ehe said, " should a ribbon be described as * salmon pink,' when 'pale coral' conveyed a better idea, or why should cream colour take the place of ivory white 1 " It is certain that more elegant similitudes can be foucd among flowers and birds and precious stone 3 than in the butcher* and. fishmonger's vocabularies. The third refine-"

DX, LAMONI'S STRONG FINGERS. • " I was afraid you were going to slip through' my "fingers," said good old Dr Lain^nls. The writer was a boy of about 17 then. While a student at school, anore than 300 mtfea from home, I was taken down with pneumonia. I had a tough time, and for two or three weeks my life was despaired of. But youth and good care won the fight, and one bright mornin* I wss ready to go home wiMj my dear father, wbo hud come for me. 1 was weak still, bat well and happy clear up to the brim. Oh, wh»,t * ride ! Ob, what sweet air ! Oh, what a. glorious world I had got back into, and what & reception from mother and sister* at tl>e familiar house. Oh, life! Oh, heal' hi Oh, dulce, dulce do mum! fciuch ai iflners, if one survives it, ouly makes the sense of i xistence and its blessings more keen and delightful. It is good rather than bad. Lucky boy not to have slipped through the doctor's fingers. But when a man with most of his days behind him has to wiite a line like this, " All my life. I have suffered more cr less from dise-A&e" — why, that is another and sadder story. It ifl the odds between an occa&ion«.l thunderstorm and a. sky always coTered with clouds. We quote what he says, reminding the reader that in this matter Mr William Hodkiuson voices the experience of millions. He says : " I always had a bad taste in the mouth, no proper relish for food, and after eating had pain and fulness at the chirsfc." These sensations are symptoms of acule icdigestion. In the stomach there is marked loss of power. The food is neither rolled over as it should be, -so that the whole or it in turn may :be presented to the digestive fluid, . nor is it duly moved on towards the" outlet ' into t&a bowels. As a result it ferments and gives off irritating acids and gases ; hence the patient complains of pain, weight, distension, acidity, and ftetulence in tbas region. Th^nre the poisons proceed to every other part, of the body, and headache, vertigo, gout, rheumatism, depressed spirits, and a score more of eviis follow ; among them, possibly, nervous prostration, progressive ansemia, locomotor ataxis, and more or less complete paralysis. 11 Frequently," continues Mr Hodkinson, "I was sick, and as time went on I became very weak and feeble. - I consulted one doctor after another, and took various medicines, but obtained no real or lasting relief from any of them. This describes my general condition until the fortunate day when I read about Mother Seigel's Curative Syrup. . I was impressed by the statements others had made concerning ife, and proceeded to try it. After taking one bottle I found relief, and was soon entirely free from my old complaint. Since that time (cow eight years ago) I have enjoyed good health. Knowing personally of its virtues, I have recommended this remedy to hundreds, and have never heard of its having failed to give relief. But for Mother Seigel's Syrup I should have been in my grave years ago.— (Signed) William Hodkinson, Hollington, near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, August 11th, 1893." Mr Hodkinson is well known and highly respected. He is a local preacher in the Methodist church, and by employment a quarry master. Had he gone into the grave, as he feared he should, he would have been missed and lamented by the community in which he has long been useful, and will live to be useful, we hope, for years to come. Now, let us repeat our leading thought. Short illnesses, even though sharp and dangerous, may result in good rather than harm. Bub a disease that drags its victim through decades of lingering distress — what shall we cay of it ? The trouble and suffering it inflicts are beyond estimate, and it* name is indigestion and dyspepsia. And the name of the medicine that cures it Mr Hodkingoo has done you the favour to mention with clearness And emphasis.

ment is the charm of manner, that makes a trinity of harmony with beanty of dress and delicacy of speech. Why should a woman be brusque and uncouth in her manner, and thereby violate every canon of that best of good breeding, which consists of doing as ehe would ba done by 1 Doe 3 she like other people to accost and answer her roughly, or to jcstle her aside, to block up ber views of what she wishes, and, perhaps, has paid to see 1 OE course, she does not; and, why, then, should she practise these methods on her neigbbonrs 1 If "manner makyth man," it " makyth woman " in a much more pronounced degree. Every woman can b9 a lady in gentleness of speech acd manner. Lack of barrcony in dress and speech and manner comes from copying others, without knowing why; the blind leading tbe blind, even if unconsciously, and one of tbe queerest tendencies of humanity is that it is more prone to pick up bad habits than good ones.