EMMELINE'S " COSY CORNER CLUB."

Otago Witness, Issue 2665, 12 April 1905, Page 65

EMMELINE'S " COSY CORNER CLUB."

SIXTH SESSION OPENS MAY 10,

KULES.

1. Meets on the second Wednesday of each month.

2. Contributions to be in 14 days earlier

3. All readers of "Witness Ladies' Page eligible as members by strictly conforming to lules.

4. Contributions not to exceed 300 words. Musi be legibly written in ink on one side of the paper only, — And Must Be Accompanied by Real Name

and Address —

not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith — as well as* by noni de plume. 5. The subjects for the following two months will be given at each meeting in order to allow members at a distance to send in their papers in plenty of time, as no extension of dates can be given.

6. Members specially anxious to disciiss any topic are invited to send their suggestions to Emmeiine, who -will be charmed to consider their wishes, provided always that the subject is one of general interest to readers. '

Emmeiine, in publishing the rules of the club again, advises members to cut them out and keep them for reference.

Club meets MAY 10.

Papers must be in by

April 28.

TOPIC.

— A Members' Meeting. —

Emmeiine leaves members free to choose their own topics at thi? meeting, hut would suggest as generally interesting a short account of the most enjoyable book read since the 1904 session of the club, or a br'af sketch of your holiday trip.

fectly sure, be of immeasurable advantage to the listless and half-hearted workers and players if they took for their motto, "Work while you work, and play while you play," and to do both in real earnest. ~"Yetta," in Liverpool Mercury.

— The Empress of Russia, endeavouring " to find some form of gift that would be specially welcome to the troops in the Far iilast, remembered the Russian peasant's ' favourite^ habit of chewing sunflower seeds. ,'A-trainload of sunflower seeds was -accord-

ingly' despatched to the front, and was re-

ceived ■with such delight that it is said _• that the Empress lias - since spent £32,000 on sunflower" seeds -for the troops. • — The Princess de-JK, who -is at present staying with < her husband^at' Nice, is causlirig. quite a sensation there , owing to the romantic story of her life. She was born in Turkey, -and -married a- Turk, wbo be-

came an Attache to his Embassy in iVienna. During her long stay there she acquired the knowledge of European customs. On returning to her native land her husband, who had grown tired of her, «ent her back .to her father. In Turkey divorce does not exist. The resolve of a 'husband to separate himself from his wife suffices. As ncr father, who was an old general, possessed but little fortune, she was persuaded to wed a relative of the Sultan. This man was solely guided by the customs existing in Turkey, and, as she felt she could no longer submit to these, she fled from his harem. In order

to reach Paris, where she has relatives, she

went on board a Russian ship and placed herself under the protection of the captain, who kindly took her in charge. A few months afterwards she met the Prince de

X-, and married him, thus becoming a .wife for the third time before she was .30. She has reddish blonde hair and large brown,, eyes, and is altogether charming. Her face is of Oriental type, and her figure is perfect.

— The Russian Dowager Empress is next to Queen Alexandra in age in- the Danish Royal ■Family, and has- always been her chosen friend. The Dowager Empress and tfie Queen have always tried to visit their 'father at the same time, so that they xnight be with one another. One illustration of our Queen's gentle compliance with her sister's wishes was in the wearing of deep crape as mourning foi* ber mother. Her own opinion on the subject had previously been shown plainly enough (as the Illustrated London News points out) by the fact that she did not assume this conventional token of grief when she lost her beloved eldest son. But as the Empress of Russia preferred to wear crape, her sister would not make a difference in their out,ward signs of mourning. — The industry of lace-making is steadily progressing amongst the peasant women of "Buckinghamshire, where mothers are beginning to teach their children lacemaking at home. A skilled lace-maker, working only in her spare time, may earn from- 5s to 7s a week ; and double that amount if working all her time. — Although the Inns of Court are unbending in their attitude towards those of the fair sex who desire to be called to the bar, considerable progress is being made by women in getting admitted to other branches of. the learned professions (says the Telegraph). Medicine and surgery have long been open to the studious woman, and about three years ago the •Royal Institute of British Architects, after some opposition, extended its membership to ladies. There, are at present but two ladies who have become associates of the institute, and they are sisters. Miss Ethel Charles, of Flushing, near Falmouth, the first lady associate of the distinguished body, has well justified her admission into its ranks by carrying off the Royal Institute's silver medal and 25gs for an essay on the development of architectural art from structural requirements and nature Of materials. . •—Until what age is a woman justified

i in assuming an appearance of youth ? This is a period when elderliness is accounted ! almost a crime, and when the race is j rather to the youthful and the beautiful than to the swift. Can a woman of 35, for instance, whose complexion is still food, and whose hair is yet dark and abunant, be really blamed for wearing the gowns and joining in the gaieties of girls ten years younger than herself? Ought she either to abstain from pin-curls, transformations, and other toilet accessories if necessary and to join the ranks of the passee and of the old maids? A woman after all is as old as she looks, and i£ art — autistic art, be it understood — can really regain for a woman a few more years of apparent juvenility, surely she is justified in securing ' its" aid. At 50 the foolish spinster who", apes the appearance and deportment' of her nieces looks, and is, ridiculous, but at 35 life is still sweet and full of ambitions. The woman o£ 35 is understood' to be a handsome and attractive individual. She has her coterie of adj mirers, and not infrequently as many part- , ners at a dance as the "bud" of 18. Were she to don the cap, wear the speckled locks and the elderly garments in which I her' predecessors exhibited themselves at her age, "good times" would be a thing of the past, and her retreat to a back shelf permanent and complete.

— The Marquis of Londonderry, president of the Board of Education, has appointed the Hon. Maude Lawrence to a newly-established post of Chief Woman Inspector under the Board of Education. Miss Lawrence is the youngest daughter of the first Lord Lawrence, GovernorGeneral of India, who was chairman of the first School Board for London. She was for many yeaxs chairman of a committee of managers under the London School Board, and was a member of the London School Board from 1899 to 1904, serving on the Committees for School Management, for Works, for Domestic Subjects, and .for School Accommodation, and being chairman of the Special Schools Sub-committee. In May, 1904, she was placed by the London County Council upon their Education Committee, and she is vice-chairman of their Special Schools Sub-committee and a member of two other sub-committees. In her new post Miss Lawrence will direct a staff of women inspectors of special qualifications and varied experience, who will assist the Board of Education in dealing with many questions for the treatment of which they have hitherto been somewhat imperfectly equipped. Among these may be indicated the education of very young children, the special education of girls and young women in public elementary schools, secondary schools, pupil teacher centres, evening schools, training colleges, and evening and other technical classes, and the suitability of the arrangements made for the boarding of women students in training colleges and hostels.

— The following is a very good way to make an agreeable violet-like perfume :—: — Cut up loz of orris root and put it into a glass-stoppered jar or large bottle, and pour over it IJ-oz of pure spirits of wme. Put in the stopper, which should fit very closely, and leave the jar in a dark place for a fortnight or three weeks. A few drops of the essence thus made will give a delightfully clean odour, more like English violet (which one can never get now) than any that can usually be purchased. Sprinkled in the linen press, or on the wadding for sachets, it will please the most fastidious.

— To understand how to rest is of more Importance than to know how to work. The latter can be learned if one will give one's mind to it,, but the former is an act some people never acquire. Rest necessitates change of scene and activities. Lounging is very often tiring, sleeping is not always restful, and sitting down with nothing to do is sminlv to invoke weariness.

A change is needed to bring into play a different set of faculties and to direct Ui^ thoughts into a new channel. The woman who is weary .md heavy laden with care finds ichef in active employment with freedom from responsibility. The biain worker geneially lintls her best rtbt in playing hard. Rest may be found in many difl'eient ways, but it is quite a mistake to expect to find it in idleness. — Princess Victoria is the tallest of the tliree daughters of the Queen, and, unlike her sisters, she has never mauied. This is partially due to somewhat delicate health, which aggravates her constitutional shyness. She is a graceful, well-bred looking lady iiiid she has said (remarks the London Club Window writer in the Liverpool Post) she is happiest when she is playing with her nitres, the daughters of the Duke of Fife. At Court she is an attentive and thoughtful listener, but not given to loquacity. She inherits her mother's love of music, but nothing seems to materially affect the quiet, shy calm which is her normal characteristic. It has been asserted that she at one time expressed a desire to marry a distinguished soldier, but this was utterly outside the range of practical politics, and on the matter she has preserved inviolable silence.

— It is not always age that makes those disagreeable furrows across our foreheads and round our eyes. There are some grandmothers whose faces have hardly a wrinkle, and some granddaughters whose brows are as seamed as they might be at sixty. Time is not responsible for these vexing little lines. • A good many of them may be ascribed to worry. If one gets into the habit of fretting over everything that has gone wrong, and everything one thinks likely to go wrong, the record upon one's face will be as plain as print. Bad temper makes a mark which is hard to erase, and is far uglier than the lines the happy years bring.

Hints and Suggest' on s.

Don't dry the face with a rough towel if you want to keep the skin smooth ; instead use a fine damask one, and " dab " the face with it. This preserves the delicate appearance of the skin.

For dry hair an effective wash is one part glycerine to three parts rosewater, with five grains of salt of tartar to about one-half pint of the lotion. All lotions must be well shaken before using.

If you are covering an entire Tioor with matting, sew the breadths together as you would carpet, only let the stitch of double thread be much looser than for carpet.

Ink stains can be more quickly removed from white goods by salt if vinegar is used with it. Put a fresh supply on until the stain disappears, then rinse in clear water. One does not get so tired using the sewing machine if only the right foot is placed entirely en the treadle, allowing but the toe of the left to touch the front edge.

A new lamp wick should be soaked in vinegar. If this is done there will be neither smell nor smoke, and a much brighter light will be given. Do not scrape a frying pan, as it is liable afterwards to burn. Instead rub well with i hard crast of bread and wash in hot water.

Arrowroot for invalids should be prepared in the following manner: — Pour a pint of sweet milk into a scrupulously clean saucepan, and bring it to the boil. Mix a dessertspoonful of arrowroot smoothly with three tablespoonfuls of cold milk. Pour gradually into the boiling milk, stirring briskly all the time. Allow it to boil from two to three minutes, sweeten with powdered sugar, pour it into a small mould, allow it to rool, and serve with cream. If flavouring is desired, boil a small piece of cinnamon stick or lemon rind in the milk, removing it before the arrowroot is added Washing Blankets. — The old-fashioned soft soap of our grandmother's day is still the best thing to wash blankets and woollen garments. Allow a tablespoonful of Lhe soap and one of liquid ammonia to each gallon of washing water, which should be jusi. hot enough to bear one's hand in. Let the blankets soak 15 or 20 minutes in this mixtuie. Wring out and repeat the operation in a similar lot of suds. Rinse in clear water of the same temperature, and hang in a nice airy place to dry — out of doors. A Useful Hint. — Everyone knows the disastrous effects of careless laundrying on the colcured blouse. The blurs, the patches, the metamorphoses of shade which come over the new silk of woollen blouse on its first visit to thf wash, make a domestic experience as annoying as it is frequent. The remedy lies in setting the colours of the fabrics before they are washed. Many methods of doing this are given, but one of the best with delicate colours coasists in making a strong brine of salt and cold water, and soaking the article in it for from 12 to 24hours. This should be done just before going to the laundry, and the salt must not be allowed to dry in. This treatment is especially good for all shades of pink and gieen. A strong solution of alum and water is good, particularly with blues and the more delicate shades of brown, but the effect is not so lasting as that of salt, and the treatment requires renewing after three ov four washings.