LADIES’ GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3114, 19 November 1913, Page 65

LADIES’ GOSSIP.

German exclusive society, says a correspondent, is being shocked by the fact that members of th© “higher nobility” are going on the stage. The Baroness von Lygicki, a member of the family of the “higher noble” Prince Sayn-Wittgenstein, and a kinswoman of the “higher noble” Czartoyskis of Polland, has gone on the Munich stage under the name of Fraulein Use Koenig. This is the first case recorded of such a lapse from aristocratic dignity, and the offender’s relatives at a family council have formally repudiated her. The Baroness explains her action by saying that she is “tired of tedium in a chateau.” Miss Nora Cochrane, an East Cowes voung lady, 18 years of age, has succeeded in swimming across the Solent from Lepe, on the Hampshire coast, to Egypt Point, at Cowes, which is just under four miles, in Ihr 28min. She had no refreshment on the way, and was not exhausted by her effort. The young lady, who is on the teaching staff of the Council Schools

at Fast Cowes, holds the certificate of the Koval Life-Saving Society. .Mine. Tetrazzini is extremely nervous when appearing before a. large audience. “1 have no talisman, to bring me luck,” she says, ‘‘but you know most artistes like to meet a hunchback in the street; it is a sign of good fortune. My talisman really is sugar and hot water, which I drink immediately before singing. 1 ’ Mine, Tetrazzini confesses that, although she hates the smoke and fog of lajudon, she is always glad to get back to it, and a!wavs has her clothes made in England.

as a “mixed marriage” the record of nationalities present this week at a wedding in London at which a Forfarshire gentleman was “best man. The ceremony was performed in a tiny Catholic chapel in Marlehone. Only six people were present. The bridegroom was a Belgian, the bride a Parisian, the bridesmaid a Dane, the best man a Scotsman, the priest an Irishman, and the registrar an unmistakable Cockney. The crowning touch came with the wedding luncheon served by a Swiss and an Italian, in an English Club. Lady Warwick is the latest celebrity to lend her aid to the production of kinema pictures. She is not only writing kinema plays, but she has placed exclusively at the disposal of a well-known kinematograph firm Warwick Castle and its historic environs, as well as her own estate at Easton, Essex, with its many thousands of acres of deer park, beautiful gardens and woodlands, which afford a magnificent setting for the filming of her plays. Lady Warwick’s first kinema play is very topical. It is called “The Great Pearl Affair.” It is her ambition, however, to produce educational films in dramatic form. “There is much that can he done,” she says, “to raise the picture palace to a splendid position as an educative influence, and I have great hope and high ideals.” A Good Dress Allowance. “What all classes of women spend yearly on dress’’ was the subject of interesting statistical addresses delivered at Chicago before a convention of dressmakers. It

was agreed, the Mail says, that the yearly dress budget of “a few wealthy Chicago women’’ amounted to £15,000, compared with £4O expended by the average factory girl. The following table of dress expenditure was prepared by the convention; —• A few, £15,000 each. On© hundred leaders of Chicago society, £IO,OOO each. Ten thousand others, £IOOO each. Well-dressed women, £3OO. Suffragists, £IOO. Church workers, £IOO. Social workers, £6O. Women typists, £55. Fifty factory girls, £4O each. It was the opinion of Mme. Phaix, president of the convention, that the average wealthy woman might dress well on £IOOO a year'. Mme. Phair devoted the b’urdon of' her remarks to working girls’ dress expenses. She stated that the girl wageearners of Chicago spend half tneir total earnings on dress. Of this sum 50 per cent, could be saved if girls would learn to sew and make their own gowns.

Hints and Suggestions.

A piece of starch placed in the water will keep flowers fresh for quite a long period. To keep New Flannel from Shrinking. — Steep in cold water for half an hour before washing for first time, then wash in the usual way. When making a cup of cocoa put into it (when mixed) a pinch of salt, and you will find a great improvement in the

flavour. This also takes the watery taste away.

if you want to bake potatoes quickly, let them stand in boiling water for a few minutes before putting them in the oven. Well-cooked oatmeal with a raw apple is claimed to be an ideal diet for humanity, and children can keep strong and healthy on this at the smallest possible ontlav.

For removing marking-ink stains from linen, wet the stain with fresh solution of chloride of lime, and, after, 10 or Vi minutes, if the marks have become white, dip the part in a solution of ammonia or hyposulphate of soda. In a few minutes wash in clean water.

When cleaning windows, dissolve a little soda in water, dip into it a clean sponge, and wash the glass with it. Wipe and polish with clean dry cloths. Old cloths should be saved for window cleaning, for the softer they are the better. Soft paper makes an excellent substitute for cloths for this purpose. To iron unstarched lace, place it right side down upon a pad of ironing-board covered with several thicknesses of white flannel. Over this spread carefully a damp cloth, and press with a hot iron until the cloth is thoroughly dry. A burned saucepan should be filled with cold water to which a rather liberal allowance of soda lias been added. Let it stand for an hour or so, then heat the water slowly for a few minutes, and the burned particles will come off quite easily. The process of cleaning a sewingmachine can be made quite easy if it is remembered that pieces of lint and thread can be blown out with a bicycle pump. This also keeps the fingers free from much dirt and grease, unless gloves are worn. After washing any kind of blouse, but

pul U, i«cC ilUl< s on a coat-hanger (which can be bought for a penny). The blouse should be fastened up, and the hook on the hanger fastened on to the line. The blouse will keep its shape, and dry in half the usual time, and scarcely require any ironing. Never hang a mirror where the sun’s rays can fall full upon it. The light and heat injure the quicksilver at the back,

and make the glass dull and cloudy. Whitening mixed to a soft paste with water to which a few drops of ammonia have been added is excellent for cleaning mirrors. Rub it on with a soft cloth and allow it to dry. Then rub off with a clean dry duster and polish with a newspaper.

When peeling apples have at hand a pan of cold water to which a few drops of lemon juice have been added. Aa they are pared dron the apples one by one into the pan j they will not then turn brown. Apples should, when possible, be cut with a silver knife.

Don’t —if you value your teeth and your skin—get into the habit of eating sweets at all hours. They give rise to acidity in the mouth, and this injures the enamel of the teeth, and is a fertile cause of toothache. They also cause acidity of the stomach, and sallow skin and bilious headaches often result.

Always empty the water out of the kettle after using it, and rinse it thoroughly before filling with fresh water. This prevents the thick, white sediment from forming at the bottom of the kettle, that soon cakes the sides .of tire kettle if not rinsed.

When cooking a blanc mange, if you mix a piece of butter with it while it ia still boiling, you will find it will turn out of the mould when it is cold without any trouble, -and, also, that it will have a much more glossy appearace. When stewing fi uit try adding a teaspoonful of vinegar or lemon-juice for every pound of fruit ion will find that this will save you nearly one-third of the quantity of sugar you would otherwise use.

Frequently tablecloths and napkins are stained by cocoa. Such stains should bo washed in cold water first, and then boiling water should be poured through until the last vestige of the stain is gone. For spots made by coffee or tea, boiling water poured through will prove efficacious. To save time and keep nice white steps, clean in the usual way, rub step over with hearthstone, then put a little milk on, and wipe smooth. Fain, will not wash it off, and the stop will remain clean for a week or two. Tea leaves should never be used for sweeping purposes until they have been well rinsed in several changes of water. This succeeds in extracting any remains of colouring matter, which would otherwise have the effect of staining the wool of the carpet.

Don't, pick up little pieces of glass, but wet <i woollen doth, lay it on the door where the fragments are, and pat it. The tiny particles will adhere to the damp cloth, which may be burned. A splinter of glass, if it should get in one’s flesh, might cause serious trouble. That tiresome blight of the summer dress—iron-mould from hooks and eyes—can be easily done away with by a little forethought ; simply, indeed, by boiling the hooks and eyes before putting the i on in ordinary soda and water. Hie same treatment applies, of course, to the patent fasteners. After boiling they should bo laid on a newspaper and dried before the fire, and they are then quite mould-proof. It is most important that the larder should always he kept well aired, so tint the contents may be quite fresh and sweet. To prevent dust and smuts getting in through the open widow, cover it with a piece of butter muslin. This lets the air penetrate through, and at the same time keeps everything spotless. if the flies are at all troublesome, try placing a pot of mignonette on the window-sill. This is usually most effective in keeping them a wav.

Descriptions ot balls, elc., must be endorsed by either the Witness correspondent for the district nr by the secretary of the ball committee. The UP. of any correspondents who do not comply with this rule will be sent to the gforetary (or endorsement prior to appearing.—ELlZAßETH. To ensure publication in the forthcoming Issue letters should reach the Witness office i! possible on Saturday night, but on no account later than Monday night. A WEDDING IK CHRISTCHWII. A very pretty wedding took place in Christchurch on Wednesday, November 12. when Miss Mamie Shand, only daughter of Mrs John Shand, of Northern!, Invercargill, was united in the bonds of matrimony to Mr Thomas Cunningham, of Hastings. Tho ceremony took place at St. Andrew’s Church, and was performed by the Rev. John Mackenzie. The bride wore a costume of charmeuse oystor-grey saJin with a pretty grey bat trimmed with pink roses, and looked charming. Her bridesmaid (Miss May Carmichael, of Auckland) wore a dress of amethyst satin, with Oriental trimming, and a pink hat trimmed with roses. The mother of the bride wore lyoncoloured charmeuse satin, with hat to match. Mr 11. Shand, of Centre Bush, was best man. After the ceremony the bridal party drove to the United Service Hotel, where the wedding breakfast was served, and at midday tho happy / ouple left for the south. The honeymoon w to spent partly in the south and partly in the Rotorua district.