LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3275, 20 December 1916, Page 57

LADIES' GOSSIP.

A housewife whose competence has always won my admiration surprised me (says a Star writer) by leaving unfinished bits of plain knitting lying about in all her rooms. . When I accused her of becoming slipshod she laughed and said, " Those are for visitors who drop in 'o gossip. They are traps for the talkative. Knitting is infectious, you know, and as soon as I begin, a knitter is pretty certain to pick up the other set of needles, and try to beat me. I start slowly and drop a stitch or two to lure her on. I get quite a lot of socks knitted that way." servants is a serious problem. Cooks,_ able to do only plain cooking, are receiving from 40 to 60 dollars a month, with room and board; waitresses and chambermaids 30 to 40 dollars a month. Many families have half the usual number, and the ones they have most indifferent. Mrs E. W. Pontefract writes from Bagatelle, Shields, Pennsylvania:—"Daily, I might almost say hourly, we are asked for contributions for" the widows and orphans of France, Belgium, Serbia, and Poland. Is there not some way that these widows could be sent to help the American housewife and live on earnings instead of charity?" According to the Paris fashions gossip of The Timer,, the wide skirts are getting a little narrower, for they are getting longer, and as this happens the width decreases, not much, but a 11111©. The greatest drawback to the very full cloth dresses is their weight, and that is why it is so much better to have them made in the straight, princess style, so that the drag may come from the shoulders, and not from the waist. Cloth dresses, lightly embroidered, with crepe Georgette sleeves and a coat to match, can be carried out in many becoming schemes of colour; they are in blue, in bronze, ift brown, in grey, and in wine colour, and on every colour you can ring two or three shades." The general effect of dress in Paris this autumn gives you the impression that more colour is worn than usual, but it is all subdued ; here and there a flash of brilliant rose or blue or green breaks forth, but it is soon lost in the common neutrality. The Empress Eugenie has had her favourite relatives staying with her a$ Farnborough. her great-niece and her husband, the Duke and Duchess de San* tona. The Duchess has English tastes and sympathies, and is sister to the Duo d'Alba and the Due de Peneranda. who, though belonging to the Spanish nobility, were British two centuries ago. But for attainder the Due D'Alba would be Duke of Berwick and Earl of Tinmouth. with a seat in the House of Lords, and possibly there would not be great difficulty in getting the attainder reversed. The patronymic of the family is Stuart-Fitz-James, and the Duchess was known as Dona Sol Stuart before her marriage as his second wife to the Due de Santcna, who first married one of the Murrietas, Lady William NevilPs sister. —-No Prussian Royalties are allowed to travel incognito without the consent of the Kaiser. The Princess August Wilhelm, the Kaiser's daughter-in-law. a few years ago arranged to sp'.md a few weeks in Norway. She was to go with three of her most intimate friends, and all were looking forward to having a very enjoyable trip. A few days before she was to leave Berlin her lady-in-waiting sent the usual formal request* to the Kaiser for his permission that the Princess should be allowed to travel incognito. The Kaiser being away from Berlin at the time, the permission" did not reach her until the day after she was to start; and the Princess went off without it. never thinking that doing; so would involve her in any trouble. But the day after she was promptly summoned back to Berlin, sriven a severe lecture on the reprehensible manner ; n which she had behaved, and told that a second offence of this sort would meet with severe punishment. Create on a Carpet.—Make a thick pasta of pipeclay and water, and spread this thickly a.li over the affected part of the carpet. Allow this to dry into a cake, and then hold the carpet in front of a; hot fire. The grease, under the. influence of the L«ft*» will be drawn from the carpet into the pipeclay, when it only remainC

to remove the clay, which should be done in the garden, with the aid of a carpet beater. If the first application is not successful, repeat until all trace of grease is removed. Hints and Sugars t ions. A tablespoonful of vinegar added to the water when washing saucepans that have been used for cooking fish or onions will take away any offensive smell or taste. Equal parts "of olive oil and apple juice make a superior salad dressing. Make the dressing in the usual way, letting the apple juice l'eplace the vinegar. When Stoning Raisins.—Many people dislike stoning raisins because of their unpleasant stickiness. This can be prevented by rubbing a little butter on the fingers and on the knife before beginning. A Substitute for Candied Peel.—A small quantity of orange marmalade may be recommended a good substitute for candied peel as an ingredient for Christmas puddings, mincemeat, and cakes. The long shreds must be, of course, cut across into shorter pieces; but this is easily done •without handling. You can re-foot your stockings not in the ordinary way, by knitting, but by cutting soles and heels out of the legs of an old pair, using the old sole and heel as a pattern. But instead of running and herringboning the seams, do them by machine, then trim the edges rather closely. They wear quite well, and, what is far more important, they don't hurt one a bit. This is economy well worth while, for stockings have gone up so much in price, and wool is so scarce, that one wants to make what stockings one has last as long as possible. Cooking "Hints.—Allow one level teaspoonful of salt to flavour a quart of soup, sauce, or water in which vegetables are to be cooked. Rico absorbs three times its measure of water, milk, or stock. Use a teaspoonful of baking powder to a cupful of flour for raising purposes. When weighing treacle for cooking purposes, well flour the scale and the treacle will run off quite easily without leaving any stickiness behind. When using spoons for measuring dry ingredients, take as much above the bowl of the spoon as you have in it. This constitutes a spoonful. Never leave stock to cool in a saucepan. Stock should be boiled up every day and put into a clean bowl. To Clean Piano Keys.—These can be whitened by washing in a solution of lOoz nitric acid to lOoz soft water. Apply with a brush, taking care that it does not flow on the wood upon which the ivory is veneered, or the job will be spoilt. Cleanse carefully with clean water and a piece of flannel. Sulphuric acid with an equal quantity of water may be used as above. If the discolouration has not gone too far, rub the keys carefully with pure lemon juice. While still damp put on a coating of whiting or prepared chalk, mixed with a little lemon juice. When dry, brush off with a dry brush, taking care that none of the mixture gets between the keys. If, however, the keys are thoroughly worn and discoloured, they must be dismounted, scraped, bleached, and' repolished, which is a long and tedious affair, and requires to be done by a skilled workman.

Baby's Headgear.—lf the head is properly protected from the sun in summer, and from wet and cold winds in winter, hats are not of much moment at other times. But I would not let a baby under a year old go bare-headed unless it had particularly thick hair.

To Preserve Butter.—When country butter can be obtained fairly cheap, buy it and preserve as follows : —Make a brine Avith 21b of salt, six lumps of sugar, and as much saltpetre as will lie on a shilling. Boil for 10 minutes in one gallon of water. When cnld, wrap each pat of butter in <* wet cloth, and put it in the brine. Keep it always well under the surface, and the butter will keep good for months. Dried fruits are all terribly expensive just now, but even here a saving can be effected in the amount required if the fruit in question—no matter whether it be raisins, currants, or sultanas—is first thoroughly well washed, then put into a basin, and enough boiling water to just cover poured over. Put a plate on top of the basin and leave till next morning, and you will find your fruit quite twice its original size, and infinitely nicer in everv way.

When putting irons on the gas stove, leave them for a minute, then lift them oFF. and you will find that thev are wet. Wipe them with a cloth. Do. this a second time, and you will find that thev will not reouire. cleaning before using. If this is not done, the moisture causes them to rust, and they require a good deal of cleaning before they will iron nicely. If you have an oak frame which you do not want to use for a picture, it may be made into a pretty and useful tray by framing a dainty piece of embroidery, then covering it with glass in exactly the same manner as for a picture, only seeing that the back is made neat and more secure, Instead of fixing hangers, arrange a handle at each end of the frame, and the tray is complete, and makes an acceptable gift. An original newspaper rack can be made by cutting a strip of ordiuarv floor covering, without nattem. about 20in long and 12in wide. This rack is quite acceptable as a Christmas present to a friend. Fold the lower end back about 6in to form a pocket, fastening it at each corner with twine. Turn the raw edges back towards the front and cover them with a scalloped piece of red leather, fastened with brass paper-fasteners. A narrow strip of red leather form?; the hanger, which extends down the sides, ending in a leather tassel. in making 'Christmas puddings and cakes, you should wash all currants and dry them in a cloth, then set them before the fire, for if damp they will make the Cakes or puddings heavy. Eggs should be Very well beaten, whites and yolks apart, and always strained. Lemon peel should fce pared very thin. The heat of the oven $s of great importance, for cake especially.

If not quick the paste, dough, or batter will not rise. To lay paper over a cake will prevent burning. Cakes upon no account should be cut for a day or two ; but a rich cake should be kept a week before cutting.

Wet umbrellas should never be left open to dry, as the silk stretches while damp and is liable to split. The right method is to close a wet umbrella and stand it handle downward to drain.

Always put scrubbing brushes to dry with the bristles face downward. This lengthens their lives considerably, as :f dried the other way the water soaks into the wood and rots the bristles.

When lining a basin with paste for a beef-stake pudding cut a piece of the paste away from the bottom, about the size of half a crown, then put in the meat as usual, and it will be found that the pudding will take an hour less to cook than if lined in the ordinary way.