LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3336, 20 February 1918, Page 52

LADIES' GOSSIP.

Mrs T. Carrington, wife of Mr Thos. Carrington, art editor of the Australasian, died recently after a lingering illness. For 30 years Mrs Carrington, under the signature of "Queen Bee," was in charge of the of the Australasian, and became one of the most prominent social winters in Australia. She made a special study of the social side of journalism, and did much to raise the status of women journalists. Her two daughters —Miss Dora (Jarrington and Miss Adele Carrington—have followed in their mother's footsteps, and are well known in the journalistic and social worlds. Mrs

Carrington will be greatly missed by an unusually large circle of friends and acquaintances. Miss Violet Hunt is the daughter of Alfred Hunt, the famous landscape painter, and of Mrs Hunt, the author of "Thorneycroft's Model" and several other specimens of the three-volume novels that delighted our mothers and grandmothers, and she inherited the gifts of both. She exercised her father's gift first, and was for 10. years a portrait-painter. Certainly those years, full of meetings with all sorts of people, often with the obligation to observe their individuality and render it in paint, left its mark on the literary work she was to take up later on. For the peculiar genius which gives Miss Violet Hunt her position in literature is just her knowledge of people, her abundant wisdom about human nature, which makes .the characters of her books as real to one as one's friends.

Lady Titclifield is devoting much time and energy and her very considerable organising powers to an effort to induce people in country districts to preserve their surplus fruit by bottling it for the benefit of the navy and army during the winter. The movement, which is a branch of the many useful activities, of the Women's Legion, is meeting with gratifying success, and the demand for the regulation size bottles which the legion is able to supply is heavy. Instructions as to correct methods of bottling are sent to each centre, and, if desired, teachers can be supplied. Lady Londonderry asked Lady Titchfield to undertake the work in view of the fact that her knowledge is personal and practical. Before her marriage she assisted her mother, Lady Algernon Gordon-Lennox, -to conduct a fruitbottling industry at Broughton Castle, Banbury.

The Chief Controller of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps who is in command of some 50,000 women and an everincreasing number—corresponds in rank to a Brigadier-general. The woman who holds this responsible position is Mrs Chalmers Watson, the first woman to obtain a medical degree in Scotland. She is a sister of Sir Eric Geddes, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and of General Campbell Geddes, Assistant-director of Recruiting. Mrs Chalmers Watson is also a niece by marriage of Mrs Garrett Anderson, M.D., the first woman doctor in England, thus being a first cousin of Mr Alan Garrett Anderson, the newly appointed Admiralty Controller, and of Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson, the chief surgeon and one of the founders of the Women's Military Hospital at Endell street.

j St. Dun Stan's Weddinffs.

Everyone in the Empire knows of St. Dunstan's Hospital, where blinded soldiers are taught how to contend with their disabilities, and for women it should have a particular interest, since women everywhere admire a man who puts up a brave fight against odds. So one is scarcely surprised to hear of big-hearted girls who come at 6.30 in the summer to cox for the blind rowers, or help in other ways; and, after their day in factory, shop, or office, return to spend an hour or so at St. Dunstan's to read to, to dance with, or to go out walking with one or other of the blinded soldiers. It follows that weddings not infrequently take place, and Sir Arthur Pearson's great desire is that these cheerful, courageous men should be able to undertake the responsibilities of marriage knowing that, if children come, they will be provided for, if necessary. Most of them are splendid men, physically fit, brave, alert, and skilful, and the' women who have so far married men from St. Dunstan's are capable and kindly, ready for responsibility, cheerful in face of difficulties. Such parents should give to the nation children who shall carry on Old England's best traditions. Hints and Snirsresfioiig. Never try to teach baby to walk. As soon as his legs are strong enough he will try to stand and toddle of his own accord. Nature knows far better than you do. When making a boiled pudding put a piece of greased paper under the cloth, which will then be no trouble to wash. A- piece of cloth diprjed in spirits of wine and rubbed on soiled leather will remove all discolouration. Vinegar and 'salt mixed together will take away stains on china, glass, flower vases, and water-bottles. If obliged to dress poultry soon after killing, steep it in boiling water, and feather it while in the hot water. This method will make it quite as tender as if killed some days previously.

Put all odd pieces of toilet soap into a little bag, and use it for washing your hands. It makes a splendid lather, and you will use the soap up to the last bit. When cleaning a stove that has been splashed with fat from the frying~-pan, the best plan is to take a piece of rag and dip it into the soft soot at the back of the stove, rubbing the greasy parts before applying the blackiead. This improves the appearance of the stove, and you can polish it without difficulty. To clean water-bottles, pickle jars, or any glass that is stained, when unable to get the hand in to wash properly, crush the shell of an egg small enough to get through the neck of the bottle; add a little warm water, shake well, and you will not only find the glass clean, but the bottle nicely polished. Old stockings opened and sewn together are excellent as boot-polishers,' and will out-last any pad, besides giving a better polish. A little 6Ugar cooked with peas will improve their flavour, and a pinch of soda will make them tender and help them to retain their colour. To prevent milk boiling over put a piechimney in the saucepan. To prevent skim forming on boiied milk, pour the milk immediately into a jug and stand the jug in cold water, allowing it to reach to the top of the jug. The milk cools quickly and no skim forms. When, through illness, a constant supply of hot flannels is required, a good idea is to put a steamer over a saucepan of boiling water on the hot stove, and lay the flannels in the steamer. In this way they can be changed easily and frequently, and are much hotter than if wrung out of hot water. Sometimes a housekeeper finds that food does not keep well in a certain pantry or cupboard. She has the storeplace scrubbed and kept in a continual state of slight dampness, but all her efforts at cleanliness seem to make matters worse. And they really do not help the conditions, for in the same way the place lias become infested with mould plants, and these thrive wonderfully in dampness. In such a case where these invisible enemies seem to conquer and drive the housewife to other quarters, the only remedy is to paint every bit of woodwork, having first filled every crack with plaster of Paris. The walls may be whitewashed if it is done thoroughly, for lime kills the mould spores.

/J3T Descriptions of balls, <tc, must be en dorsed by either the Witness correspondent for the district or by the secretary of the baJl committee. The MS. of any correspondents who do not comply with this rule will be sent to the secretary for endorsement prior to appearing.—ELIZABETH. To ensure publication in the forthcoming issue letters should reach the Witness office if possible on Saturday night, but od no account later than Honday night. NEW ZEALAND WEDDINGS IN ENGLAND. By the mail which came to hand last week our London correspondent chronicled a number of weddings of New Zealanders which had been celebrated in England, including the following: At Hinckley, Leicestershire, on December 21, the wedding took place of Lieutenant John Linsley Bathgate, Lincolnshire Regiment, only son of Mr A. Bathgate, of Dunedin, to Daisy Hilda Holden, eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs J. S. Holden, of Hinckley, Leicestershire. At St. John's Church, Paddington, Captain Kenneth Mnirson, of Christchurch, i-e----cently awarded a ba.r to his M.C., A.1.F., was married io Eleanor Ethel, daughter of Captain and Mrs George Rupert, 81 Seymour street, London. Miss Sarah Lily Chamberlain, of Hawke'a Bay, was married at Sutton, on December 18, to Mr Onslow Garth Thornton, : also of Hawke's Bay. The bride was given away by her father, Mr T. P. Chamberlain, and her sisters, Misses N. and E. Chamberlain, were the bridesmaids. Mr Thornton is in the New Zealand Public Works Department. At the Congregation Church, Buckhurst Hill, on December 5, Mr James Lawrence Hay, senior secretary of the New Zealand Y.M.C.A., was married to Sister Davidena Mcrtel Gunn, of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service. Both belong to Christchurch. At St. Andrew's Church, Wells street, London, on December 10, Major John Anderson, Canterbury Regiment, was married to Alice, widow of the late Horatio Darby Tyndall, Chinese Customs. Major Anderson is the eldest son of Mr and Mrs John Anderson, Christchurch. The wedding has taken place at St. Luke's Clrarch, Beeston Hill, Leeds, of Private Edlay Albert Yates, N.Z.R.8., of Onehunga, to Miss Phoebe A. Sutton, eldest daughter of Mr G. Eustace Sutton, of 22 Dawson street, Leeds. Private Yates, who was gassed at Mess'nes, .is now working at the New Zealand Base Post Office in London. By special license the wedding was solemnised very quietly on December 10, at St. Philip's Church, Hove, of Lieutenant Alfred James Bond, New Zealand Engineers (second son of Mr J. L. Bond, of Hamilton), to Mabel Constance, only child of the late William Henry Scott, of Hove.

Oa December 11 Myra Beatrice Barr, youngest daughter of the late Mr J. Alexander Barr, barrister; of Dirnedin, was married to Corporal Ernest Hains, N.Z.E.F., of Adelaide,. South Australia. At St. Polycarp'3- R.C. Church, Fambam, on December 19, J. H. Ford, New Zealand Field Artillery, of Taumarunui, King Coun'"V • " married to Miss Noel Keating, of Farnham. Commander E. B. Jones, R.N., formerly of Ii.M.S. New Zealand, was marreid at The Abey, Dunfermline, on December 3, to Anne Harley, second daughter of Mr and Mrs James Marshall, Oakbank, Dunfermline.