LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3395, 9 April 1919, Page 50

LADIES' GOSSIP.

—lt isn't generally known that Queen Alexandra has found time in her busy life to keep a.diary. As the records go back to her early "womanhood, and the Queen-Mother has assisted at almost every historic scene during tho past halfcentury, a selection from the diary, if published—as it probably -will be some day—should be of unusual interest. —Princess Patricia, having married Commander Ramsay, she will, as a duke's daughter, rank in the table of precedence immediately after the marchionesses and before all countesses. When the peerage was more exclusive and aristocratic dinner parties were continuous, the larger proportion of noble ladies were earls daughters, and there is a story of a viscountess who thanked the Deity every night that she took precedence of earla daughters, as she calculated it gave her nightly on an average three places to the good. ,'•,," —The Duchess of Rutland has never considered her talent for portraiture anything more than that of an amateur. Her° modesty; however, cannot conceal the fact that three of her drawings wer« not long ago permanently hung in th*

Musee du Luxembourg in Paris, an •biding place of art, an undeniable distinction. The Duchess supplied the Red Cross with a lot of funds through executing portraits on commission during the bad days of the war. .- —So impressed is the Duchess of Beaufort with what women have accomplished on the land that she intends to set up as a farmer herself. Passionately fond of country life, the Duchess is a great sportswoman, and noted for her kindly ways and manners. She was once paid a verp .pretty compliment by a certain bishop, to whom she apologised on one occasion after the meal because, for some reason or other, no grace had been said at the table. "Don't mention it," said the bishop instantly; "your Grace is quite good enough for me 1" . —During the war the great majority of golfers who were ineligible or too pld for military service gave up their golf, many because they were pre-occupied with work, many because their golf courses were not kept up, many because they had not the moral courage to appear in publio with golf clubs; Thousands of golf widows were thus married again to their former, husbands, and foolishly hoped to live happily ever afterwards (says "T. B." in the Daily Mail)', The remarried golf widows are again bereaved. Their late lamented husbands have once more departed for the happy hunting grounds—of the little white ball. The corporeal shapes of their husbands indeed appear in tfeeir homes to eat and sleep (with a new heaviness) or to practice puVting on the drawing room carpet in frost-bound weather. But they are only Ehantom husbands. Their only mundane iterests are the golf articles in the daily papers. Sometimes they bring other women's ghost husbands home to dinner, and then they talk golf.

THE "NO-SERVANT" PROBLEM.

The "no servant" problem is discussed by "Queen Bee" in the Australasian, who declares that the more practical housekeepers are coming slowly, but surely, to the conclusion that the best solution -of the difficulty is to do their housework themselves, knowing that they are. not being called upon to face the old-.standing trouble of getting servants, but of having to do without them altogether. And in keeping with this latter idea is the supposition that the time is not far distant when small householders will all be doing their own housework, not from choice, but from necessity. Perhaps in time communal kitchens may be opened to ease. the cooking difficulty, as is done abroad; but the sweeping, dusting, making beds, and washing-up _will have to be done by ourselves.. Already now and again one meets with a housekeeper who "is doing her work herself," ,anJ she speaks encouragingly. She finds her method far less unpleasant than to pay a supposed trained servant (providing she caught one) a large wage to do badly what she herself can do better without the cost of wages and upkeep. At the same time, it would be absurd to say that she prefers a servantless house. If she can obtain a good, capable maid, she would gladly keep one. But she cannot.

To make matters worse for themselves, an unfortunate false pride it standing in the way of many women making the best of .things. They are the foolish ones who stand in great awe "of" their neighbour's opinion. Frankly they would not like the people next door to see them doing their house work, and as for opening •their door or getting tea for a friend if she GaU,s, why it is outrageous, _ preposterous I And why all this "side"? The yoke of x orderly living is an easy yoke, and what matter who doe 3 the domestic part? In a measure some people .think the lost domestic instinct merely lies dormant, and that given fresh life and modern views it will revive, and we will again have plenty of servants. To bring this about it seems clear we will have to put another instinct to sleep in its place, and that is the instinct for higher education. We must also abolish from the vocabulary that common mismoner under which domestic service suffers —drudgery. In every occupation and in all businesses and professions some hard work must be endured, and so if a business be made of housekeeping the so-called drudgery will disappear," and will be invested with interest. Good management with most of the present-day half-hearted housewives seems to be what is needed more than anything else to meet the shortage. If there be a family old enough to assist in the home, to each should be allotted what she does best, and likes best. To force what is distasteful upon a girl, where otherwise she would be of invaluable assistance, is a great mistake. The schoolgirl is , very contemptuous of household knowledge, and that is the reason why she is putting on such ah*'; and graces, and making older people disapprove of her methods with great candour. A word concerning the communal kitehens may be interesting for it is felt that they will come, just as "flat" life has come. The late Lord Rhondda was highly in favour of the extension of them, in order that they might remove many of the disabilities under] which the servantless housewife suffered. What measure of help they give in England should answer here, .There, we are given to' understand, they are proving a great boon. In the first instance they .were established in the poorer districts, but subsequently were initiated in all better class neighbourhoods. _ The people who do the work in these kitchens ace trained for it, and so the cooking is first class. There is another form of kitchen on the co-operative system. This is to "a great extent semi-private, and works in connection, with blocks of houses, and in flats. Both have advantages other than that they serve out ready-cooked hot food. Being able to buy largely, they are able to sell at moderato prices. Eleven years ago Father Bernard Vaughan concluded a remarkable course

of sermons to society in England with one on practical domestic wisdom. Ho reminded his hearers that the tide was driving women, girls in particular, from the ranks of domestic service into shops and offices, because they reasoned that such occupations were considered more befitting their dignity. At that time we took little or no notice of his warnings, but now some of us hardly know which way to turn except that there is always open to us the use of the hands and arms that nature gave us.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Dark furs that have become dull-looking may be made to look smart again by rubbing, them over with a little brilliantine. Apply with a soft clean brush, and use It Very sparingly. Scorched Linen.—Boil together for 10 mintes half-pint of vinegar, 2oz swda, 2ozfuller's earth, two small onions (chopped finely). Strain the liquor after boiling, and allow it to get cold. Spread over the scorch marks, and leave to dry. Repeat this treatment, if necessary, and then wash the tablecloth in the usual way. Milk which has been burned should be poured at once into a jug and then placed in a basin of cold water. Leave it until cool, when all trace of the burnt taste and smell will have disappeared. To shrink flannels, before making up, keep the material in the same folds_ as when bought, and olace in a bath-tub. Cover the flannel with water and leave for a day. Then lay a broom across the tub and hang the material, still folded, over the stick, and leave to drain and dry thoroughly. Press till smooth. While starch is still hot drop into it a piece of alum the size of a walnut. This will give a glaze and the articles starched will keep clean longer. When boiling fish, remove all scum as soon as it rises to the top of the water, as it deadens the flavour of the fish if allowed to remain in the pan. Any amount of valuable gas may be saved by cleaning the outside of utensils you place on the rings. Brush your kettles and saucepans well with a wire brush, such as you use for cleaning velour hats, suede shoes, etc. Pots and pans free of soot warm through quicker than dirty ones. . To clean varnished walls take a mixture of linseed oil and vinegar—one part of linseed oil with two parts of vinegar. Rub down the walls with a rag dipped in this; and polish with a soft, clean duster. The following method is excellent for cleaning a rusty stove: Dissolve ' one handful of salt in a pint of vinegar, and wash the stove with this solution. Wipe dry with a flannel cloth, and put a few drops of turpentine in the blacking when cleaning. The simplest, quickest, and most effective manner in which to blacken brown boots is to take a raw potatoe. cut it in halves, and rub all over the leather for a few moments, after which rub the blacking well in, polish,/ and the result will be so satisfactory as to make it difficult to say whether the boots had not always been black.

Save all vegetable refuse, and dry it every day by placing near the cookingstove. Add to this bits of greasy paper or oily rags, or match-ends. Keep all perfectly dry, and burn on washing day in the copper. This will heat a large copperful of water, and costs nothing. Silver which is not in constant use should be. wrapped in tissue paper and closely packed in a tin box with a*tightfitting lid. In this way it will keep bright for a long time. The following recipe for floor polish is both cheap and good : —Required : One and a-half ounces of- beeswax, half an ounce of white wax, half, an ounce of Castile Soap, half a-pint of turpentine. Put the wax into a jar and the soap into a saucepan with a pint of boiling water. Let both stand on the hot stove until melted. Then mix the two well together, add the turpentine, and pour into a jar. When cold, the polish is ready for use, and should be applied in the usual manner.