LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3400, 14 May 1919, Page 56

LADIES' GOSSIP.

Miss Frances Marion, the most highly-paid film story writer in the world, earns £IO,OOO a year. "I began life as a journalist and short-story writer," she told me • recently, just before returning to America, after working in France with the American army for a dollar a day. I acted for the films before I began to write for the cinema. A story? Well, I think what tickles me most is Charlie Chaplin's ambition to play 'Hamlet,' while Mary Pickford wants to try Bernhardt parts. Charlie's ideas should make the funniest film yet produced." Vegetarianism has a distinguished advocate in the Duchess of Portland who, besides being a strict teetotaler, never eats meat or fish. "If you value your complexion," she says, "don't touch meat." The idea of being a vegetarian merely on account of one's complexion would make many enthusiasts smile, but # the Duchess does not appear to be actuated by this idea only. She is, as a matter of fact, a sincere humanitarian, as is exampled by the sums of money she spends on birds. She only keeps the birds until they are

well and strong after their confinement. Then she deliberately sets them free. The Duchess of Sutherland, who is accompanying the Duke to Canada shortly, is extremely fond of country life and sport. She is an accomplished" yachtswoman, frequently sailing her own boat on the Clyde, and will not be at all unsuited to life in the West. Her photographs give the impression of fair beauty, but in reality she is a brunette, with dark hair and eyes. The statement that the presentDuke lias acquired large land interests in Canada is hardly correct. It was his father who purchased a vast tract of country, at tha(| time almost entirely uncultivated, but of which his son will now reap the benefit. One of the first to see the possibilities of gardening as a career for women, Lady Wolseley, who has given her land and house in Sussex to the College of Women Gardeners, which she founded 18 years ago, has always worked strenuously on the land. The fact that she succeeded to her famous father's title by special remainder did not prevent her from becoming "a working woman." She concentrated on horticulture, got up with the lark in the gardens, in the approved costume of the serious lady gardener. She has a remarkable knowledge of horses, and is something of a veterinary surgeon. From miles around the farmers come to seek her advice if their animals are ill, and place implicit faith in her judgment.

A FAMOUS LADY DOCTOR. The work of Dr Jane Walker, M.D., L.R.C.P., has been important and interesting, and her achievements remarkable. Born at Dewsbury, Yorkshire, the daughter of a wealthy, blanket manufacturer, she decided at an early age to take up the study of medicine, and after her education in England took her M.D. degree in Brussels, when no British university would bestow it on a woman. In 1884 she became a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians and licentiate in midwifery, and in 1889 a licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. After being clinical assistant at the East London Hospital for children and medical Officer of the Children's Hospital a,t Wirral, she took up her residence in Harley street. She specialised in phthesis. After much experiment she became convinced that systematic fresh air treatment was the most efficacious method for combating consumption, and her institution, opened in 1892, was the first of its kind in England. There was much scepticism and some detraction, but her pioneer methods have triumphantly proclaimed their worth. The East Anglian Sanitorium at Nayland is her Creation, and some remarkable 'cures" have been effected there. It has now accommodation for over 200 men and women. A children's sanatorium run on novel lines was added in 1912. It ..has S roved a revelation as to what can be one under most difficult circumstances. Out of a total of 374 patients in five years, 116 are reported well and 233 much, improved. Dr Walker never ceases to urge the importance ■ of improved social conditions as a preventative of tuberculosis. She knows the futility ol attempting "cures" whilst leaving insanitary housing, overcrowding, ill-nutrition, and all other slum soils as roots to flourish and spread. She has written a number of books and contributed papers to medical journals, mostly on the subjects she haa made a life study of. THE DEAN OF MANCHESTER ON DANCING. The Dean of Manchester has broad-minded views on dancing as will b'e seen by the following article recently published by him:— Dancing is as old as humanity itself, as old as tears and laughter, the natural rhythmical expression of human emotion and of the joy of life. Dancing is not merely a product and a feature of town life. It is remarkable that Scottish Puritanism, even in its severest days, has never suppressed dancing in the Highland glens. To day in districts of the Highlands, where the old strict observance of the'Sabbath survives, dancing is the most popular social recreation, and lads and lasses, who to the townsmen might appear heavy and dull, as soon as the fiddle strikes up suffer a change and appear alert and graceful. In our great industrial towns dancing has never been more popular or more universal. It seems to provide a natural outlet from the drabness of surroundings and the monotony of modern industrial processes. Girls especially seem to feel an absolute necessity for some outlet for their physical energy. Even after long hours in a factory, though mentally tired, they will still dance. In the absence of male companions they dance freely and readily among themselves. To girls and men of the working class dancing is, as a rule, a far more solemn and stately proceeding than it is to their richer brothers and sisters. No doubt there are undesirable dancing-halls where the "bunny hug" and the "dip'-' are unduly prominent', but this is by no means a necessary part of the joy of dancing for them. To the majority dancing is an art, and they have retained many of the stately measures of our forefathers, which have entirely disappeared from the modern society ballroom. Many varieties of stepdancing are practised instead of the perpetual Boston and waltz. An M.O. who takes his position very seriously rules the proceedings with a firm hand, and all obey him implicitly. If you want to see a really stately dance, go to a sergeants' ball. I have had the opportnuitv during the past year of witnessing a dance in a large girls' hostel in one of our munition centres to which men, mainly soldiers, were invited, > and the proceedings were conducted with great dignity and decorum. In a considerable town in the Midlands, under the supervision of the rector of the parish, a weekly dance is held in the town hall. On each occasion a prominent citizen of the town

and his wife act as host and hostess, receive the dancers, and preside over the proceedings. The fact is that our- young men and women do not desire bad dances if they can get good dances. A very moderate degree of reasonable and kindly supervision Is all that is required. Young men and women will dance as they have danced since the first dawn of time. Why should opportunities of reasonable social intercourse and of the natural human joy of ordered rhythmical movement to music be confined to the sons and daughters of the wealthier classes? Men and women of good will are rendering a wise and kindly service to the community when they help to provide such well-ordered dances. HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Salt mixed with the white of an egg makes a powerful drawing poultice. Rub in a little vinegar if your hands look wrinkled after doing washing. Dry salt is another good remedy. Pie-dishes that have become brown from baking in the oven may be made quite clean by soaking in a strong solution of borax and water. Add just a little' vinegar or lemon-juice to the water in which you boil rice. It makes it beautifully white, and helps to keep the grains separate. Keep your hands smooth in cold weather by rubbing in a little cold cream and powdering them well after washing. Do this when the work of the day is finished. If a fruit or meat pie is placed in a tin of boiling water when put in the oven to cook, the fruit juice or gravy will neither boil over nor soak into the crust. Inhale Eau de Cologne if you have a cold. It clears one's nose in a wonderful way. Merely pour some of the scent on a handkerchief, and breathe it in as deeply as you can. When washing black stockings add a teaspoonful of vinegar to the rinsing water. This will keep them a good colour and prevent them from turning a rusty black. When trousers are baggy at the knees turn them on the wrong side, damp thoroughly, and press, repeating the process again and again till the cloth_ has shrunk back to its original size. This is the plan always adopted by tailors. When preparing a cauliflower, cut out a piece from the centre of the_ stalk, go that the water can get. up inside it. If you do this, the stem will cook as quickly as the other part. So often one finds either that the stem is hard or the head over-boiled. To freshen up a fur mat or hearthrug which is not very dirty, try combing it carefully all over with an old comb. It takes some little time to do, but it is quite worth the trouble, as it_ makes the rug look almost like new again. Laundry Hints.—When using a mangle, work slowly, and better results will be obtained. Muslin goods should be ironed damp; silk should be almost dry. To stiffen silk, add a little methylated spirit to the last rinsing water. When ironing table linen, iron parallel with tne selvedge and not across the grain. Fold and press into creases. To make linen white, add a large handful of borax to the water. A teaspoonful of turpentine added to the water in the copper will improve the colour. —How to Clean Wallpaper.— Many wall papers fade, but, > generally speaking, the bad appearance is largely due to the accumulation of dust particles. Remove these, and the paper looks bright and new. The cleaning of wallpaper is well worth undertaking. Get a flattish sponge and some fine sawdust. It is a good plan to sift the sawdust first so as to get away any small chips of wood. Put newspapers on the floor and proceed in this way. Spread some of the sawdust on the sponge (which should be dry) and then rub the paper briskly. Use fresh sawdust for each operation and keep on rubbing until all the paper improves in appearance, which it very soon will do. This treatment will take away all ordinary dirt marks, but) it does not remove greasy spots. To deal with these, heat an iron and then fold a piece of brown paper several times. Put the brown paper on the mark and press with the iron. Do this repeatedly until the grease has been absorbed. This plan will act in most cases, but where it is not completely successful you can resort to fuller's earth, which hardly ever fails. Moisten a little of this substance with water and then plaster on the spot. Leave for the best part of a day and remove. When quite dry rub with sawdust and all marks will disappear.