LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3433, 30 December 1919, Page 56

LADIES' GOSSIP.

—lt is announced that. Millicenb, Duchess .of Sutherland has relinquished the title of Duchess on her marriage to Lieutenantcolonel Hawes, D. 5.0., and will in future be known as Lady Millicent Hawes. —Princess Mary was among the Girl Guides who turned up at the Albert Hall, London, on Tuesday, from all parts of the country to return thanks for Peace and rededicate themselves to the services of the country. Her Royal Highness looked quite smart in her new uniform. —As Lady Beatty was leaving the exhibition of war models in Oxford street, London, she noticed an A.B. looking at the models in the window. Seeing H.M.S. Liqn on his cap, she asked if tie would care to go inside. The man was shy, and merely shrugged his shoulders, but on reflection he accepted .the tion. Lady Beatty paid his entrance fee and conducted him round the exhibition, afterwards inviting him to her town residence to tea. —At London dance halls the new Hawaiian music is vieing with the rampant and ear-splitting jazz. Its languorous, plaintive, somewhat primitive charm rs certainly a welcome relief after the noisiness and blatancy of the jazz, and may, in time, supersede it. An altered tempo and a form of syncopation that's not "rag-time" is beginning to be noticeable, which is more akin to waltz music than any we have had of late, though we are not likely to go back to the old waltz yet "awhile—so experts say. "Blues," the newest of new dance music is called, and it is a melange of old plantation melodies —dreamy, and yet with a certain amount of "ginger" about it. —They have passed a law in France (says a London writer) making it legal to christen your offspring Foch,.or Joft're, or Joffrette—surely a cruel blow at the liberty of the unborn generations. Names so seldom fit their owners—Diana makes clothes for the poor, while Jane lives only for dancing and the fashions; Daphne squints, and Roland has round shoulders —but they are well off compared with these future victims of their parent's patriotism. Think of Foch, the little clerk who spends his days over ledgers and hie evenings writing poetry, and secretly longs to let his nair grow and wear a velvet coat; and Joffre, the lanky chemist's assistant, who asnires to a shop of his own, with a perfumery counter; and Joffrette, poor child, who never knew the war, and has to suffer for it all the same. There will be some unkind thoughts about the great Marshals of France within the next 10 to 20 years. A CHAT ABOUT WEDDING PRESENTS. "Wedding presents?" said my visitor sweepingly. All I know about wedding presents is that they are a perfect menagerie of white elephants. They ought to be abolished!" "The Powers forbid!" I said. "My tiny wee flat would be a howling wilderness without the things I got as wedding presents. But then, of course, there are wedding presents, and wedding presents. In the dear dead days, you know, presents were given to a young married couple to give them a bit of a helping hand, and during the war, in this little village of

ours, we decided to go back to that good old-fashioned plan. "See- those China door-knobs"—pointing to the kitchen and pantry doors—"those were wedding presents. I haven't a brass door-knob" in the place. I got a wrOughtiron letter-box and front door knocker at the same time. None of them need cleaning. See this hot-water bottle—and isn't rubber dear ?—a wedding present. Also th<>t hay-box cooker, which, by the way, is filled with newspaper instead of hay." And I pointed to a perfectly dinky little carved oak box behind the 'kitchen door. "I got a geyser installed, too, as a wedding ■ present, and this cork mat for the bathroom." "Give me time to breathe!" gasped my visitor. "My dear, you must be blessed with all the common-sensible friends in existence! How did they know that you wanted a geyser, or know how to use a hay-box cooker, and all that? I had an old aunt who always boasted that she gave sensible presents, bub she gave me a dozen tablecloths—perfectly heavenly damask, too—that just fitted my table when thev were folded three times!"

"Oh," said I, "we manage like this. When a couple of our villagers get married, everybody refrains from sending wedding presents till they are back from their honeymoon. Then they pep in and say:

" 'Now, what gaps are there to fill? Give me a list.'

"So many people descended on me in this way, that I scribbled out a list of things I simply had to have. And, what is more, I put down the kind oi thing I wanted, too. It was no good putting just 'chintz' for the bad-room curtains I put down 'eight yards of chintz (black ground, old-rose flowers)', and 'blue bath mat'—my bathroom wall-paper is white-and-blue—'half a dozen stainless knives, a pan brush, a flour dredger, cushions (anything toning with old-rose).' All my gaps were filled with wedding presents. " I had one or two white elephants, of course. I got a grandfather's clock, whicft would have had' to lie on its side in any of my rooms. And somebody sent me a full-size dinner service which over-flowed my weeny dresser under the kitchen table. I risked huffiness, and got it changed for a small, lovely tea- service and Tialf a dozen exquisite coff4e cups. "I hope we shall never go back to the old, silly way of wedding presents.. It used to be a sort of swank competition. Putting wedding presents on "view did that.

"I had no -white-clothed table with umpteen cruets laid oiyj on it, and Mrs Jones talcing a hurried glance to see if iVLrs Robinson's ■ epergne was ...solid silver. Oh, .dearj no! ; As a matter of fact, I tabooed silver, except where strictly necessary. Too much fag to keep clean. I'd rather have a Crown Derby rose-bowl any day than a silver one. "No, I had a simple wedding, a simple reception, and then simple wedding presents. How's that for • a carpet.? . .Mrs Brown gave.it to me—real bristle!" — Home Chat. ■ .-' . TEN COMMANDMENTS ABOUT HEALTH. , In a recent Y.W.C.A. bulletin from Gatesville, Texas, was the report of a field day for the rural school girls, a part . of the programme for which consisted t>f talks on the Ten Commandments of Health. All of the athletic clubs" for girls were to be asked to subscribe to them. 1. Thou shalt keep thy backbone straight, 2. Thou shalt drink a half-gallon of water each day. " , 3. Thou shalt walk three miles a day or play a game for 45 minutes. 4. Thou shalt use all thy lungs all the time. - :*■ 5. Thou shalt take sufficient nourishment. '.'■ 6. Thou shalt masticate thy food properly. 7. Thou, shalt brush thy teeth twice each day. • - •..'■:. 8. Thou shalt sleep eight hours of each 24. "; 9. Thou shalt think pleasant thoughts, and banish unpleasant ones. 10. Thou shalt thank thy Creator for the blessings which the keeping of those laws bring, and tell thy neighbours. HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Horse-radish root put into a jar of pickles will prevent mould from forming. Common vinegar in the proportion of one tablespoonfulj. to a quart 'of rinsing water preserves the colour of washing m materials. Hot water should never he used to clean paint. Use a little powdered whitening on a damp cloth, and the dirt will . soon disappear. •- When you want a jelly to set quickly \ stand, the mould in a strong mixture of soda and salt water for about an hour. The jelly will then turn out as firmly as if it had been made the previous day. When making plain raisin pudding, use a finely-grated carrot instead of an egg. It is just as good and cheaper. A little vinegar kept boiling on the stove while onions or cabbage are cooking will keep the smell from going through the house. If you make a rule of putting your white blouses away in blue tissue-paper whenever they are not in wear, they will -keep white for quite a long time, as the blue paper prevents them from turning yellow. Enamel baths canine thoroughly cleaned with a flannel dipped in paraffin. They should not be scrubbed with soap, as this cracks the enamel. Water bottles and vases, if stained, should be half-filled with warm soapy water, and then a little raw potato, some tea-leaves, or a few pieces of brown paper put in. Leave to soak, giving an occasional shake, and then rinse out in clean water. Cold peas well pounded" and added to a little home-made cream cheese are a very nice picnic sandwich,- or tomatoes cto b«

substituted for the peas. The secret of a good sandwich filling is the seasoning—pepper, salt, and a very little dry mustard make all the difference to taste. Put a little salt in the water in which you wash new potatoes before scraping. It prevents them staining your hands. To remove rust, ink, and mildew marks from white garments; nothing is better than salt and lemon-juice. Moisten the salt with the juice, and spread it over the stains, allow it to remain on for a short time, and, if necessary, repeat the process. Rinse well afterwards in clear water. After being caught in the rain whilst wearing one of your best costumes, the best way is to hang it up where there is plenty of air and no dust until it is almost dry. Then, with fairly hot irons, press on the wrong side until aired. Brush any dust off, *nd you will find your costume quite smart again. When holiday mishaps occur to flannel trouser, the following remedy will renew them : Mix a cupful of flour to one _of common salt, .and, with a piece of white velvet or serge, rub the mixture thoroughly into the surface. After the dirt has been removed, give the trousers a good shake in the open-air, and finally brush them with a clean soft brush. Any stained portions should be rubbed with French chalk, and held to the fire for a few moments. The heat fetches out grease, etc., through the chalk, and it can then be easily rubbed off. Removing Fruit Stains.—

If a fruit stain can be treated whilst it is still moist it is not at all difficult to remove it with cold water. When possible it is a good plan to hold the article under a running tap and the mark will speedily disappear. If the stain has dried, as bo often happens, hot water should be applied. It is a very great mistake to use soap, seeing that the alkali in it frequently sets the colour of the stain and tends to make it a permanency. It is best to apply the hot water in this way. Stretch the material across a basin and then pour the hot water on to the spot. . After a while the mark yields, and it may often be finally rinsed away with cold water. If after the treatment there is still a slight stain that refuses to yield, this may usually be removed by bleaching. Apply a small amount of fresh lemon-juice to the spot and then expose to the sun, when the mark soon disappears.