LADIES’ GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3487, 11 January 1921, Page 50

LADIES’ GOSSIP.

QUEEN ALEXANDRA’S FAVOURITE GEM. The sapphire is Queen Alexandra's favourite among precious stones, and she possesses some very fine specimens. The finest is set as a single stone brooch, and was given to her by the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg. Put perhaps more prized is a sapphire-set cross, interesting on account cf its history, for it is an ancient Danish heirloom, said to be seven centuries old. WOMEN SMOKERS. It is said that a number of women who smoke constantly are finding cigarettes insufficiently satisfying, consequently tobacconists are procuring for them i special brand of cigars favoured by Danisn girls. These are mild, and not agressively masculine in look, but they are very expensive. FLORA MACDONALD’S CRAVE. Lately visitors to Kilmuir Cemetery, in the Island of Skye, found that the marble tablet on the monument to Flora Macdonald had fallen and was shattered. The Chairman of the Kilmuir Parish Council then appealed for the sum of £SO to provide a new tablet. SUNDAYS AT BALMORAL. At Balmoral the King and Queen, following the established tradition, go to Graithie Parish Church. Queen Victoria was very fond of the Presbyterian service, but she never allowed even a Scottish minister to preach to her for more than a quarter of an hour. PARENTS MUST BE WEALTHY. At home 18gns is said to be a common price for a schoolgirl’s frock, 30gns for a ‘‘Sunday tailor-made,” four for a pair of boots, and four or five for hats. Even colonial extravagance and prices scarcely run to these figures for pupils of our private schools and colleges. TEACUP TUNES. The exceptional sight for a London concert room was lately offered of a maie musician squatting on the platform and playing tunes on a row of eight tea cups. It was a concert of Indian music, and the teacups were the equivalent of our once European Musical Glasses. MR ARNOLD, BENNETT’S VIEWS ON WOMEN. Few writers to-day hold such a high place as Mr Arnold Bennett, and his new book, “Our Women : Chapters on Sex Discord,” is certain to be most interesting. One of the points in which Mr Bennett excels as a novelist is his power of realising feminine character. Thus, if his con elusions be displeasing to feminists, it can hardly be set down to prejudice or wans of sympathetic imagination. He will displease by denying that women are in every way intellectually equal to men, and by scorning woman’s often boasted point if superiority—her intuition. Men, he says, have intuitions, too, but they have learnei to distrust them. On the other hand, he will satisfy them by claiming for women full opportunities for self-development and

the achievement of economic independence. He agrees that married women should Do legally entitled to a due share of their husbands' incomes. NEW FASHIONS IN FOOTWEAR. Among the various styles of footwear shown at the recent Shoe and Leather Fair at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington, was a modernised form of the elastic-sided boots worn in mid-Victorian days. These, however, are of fashionable cut and are adorned with tassels at top, back, and front; they have also high Louis . heels. Among dress slippers are some in Futurist brocades, and there are chrysanthemum patterned velvet ones for morning and bath slippers. Straps are prominent on promenade shoes, some showing straps crossed on the instep and round the ankle and lower, part of the le.g. Buckles are in great variety. They include little cameos for the anklet strap, and also designs covered in fine breast feathers like grebe, but dyed in beautiful colourings. A GIRL EYE MAKER. Miss Millauro, an English girl, is now established in Paris as a professional eyemaker. She studied eye-making in London, and became so skilful that though sue is not yet 21 she was offered a responsible position at Sheffield University. She decided, however, that there was better scope for her activities in Paris, and witn the assistance of her father, Dr Millauro, she has set up business there. 'Wearing a workmanlike overall and bending over a powerful gas blowpipe she supplied an i n( l u ir er with some details of her work. “The average time I take to make ■! ‘stock’ eye is under half an hour; a ‘pattern’ eye naturally needs more time. Many of my patients order three models—one with a small pupil for bright light out of doors, one with a medium pupil for ordinary light, and one with a large pupil for evening wear. The great difference between these eyes and others is that they are made with a double shell, which prevents irritation and pain to the sockets, and fills the cavity in such a manner that the effect is neither staring nor sunken." PRINCESS MARY AS A NURSE. Princess Mary has just successfully passed through a course of children's nursing at a London hospital. In her nursing costume, with her beautiful fair hair showing beneath her becoming cap, her lovely complexion, and a smile that is perfectly irresistible, she makes as charming a type of English beauty as anyone could desire to see. Nursing has always had a great attraction for the Princess, who has a real talent for the work. One little boy in the hospital where she was studying used to insist upon waiting to have his wounds dressed until she came in to do it. HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Do not wash the hair too often. Instead, wash brushes and combs more frequently. For cracked lips borax and honey is a splendid remedy. Take half a teaspoonfui of finely-powdered borax and mix it wita a tablespoonful of honey. To keep scissors sharp, take a small bottle and use the scissors as though you were trying to cut off the bottle neck; in a few minutes this friction will produce s good edge on the blades. When the steel fittings of a stove become brown through heqt, rub them over with a rag dipped in vinegar before cleaning in the usual way. Cover the tops of cake tins with greased cooking paper, in the middle of which s a hole the size of a two-shilling piece. This will prevent the cakes from burning while they are cooking. Be careful not to let the paper touch the cake. Take a large red flowerpot and put cork in the hole at the bottom. Slip a saucer into the pot, and on this place your butter wrapped in muslin. Stand the flower pot in a tin or dish with water about an inch deep in it. The porous pot will slowly absorb the water, thus keeping the butter delightfully cool and sweet. A cool shelf in the lazier or kitchen should be chosen. Chops, liver, etc., will keep better if treated in the same way in the hot weather than by any method I know of bar a refrigerator. When ironing any lined collars, cuffs, etc., always press the wrong side quickly and lightly first. Then work at the right side. This is the right and best method to give a creaseless result on the right side. Care must be taken not to press heavily on the wrong side, or the material on the right will be too dry when ironed to look well. Remember this when working at men’s soft collars. Electric bells are often thought to be out of order when all that is really required is a little water in the battery to replace that which has evaporated. f, however, there is sufficient water, and the sound is still weak, sal ammonaic may 3e required. Empty the jar, and refill ,t with water, to which a quarter of a pound of sal ammonaic to the quart 's allowed. Use hot water, but do not put in the battery until it is cold.