Of Interest to Women

Southland Times, Issue 24593, 15 November 1941, Page 5

Of Interest to Women

Lady Diana Duff Cooper

The interest in the arrival in Australia of Mr Alfred Duff Cooper, on a special Far East mission for the British War Cabinet was little greater than that in his celebrated wife, Lady Diana Duff Cooper, of whimsical charm, says an Australian paper. Described as one of England’s loveliest and most, intelligent women, with a natural flair for being “different,” she spoke in her first interview of her ambition to raise “ducks, fowls,„ cows, goats—and cheddar cheese, too”—after the war. Though nearly 50, Lady Diana looks nearer 35. She is tall and slim, her skin is unlined, and her mannerisms youthful. The nine hours’ journey in the aeroplane from Darwin seemingly had not touched her vitality. She wore a simple figured silk frock, a lightweight black coat, black sandals with high cork heels, no stockings, and the favourite article in her wardrobe —a large, black hat. Speaking of rationing Lady Diana said it was a grand thing, and everybody welcomed it. Nobody had to bother now and there was no struggle for clothes supremacy. Because of food rationing the women of England were becoming fatter. Before the war women picked at their food and thought first of their figures. Now they thought first of the food. “They eat whatever they can get,” she said. “They eat up whatever is on the table. There are no longer ‘left-overs.’ Look at me I have put on weight since the war started.” Lady Diana and her husband will shortly visit New Zealand.

Allergic To Milk A New Zealand baby that is not milk fed is a rarity, but the 19-months-old son of Mr and Mrs C. Retter, jun,. of Woodville, both rejects milk as food and reacts in a most surprising manner to the slightest physical contact with it. The touch of a mere drop of milk, ot contact with a milk-stained cloth, will immediately blister the child’s skin. The child’s peculiarity has presented an interesting study for doctors and dietary experts, and the best milk substitute so far tried is a soya bean product. It is interesting, further, to observe that the same baby received first award in his class at a recent baby show. A similar case has occurred in Invercargill, and was treated in much the same way. The milk rejected was cow s milk, and it was not until the baby was being weaned that the peculiarity was noticed. The nurses at Karitane hospital .solved the problem by giving condensed milk, and then by using the Chinese soya bean flour made into milk form. Later a dried milk powder made into liquid was given with success, and the baby is now normally healthy. “The soya bean flour has a high protein value,” said a Plunket nurse when questioned about the artificial ’milk feeding. “Of course, many other foods were added to the baby s diet to make up the well-blanced meal necessary for the perfect health of the child.” Inquiries also showed that the soya bean flour, which incidentally smells rather like broad beans, is now difficult to procure, so it is perhaps just as well that cases such as these are few and far between, and that the majority of children do not react in this way to cow’s milk. Guides Make Nets

Girl Guide companies in Invercargill are busy with yet another war effort. Army Headquarters have asked guides to make camouflage nets for military use, and have sent the necessary materials and a sample net. Instruction in net making has been given the girls by an Invercargill expert, and work has been begun. The finished products must be a regulation size, and made from the materials provided, a two-ply manila cord. The guides are working in their own homes in their spare time, and each company is endeavouring to produce as much as possible. There is an Invercargill quota, and it is hoped that the girls will soon have a steady supply going to Army Headquarters. Southland guides have also been asked to collect rags for the Navy, but as the quota is for only a quarter of a ton, as against two tons despatched during the past year, a public appeal is not being made as it is not considered necessary.