Feminine Interests

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 665, 17 May 1929, Page 5

Feminine Interests

Women the World Over

AT SEVENTY-TWO ; At the age of 72, Mrs. Sarah Edenborn recently resigned her position as president of the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company (U.S.A.), “in | °rder to devote her time to her home.” I H er husband, William Edenborn, died in 1926, and Mrs. Edenborn, who had previously assisted him to manage the line, agreed to act as president until ! the sale of the railway was approvedA UNIQUE POSITION A busy lil'e is that of Miss M. M. Jeffrey, who is the only woman in England to hold the position of estate j manager to the Crown. Ten years ago she began by supervising one house on the Cumberland Market Estate, London. Now she has 12 women to help her and is in charge of the large ; i area extending from Marvlebone Ro*ad | to Cumberland Basin at the end of I the Regent’s Canal, an area housing | about 8,000 people. Miss Jeffrey col- ! leets rents from 2,000 tenants, and, as | the Crown Lands Commission does not officially recognise her assistants, j she trains and pays them herself. *T OXFORD .Miss Mildred K. Pope, who has been appointed examiner for the University of Oxford, is stated to be the firsr woman to wear the robes of Doctor of i the Sorbonne, France. The robes, which were presented by past and present students of Somerville Col- , lege, are of black silk, with a stole ! of red and blue edged with fur which ‘ falls over one shoulder. A medieval air is imparted to the costume by the J quaint round cap. A TURKISH REFORMER The Turkish reformer, Halide Edib Hanum; is now living in England. Her “Memoirs” throw interesting sidelights on the land where, until recently, women were looked upon as chattels. At one time she was given pride of place among the advisers of Mustapha Kemal, but, following conflicts of opinion, she retired to England. Once, in her zeal to bring about better conditions for her country- j women, she joined the revolutionaries as a sergeant and played a part in the creation of the Angora Government. IN PAPUA Miss Margaret Devitt and Miss N. 1 . Hulett conduct a school for natives 1 : iu Papua, 150 miles from the nearest j white settlement. The roll numbers ! ' 70 day scholars aud IS boarders. The I ! school is on a small island, and the j pupils all come by canoe, while aj ( motor-boat calling monthly links the j - teachers with civilisation. > 1

[ HER FATHER'S DAUGHTER Donna Degna Marconi is the eldei daughter of Senatore Marconi by his | first marriage to the Hon. Beatrice | O’Brien, which was annulled in 1924.

She is devoted to her father and spends part of her time every year with him. At other times she lives with her mother, who married the Marchese Liborio Marignoli di Montecorona in 1924, at their country house at Spoleto, three hours from Rome. Senatore Marconi married as his second wife the Contessa Christina Bezzi-Scali. - WAIKATO NOTES Mrs. F. D. Pinfold, of Hamilton, is visiting Tauranga. Mrs. Percy Field, of Matamaia, is holidaying in Wellington. Mrs. C. Holloway intends spending some weeks at the Waihi Beach. Miss Janet Crabbe, of Feilding, is visiting Mrs. A. H. Tompkins in Hamilton. Mrs. Guy Shaw, of Thames, is visiting her aunt, Mrs. H. J. Greenslade, in Hamilton. * * * Mr. and Mrs. Nobbs, of Maungatautari, who are leaving shortly to live in Opunake, were the recipients of several pleasing little presentations last week. GIRLS’ CLUB MEETS Miss E. Plall and Miss M. Mensforth j were the hostesses at the meeting of j St. John’s Girls’ Guild in Te Awa- j mutu on Monday. An able lecturette on diet given by Dr. Hiskens was much appreciated. The remainder of an enjoyable evening was passed with music, supper and chat. Those present were: Mrs. Trill (president), Mrs. Morris, Miss Dunkley, Miss L. Spinley. Miss M. Spinier, Miss Hutt, Miss Finch, Miss Davis, Miss Gifford. Miss Menrant, Miss Garvey, Miss Bowden, Miss Green, Miss West, Miss Irwin, Miss Jeffery, Miss Brown, Miss Bray and Miss Holt.

FARMERS’ UNION ' HAMILTON WOMEN’S BRANCH The annual meeting of the women's j branch of the Farmers’ Union was held on Tuesday afternoon in the Y.M.C.A. building, Mrs. Duxlield presiding. The annual report showed a very I successful year. The membership in j Hamilton now nuqjbers 62. i Emergency housekeepers were sept j during the past year to many outlying districts. The Book Club has done much good in forwarding books and toys to backblock homes. The "following officers for the new year v.-ere appointed: Patron, Mrs. H. Valder; president (re-elected), Mrs. Duxtield; vice-presidents, Mrs. Oudaille, Mrs. J. Jones, Mrs. Lee-Martin, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Minchin and Dr. de la Mare; committee, Mrs. Holden, Mrs. A. Ramsay, Mrs. Law, Mrs. Courtney, Mrs. Middlemiss, Mrs. Henderson and Miss Lee Martin. TIRAU BRANCH j The first meeting of the newlyformed women’s branch of the Farmers’ Union was held in the Tirau Hall last week. Mrs. John Watson, the president, was in the chair. After the opening hymn the women’s creed was read. Then followed arrangements about the Mothers’ Welfare League. Mrs. Goodwin, Mrs. Dennis and Miss Harwood were elected as three new vice-presidents. A very enjoyable afternoon tea was given by the president and her daughter, Mrs. J. Grantham and Miss Ruby Watson, and friendly chat about their new* undertaking ended a bright apd useful afternoon. TE AWAMUTU DANCE PARTY On Wednesday evening Mrs. W. Jeffery and Mrs. Ernest Potts, of Te Awamutu. gave a gay little dance for their daughters at Mrs. Jeffery’s home. Shaded, gold and brown marigolds and i leaves made autumn splashes of colour j in the dance and supper rooms. Miss ’ Kath Wallace played bright music. Mrs. Jeffery wore a gown oC black | ring velvet and silver, and Mrs. | Ernest Potts was in a pretty saxe blue ! frock of crepe de chine. Miss Jean Elliott was in bronze taffeta and parchment georgette. Miss KL. Wallace’s gown was of jade green embossed georgette. Miss Betty Potts was in chines© red georgette and velvet, and Miss Lorna Potts wore soft white satin. Miss Joyce Jeffery’s frock was of briar rose taffeta and tulle, and Miss Estelle Jeffery was in powder blue satin beaute. Among the guests were:—Miss Patty McCarroll, Miss Ruth Hall, Miss Eileen Hall, Miss Mary Mandeno. Miss Alison McNicol (Hamilton), Miss Helen Elliott, Miss Muriel Chamberlain. Miss Mary Saunders, Miss Kitty English, Miss Pat Miller (Hamilton), Miss Edna Jones, Miss Nancy Walter, Miss Tui Empson. Miss Molly Cruickshank. Miss 'Gertrude Wynyard, Miss Alice Rickett, Mips A vis Rickett, Miss Eileen Hope, j and Miss Dorothy Peake. OTAHUHU CROQUET CLUB PRESIDENT’S "AT HOME” A large number of members of the j Olahuhu Croquet Club were the guests of the president of the club at a very enjoyable “At Home,” held on the club’s lawns on Wednesday, to mark the official closing of the lawns for the season.

A series of progressive croquet was played, Mrs. Pearse claiming the honours in the A grade, and Mrs. Russell the B grade. At the conclusion of play, Mrs. Taylor extended the thanks of the members to the president for the very pleasant afternoon.

1 WHAT IS HAPPINESS? THE EVERYDAY TEST j It is our common attitude that life I ought to grant us happiness—that i happiness is our human right. I Happiness is no less a mystery than life itself. It is so subtle, so indefin- | able, that often we fail to recognise ! it when it is without our touch. For | some, moreover, it wears a guise that ; others wholly fail to penetrate. One ! type of person could never be so : happy after the fashion of another and different type. Happiness is as , fundamentally varied as are human [ instincts and ideals. I The trouble with most of us is that I | we want to grasp happiness en masse, j t AVe want it all of a piece, so to speak. But happiness must be valued by : everyday standards. Not the remote dream, but the litle odd hits of joy that brighten the greyness now and then—such is the nearest approach to bliss that most of us attain. It is our own illusions about life that lead us astray in our conception of what is “due” to us, and what is our j “right.” Do not blame life when dis-1 illusionment dispels the mirage. If we are really responsive to life, ! happiness never whollj- forsakes us. i Grey and blue are interwoven all the I time. The greyness may predominate I for a while, but back comes the blue I to make us smile again, if mimi aud ! spirit are ready to welcome the gleam : and call it by its proper name. To look for more than this patch of blue is to court despair. Even the mood of joyous expectancy that so often may end in disappointment, must be translated while it lasts into terms of grateful happiness. Only so can we cultivate the mentality which stoutly maintains that happiness, however shifting, subtle, and short-lived, is a definite reality in a world of sorrows. E.V. IRONING DAY Nothing is more exasperating than to find the irons out of condition when the ironing blanket is spread, aud the home laundress is prepared to tackle her task. This difficulty can be avoided by keeping the irons in a warm dry place when not in use, and so preventing accumulations of rust and dirt. Stand them up on the broad end when you put them away—never surface downwards. When j irons have to be put away for a long period, they should be well rubbed i with vaseline or lard, and wrapped ; in newspaper. As to the actual ironing, take great care not to have the irons too hot. This spoils the temper of the metal. And do not leave them standing on the stove when you have done with, them; bad “temper” in the case of an iron takes the form of laziness, and refusal to keep hot for any length of

time. When you are ironing starched things, keep beside you a knob of beeswax tied up in a bit of muslin before reheating the iron, rub the sur- | face quickly but well with the wax, | and polish briskly with a clean dus-1 ter. This takes off the starch, which j otherwise would burn on to the iron. ! Repeat this precaution before putting ! the irons away, or you will have to | wash them before using them next ironing day. Use a hot and heavy iron for table i linen that needs a glossy finish. For most other purposes, a moderate hot iron is needed, and a faintly wterm one is best for artificial silk garments, which should be iron almost dry. Give your irons an occasional polish with No. 0 or 00 sandpaper. When you are actually ironing, have by you a sheet of thick brown paper generously sprinkled with coarse salt, or powdered bathbrick, and give each iron a rub thereon as it is taken from the stove. But don’t forget that the dusting is none the less essential afterwards. Rub the sides as well as the surface with a clean, soft cloth.

THE IDIOT ON THE HEARTH LIBELS ON OUR SEX (Bv a Woman Reader) The most brilliant and tragic of the Victorian epigrammatists described women as sphinxes without secrets. If he were alive to-day, and read some of the stuff turned out by women scribes, I think he might call 113 wenches without brains. I have just been reading an article, written by a woman, and presumably for -women, in which nearly solid column is devoted to the argument that women Like “scenes’’; that such domestic upheavals are essential to their real* ’ happiness; and that the reason why

so many marriages are failures is I simply because unhistrionic Man does not see the necessity to play up to : histrionic Woman! Anyone who accepted such evidence as to the true inwardness of the feminine gender must come to the disastrous conclusion that women are just a hopeless neurotic set of sensational idiots, all suffering from a bad form of inferiority complex combined with tragically retarded mental development. The post-war woman, at any rate, is no more like that than Mayfair society is like the hectic parodies thereof which American film writers put across suburban film fans. One needs only to recall the healthy, efficient, calm-eyed women who helped to win the war—the nurses, the farm-girls, the business

; managers, the policewomen and a j host of others —to realise the linei «< our sex contained in such half-baked | “psychology.” No doubt we shall grow out of this stage of artificial women’s journalism j We must banish the insane delusion ! that women en masse are hysterica! monstrosities, pining for rautuni domestic brainstorms, and sickening of divorce-fever because their unfortll nate husbands cannot switch on tli* film sob stuff at any moment. T fancy i it is the men, and not the women | M.P.’s who have so far figured in ; “scenes” even in th© House of Com mons. And I am pretty sure that most domestic “scenes” are not delib erately stage-managed by wives and daughters, but are the result of sheer masculine sheikishness failing to adjust itself to the small exasperations of the family circle after a bad da> at the office! It is much more a mas culine than a feminine habit to wan* to “take it out of the furniture.”