THE WHINING VOICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 August 1930, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE WHINING VOICE.

THE WORST ANNOYANCE. (By Anne Hurst.) A pleasing voice adds enormously to the attraction of a woman, but an uapleasing one spoils the prettiest face. A shrill, high-pitched voice is irritating, raucous tones are equally disagreeable, but the worst type of all is the. whining voice,-which gives-the impression that everything in life has been, made specially difficult for the speaker. ’ Women are the worst offenders, and this may be due to the fact that lb childhood the little whine was not so definitely noticeable in the higherpitched tones of the small girl as in those of her brother. Consequently the fault was not detected or else it was passed over until it was. too late to remedy it. ' . Children often adopt-a .tearful, whining note when :they want some, special concession, having-early discovered that it has the desired effect bn certain people.. But the careful mother will see to it that the whine never helps in the achievement of -any object, and will sot about checking aybad habit that all too q- ickly becomes a’ settled - part of tiie child’s make-up. . 5 • Kindly ridicule will do much to break the whining habit. JShow by mimicry how unlovely the sound is. Heard hi

another, voice, and especially that of a beloved elder, it strikes the child’s ear quite differently,' and. she soon becomes convinced of its ugliness. • A whining voice ifl usually the expression of a discontented, narrow mind.; Therefore, as well, as checking the habit,■ o-o deeper, find where the twist is, un-! ravel it,'and introduce new interests' which will give a wider outlook on life. Jt is a thousand pities that to-day, when so much is being done for the child, more attention is not paid to the speaking voice, especially in the case of little girls “Her voice was ever soft Gentle,- and low;’an excellent thing, in woman.” WAYS WITH CRACKED MIRRORS. DECORATIVE “CAMOUFLAGES.” Quite apart from any superstitious notion, it is very irritating to find that a cherished wall or dressing-table mirror he ; been cracked. If the cracks are fairly, near the sides, however, there are several quite effective methods of dis-n-uising the damage. ° The mirror over a dressing-tabie was disfigured by a deep crack right down, one side,. until the owner thought of a wav out'of the. difficulty. The table itself was fitted with a deep gathered petticoat of chintz, and from an odd piece of similar chintz she cut out difference flowers and glued them, in' panel form, down the side of the mirror, rio-ht over the crack. To balance the decoration,- she glued a smaller panel on the opposite side. The result was delightful, the panel seeming to- be placed there for decorative purposes only. Another plan. is to paste over vhe crack a spray of delphiniums or -hollyhocks, cut from one, of the beautiful wall-papers now obtainable. If similat sprays could adorn the walls, a perfect scheme would result. A mirror which has been damaged at the upper edge may be redeemed by a colourful flower or landscape picture pasted over the crack. These picturepanels are very fashionable just now, and no one will guess the real reason for such an adornment. Good mirrors are expensive, and it is worth, while to try any method of. hiding minor damages. These notions are so decorative in themselves, however, that, you may care, to try one of them out on an undamaged mirror, just to see the effect.