A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Taranaki Daily News, 27 May 1931, Page 11

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN.

THE FLIGHT FROM THE FLATS. (From Our Lady Correspondent.) People on the look-out for moderately rented mansion flats in London find that rents tend to drop rather than to rise. The explanation lies in the fact that tenants of some of these rather hurriedly-constructed blocks of flats have found them full of constant and nerve-racking noise, are thankfully leaving them the moment their leases run out. In thickly populated centres the traffic and outside din is -nothing compared with the irritation caused by what might be described as the little domestic - noises. The walls are'thin, doors and the window-frames do not fit, and the result is that the tenant of one flat can hear her neighbour’s wireless, gramophone or piano as plainly as if it were in her own room. Even the sounds of cooking and washing-up penetrate from one kitchenette to the other. People who have experienced a year or two of flats are now looking for houses in the suburbs, many of which are now being adapted as “suites” in a very satisfactory way. “CHARMEN.” Just as the feminine profession of cook is being invaded by men cooks, who describe themselves ..as good plain cooks and not as chefs, so are men encroaching on the ‘ “charing” world. A large block of offices near Fleet Street, after experimenting with male cleaners, has now dismissed all its women, and is employing an entirely male staff. The majority of these men are ex-naval ratings who have had years of experience in scientific scrubbing, and so far they have maintained a much higher standard of cleanliness than did the charladies. They do not work in two shifts, morning and evening, but come in after the offices close and work all night. They are being paid higher wages than the women, but fewer of them are required to do the same work. THE SWEDISH EXHIBITION. There seems much we may learn from the variety of beautiful household goods which have come to London for the exhibition which Prince Eugen, the King of Sweden’s brother, opened this week. Only a few paintings, portraits, and “luxury arts” are included in the array. It is much more an exhibition io illustrate the beauty and the graceful line and colour which can be brought into ordinary domestic life by those who are artistically inclined. The glass is. particularly lovely. There is. woodwork—pieces "of furniture in which exquisite inlay and other decoration is introduced—there are beautiful doors, carved and ornamented to remind their owners of the old Viking sagas, and little wooden pieces for everyday use which boast something individual and original; and there are lovely tapestries and. specimens of pewter. It was charming to find the Swedish folk in charge of the various stands so enthusiastic and so childishly delighted with the results of their own, and their fellowcountrymen’s handiwork. A BRIDEIS ORDEAL. The art crafts shown owe much to societies founded within the last 30 years, largely by wome: to revive the peasant art of past centuries in Sweden. Country women used to spend the long winter evenings weaving hangings for the walls of their homes, while their menfolk made furniture and household utensils; and the decoration of their picturesque costumes developed the arts of lacemaking, embroidery, and jewellery. The latter was made principally of silver and was massive in style. A Swedish bride was hung all over with it.' Necklets, breast ornaments, buttons and eyele," holes for the bodice, bracelets weighed her down, the whole being topped by an enormous silver crown. And when, as in one province, custom compelled the poor bride to run all the way to the church in this oppressive finery, she was not to be envied. Luckily . for her, the return journey was made, with the bridegroom, at a sedate walk.