LADIES' COLUMN.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXIX, Issue 12111, 4 July 1903, Page 3 (Supplement)

LADIES' COLUMN.

A NOVELTY FOR AFTERNOON TEAS.

(American Payer.) Tea-making as a social custom never loses its vogue. Bach year, in fact, it increases in popularity, and' each season some attractive novelty is produced in its behalf.

A unique tea waggon has lately been originated and) made up in mahogany with inlaid lines. It is slender in shape and graceful in style, its wheeling properties making it capable of easy transference throughout the house, to the verandah and out on the terrace. The upper part of the waggon is fitted with a tray that may be removed for individual serving. The lower shelf is protected by a. narrow strip of wood.

, The bachelor also !has a tea waggon designed for his special needs, built on much the same principles, but with compartments for refreshments other than tea, and a cover to fold down and make the waggon useful as a table.

Both of these waggons are English in origin, though made in this country. The afternoon cup of tea in Great Britain is a! part of the <ky's history. It is accomplished, too, without the and labour that often accompany it here.

In some of our homes the afternoon tea table is merely an attractive-looking piece of,mockery. Dainty linen, exquisite china, beautiful silver are all displayed around a shining kettle as a part of the furnishings of the room, with the serving of tea never attempted. Hospitality is overlooked in the dlesire for show, in a confusion of ideas and sometimes a display of poor taste. A tea table requires diligent care to keep its equipment in order. Sometimes.a young daughter in a family is given this duty, or several young .girls in one household take it up in turn as the, beginning of domestic responsibilities. When a regular tea table is not established for the five o'clock cup of tea, an informal 'method of serving it is for callers and hostess to gather around one end of the dining stable while tea is brought in. A wide window seat in a dining-room makes a cosy place for serving, tea, a low table being kept at one corner for holding the; tea things.' Tea on the verandah is a part of the pleasure of summer life in the country, and in winter homes built with a sun parlour or enclosed verandah, something of the same feeling of outdoor enjoyment is attained. ,; But most, delightful in these days of conventional doings is the cup' of tea made in the kettle swinging over the blazing logs''at "twilight.