LADIES' COLUMN.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13602, 23 May 1908, Page 3 (Supplement)

LADIES ' COLUMN.

A very pretty wedding was celebrated in the Primitive Methodist Church, Teniufca., on April 23rd, the contracting partite* being John K. Watkms, third son of Sir and Mrs J. Watkina, of Totara Valley, and Edith Emily Hooper, youngest daughter of Mr and Mis BL Hooper of Temvka. The ceremony was. perforated by the Rev. S. Cpastvvorth, the church being tastefully decorated for the occasion by the.bride's girl friends. The bride who •was given away by her brother looked very pretty in a/rich cream silk gown mode -with transparent yolk and elbow cleeves, she wore the usual veil and orange blossoms. She was attended by Miss Nellie Watkins as bridesmaid, who wore a stylish dress- of soft cream cashmere made kimono style and trimmed chiffon and blue velvet bands with white hat trimmed chiffon and Hue flowers to match. Both the bride and her maid carried lovely bouquet* of' white chrysanthemum* and mock orange. Miss Vera Andrews and Miss Lizzie Hooper acted as flower giris. They were much admired in pretty white N silk. frocks with blue and pink sashes and large whHe felt hats. Each carried-a -dainty basket" of flowers interwoven with blue ribbons respectively. The bridegroom was supported by Mr. J. Bayner, of Pleasant Point, as best man, and Mr. A. G. - Hooper-as .groomsman. As the party left the church the "Wedding March' was played by Miss Coatswortb. After the ceremony being; performed the wedding guests were entertained at- afternoon tea in the Parish Hall where the usual twists were proposed and responded to. In the evening the happy couple left by express for the north.' the bride's going away dress being a smart grey Eton coatume" fitced green and -.rbite, vntb green hat en suite. As a fitting conclusion to a happy day. a very- enjoyable dance was heldm the Parish. Hatt m the evening when all present had a very good time.

TESTILATIOX: We have discovered an excellent solution for the steeping-room ventilation l'" 1 * btem where weighted windows ar.> used. When small rooms, intensely cold weather, or, suseeptrtility to draught* make it. rmpcactica! to open windows* in the u?ttal manner; push the upper sash down until it, reaches the bottom of the window, then push up the tower sash until within an inch or twt> of the top. The imperfect fitting of the two> sap-hes hr this.-.position allow.* a free eiretttation of the arr. while the'occupant of the room is perfectly protected from draught*.

ELBOW SLKKVKS. A gi'od many girts wear the fasho-flaWe sleeve without'the slightest regard for the suitability of their hands and arms to the *hort sleeve. Some time ago a girl whose hands- were very coarse-looking, and whose arms and elbows were a brick-red hue, persisted in wearing the shortest *>f sleeves in spite of her mother's assurance that the style was not becoming. This drew upon twr the unkind but pointed remark of a sarcastic cousin, who observed that it was Wt surprising that .Annie's arm* Avere red. as. n«» doubt they were blushing fer the uncared-for-state of her hands! HI NFS TO HUSBANDS ; Lovl* and appreciation are to a woman tfhat dew and sunshine are to » flower. They refresh and brighten her whole life. They make h»r -tmug-hearted and keensighted in everything aJffeeting the welfare of her home- They enable- her to cheer her htiioand when the. carts of life press heavily upon him; and t*» be a A-ery providence* to her children- To know that her husband levts her. and is pround of her, and believes '" ■■«'": that even her own faults* are looked upon with tenderness j that, her face, to one. at least, is the fairest fact* in aft the world; that the heart which f*» her is- the greatest and noblest .holds Ikt sacred in its inmost recesses above ait wemeh gives- her a strength .and courage and sweetness and vivacity which all the Avealth of the world could not bestow. Let a woman's life be Pervaded with such" an influence, and her Iteart and mind will never grow o|d. but wilt blossom and sweetun, and brighten in perpetual youth.

THE PETAL BOX. The vinaigrette .which ousted the scent b.'ttle last, year, ha>> this season found a rival fa the* petal box. Little boxes are rilled with Sower t»*itasE« which hav« been ♦hied, apieed. and treated with the oil of the 'flower from' which they come. " The went bottle and vinaigrette were all very well in the days when fainting was considered a neeeWtry item in a woman* equipment." a Bond-atrect jeweller seys, "bat nowaday* women do not faint. The over-tired woman of the twentieth century suffers front neuralgia or congested headache, attendant on attained nerves. It hit* been proved that the perfume of flowers is most efficacious in these cases, and petal boxes meet the difficulty. Petal boxes are not brandished in public, like the old fashioned scent bottle used to be. but are cunningly fitted into the- handle of an umbrella, the ivory stick of a fan, or «ven on « bracelet- They can be made of gold, silver cr tovtoiseshell, but coloured enamels, have proved* the most popular, 'the flower petafcj used are poppy, violet, rwse, or lavender."

WEEPING WOMEN. Men have toughed and women have wept for ages. Woman's tears have been featured for more than they efeserve, and the heroines of the- old-fashioned novel* must have been a damp, red-eyed lot of girls even in their most joyous moments- The fact is that wamen have overdone their trying, and have alTawed any amount of health, courage, and force to ooze from * heir tear-glands'. Weeping in the old dam- was reallv as fashionable as fainting. uM the pcems" of Moore and Byron dwelt «»titeallv upon the team of the various Julias and Marys of their songs, so crying spelts must have had tfo-ir charm in those tfavs. <r» well a* ringlets and wasp-wutots-But tti«- woman «f the future will laugh and will bv aft the- better for it. fJirk ha-vc never b.en allowed to cultivate a ham«in>u» sense hi* they grew up until recent, years. when intelligence is gaining such victories >tt the nursery. Boisterous conduct *>r loml laughter have always been reproved in little- 'girts, while in ;» J bov such «xnbr»nee i* regarded ;t» a uattt- | nil" und healthy acx attribute- This is one of the reasons, that the humorous sense. which in children » usually evidenced in the love of frolic, is killed in the feminine nature To laugh is rude. That constitutes the law* tor the woman child in whose brain-cells nusehevious fun is beginning to bubble. The result of all thw in. that few women know how to laugh. The laughs of the child fc» repressed, and it develops into the giggle vt the girl. Then th*- giggle is criticised, and many ifiHWD continue, in their efforts t«> be polite, to gurgle and gasp in their -handk*rvhi*ft> until the end" of the chapter. WELL TOLD TALKS. Nothing appeals. s«» atrongly to the imagination, the sensibilities, the mora! nature of it child, as unwell-told tale. They rebel against what is commonly called "preaching," but the greatest rebel of them »H witlyk-M to- tin-softening influence of a tale that carries its lessons with it. iis. not that enough* But the btory d»»-» more- It broadens their views,, cultivates their finer feelings, destroys selfishness,' teaches them to appreciate their relations with others, and; planes down the rough places that would fill their livts with friction. This-raucb it does to them morally. A young mind most have re-

creation as> well a." a young Ijody. The iotorr brightens and refreshes it. bruMies ! away the cobwei*, that will gather even at a tender age, and tits id to return with m*w vigour to it." more *eriout> work. More than that, it adds to the child's information by acquainting him or her with certain phrase." of life, witli manner* ami customs that are- not taught by inetv history. By all mean*, then', lit "the children read »tori<>».

THK WOMAN VXD THE .SECRET. Can women keep a secret? ask*, the Xew Yark "Evening lVt-t." apro|Mic> of the argument used in England that w an's loquaciousness would imjx id the secrecy of the ballot w«jv allowed a vote. Lady UriiVe. one of the iViiiinint leaders-, has countered with an arguuitiit which hangs on .secrirt-kteping. as characteristic of her sex. The *' I'u-t " goes oik- better than this, and shows that it iv not a charlnristtra-Jii- of the opposite *:X.

Xot even the most /.eahniv f f anti-sulfr.i-'gteta, it sa}>. will maintain that men mv. r ; gossip and raters-of nu-ii mvtr b!ab. I> the ballot nowadays in secret ;;>- in theory it ought to be? The question med only be asked. Men will enroll in Republican primaries, attend lit publican rallies, contribnte to nepublican campaign fiim*;-. argue for Protection with penetrating voice on snbway and elevated. -.'liter a voting booth afW shaking hands with the Requbtican district captain ami wearing a Roosevelt button, and then com? out again with a mysterious, tmile induced by the solemn consciousness that the ballot is secret. Yet. in spite of all his pr> cautions* nic»t people seem to know which way he has voted. If J» leader know*; the leader of the other side knows, and various members of hr>-> c» liege fraternity, bis country club, his bowling club, together with hi* lawyer, his physician, his nextdoor neighbour, know. .Sointtinves even hU wife knows; though moot often it is against her that a man vindicates the secrccv of the ballet.

Woman alone fails to keep a secret; hence the future historian of the politics of our times will be forced to conclude, from the record of constant indiscretion, revelations, and exposes which he encounters, that women dominate political life in the first decade of the tw-iiUeth century. And jet it nrn> not a naval officer in petticoats who told a magazine writer in petticoat." about tbew low armour belt ♦»n «or battleships. Who .supplied Wall Street, with advance figure* from the crop reports? . Who tellw Wail Street about the contents of Presidential messages* before they art." sent to. Congress? It was net the German Empress who wrote * (somewhat indiscreet letter to Lady Tweedmoutb. and tbv tetter was not published by the editress of the "Woman's Sphere.*' . yikt the indictment might be indefinitely i iroritimK'd. Male authors are notoriously [ more garrulous abiut themselves than woI men author". A wuinan writer at ill publish her picture with an account of how her book came to be done, what she meant to put into it, and, now and then, a little airout her fondness.- for flowers or old china. Your successful man novelist tells everything; with hhn nothing it* too unimportant for pictorial illustration—himself in evening dress-, himself in street clothes*, himself in shirt sleeves, his house, his fireplace, his bicycle, his canf;e, down to- the |>en with which he wrote the book that sold a hundred thousand copies. He is far more ruthless than woman in turning his own secret* and others' into copy. Nearly all the great Confessions of history, from St. Augustine through Rousseau, have iK-en written by men. Most of our latter-day confessions of wiv«s, mothers, anil old maids have bseu written I by men. Against this record we can -oppose the j world's established belief tliat then* is m> j knowing the mind of a, woman; and if j we don't know her mind, how can we ]*os- j sibty know her secrets? "Secret thou art —but yet a woman I" Take other accepted t rut lis •-.••jnceraing; the reticence of woman —her disinclination for precise statement in the matter of age, Iter reluctance to impart the address of a cleA-er and remarkably reasonable dressmaker, her persis-ti-nce in denying fatigue, boredom, and pain: and the wonder rises why the world should seem bent on forgetting that the Spinx wa.?, as the email bov.said, a lady. ■