CAREER OR MARRIAGE?

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18382, 28 September 1929, Page 14

CAREER OR MARRIAGE?

Women to-day, to borrow the clubman’s smile, fall broadly into two classes—pre and post-war, states a writer in an overseas paper. The former earned their freedom from many of trammelling bonds of Victorianism. They stepped voluntarily and in the main efficiently into the gaps that the war made in Britain’s male personnel. All manner of jobs—most of them ropgh, few of them pleasant—were tackled in very heroic fashion. Then came the armistice aftermath. Those women had opened the door to freedom for a younger generation, which, blinded by the prospect of an economic independence, has cheerfully relegated love and marriage to a position secondary to what is known as a “career.” Love has thus itself become more of a diversion than an art—a thing permissible now and then in the course of a mild “affair,” but one which must go to the wall when business calls. HYMN TO THE POWDER PUFF. Powder puffs are spiritual, not physical. When this great truth is realised, not only by our doctors of medicine, but by our doctors of divinity, we shall have taken another ten years off that middle-age which no longer has real existence. For middle-age for the woman of today is anything from 40 to 60. To keep young is to feel young. It is here that spiritual urge comes in. When a woman powders her nose, she is also, because of the subtle selfrespect the powder puff engenders, rejuvenating her soul. When I see my friends, after dinner or afternoon tea, working vigorously in a circular direction with the now essential powder puff, a process which at one time used to leave me faint. ‘I now say to them: “Let the good work go on.” And it does go on. Thick, too. FOR THE BRIDE. If you are thin or slim, and there is a difference between the two, you should choose a shining material for your wedding gown, such as satin beaute; its gleam will show up every curve. The neck line should be oval or round, which is far better than emphasising your slimness with a V-neck line. The plump bride-to-be should choose a dull-surfaced material, which gives slimness, and she may with every confidence decide on a V-neck and have it outlined with diamante. It is better for all brides to pick out a material that is a deep cream, in preference to a dead white, which gives a certain hard effect. COLOURED LINEN. Linen sheets and tablecloths decorated with delicate hand-painting, have been in use for a little time, and now there are variations of the same idea which bring even more colour into the scheme. The latest notion is to have a border along the top of the sheets, and on the pillow-cases to match, in the form of trails of wild roses. The flowers and leaves are delicately tinted, and the design is outlined with embroidery in colour to tone. Towels and afternoon tea cloths are ornamented in the same way. Instead of painting pure white damask only, softly tinted damask combined with white is now used. A tablecloth, for instance, is of white with panels of palest primrose or very delicate buff, and on these panels designs of flowers or fruit are painted. FOOT COMFORT. There are people, fairly rare, I think, whose feet are so normal they can always wear cheap shoes. But if your feet are tender, never buy cheap shoes, even if you have to go without something you want to enable you to buy better ones. Are your feet tender? If so, you can do a good deal to help them. Salt water will strengthen them. A handful of rough kitchen salt in basin of w T arm water, not too hot, and on no account cold, will give them strength and help you to walk. There are other strengthening remedies on the market that make for foot comfort.' You have only to watch the advertisements.

You should file your nails as carefully as your hand nails—and if you have that painful thing, an ingrowing nail, nip a tiny piece out of the centre of your nail, and when the sides grow up file them as straight as you can. Polish your nails just as you polish your finger-nails. If you do not care for polish leave them alone.

SENTIMENT.

Expressions of sentiment have to be very delicately presented to be palatable. Who wants apocryphal utterances and hysterical outbursts? There’s no real feeling in them nor in any of the whole box of tricks of the pseudosentimentalists who enjoy one’s troubles, if only one knew it, as they’d enjoy a free meal. These people who think it’s almost indecent to be without sentiment —as admittedly it’s difficult to be a respectable human being without having a soft spot for the sorrows of others —are cherishing a very inferior quality unless it. blossoms spontaneously. Sentiment is so often for from being the lovable trait it’s believed to be. At the best it can’t be universal. It can only be an emotion sparingly shared with a few. Better almost to be dubbed brutal than pretend what one doesn’t feel for the look Gf the thing. PASTE FOR IVORY - . The handles of knives, piano keys, and ivory ornaments turn yellow in time from the oil in our fingers and the acids in the air. They can be cleaned by rubbing with a paste made from methylated spirits and whiting. Make the paste the thickness of rich cream. Leave it on the articles for twelve hours, then remove with a cloth wrung out in warm water. When using this on piano keys be careful that none of the whiting gets into the keyboard.