LADIES' GOSSIP.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5803, 22 February 1897, Page 4

LADIES' GOSSIP.

.» [" Canterbury Times/I Among the arts tliat arc swiftly growing out of the spirit of commercialism dominating oxir times that of the poster artist seems to be eminently suited to women, as several of them have already found out. It is not every manufacturer who cares to pay a Millais or a Miss Tennaut large prices for pictures such as " Bubbles " or " Street Arabs at Play " as advertisements for their particular wares; nevertheless, advertise they must, and that, too, in somo strikingly attractive way. The public, like a big baby, prefers pictures to letterpress. So the Aubrey Beardsley style came to bo born, with its inevitable school of disciples and imitators, who will, let us hope, improve greatly upon their master's somewhat manneristic conceptions. A talent for drawing, combined with imagination and a sense of humour, are the chief endowments of the poster artist, supplemented, of coiirse, by a knowledge of decorative design. England possesses several clever young women who are taking tip poster designs as book advertisements, while in America Miss Ethel Eeed and Miss Florence Virginia Thoipe are the most recent debutantes in this particular line of work. It is, perhaps, worth noting that the last-mentioned is still quite young, and has for somo years been engaged in writing articles for newspapers and magazines. It was only to be supposed that when the mistress gave herself up to the joys of club life, the maid would follow suit, and institute a club for herself also. This is what has come about in New York, for there the domestic servants, with the assistance of people skilled in starting women's associations, have formed what is called The Working Women's Social Club. Only those are eligible who are employed in family service, and the object of the club is to afford to such women a pleasant place for meeting, and for forming desirable acquaintances, with, of course, opportunities for organising upon lines similar to those of the trades unions. The shawl strap for pot dogs is the latest innovation, and it is said to be not at all uncommon to see a g fashionably dressed London lady carrying her fluffy haired companion in a cunningly devised cage, made of leather straps in such a way as to leave the head and legs free. Curiously enough the dog seems to prefer being suspended thus in mid-air to being squeezed and smothered in the arms of his mistress, and submits quite calmly to this novel treatment. During the winter months the carrying harness and blanket are combined; the latter is then made, we are told, of corduroy warmly lined with quilted satin, usually red in colour. As the arrangement leaves the animal's head and limbs quite free, he can be put down upon the pavement and led by means of a slender chain fastened to the handle of the "carrier." Wealthy women sometimes spend a good deal on the decoration of their pets' harness, and gold and silver embroidery and gold collars set with diamonds are the most noticeable among these feminine follies. From time to time one hears of teachers whose health has given way and reduced them to an invalidism which, in many cases, might have been averted. It is among woni.en as a rule that these physical breakdowns occur, for men usually know how to take care of themselves. A man would not think, for instance, of putting up with the cold luncheon, followed by a drink of cold water or milk, that forms the mid-day meal of too many tired young teachers. Often, too, the exercise books of the pupils are corrected during the process of eating — to promote cheerfulness and good digestion probably! The result is not by any means to be wondered at, for it would be an iron constitution that could follow such a course for four or five years and hope to escape the demon of indigestion and its host of attendant ailments. After a while the appetite, grown hypersensitive, rejects the customary cold lunch, and a biscuit or some such inadequate substitute for a meal, is all that can bo tolerated. And then comes the inevitable result, the doctor is called in, and is expected to cure in a week a disorder that has been carefully built up for years. This is not an exaggerated or imaginary case, for it is not long since a promising and successful young teacher had to resign her post owing to serious brain and other troubles arising from a badly nourished frame, while at the same time she was exerting herself to use the same amount of effort on behalf of her classes as she had used when in perfect health. A hot luncheon would doubtless prevent such a suicidal state of affairs, and even if nothing more than a bowl of hot soup was available it would prove effectual without a shadow of doubt. And if necessary for the teacher, it is quite as much so for the child, to whom a slice of bread and butter or stale cake is by no means the most satisfying or nourishing food possible. And here the question crops up as to whether we are not remiss in a matter that so closely concerns the health of our children — the men and women of the coming years. In America the mothers have agitated until the basin of hot soup has become a most important feature in the management of the larger State schools in that country. For a cent apiece each child can obtain a bowl of good and well-made soup, which is brought to the playground in boilers as soon as the lunch hour strikes, and this broth, with the addition of a piece of bread, provides a most acceptable meal ; surely there can be no reason, save want of enterprise, to prevent our own schools from being supplied in a similar way. It is interesting to note how the peculiar talents and genuine attractiveness of Kate Field, the well-known American journalist, singer and raconfeuse had endeared her to .the whole people, so that her death at Honolulu during the latter part of last year was felt almost as a national calamity. Educated at first for the operatic stage, her voice, though sweet, was found to be unable to bear the continuous strain inseparable from a theatrical career, so the bright-natured young girl turned to journalism, lecturing, writing, and reciting, making for herself a lasting dwellingrplace in the memory and affection of her enthusiastic countrymen and women. The latest mails bring news of the memorial service held over her coffin on its arrival in San Francisco. The church was crowded with the Governor, State officials and representatives from all the large cities in the States. The President sent a wreath of white roses, and among the wealth of flowers on her bier were contributions from all sorts and conditions of people — many of them very poor — who had in some way been the recipient of Kate Field's numerous but unostentatious charities. A dock labourer, who admired her writings and character, sent a little bunch of eidelweiss, which had been " nurtured high up on the Swiss Alps in the breath of liberty!" And so, surrounded by love tokens from rich and poor, high and low, the body of this talented and distinguished woman was brought finally to Boston and laid by the side of Longfellow, Charlotte Cushman, James Russell Lowell, Charles Sumner, Phillips Brooks, and many others whose names are regarded with love and reverence in the Old and the New World alike.