WOMAN'S WORLD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6728, 24 February 1900, Page 3

WOMAN'S WORLD.

Hand-spun thread, used for the very finest .Brussels lace of all, costs sometimes as much !as JS24O per pound. It is of such extreme fineness that the lace workers in using it are guided hy touch instead .of sight, and it is spun underground, as it 'breaks if in course of manufacture it comes in contact with the air. The late Lady Salisbury had an unpleasant experience some fifteen years ago while driving with her husband from a political meeting. in. Dumfries. The carriage was surrounded by a mob of mill girls, one of wmom threw a large stone through the window, fortunately without injuring any of the occupants of the vehicle. .Lady Salisbury look the stone home to Hatfield, where it has since been preserved, with an inscription, as a souvenir. The. belief in witchcraft has not died out yet in the Highlands. Quite recently a fisherman's wife was accused of having bewitched a cow, so that the animal gave inferior milk. The woman's husband was, naturally, greatly enraged, and assaulted the person who started the story. He was fined thirty shillings, but the sheriff thought it -well to explain that there was no such thing as -witchcraft, and that other causes had been &t work to produce the impoverished milk. ' The oldest princess in the world is the Duchess pi Anhalt Bera'burg, sister of the King of Denmark. Her age is great, even for a member of her ]x>ng-li\ed family, being eightynine. Hard work and worry have been her share nearly all her lifo, so it is not ease and luxury -which has lengthened her days. Her husband went mad, and soon after marriage she -was made regent of her little duchy, until his death, -when his heir reigned in her stead. The Duchess 'has no children. Madame Marchesi has pronounced the voice ' of Miss Amy -Castles to be "beautiful, and j without a blemish." Prom what" she had heard, i she expected to find that the young Victorian's "voice had lost its purity and freshness, but she was delighted, to find ' that there was no truth in any of -these reports. She -was so impressed with Amy Castles' s voice that she desired the young singer, to sign a contract to remain with her for sixteen months, at the end of which time she would bring her out. Baroness Orezy, the author of " The Emperor's Candlesticks " is ■& Hungarian by birth. She has moved a good deal in the best English society and studied art in England, wiiere she first met her husband, Montagu Barstow, the well-known artist. She herself is an artiste of repute, having illustrated many books and exhibited at the Royal, Academy. Like most ; Hungarians, who are singularly gifted in liiis respect, she speaks seven languages fluently, and has a bowing acquaintance with at', least as many. more. A pretty incident, says an Australian paper, happened on Christmas Day at Mordialloc. In the afternoon 'the pier was fairly crowded with people "trying to get a breath of fresh air. A homing pigeon, exhaused with the heat, came fluttering down near them, and after one or two circles, alighted on a lady's shoulder. The poor bird was panting with the heat, and its open beak showed that it was thirsty. Fresh water was obtained, and a few crumbs, the bird taking both eagerly. After a. xes-t of fifteen or twenty minutes it again took wing. Experts think it was set free at Hobart. If o one can accuse President Kruger of being courteous. The widow of a recently-deceased Sydney Judge gives the following account of her first meeting with the Transvaal autocrat. Her family, who at that time lived in Pretoria, moved into, the house next to the President's, and a day or so later she was told that Kruger had called to see her on business connected with a boundary fence. The time was early forenoon. In the drawing-room the lady found the President! seated. He wore no ooa.t, waistcoat, or socks, an<3 his tall black hat was on his head. He greeted her with " Good morning, fra-u, give me some coffee." Lady Georgina Vernon, the daughter of tKe Earl of Haddington, is not afraid of hard work, so interested is she in the subject of agricultural employment for women. iNot very long ago she felt herself to be at a, disadvantage,, owing to her ignorance of dairy methods, so she went to Normandy to study butter and cheese-making, and is now quit,e an authority on these matters. She declares that dairying in all its branches is pre-eminently women s work. Lady Georgina takes an active part in temperance work, spends a good deal of time - in prison visiting, and it was she who originated the City and County Nursing Institution, in the town of Worcester. French women are far behind their English sisters in the matter of hunting. The fox, except in the vicinity of Pau, where a wealthy English colony exists, is not chased. The deer is the favourite animal hunted. The Duchess d'Uzes, though now not so young as she was, takes an active interest in hunting. She is very particular about riding costumes. These are invariably made in oloths of two thicknesses — that for tfce bodice being lighter than the material in the heavy skirt secures -freedom an ease about the chest and shoulders. The Duchess also encourages the Louis XIV. three-cornered hat. No one appears in the chimney-pot hat. As a necktie, the old stock has been abandoned for the more elegant white muslin cravat with loose 'bow. A very pretty incident, in. -which Mendelssohn, the composer, is concerned, is recaled by « London paper. Just fifty years ago the musician was a great favourite at the Court of Queen Victoria, who greatly enjoyed- a chat with him. On one occasion her Majesty, having exhausted the many music topics she loved to discuss with Mendelssohn, asked him if there was any part of the Royal home he would like to see. The answer was oharaeteristio of the man. He replied that there was nothing he should like to visit so much as the Queen^s nurseries. The Queen proudly accompanied him herself to her children's apartwere earnes-tdy comparing notes on matters were earnestly comparing notes on the matters pertaining to the .education of young people. The Garnishing of Dishes in this country is not sufiicieiiitly studied, and what one notices most is the lack of variety in garnishes. 'Xfcus for meats, &t this itime of year, cooked vegev ables are the most appropriate garnish, and the expense is small. Cut carrots, parsnips and turnips into fancy shapes, boii, rinse in cold water, heat with a 'little dripping or butter, and arrange in piles «a a garnish. Tomaito sauce, too, well thickened with flour, makes an agreeable garnish to cutlets. Fried sippets of bread, cut from left over pieces into iancy shapes, make a atew look far more dainty tnan when served plainly. Beetroot or tomatoes, cut into thin slices, with the addition of some chopped. parsley, amply decorate any dish of ?°W. meat. Watercress may be used either for ™>t .or oold meat. A boiled egg, left over from table, if boiled for ten minutes,, thrown into c old water, then peeled and cut into slices, ?Jwaya makes a dish of mince attractive. Puddings may 'be made to look riched than they are by garnishing with caster sugar, desic-cocoa-nut, or ohopped pistachio jwfr m «nall quantities. Red currant jelly, 4oj*w a