WOMAN'S WORLD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7923, 30 January 1904, Page 3

WOMAN'S WORLD.

Fashions in feminine attire are often set by Royalty. Queen Alexandra, when Princegs of Wales, made black fashionable, and it has not lost its popularity. The Queen of Holland is making white ithe fashionable colour today. The majority of working women' altogether fait to appreciate t&e truth that if due nourishment be not taken, brain and muscle will go " slow time." The ability for hard work of a nation corresponds to the nourishing character of its staple diet. .. Is the athletio girl to pay the penalty of her fondness for outdoor sports by growing so fast and sq much as to end in the long run by overtopping her brothers and, sweethearts by a head? This disparity in height has been noticed particularly at some recent -weddings. Miss Ada Crossiey's- concert at Sale was the greatest success of 'the kind known in Gippsland, the Victoria Hall being packed at higli prices. After paying all expenses, >the management generously defraying its own, £330 7s 6d goes to the iund3 of the Gippsland District Hospital. When she left for Yarram, Miss Crossley was warmly cheered by the townspeople. I/ace made of aluminium thread is a modern variety. Thi3 metal whs five shillings an ounce between twenty and thirty years ago, but now it can be bought for a few pence per pound. It is found in clay, and can be drawn out into quite fine threads. Aluminium lace is extremely brilliant and effective, and has this great advantage over silver, that it is not tarnishable. It is used on Court trains and in ecclesiastical work. The "Lancet" reports a discussion of the Academy of Medicine, Paria, in which M. Lucas Chainpionnere said -that every day more confirmation was forthcoming of tho idea that it was the abuse of a meat diet which was the principal cause of appendicitis. In those ! countries where the natives eat very little meat, as in Brittany, appendicitis is very rare. In England and the United States, where a, great Seal of meat is eaten, appendicitis isr four times more common than in Paris. , To the Marchioness of Londonderry is mainly due the wonderful revival which has taken place during recent years in the making of Irish lace. Lady Londonderry's lace is little less celebrated "than .her jewels. At Court (says the " Illustrated London News ") she has worn her famous Carrickmacross, and the same variety has appeared on her daughter's wedding gown and trou&seau dresses. To County Down embroideries the Marchioness has also given hcv patronage, and she may he said to have created the present-day vogue for -these speciments of fine needlework. The Scandinavian bridegroom presents to his betrothed a prayer-book and many other gifts. She tfn turn gives him, especially in Sweden-, a shirt, and this he. invariably wears on his wedding day. Afterwards he puts it away, .and in no circumstance would he wear it again while alive. But he wears it in his grave, «nd there are Swedes who earnestly believe not only in the resurrection of the body, but in the veritable resurrection of the betrothal shirts of such husbands as have never broken their marriage vows. The Swedish widower must destroy on the eve of his second marriage the bridal ehirt which his first wife gave him. v Belle-Ile, where Sarah Bernhardfc has her best-loved home, is one of the finest islands of the group composing the corner of Brittany called the Morbihan. The great French actress is the idol of the aturdy fisher-folk of BelleIle, and she frequently entertains parties of her Parisian friends in. her lonely island stronghold. It is whispered 'that she delights in leading some of her more corpulent actorfriends up and down the precipitous paths round her home,, and, as -she ds fleet of foot ' and absolutely fearless, her companions usually arrive back at the Fort quite exhausted and with a resolute- determination never again to venture far afield with their fair, hostess. Germany is ahead in novelties of a charitable nature. In the town of Haschmann prizes are offered yearly for the men who will marry ; the ugliest and most crippled women, and for the women over forty who have been jilted at least twice. The money was left by a big financier, who, realising thai beauty is an attraction hard to overcome, made a provision ■in his will that out of the income of the fund' not less than £16 shall go with the ugliest girl in any year, and the cripple shall receive £12. The pob» women over forty who have been jilted by a lover receive, when the funds permit, £10 each, but the • trustee can vary this amount, and, at his own discretion, offer a larger prize to some one who will marry an unusually ugly girl, or one to whom Nature has been specially unkind. Princess Alice of Albany, whose engagement! to Prince Alexander of Teck has been announced, is a charming and accomplished gill. She possesses in, a marked degree the artistic talents of the Koyal Family. One of the earliest influences upon her character was that of Joskin. The sago of Coniston was held in high personal regard by the late Duke of Albany,iwhora he visited on more than one occasion. The young Princess is credited with much fondness^or outdoor exercise, being devoted, particularly to riding, and is also an excellent oarswoman, while during the past three years, v^jich she has spent chiefly in Germany, she is aaid to have become a capital linguist. The Duchesa of Albany, to whose sensible way of bringing up her children they all owe so much,, was -described at the time of her marriage as a simple, ladylike, country girl, and that simplicity of thought and manner she has never lost. The Duchesa of Albany has always made education one of her special interests. When a young girl at home the Duchess was given a position of trust .in connection with' the elementary education in her father's Duchy of WaldeckjPyrmont, and after her marriage she devoted much time to scientific and advanced studies under the guidance of the scholarly • Prince Leopold. Writing some ten years ago, one who had visited Claremont observed, "If I tell you what chiefly impressed me respecting the Duchesa, it is the fact of what a model mother she is. You cannot be in the house long without noticing how she loves and cares for her children, and how closely ehe watches over their welfare. And what perfect symover their welfare, and what perfect sympathy there seems .to be between them all." | It is no secret that the Duchess of Albany ar9ently desired to re-marry, her secret choice being an. English jpeer, to whom she was devotedly attached, and who requited her feelings, but Queen Victoria refused to give the Crown sanction. . ' • . t Queien Margherita has always loved a brilliant setting as the representative of the Majesty of Italy. Her daughter-in4avr was too clever to attempt to rival her. As Princess of Naples her household was almost modest in its sinvpKci'ty, and 'her personal requirements were anything but extravagant. Even, after her accession' to the throne, those accustomed to I:he display and stats of the Court of King Humbert were wont to complain lihat tlhe tastes of (the Queen were bourgeois because she made no secret of her preference for the, private apartments in the Quirinial' to : the State rooms. During her first visit <&s. Queen to Milan the ladies of Milan mairvelled -a.t the extreme simplicity of her toilettes. Roman society at first inclined to patronise her, for a Princess of the Black 'Mountain, dazzled by the splendour of tlhe Italian 'Court, forgot that sine (had made her debut in. the great world under tihe auspices' of an Empiress of Russia at the Court of iSt Petersburg. "Your Royal Highness," a great lady is once said to have remarked, " must find Court ceremonial very tedious and tiring." "Not atoll," replied the Piinceea; " they always did these things on a much bigger scale in St. Petersburg. . The story serves to show that if the Queen of Italy elects to lead, a quiet home life, it is from choice, not from want of Jcnowledge. Tlhe Queen makes no secret of her delign't in her children. In Home she is frequently to be seen chopping on their 6^h«lf, for ear© Troys aUtneir. clothes herself. : ;