HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17037, 10 May 1923, Page 7

HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION.

The demonstration of leather work j given by Mx Watson to a very large J audience on the evening of April 27 would have been interesting and instructive to anyone, but was especially «o to women who are trying to cultiate an intelligent interest in the re>urces of their own country. Mr Batson commenced his demonstration p showing a great variety of diseased :dris, ranging from the thick ox hide ait-able for soling winter boots, to •.any beautiful suedes for tlie making f tlie finest and most expensive loves. Of the many different olourecl leathers displayed, perhaps he most generally admired was one ejoicing in tlie unromantic name of ox-blood ” —a very uncommon shad© f rich dark red. “ Leather work/’ aid Mr Watson, “is highly educaional. and very valuable indeed as a raining for both hand and eye; but nn’t take it up with the idea that ny old thing will do. In this form f handwork, careful and complete acuracy is* absolutely necessary.” “ To mention only a few of the many iseful articles that can be made from aether,” continued the demonstrator, ‘ there are coats, hats, blouses, chair--acks, music stools, moccasins, collars, >ag of all kinds, serviette rings, telehone and tram-book covers, spectacle asee, and purses.” We were then hown how to choose, stretch, and cut iut the skin for gloves, told to renember that thick leathers were not lecessarily always good any more than bin leathers were necessarily always k>oi\ and recommended always to hold iur suede leather up to the light so hat we could see and avoid thin places >efore beginning to cut out. , The demontration concluded with he manufacture of a very beautiful mbossed leather cover for a blotting K>ok. Mr Watson was accorded a learty vote of thanks for his interestng and instructive lesson. Our next demonstration will be given >y Misses Hanna and Gee on the ©venng of Wednesday. May 16. Their object will be the making and trirnmng of hats. **Home and Country” for April is ;ven more interesting than usual. It :ontains a profusely illustrated article >n “ Sewing Arts,” by R. Lethaby, mother on “ Professions for Women,” >y M. 'Williams, and the usual amount >f helpful writing on other subjects. J. W. Robertson Scott contributes ‘ 500 Words on Hon - to Write 500 ords. ’ Here, are a few extracts : “ What better literary training can me have month by month than pressng quarts of words into literary pint DotsP My old chief, W. T. Stead, snee said that the way to test the jffectiveness of writing was to imagine meself cabling it to Australia- at so much a word. “ There are. 1 suppose, two notions Df literary ability. One is that, like the navvy’s swearing, it is ‘ a bloomin' gift.’ “ The other is that it can be cul tivated. “ The art of writing is merely to have something to say, to say it, ana then to 6top.” In thanking correspondents for their contributions, 1 wish to call special attention to tlie recipe for home-made soap sent by V.M.H. This recipe was accompanied by a specimen bar of soap—all that soap should be in colour, texture and consistency, and proving when used in the wash or bath tub to be as good as it looks. Other useful contributions from H.E.A. members’ are given below : V.M.H.—Home-made soap : o£lb fat. 5i quarts water, lib caustic soda, lloz powdered resin. 2 tablespoonfuls borax, 1 tablespoonful ammonia, 1 tablespoonful glycerine, a few drops of citronella to perfume. Boil fat, soda, resin and water for half an hour, stirring all the while to prevent boiling over. Just before taking off the fire add the other ingredients, pour at once into moulds lined with a damp cloth. Obedience.—l hope the following poem by Fay Inch fa wn, which I clipped from the “Windsor Magazine” for March, will give as much pleasure to your other readers, as it has given THE WOMAN AND THE THRUSH. THE WOMAN. If your claws were as full as mine, You’d not have time to sing. Your face would be one puckered line And cross a* anything. With beds to make, and meals to get, And knives and boots to clean, v\ ith smoky fires and washing wet, Tie hurry-flurry, flare and fret, And not one single chance to get A breathing space between. THE THRUSH. It takes me nearly all my time To find my meals and tilings, My bed is in yon leaflets lime 4 its drippings wet my wings. And still aiiead are snowy days And hours of icy chill. Vet something in my being says That He who brought me to my place. Who gave me life and j>ower to fly, He wlio can bid me live or die, Commands me still, and who am I To say my Ira me was only made for nesting in a summer glade, Or lilting m a leafy tree, For kindly paths and easy ways And not tor grim adversity? Keep on Smiling.—When I was a girl at home, my brother used to say that the Duchess in “ Alice in Wonderland ” would b© nowhere in the way of tacking on iporais n she entered into competition with me, but 1 shall refrain Irom pointing oat the obvious ones attached to Hie following little a-necdo tes : —y 1. An cid pupil of mine has recently been appointed to the sole charge of a school in a little town in the North Island. Here is a paragraph from a letter I received from her last week “ 1 went to the welcome social to the new minister last night. He said lie had lately paid a vieit- to Heaven. St .Peter in showing him round the beautiful gardens brought him to a part where numbers of persons were chained to marble pillars. * Why are these chained here? ’ he a*ked. ‘ surely it is incongruous to have people chained in the gardens of Heaven.’ ‘ Oh,’ said St Peter. ‘ they have lately come from T (the little town where my correspondent is teaching), and if we let them off the chains they- would go back again.' ” 2. A little ten-year-old boy, whom T will call Johnnie, has attended my school for the past month I find him harder to “ get on with ” than any child f have ever taught before. The other day I wrote on the blackboard, as a writing copy for his cla6s, the sentence. “ Mother is my best friend.” On reading these words, Master Johnnie burst into a loud, nude laugh and was told to remain after school to explain his conduct. When the other children had departed, I said sternly, 44 Now. John, will you please tell me what you meant by laughing at thoae words on the blackboard? ” “ Well,” replied the child with the utmost coolness. ‘ ‘ it amuses me when you call mv mother my best friend—why she hardly ever has my slippers warming before the tire when 1 get home from sohoel.”