MOTHER AND HOME.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17835, 1 May 1926, Page 18 (Supplement)

MOTHER AND HOME.

Nothing so cheerful on a cold day as a brightly-burning lire. Gas and electric fires and stoves, and radiators of all kinds, possess many virtues. They are convenient, clean, and, if properly used, economical, but they can never achieve the real homeliness and comfort of a good lire of coal and wood. Modern grates and chimneys ensure that the. maximum amount of heat is sent into the room, not up the chimney as in old-fashioned types of grates, and the absence of bars on most grates present that untidy appearance of fallen ash which used to disfigure so many hearths. It is a pity that more town dwellers do not supplement t.heir coal with wood. Of course, wood is more expensive in the town, but it can be secured, and jT carefully used with a “ backing ” of coal it will burn brightly and last well. Even old wood blocks from tramway lines, and scraps of wood from builders’ yards, are by no means to be despised. They can generally be bought cheaply, and if they do not last long they burn brightly, give out good heat, and help to eke out the coal, which is so expensive. Logs of pine burn splendidly, and if they cannot 1 e bought in a town they can generally be secured in the country. In countryplaces, too, much wood can be obtained at no cost at all. A walk through a wood will result in the pick-ing-up of odd pieces of wood, all of which help to make up a cheerful fire. Under trees and in the hedges are to be found pieces of old branches, sometimes even quite big logs, which maybe carried home in a basket. When trees are being cut down in a wood or garden one can sometimes buy logs quite cheaply. Then there are nr cones, which are to be had for the gathering. These make delightful hres. Primings from apple and cherry trees give out a delightful fragrance. Writing letters, we are often told, is a forgotten arc. Women are too bus:.-, it is said, to sit down and write long letters to their relatives and friends. Certainly the old leisured days are gone when early Victorian ladies penned charmingly-worded letters, in tine and delicate handwriting, to their friends, and told them not only the doings of their own family, but much of the news of the day. If there were time for the .writing of such letters they would be unnecessary today-, when the wireless as well as the morning and evening papers reach so quickly- distant corners of the land;* but real home letters arc still wanted and still written. The convenience of the telephone and post card have made the writing of trivial notes unnecessary, so that women have all the more time to concentrate on writing the really essential letters, and they can always find time for writing letters to parents, sons and daughters, and dear friends, even if they have to stay up late at night to do it. It is said of the late Queen Alexandra that she used to sit up very late £t night, when she was younger, writing letters to her many- friends and relatives in all parts of the world. At Christmas and at birthdays a letter from home is especially- liked. People in far countries look forward with tremendous eagerness to the incoming mails, and bitter is their disappointment if they receiye nothing. Frequent letters help to bind very closely the ties of friendship. No news about the home or children, friendly- gossip about neighbours, chat about new clothes or furniture, garden alterations or additions, and brief reports of the news of the home town, is too small to be recorded. All will be eagerly- read by the exile from home. The woman who wishes to vbe popular will also never neglect the sead.ng of little notes to her friends tef sympathise in their joys and sorrows: These should be written immediately one hears the sad or glad news. A note of congratulation on the marriage of & friend, the birth of a child, success on attaining some appointment or passing an examination, always, gives pleasure; and a letter of condolence to 'a bereaved friend*,- of sympathy in trouble and suffering, causes the recipient to think kindly- of the sender.

This is said to be the instruction of a famous JLondon eh£f, for the making of perfect toast: Cut a slice of bread thick enough for two pieces of toast. Toast if on each side till it is a rich golden brown, then split it down the middle, and hold the untoasted sides before the fire just long enough to turn them. B,utter well on the slightly toasted surface.