Ladies' Column.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2082, 17 June 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Ladies' Column.

Her Face and Her Fortune-— A young man marries a girl who has a pretty race, and thinks be has a wife and home, when in reality he has neither. Her pretty face gets to be an old story, or becomes faded or freckled or fretted, and as Hie face was all he wanted, all he paid attention to, all he sat up with, all be bargained for, all he swore to love, honor and protect, he gets sick of his trade, knows a dozen faces which he likes better, gives up staying at home in the evenings, consoles himself with cigars, oysters and politics, and looks upon his home -as a very indifferent lodging-house. A family of children grow up about him, but neither be nor his “ face ” know anything about training them, so they come up helter-skelter: made toys of when babies, dolls when (boys and girls, drudges when young men and women, and so pass year after year, and not one quiet, happy, homelike hour is known throughout the entire household, Another young roan becomes enamored of a “ fortune.” He waits upon it to parties, dances the polkas with it, exchanges billet-doux with it, pops the question to it, gets “ yes” from it, takes it to the parson, weds it, calls it “ wife,” carries it home, sets up an establishment with it, introduces it to his friends and says (poor fellow I) that he, too, is married and has got a home. But when it is too late for escape, he finds out his mistake. Friends congratulate him and he has to grin and bear it. They praise the house, the furniture, the cradle, the new baby, and then bids the “ fortune,” and he who husbands it, good-morning. As if he had known a good morning since he and that gilded fortune were falsely declared to be one.

How to Look Young.— lt is unquestionably true that women of middle age, or who who have passed their first youth, Lave acquired the knack of looking considerably younger than those of the last generation at the same period of life. Perhaps they take, more trouble with their faoe and figure, and our fashions are more youthful. How shall a woman dress in order to look young I The truth is no one can advise on these personal matters. A wise woman watches the lines grow on her face au 1 studies not to strengthen them by over-juvenility of attire. A wide-brimmed hat,which throws a shadow on the face, makes a woman look yean older, but the high crowned, narrow-brimmed hats are far less trying. It requires judgment to know when to discard the wearing of hats at all. According to the present fashions, it would be best to wear high, straight collars of velvet, and whore lace is admissible, plenty about the throat. The hair should only be turned up from the nape of the neck when the throat has no sign of scragginess aud the style does not tend to harden the side outline of the cheek-bones, which have lost their youthful ronndness of fleshy covering. The fashions of the day favor slim women, but slimness too often towards middle age degenerates into undue thinness. which is by no means youthful. Therefore thin women must conscientiously stndy their own individuality, and not take' too great liberties on the score of embonpoint, which keeps off wrinkles, though it may enlarge the waist and make the study of drapery a serious one. Stout women should avoid the waist seams, and carry the skirt and bodice in one down the sides as much as possible. Let them avoid fur borderings to basques, just as short women should banish them from the edge of their skirts. Tall women may indulge as much as they please in soft-falling drapery, indescribable in its arrangement; but short ones would thereby acquire tub-like proportions. Selecting Fowls— “ National Stockman” has the following to say about selecting fowls. Note the pullets that look as your best hens did at their age. If the shape is correct, do not fear to select your largest and heaviest pullets. Notice that the largest are not often the heaviest pullets, the difference occurring in the “ flufliness ’’ of their feathers. While fluff is a good thing in a setting hen, we prefer one that surprises you in her weight by reason of the closeness ot her feathering.- Notice particularly the shape of the back. In so many cases is it noticed to be concave or hollow, rather than convex or rounding. In both sexes notice the legs and toes carefully, if yellow is demanded do not be satisfied with cream white. Avoid a lack ot uniformity in this particular, as it is au important point in the show pen, and greater attention should be given it in the breeding pen.

Lastly, see that all the females in a yard have a uniformity of color shape and stylo. Of course it is most important that the male be right in every particular, for though he may have a dozen mates, he is half the yard. Observe that in him style, form and carriage should out balance size. Never select a cock with a drooping or “ ewe " neck ; and with the same care avoid one that fails to have a good strong, wide-spreading tail. One that carries a high head usually possesses a good breast, and one that crows long, loud and often will usually be free from roup and other throat diseases. Choose a comb in which each point) has a base sufficiently wide and strong to support it, A comb in which the points show the proportions of the letter M doubled is to be preferred, even in the Leghorns, to one in which the serrations are so deep that the points are likely to fall over, as the bird advances in age. Other things being equal, avoid a bird that shows too great an abundance of “ red leather." As to the colorings, all must depend upon varieties, but do not run the risk that some writers advocate ‘‘strong markings in the females and weak or indistinct colorings in the males."

Fancy Work.— Gather together all your scraps of old white embroidery or tambour work, such as old curtains, collars, capes, or the wide flowing undersleeves that were fashionable in our grandmothers’ time. Cut oil the embroidered sprays or figures with a sharp pair of scissors, making smooth edges. Lay them on blotting paper to form any design you may choose, having first starched them slightly so they will.not be limp. TTicn procure from a druggist some liquid gold, and mix one tablespoonful of the liquid with half a tablespoonful of gold powder in a saucer until it is as thickas cream. Be careful only to mix a little at a time, as it thickens and dries very easily, and becomes useless. With the liquid and a camel’s hair brush paint the sprays of embroidery until they are thoroughly saturated, moving them’ about on the blotting paper with a long pin, and being careful not to touch them with your lingers until they are thoroughly dry. Leave the figures where they will not be disturbed until the following day ; then, if they arc perfectly dry and the gold has thoroughly taken, arrange them on a plush background which previously has been sewed in a frame. Sew the gold figures or sprays to the plush with very fine silk, well waxed, add a few gold spangles here and there, and fill in the groundwork with French knots, using old gold silk. A band of plush embroidered in this way makes a beautiful trimming to a silk or satin curtain, table-scarf, lambrequin, pincushion, sachet, etc., where it would be too much work to make the entire piece so elaborate.

Soft, nice kitchen towels may be made by folding fifty pound cloth flour sacks in the middle, turning in the edges, and stitching all round. Then sew loops on each end. This is a good way to use up some of the sacks that will accumulate. Use them for linings where thin linings are wanted. In making jelly, >f you have more than you have glasses, you can make glasses by taking large, smooth bottles and wetting a cord in turpentine, and tying around the bottle below the neck, then set the string on lire, and it will break off smoothly all around.

To make sheets last longer : when they r.'-t. thin in the middle, tear down the centre, sew the outer edges together, and hem the sides.