VANITY FAIR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 144, 20 June 1931, Page 2

VANITY FAIR

A CLEAR MIDNIGHT Two persons standing alone on a hili during a clear midnight such as this, the roll of the World eastward is almost a palpable movement. The sensation map be caused bp the panoramic glide of the stars past earlhip objects, which is perceptible in a f ew minutes of stillness, or bp the belter outlook u P on space that a hill affords, or bp the wind, or bp the solitude; but whatever be its origin, the impression of riding along is vivid and abiding. The poelrp of mo lion is a phrase much in use, and to enjop the epic form of that gratification it is necessarp to stand on i hill at a small hour of the night, and, having first expanded with a sense of difference from the mass of civilised mankind, who are dream-wrapt and disregardful of all such proceedings al this lime, long and quietly watch pour stalelp progress through the stars. — Thomas Hardp, in "Far From the Madding Crowd."

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL I Miss A. Martin, who has been visit- . ing Wanganui, returned to Christchurch yesterday. Mr and Mrs Skipworth, of Danne- ■ virke, were the guests of Mrs Ross Campion, on their way from Auckland. . Miss Kona 'McClure, of Feilding. is : visiting Wanganui for the Golf Club ! Ball. J Miss E. L. Paterson, of the Ohingaiti j School, is an inmate of the Wanganui ! Public Hospital. | Miss Aileen Gregory, of the staff of the Wanganui Public Hospital, who has , been indisposed for the last three months, is the guest of her parents, Wanganui East. Mrs W. A. Veitch, who visited Dargaville and the Waipoua Forest last week, returned to Wanganui on Thursday evening and will leave for Wellington on Monday. Mme. Server Ali Hanoum has been appointed postmistress-general of Stamboul. She is the first woman in the world to occupy such .'impost.* Probably the first motor cycle policewoman in England is Miss Elsie Gray,! of Gloucester. Sho drives a regulation motor cycle, and has already been cited for good patrol work with her machine. Sir George and Lady Elliot, of Auckland, and Mr Pat Elliot, have arrived in London, writes a correspondent. They are contemplating an extensive motor tour later in the year. Miss Doris H. McKenzie, home] science mistress at Waitaki Girls’ High School, Oamaru, has exchanged positions for a year with Miss M. W. Tait, of Pitlochry High School, Scotland. In July and August she will go on the Continent, and will also tour the Scot tish Highlands. Cake Kitchen What with Welcome Week and the Winter Show there will be so many attractions that the busy housewives and folk from the country won’t have tilne to bake cakes. Mrs Blair, of the Cake Kitchen (just below Drew s, Maria Place), is well-known for her daintv home-made cakes and pies. Lx- ‘ tra cooking will be done for Welcome Week, and it is announced that during the week hot pies may be obtained for 3d each. Mrs Blair also caters for weddings and parties. P.B.A. Your Garden Seeds Everyone, of course, goes in for a garden and soon there will be that spring feeling in the air and you 11 want to get those seeds sown. Yesterday I visited Walker’s Floral Art Studio (opposite Warnock’s), and saw a most tempting array of flower and vegetable seeds. The sight was enough to make any enthusiastic gardener think of making early plans for the garden. Whether you are planting flowers or vegetables, tested seeds of quality may be purchased at Walker’s.—P.B.A. W.D.F.U. The Women’s Division of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, assisted by other organisations, has matters for the Batchelor Party to-day well m hand. There will be a baby show, physical perfection class, quoits, skittles, clock golf, croquet, etc. In a suitable tent glimpses of the future will be obtainable. The schedule for the wool campaign will contain classes for all. Wool tapestry mats, cushions, junipers, cardigans, numerous classes for children and one special prize for boys. Mrs White, Mangamahu. Mrs Howard, Makirikiri and Mrs McDougal have all donated prizes. The monthly committee meeting was very well attended, matters with regard to conference being | finalised. The delegates will be Mrs I It L. Gibson, Mrs Butcher ami the lion. . secretary. A great deal of interest is | being taken in the birthday party to I bo held in August, Mrs Wickham, seni ior Dominion vice-president, and Miss Polson, advisory member, will both go I to Wellington.

Music Many iyears ago it was predicted that; one day music would be recognised as a powerful and acknowledged therapeutic. that it would cure the ills of the mind and body. It has been shown that, the prophecy has been borne out, specially in recent years. Music is not. only a body healer; it is a mind regulator. In days of stress and worry, one can forget weariness under the stimulus of music. All music-lovers will be looking forward with keen anticipation to the Choral Society’s Concert on Wednesday night next, particulars of which appear in our advertising columns to-day. Under the baton of Mr Wentworth Slater, that delightful work. Alfred Noye’s poem, “A Tale of Old Japan,” set to music by S. Coleridge Taylor, will be given. The music of this Oriental gem is most enchanting, and one which is full of colour and interest. Several well-known artists will provide the first half of the programme, and the evening should prove a most enjoyable one. Telephone Tests The Postmaster-General of Britain has written to the -trade union concerned foreshadowing an important change in the methods of selecting applicants for the telephone service. In future the girls will be tested for their speech, and the examiner will decide whether their spoken English is likely to be intelligible to subscribers (writes a Londoner). The girls will be tested also to determine whether they possess the qualities of “manual dexterity, alertness, memory, and hearing.” Previous examinations of applicants have been restricted mainly to their knowledge of dates in English history. Missed the Train Lord Brougham aud Vaux, after his marriage to Miss Valerie French m St. Margaret’s, Westminster, recently, missed the 4 o’clock boat train from Victoria Station, made a thrilling race by motor-car to Dover, and caught the steamer two minutes before she cast off (states a London writer). The honeymoon couple arrived at the station in a racing motor-car, gay with wedding favours, ten minutes after the train had left. They decided to race the express train, and the great, car was driven all out down the Hover road. At the moment that the cross-, Channel boat was due to leave the car pulled up outside the Marine Station. But luck was with them —the boat train was two minutes late! They ran, panting, through the station and on board the boat just as she was about to cast off. Actresses’ Marriages Miss Betty Compton, the 24-year-old musical comedy and film star, has achieved fame with one of the briefest marriages and quickest divorces in history (states a New York correspondent to the Daily Mail). She married Mr Edward Dowling, a young film director, in New York on February 16 and obtained her divorce in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on March 21. Iler petition was based on grounds of cruelty, personal violence, and refusal to provide maintenance. Miss Pola Negri, the film actress, who was granted a divorce in Paris in April from Prince Serge Mdivani on the ground of desertion, intends, so she says, henceforth to remain maritally free. Prince Mdivani, in dramatic contrast to this announcement, no sooner heard of his liberty than he declared his intention of immediately surrendering it to Miss Mary McCormic, the operatic singer. “Such a wonderful woman as Miss McCormic,” he proclaimed, “deserves a grand wedding, and she is going to have it.” Miss McCormic motored from Chicago to Hollywood for her wedding to the prince, whose friend Miss Negri says she will always be. Obituary Mention is made in the “West Australian” of a very wonderful old lady, Mrs Agues Wilson, who died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs F. FHorgan, Perth. Mrs Wilson was 97 years of age, and enjoyed good health till within a few hours of her death. ►She was keenly interested in many things, including politics, and used glasses only when reading. Mrs Wilson came of a remarkably long-lived family. Two sisters attained the age of 86. one 98, and yet another 94. Mrs Wilson was born at Busby, near Glasgow, in 1834, coming out with her parents early in life to Queensland Later she went to Invercargill, where she married. In company with her husband and one-year-old son sho set out for Auckland on a steamer, the Taranaki, which, however, ran on a reel near Wellington and foundered. Air. 4 Wilson and her family were taken by boat ashore, and spent the night on the hills near the foreshore. They then transferred to Whangarei. and in 189( Mrs Wilson went, over to Western Australia. Two of her family survive her Mrs Horgan aud Airs A. L. Ainslie of Sydney. Almost to the end of het life Airs Wilson travelled round seeing friends and visiting in different parts, Mrs Wilson showed few signs of her great age, and was a healthy and in life.

NEW ZEALANDERS ABROAD Air and Mrs F. J. Nathan, of Palmerston North, and their daughter Nancy, are in London. Air Nathan is spending a good deal of his time with ■ the merchants and dealers in butterand [cheese in Tooley Street. Air and Airs 1 Nathan will travel through England in j order to view some of the gardens. 1 Airs Herbert T. Wood (Masterton'is staying with her niece, Airs Robert [ Aitken, and together they are going ito Holland for a short visit during j tulip and bulb time. Mrs Wood will ' remain in England for some months, - and later will tour other portions of I the British Isles. Next winter is to be ; spent on the Continent, Mrs Wood ’s ' itinerary at present including France. Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Aus- ! tria. She will be away from Now , Zealand for a year, and will return i via Canada. Miss Sylvia Nevill, daughter of Canon and Airs Nevill, of Dunedin, has arrive! in London to take up a Johanne Lohse ; Scholarship at tho Montessori Training I College, Hampstead. She will qualify for the Alontessori Diploma—a two years’ course —before returning to New Zealand to take up kindergarten work. Air and Mrs C. E. Levien, of Wellington and Auckland, recently arrived in London and expect to spend most of their time there with trips to the country visiting friends and relations. ■ Mr Levien, who went to New Zealand in 1875, paid a short visit to England in 1881, and, he said, it is with mixed feelings of pleasure and regret that he revisits London, regret for tho putting up of “ugly statues in high places such as are on the Bank of England and the bird sanctuary in Hyde Park.” Mr Levien’s work in New Zealand since the war has been in connection with the Anglican Boys’ Homo, and as parish organiser in the North Island.

LIFE ON A FARM Airs Poyser is the great farmers’ wife of fiction —the typical farmer’s wife of the times of which George Tliot wrote—that is the early - ears of last century, writes Helen Wilson. We see her among her maids who seem to us to bo of bewildering numbers, superintending the farm activities. Sho needs all her maids, for the farm work is truly prodigious. Sho is a first-class organiser and prides herself on producing the best of everything. Her butter commands the best price, her bread is of the lightest, her clotted cream the sweetest, her ale and wines are clear and sparkling, her preserves aro a marvel, and an astonishing amount of spinning and ..caving is accomplished. Besides, she makes the clothes, soap, cheese, candles and calves’ jelly, and goodness knows what she does not nitke. She has no conveniences, no ameniti , unless the employment of a huge staff of maids whoso ears she occasionally boxes can bo so reckoned. Home Industry Discarded Twenty years ago we farmers’ wives smiled with pitying contempt ou Airs Poyser and her generation. Alassed production had taken all these irksome duties from us. Our lot had fallen in far pleasanter places. This slavery and worry were long done away with. What wife so foolish, as to waste time on non-paying home industries, when manufactured goods could bo bought so cheaply. Moreover maids were not to be had in such quantities. One was lucky to secure one and sho would have given notice out-of-hand to light herself to bed with a home-made tallow candle, not to mention what she would do if asked to make it. Whenever we thought about it wo gave thanks that we wore not like Mrs Poyser,

On April 30 tho wedding took place at St. Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury, of Mr Thomas Alexander Stuart-Men-tenth, only surviving son of tho late Air Andrew Agnew Stuart-Menteath and Mrs Stuart-Menteath, of Wellington. New Zealand, and Airs Kathleen Frances (Kitty) Taylor, widow of Captain Arthur Taylor, of Cruckton Hall, Shrewsbury, and daughter of Air and Mrs F. J. Constable Curtis. Tho Rev. E. K. Talbot officiated. Tho bride, who was escorted by her father, wore a gown of flowered georgette with a black hat. Sho was attended by her niece, Miss Pamela Boyle, and Alajor A. Stuart-Menteath was best man. Airs 11. B. Peacock Smith (Wellington) is returning to New Zealand via Suez and Sydney, leaving London on Alay 29. Her friends in all the New: Zealand centres will learn with regret of tho death of her husband, Afr Robert Bifield Smith, who passed away at Sunny Bank Private Hospital, at Cannes, on tho French Riviera, on March 1, and whose remains, after cremation at Alarseilles, were, according to his wishes, buried at sea off tho coast, of Spain, this service taking place on Easter Sunday morning. Air and Airs Smith came abroad for two years, but owing to the failing health of the former, and on medical advice, only six months were spent in London before they went to the South of France, where they remained for .14 months. For a time Air Smith’s health improved, but at the end of last December ho again began to fail, and in January was obliged to enter a private nursing home in Cannes, whore he passed away peacefully on March 1. Airs Smith was with him and nursed him through his illness, and then herself suffered in health. She has returned to London preparatory to leaving in a fortnight’s time.

and we took it for granted that wo never should be. No Money to Spend Alas, the whirligig of time brings many things. The farmer’s wife of , to-day finds herself without an in- , come wherewith to buy the conuuodi- . ties made by mass production, so, one . by one, wo are driven to return to making them ourselves. We begin . with our bread. You will hardly find I I (in the King Country at least) a . single farm which lives on baker’s bread. Butter may not be so decided Jan economy, but many farmers’ wives think it worth while . Wo make our own. clothes and the children’s. Beer if wo want it ve must brew. Vegetables and friut we grow or do without. Candles—well no, wo haven’t I yet come to that, but electricity is j becoming too expensive a luxury and ; many farms aro perforce giving it up. i And now as if to bring us right back . to Airs Poyser’s times we are talking I of spinning and knitting our own wol- - leu goods. ; Augmenting an Income. 'The truth is that farmers’ wives are casting about them for some way of supplementing the i .’"»me, or rather of reducing the deficit, and the pre- ’ sident of the women's institutes. Hawke’s Bay, first thought of tho ' idea of setting us all to work on our own wool. Classes can bo started where we all can be taught to card and spin and dye. In addition to . making all knitted gods the coarser wools make excellent carpets and floor rugs. Alattrcsses can be made of wool if properly treated. It is said that the prevalence of catarrh among us is largely due to the use of kapok. ) Tho Americans say that, as regards j mattresses, we are he dirtiest people in the world. Woollen mattresses, I if we learnt how to make them, might entirely surplant kapok, and knitted goods, home spun, might form the bulk of our clothing. Knitting is not exactly a Jost art, thanks to tho revival it enjoyed in the mar, but tho price of prepared wool has hitherto c made it unprofitable. Home Crafts Returning li So massed production has left us in i- the lurch, and we aro thrown back on v home industries. Alanufacturcd goods d once established have been rising and I- rising till with this present fall in the l| price of our products they have risen e out, of our reach altogether. The • nly s difference left now between us and i- Airs Poyser lies in tho number of her i’ maids; and indeed, if we wished wo I. might share that blessing (?) too, for e dozens of girls are offering, and 5s a 5- week is readily taken . Eut wo have t got out of the habit of thus using ■ labour in the house. Wo have not the 1 room, nor the appliances, nor, I fear, s the organising ability for such undcrv takings. Also, we hope, tho necessity n may b* temporary. Personally I have n n « expectation or a speedy ending to 6 this slump, but, 1 cannot believe that manufacturers will continue for long r. tho suicidal policy of keeping up the price of their goods beyond that which r it. is possible for us Io pay. ii —.

TO-DAY’S RECIPE Treacle Toffee Melt a pound of Dcmerara sugar in a saucepan with two tablespoonsful of water and two tablcspoonsful of black treacle. (Note: Try to get real black treacle, and use it also for making gingerbread, as it is far better than molasses). Add a quarter of a pound of butter, and boil tho toffee until it is thick, stirring constantly; test in the usual way, by dropping a little in cold water. If it becomes hard at once, the toffee is ready. Russian Toffee Melt a pound of white sugar, half a tcacupful of syrup, half a teacupful of condensed milk, half a teacupful ot ordinary milk, and a quarter of a pound of butter; boil this until it becomes fit to make a soft ball when a little is dropped in cold water. Then add a tcaspoonful of vanilla essence, stir well, and mark in neat squares immediately after pouring into a buttered tin. Sultana Caramel Put two ounces of butter into a saucepan, add two large tablespoonsful of syrup, and when they aro melted add a teaeupful of milk, two breakfastcupsful of sugar, and when this comes to the boil let it simmer for about ten minutes; then add two squares of cooking chocolate, and boil for another rive minutes. Remove the pan from the fire and beat the caramel until it is creamy, and just before pouring into a buttered tin stir in three tablespoonsful of sultana raisins.