WOMEN’S WORLD

Waikato Times, Volume 99, Issue 16652, 18 November 1925, Page 4

WOMEN’S WORLD

i (By “Gipsy.”) | i Mrs W. C. Ring and Miss C. Ring ’ wore in Hamilton for the races. I • • • • Mrs R. J. Bell, of Dubbo, N.S.W.. is visiting New Zealand, and will tour both the North and South Islands before returning to Australia. * • * • | .Mrs A. Moreland, of To Rapa, who has been on a visit to Christchurch with her husband for the Royal Show, has returned, ••it Tho engagement is announced of Kyra, only daughter of Mrs E. Searle, ot Auckland, to Dr. T. D. Puller, of . Cork, Ireland. • • «r • At the races at Riccarton (Christchurch) last week the lawns were gay with charmingly dressed women, almost a 3 intent on watching each other as on picking winners. Floral nincm and georgette frooks were much in evidence, and no one can deny the charm of these frail fabrics (states the Press). But crepe de chine, marocain and Ottoman silk were all high In favour, and the ever-kind black hat found a serious rival in big crinoline straw hats of bright colours. Her Excellency Lady Alice Pergusson, who arrived with Miss Boyle and was received by Mr George Gould, president of the club, and Mrs Gould, wore an attractive gown of soft leaf green marocain, with scarf and graoeful sleeves of georgette in a paler shade, and embroideries. of cyclamen and gold. Her small green hat' was trimmed with a drooping green plume tipped with cyclamen, falling over one side. ! .... ■ The latest London mail has brought news to the effect that Miss Sylvia Dunford, of Matangi, pupil of St. Mary’s Convent, Hamilton, has been successful ia obtaining the Diploma of Fellowship In the Trinity College of Music, London. Her many friends 1 offer their congratulations to this talented young pianist and her teachers on her having gained this distinction, and will follow with interest her musical career.*

THE DIFFERENCE. MEN AND WOMEN SHOPPERS. Who make the best shoppers, men or women? This question Is of more than academic interest to most households, especially to the breadwinner. Does his partner get good value or could he do better himself? The instinct to garner for immediate and future wants is a strong feminine trait in all animals. Doubtless lhafr is why the shopping instinct is more developed in woman than in man. Again, the bargain instinct Is stronger in women. The success of crowded sales proves that. In dross women appear extravagant, especially to bachelors. Subject to every gust of fashion, her clothes are outdated long before they have rendered service proportional to cost. But in spite of this a girl wtih her own allowance will stock her wardrobe with more judgment and econoboy, and make a far better show than her father or husband would if he laid out twice that amount for her. A man knows just what he wants before entering a shop and buys that and nothing else. He may inwardly demur at the price but will seldom bargain. In fact, his bargain sense is not always on a par with his judgment. In his place, his wife would have done better, laugh he ever go softly at her bargain sales! Men have not half the nerve and diplomacy women have in securing a bargain. There is one phase of shopping peculiar to women, a weakness peculiarly feminine. That is "shopping” as a pastime. In other words, “shopping" without buying. A harmless amusement if it stops at that, however doubtful the benefit to trade! The danger is that such philandering may lead to running up bills for unwanted goods, trifles perhaps, but bad bargains at any price if unnecessary. In dress, household and domestic shopping, and all that really matters in a home, a woman will get better value and be more economical than a man. She will prove the most expert shopper, not only because it is a large part of her daily business to spend the money made liy the man, but because she is endowed by nature with the instinct of acquisitiveness peculiar to her sex throughout the animal kingdom.

THOSE GOOD OLD DAYS. Were the good old days so very good? Has the world really gone to the dogs, as the Victorians, with weighty eloquence, are wont to declare? Or is it simply that we all, In later life, look back with rosetinted spectacles on the magic days of youth? asks a writer in an English exchange. I have been set wondering by Dr. W. H. D. Rouse, headmaster of Perse School, Cambridge, who, speaking before the British Association, praised the Victorian home. Dr. Rouse seems to forget that the heme of our grandfathers existed on conditions that no longer obtain. These were an unlimited supply of cheap female labour; an absence of the modern facilities for healthy amusement; and the mental poverty of the average woman. Just consider the boredom of the period. I have by me a book on Victorian etiquette. In this it is urged that a wholesome way of passing the evening is for one of the family to read aloud some improving hook to the others. An added advantage is “to have some intelligent gentleman present who will explain the difficult passages to the ladies and dilate on the moral passages of the book.” And to keep the men in at night “music should be assiduously cultivated by the young ladies.” Yet in spile of these efforts, so old men tell me, the wine merchant called at offices for orders every morning at eleven. And many men stayed at their several offices till late in the evening swilling brandy and gin. Dr. Rouse may not believe it, but human nature played its inevitable part in those days. I have known of sisters who were not on speaking terms for months; of daughters at lifelong issue with their mothers; and of sons who hated their fathers. And since marriage was a woman’s onlv profession, the sum of envy, hatred and malice between families, between girls, even between sisters, was not inconsiderable. To my mind the worst feature of the Victorian home was that it stood ftr the cruel subjection of women. Married in their 'teens, they were often the mothers of ten or more children by the time they were 35. Their lives were devoted to childhearing and child-rearing. All very well for those who liked It, but it must have been horrible for those who were not made that way. The unmarried woman was regarded as passee at 25, and her life was little short of a tragedy. - - .

A BEAUTY QUESTION. If you are troubled with a growth of hair on the face, try what systematic bleaching will do to kill the rooLs. For this you can use either peroxide of hydrogen or bicarbonate of soda. If you prefer the former, get your chemist to put you up an ounce of the peroxide in a dark bottle, and add to the bottle three drops of liquid ammonia. Use a flue camel’s-hair brush, and paint the offending hairs on the chin or upper lip. Allow the mixture to dry on the hairs. It will bleach them, and gradually destroy the roots. Should you prefer to use bicarbonate of soda, put a teaspoonful of this into 2oz of water. Bottle, and shako till dissolved. Paint the Liquid on the hairs in the same way as the peroxide, and allow it to dry on the hairs and remain on all night. Hairs on the arms or legs can be removed by rubbing gently with a piece of toilet pumice stone smeared with a good soap. The skin should first be bathed with warm water and a good soap, then lightly smeared with soap, and the soaped pumice stone rubbed over the skin in a circular direction. The pumice stone treatment must not be used on the face, as it is too drastic a method for the delicate skin. < I SUMMER FASHION NOTES. Gold and silver kid are still very much to the fore. The latest idea Is circles of various sizes appliqued on to the frock. Dull gold, or silver hats complete these toilettes. Novel tunics for summer days are composed entirely of .interlacing ribbons with masses of looped ribbons marking the hemline. A novelty is pockets and walstbelt of a contrasting ribbon in a deeper colour. Gros grain ribbon with velvet trimming is a charming scheme. Particularly becoming are the charming morning dresses fashioned of men’s shirting. These are longsleeved and finished with grass-lawn collar and cuffs, while wonderfullycoloured buttons form the trimming. BAKING DAY. Sophonisba Is baking bread. The big stone-flagged old kitchen is cleared for action, and she bustles to and fro, wrapped in a spotless apron. The great wood fire, built upon the hearth and roaring up a chimney the size of a small room, is glowing redly, and before It stand two yellow bowls filled with flour, one brown, one white. Sophonlsba is busily mixing up the yeast with tepid water. The temperature of this is a very serious matter and of fax - more moment to her than any political crisis. Then a bowl is lifted on to the table, salt Is carefully measured, and the yeast is poured into a well made In the warmed ■ flour. With her hands —rSophonisba would scorn to use a spoon—she works round and round until the dough is ready to be turned on to a kitchen table, astonishingly white after its hundred years of steady service. This is the time when the full fury of Sophonisba is seen. Who could believe that so much pummelling, beating, kneading, and banging was necessary? But it is so. Warm but triumphant,, she. now places the dough before the Are to “prove.” The great moment comes at last. Out in the scullery a boy has been busily feeding the fire in the great bread oven, built into the wall, with birch faggots. The mass of glowing wood embers Is carefully raked out now while Sophonisba shapes the bread into loaves. Then from the ingle-nook she takes down a longhandled spade-like implement and pops a loaf on to the end before pushing it to the far end of the deep open. Soon a row of brown and white loaves is in position. Presently the scent of the newlybrowned bread will make me wonder once more why so many of us buy bread instead of making It for ourselves. —Isa Grieve, in the Dally Mail. HOME-MADE SWEETS. Coffee Fudge.—Take half a cupful of golden syrup, one cupful of sugar, one gill of milk, one teaspoonful of butter, and two tablespoon fills of essence of coffee. Boil all together for fifteen minutes, stirring constantly, and beat until the mixture begins to crystallise. Pour into a buttered tin, and mark into small squares before it hardens. WHAT TO DO. ’ To keep cut flowers fresh, place a small piece of common soda In the water in which they are kept. When washing up, put a piece of lemon skin in the bowl. It will soften the water, remove all traces of the smell of fish, onions, and so on, and put a fine gloss on the china. Tiled hearths should never he washed with water, as this causes the enamel to split. Dip a cotton cloth in turpentine, and rub the tiles until they are clean. Polish with a soft cloth. If a little kerosene Is added to the water when boiling clothes, they will require less rubbing to remove the dirt. The odor of kerosene does not remain in the clothes after drying. The housewife will find a pair of rubber gloves a great preventive of red, rough hands. They are a protection when scraping potatoes, preparing fruit, and washing up greasy dishes. Patent leather that has been scratched should he treated with a mixture of olive oil and jet-black ink. Paint over scratches with a fine brush, repeating the process two or three times if necessary. Spanish Salad. —-Required: 6 tomatoes, 4 cooked new potatoes, 1 beetroot, i pint of cooked French beans, 3 eggs, salt, pepper, mayonnaise dressing (i gill, 1 lettuce. Method: Cut the tomatoes, potatoes, and beetroot into thin slices. Wash the lettuce, drain it in a cloth, and arrange it in a salad bowl. Pile Ihe sliced vegetables over it, cover with the beans, and pour the mayonnaise'' dressing over all. Garnish with , alternate lines of the sieved yolk of egg, and the finely chopped white. Put the lettuce heart in the centre and serve.