AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIII, Issue IX, 26 August 1899, Page 41

AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES.

THE GREAT SERVANT QUESTION. “Shj you are losing your cook again,” 1 sain the otner auernoon to a young married girl oi my acquaintance, whom we will call Angelina. "that is periectly true,” answered Angelina, with something suspiciously like a sob in her voice, “and 1 am afraid Edwin will be fearfully angry with me when he finds out what 1 have done, but 1 could not stand the creature's impertinence any longer.” “Well, but tell me, what did 'the creature’ do?” I emphasised “the creature” to show my disapproval of Angelina's tone, and 1 think she winced a little. “You know," she answered, in rather an aggrieved voice, "I always let cook go out on one Sunday and Jane on the other, from three in the afternoon till ten at night, and 1 think it is really very good of me. for it is often most inconvenient to have only one servant at home on Sunday evening. Still, 1 am willing to put up with that; but what do you think cook had the calmness to suggest this morning?” “I cannot imagine.” said 1, as I endeavoured to prepare my mind for some terrible shock. “She actually proposed,” Angelina went on. in a sort of scandalised whisper, “she actually proposed that she and Jane should go out once a week on a week day evening as well as on alternate Sundays! Naturally, I refused such a request, saying that I thought they had more liberty as it was than most servants. She looked as black as thunder and muttered something about nigger-driving, and how would I like never to go out from one week's end to the other! Of course. I gave her notice on the spot, the impertinent creature.” “My dear Angelina,” said I, “how would you like it yourself?” “How would I like what?” she said, in evident amazement. “How would you like to get up in the morning,” T answered, “knowing perfectly well that you would have no chance of putting on your hat or stirring out of doors the whole long day, no matter how lovely the July weather might be, even in London: no matter, either, how much your head might ache from stooping over that hot kitchener, or how wearv vour

liaek might l>e after scrubbing the oileloin and making the hearthstone white’.’ Does it ever strike you that cook must look up sometimes through those veritable prison bars that shut in her so-cailed ’setii.-iaiseiiient kitehen, and thinks how delightful it would lie to get a little fresh air ana a little exercise other than 'answering the door, varied by the excitement oi making the beds?" "I never thought of it in that light bt fore. * said Angelina, honest compunction written on her face. “ I hmk of it now, my dear," said 1, "ami picture to yourself seven, ten, fourteen days such as these, before the longed-for 'Sunday out' can possibly come to break the dreary monotony of that life below stairs, of which the modern English mistress seems to me to realise so very little.” Angelina means well, and her mistakes are often those of youth and ignorance. She was quick to grasp the situation from my point of view. “I think 1 hear eook on the stair.” she said. “You will excuse me a moment. I know.” 1 excused her. hoping that my little sermon had not been preached in vain. Nor had it. for presently Angelina came back wreathed in smiles. "Cook is going to stay,” said she. “and I shall try to give them both a little more liberty in future.” If there should happen to be among my readers any who consider that Angelina's original point of view was the right one and that 1 should be likely to err on the side of over-indulg-ence, T hope very much that they will write and give me the result of their personal experience in domestic management. One hears on all hands that there are no good servants to be had nowadays. and that it is impossible to get even tolerably decent servants, no matter how high may be the wages that you are willing to pay. T am strongly disposed to think that in nine cases out of ten it is the bad mistress who makes the bad servant—the mistress, that is to say. who looks upon her servants rather as machines than as human beings. CHILDREN AT THE TABLE. Shall the little people have a separ

ate table or take their meals with their parents? Something may be said in behalf of both methods. It is not always practicable to so arrange the family meals that they shall be convenient and appropriate for children. Eor instance in New Zealand the almost universal dinner hour in business. professional and social circles. t» in the evening—between 6 and 7 o'clock. This is the most important function of the day: the meal when a certain degree of formality, on at least of ceremony is to lie expected, and it is arranged with a view to the comfort of grown people, not to the needs of growing children. THE CHILDREN'S DINNER should always lie given them in the middle of the day. They may and often do partake of it at the family luncheon, and it is well to provide for them then dishes suited to their palates as well as appropriate for their digestion. The mother, when she can. should l>e at this meal with the children, and either herself, or a go verness. elder sister, or trusted nurse should preside at the simple nursery tea. which the children should take l»e---tween 5 and 6 o'clock, long enough before their early bedtime to give them an opportunity for a frolic or a romp, and for the mother's half hour of confidential talk and story telling to end their happy day. At the breakfast table —provided breakfast is not necessarily too early in the day. breakfasts being often regulated by the relentlessness of railway. tram or boat time tables—the children, fresh from sleep and bath, should surround the table with their shining morning faces. No lovelier sight than that of a breakfast table where the sons and daughters meet, the school boy alert and eager with the tasks of the day before him. th< pretty 12-yean-old girl, the nursery group, down to the baby in her high chair, is ever seen in palace or cottage. As children are imitaltive beings, and as home influence is atmospheric, the best table manners among the younger ones will, all things being equal, be found where the children

arei n constant association with fastidious anil refined fathers and mothers. How to handle fork and spoon, how to help oneself with grace, whut to do. what not to do, little by little will be learned in the Itest school of manners in the world—the refined home—by children whose advantage it is to live there. Shall the children talk at the table? By all means. Nothing is more distressing than to sit at a table where the children are forbidden to talk: where they sit like dumb images, never speaking unless addressed, and allowed only to ask. ami that timidly, foist second helping. There are occasional Spartan mothers who insist on this rule, and plume themselves on repressing speech from the juniors. They are repressing spontaneity, and depriving children of one of their Itest educational openings. Likewise, in many cases, they are shutting off from very closely occupied fathers the opportunity of conversation with their children, almost the only opportunity they have. Children should not take the lead in conversation, nor monopolise it. at the table or elsewhere: nor should they break in upon the talk of their elders by questions or other interruptions. Thev should simply have their share, at the tabl- and elsewhere, in the ordinarv life of the family, telling in their way of their little concerns. never overlooked, never excluded from the current of talk, but never permitted to be so much in evidence that their parents and friends are forced to keep in the background. Table manners indicate social condition. The grace or clumsiness, the accustomed ease or the boorish awkwardness of man or woman are hall marks showing whence he or she came. We can bestow upon young people few gifts more desirable than that perfect savoir faire at the table. TOILET HINTS. To Soften the llandisi Quickly. First wash them thoroughly in tepid water till every vestige of dirt is removed. Then before drying them well

rub in siimr glycerine and lemon juice mixed in evpial proportions. Wipe thoroughly dry with a soft towel and |M>wder with almond or oatmeal. To Whiten the Hands.—Lemon juiee ru lilted on after washing is the best whitener you can use, and you will tind that a good soap is also a great h. Ip. A ( urling Fluid.—One ounce of borax, one drachm of gum arabic. one pint of hot water, and two tablespoonfuls of camphor. Add the camphor after the other ingredients are dissolved, and well shake liefore using. Scissors for Cutting the Nails. —Never use ordinary scissors for this purpose; they make the nails thick and coare. The special curved nail-scissors are the best to use, and the edges should afterwards lie filed to prevent them from splitting. Lemon .I nice for the Hands. —Lemon juice is invaluable to those who are constanrtly obliged to wash their hands. Try rubbing with a lemon instead of soap to remove dirt, and vonr hands will keep delightfully soft. Stains on the Hands, —-Have you ever tried cold tea for removing these? It should be rather strong, and must be well rubbed into the stained part. You will probably need to use a brush for the nails. Then rinse the hands in clean warm water, and dry carefully. Soap should never be used when the hands are stained. ( nicked Lips.—Biting the lips often causes them to crack, besides spoiling the shape of the mouth. So if you indulge in this bad habit eure yourself of it. THE VALVE OF BUTTERMILK. 'l'he housewives who always use sweet milk and baking powder in articles where such ingredients or their equivalents are called for little guess the superior results which may be obtained from the use of sour milk or buttermilk and soda. If sour milk is used it must be freshly soured, not stale: hence, the best time to use it is in the summer time. Buttermilk is preferable all the year round. Biscuits. griddle cakes, waffles, corn breads, muffins, gems, gingerbreads, cookies, etc., are all of them more tender. delicate, and probably more wholesome (since the majority of baking powders are adulterated) if made of buttermilk and soda. It requires a little skill or experience to use soda with nieetv. but it is worth while to acquire such skill; indeed, there is scareelv an item in culinary processes which better repays one for intelligent experimenting. The bicarbonate of soda used to-day is a very different article from the carbonate of sode or saleratus with which careless cooks made spotted biscuits in our grandmothers' time. Used with an acid, as buttermilk, it is as scientifically wholesome as any article employed as an adjunct in cookery. It is scarcely possible to give an absolutely exact rule of measurement for soda, as brands differ somewhat in strength, ami milk varies in degrees of aeiditv. A general rule is one level teaspoonful of soda to one pint of buttermilk or freshly soured milk. The soda must be first pulverised byrubbing with a knife on the table or bread board, then added to the flour, to be sifted with it. It is even well to sift the flour, soda, and salt together two or three times to insure an even blending. In a very short time one learns to gauge the soda exactly to the acidity of the milk to be used. Baking powder cannot give the best results in the class of articles enumerated almve.—Selected. EVIL EFFECTS OF CYCLING. 'l'he injurious effects produced by cycling in adults are chiefly due to faulty position ami over-exertion. Faulty position produces round shoulders with contracted chests; perineal pressure results from a badly made or badly placed saddle, while over-exertion usually tells on the heart. The bail effect on the heart may not lx- obvious for a time. Iteeause that organ can compensate for its defects. A defective valve causes increase of work, but this causes the muscle to increase, and the extra work is done. Shortness of breath is the most usual sign of heart deficiency, but it may be due to other defects, such as anaemia. If you have any doubt about your heart have it examined.

SHOWING CHILDREN OFF. This is a practice too frequently followed by young and enthusiastic parents, who. seeing only perfection in their own flock, fall into the error of showing them off “to all and sundry.” Even where this is done in the absence of the children it is a great mistake, for other (teople are apt to weary of the constant repetition of what Willie did, or what wee Lizzie said; but it is a still graver error, on the part of mother or father, to entertain strangers with the narration of a child's achievements—either praiseworthy or otherwise—in its presence. Children are. as everyone knows, very quick to take impressions. and also just as acute in seeing the impression which is made upon others. Who has not observed the half wise, half innocent look on a little face while its mother proudly(!) tells her neighbour the story of how he refused to come and be washed, or how he insisted upon reaching across the dinner table for some forbidden dainty? The child evidently thinks—under the circumstances —that he has done something very clever, and will, if his parents do not alter their line of conduct, grow into a wilful, precocious youth.

But there is another kind of “showing off” to which I am glad to note from personal observation, many little ones object; that is. reciting poetry or prose to an audience of uncles and aunts who. through good nature or politeness, feign the admiration which they do not feel. When the performance is over, “little Willie” is praised and petted to such an extent that he trots away with an exalted opinion of himself and of his cleverness. Many a child has grown up conceited and self-opinionated through the folly of his or her parents. who allowed their fond pride to see nothing but perfection in their darling. A GIRL'S ALLOWANCE. A girl can scarcely be too young to have some idea of the value of money, and a weekly allowance will teach her the pleasure of providing little gifts and knick-knacks out of her own pocket. At the age of fifteen or sixteen every girl should have an allowance out of which she should buy her own gloves, stationery, ribbons, etc. This will teach her the use her pocket money can be put to and will save her the annoyance of coming to her parents for every penny she spends and every gift she bestows. As she gets older her allowance should include money for her entire wardrobe. Such an allowance should be probationary, and should depend upon the girl's judgment ami care in the choosing of her clothes during the period when the first allowance is spent. She must learn thlat she should keep an account of every penny she spends. This will teach her many things in the handling of money, and she will profit by her mistakes. becoming much wiser through the experience. WOMEN DON'T LAUGH ENOUGH. "Nearly every woman is a miser of jollity. Men are willing to catch pleasure as it flies. But women must nave everything just so before they can abandon themselves to enjoyment, and then they are usually too tired to take it,” said a lecturer to an audience of women. "It's a disease, but. fortunately, not incurable. Women say it is easy to talk this way, but that one ean’t be laughing when one is hurried and worried. All I can say is that you might be as hurried, but you wouldn't be as worried if you did laugh. I happened once to speak of my husband to a little girl, and she said: " 'Why. 1 didn't think you were married.’ " ’Why?' I asked. “ ‘Oh. 'cause —’ “ ‘ 'Cause why?’ “ ‘ ’Cause you laugh so much." "Wasn't that a commentary on matrimony?” ROYAL WEDDING CAKE. Royal wedding cakes are never sent out until they have matured at least six months. The actual baking process lasts from five to seven hours. So great is the demand for cake on the occasion of a Royal wedding that the makers have always a stock of more than two thousand pounds in the seasoning room.

What a vast difference there is la-tween the girl of to-day and the girl of 40 of 50 years ago. The girl of those remote days was educated on an entirely dissimilar plan; for use and not for beauty. Science was unthought of for them, and playing the piano was a rare accomplishment. ’l'he idea of changing the mode of dress with each variation of the seasons was never for a moment entertained. As for having a hat and a pair of gloves to correspond with each costume, that, my dear friend, was something that the ordinary dame of remote days would scorn to do. A dressmaker might be employed at intervals of say a year or so. and then she was expected to do all the family sew ing, and to do it in a lasting manner. Now. to meet the demands of fashion, our lovely fair ones find it necessary to have a dress at the modiste's every month, and sometimes even two or three are in process of making at one and the same time. Healthy household work, duties in the Sunday school, her heart devoted to her Bible class, as became an earnest church member—these were some of the useful occupations of THE GIRL OF OTHER DAYS. These duties gave her all the enjoyment she desired. A bit of harmless gossip, or the good old parson's sermon. gave food for thought and conversation for a month. Our revered predecessors were essentially homebodies. true sweethearts, wives, and mothers, educated for the home circle, and with little or no ambition beyond its sacred precincts. The girl of to-day is a far different, and. many think, a very superior creature. She would rather die than be out of fashion, and. in consequence, a great many parental purses frequently collapse, owing to the constant drain upon their resources. The first thought, therefore, that comes to the growing maiden, is to transfer THE PLEASURE OF PAYING HER BILLS. to a husband. “It is such a continual worry to poor, dear papa.” Her consideration of “poor, dear papa” often causes her to accept a companion