AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVIII, Issue IX, 1 March 1902, Page 425

AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES

Good Stories of Great People. GEORGE, PRINCE OF WALES. There is not another Royalty of this generation so full of life, fun and ■spirits, as our future King. One of his jokes was really a source of considerable anxiety to his mother. In the year 1880, when the two Royal brothers were cruising round the world in the Bacchante, a statement was published that at Bermuda all the midshipmen, including Prince George and Prince Albert, had been tattooed on the nose with an anchor. The Princess was horrified, and the Prince himself hurriedly wrote to know if the report were true. Mischievous “sprat,” as Prince George was then known by his fellow middies, in reply never mentioned the matter of tattooing. Finally his father telegraphed, to find of course

that the whole thing was a hoax. “Sprat” had another joke while in the Bermudas. A party was made up to visit some of the smaller islands. At their first stopping place a stout gentleman appeared with a big bouquet of Bermuda lilies for Prince Eddy, and anxiously enquired which among the dozen young gentlemen was the prince. Thinking that lilies were rather better suited to a bride than a middy, Prince George began chaffing the good man; and it was not till the bouquet had been presented in turn to every one of the boys except the right one that at last it came into the hands of the one for whom it was intended.

But I don’t want to give my readers the idea that the son of our Sovereign is a frivolous person—far from it. Everyone who served with him in the navy declared that, whatever his birth, he'would have risen high

in his profession. llere is an instance. In 1889 His Highness was in command of a torpedo-boat during the manoeuvres. Now, anyone who has been to sea on a torpedo-boat knows that its motion will try the oldest seamen. Well, a gale came up when the fleet was off the Irish coast, and another torpedo-boat was disabled. Prince George was signalled to her rescue. It was two hours' hard work in a most ugly sea to get a wire hawser aboard her, and all the operations were conducted from the bridge by I he Prince. When the job was safely done Captain Fitzgerald called the young commander aboard, and congratulated him on "a bit of work anyone might have been proud, of.” Prince George is liked as well as respected by the men who served under him. When he was in command

of that pretty little ship the Crescent, which 1 last saw lying in the llamoaze at Devonport, he was always getting up amusements for her erew. One night there was a smoking concert, and the Duchess came aboard. Suddenly she turned to her husband and said: “They call this a smoking concert, but no one is smoking.” Out of respect for their commander's wife no one had lit up. Up jumped the Duke. “All hands may smoke.” he shouted. The Prince is a keen sportsman. He is a fair shot, and more than a fair fisherman. He was on the Abergeldie water in March two years ago; it was blowing a gale with showers of snow. Yet he contrived to get two capital fish, one nine and the other sixteen pounds. In connection with this 1 heard an amusing yarn the other day. The

King, then Prince of Wales, was holding a levee. It had begun, but there was no sign of Prince George, who was to have assisted. Aides-de-camp were sent dying round, and at last one found the present Prince on the lawn in full levee uniform, and gravely endeavouring to cast a fly with a new rod upon a mark he had set out on the grass. 1 must end with an absurd incident of His Highness' recent Australian tour. He was shooting on the Dalnieny estate, in Gippsland, when suddenly from a tree above him came a wild yell of “Bobs! Bobs! Good old Bobs!” His Royal Highness looked up to see a huge cockatoo perched above his head. "Well,” screeched the bird. "Who are you. you snuff-coloured son of a gun? Twig, eh! Well, I suppose a cat may look at a king.” "It is years,” said the Prince, telling the story later; “since I have had such a laugh.”

o o o o The Etiquette of Mourning

We will begin with a general order for mourning, such as we all had, unhappily to respond to a while since. We all know the period for which we were ordered to wear Diack, but r must remark in passing tliat the term, " deepest mourning,” means all black, and not the mixtures of grey, and even violet, which were worn by some people. Of course, all those connected with the Court, or holding a position in any of the Royal households, are obliged to remain in deepest black during the whole of the time ordered for Court mourning, and this mourning is very rigorous—indeed, being almost as de<p as that of a widow, and even forbidding the wearing of square-cut dresses in the evening, the ladies of the Court having ti.e.r uinner dresses at sucu times made quite high in the neck, and with long sleeves, relieved only by tiny white frills at the throat and wrists. Any order for general mourning should always be obeyed by the public, and it is a great breach of etiquette to appear in colours while this is in force. People are, however. a little careless in this respect, and sometimes, as at the time of the death of the Duke of Coburg, the order is not so generally obeyed, as it should have been. Half-mourning is to wear white collars to our coats,

white, grey and mauve, relief to our black gowns, and all the other pretty shade of demi-deuil.

There are certain fixed periods or mourning for relations, and although these are not always strictly observed, and people are much inclined to be guided by their own personal feeling in this matter, it is really better to adhere to the recognised period, as it saves comment, and neglect ot this is likely to cause offence to others more intimately connected with the deceased. The proper period for a widow’s mourning is two years —one year of heavy crepe and one year of blacK—followed sometimes by three to six months of half-mourning. The proper cap, which in former days was expected to be worn by widows for one year and one day, is now often not used at all, but a widow should always wear the orthodox white collars and cuffs, and for the first year, at any rate, the widow’s bonnet for church and upon all formal occasions. Mourning for a parent should be worn for one year—six months crepe, three mont, ■ blaek and three months half-mourning, and for a bro ther or sister this period may be shortened to nine months —three months crepe only. For a grandparents, six months mourning is enough, and some people in this case do not wear crepe at. all. For an uncle or aunt about three months black Is de riguer, and for a cousin about six w’eeks is enough, and in this case the black need not be of the deepest character.

Mo one is expected to go to balls, din tier-parties, or any- large entertainment, so long as they are wear ing crepe, but after this is discarded we may begin to go about again as usual. being guided to a certain extent by our own feeling in the matter, althougn a longer period of seclusion would be expected for a widow, and she should certainly- not go to balls or large entertainments, for. at the very least, eighteen months after her husband’s death. It is not now generally the custom to give mourning to servants, except, perhaps, in the case of the death of the master or mistress of tne house, when, especially in the country, where people are known, it looks better to see the servants dressed in biack. especially those who are required to walk out with the children, who. of course, would be dressed in deep mourning. o o o o o

What Women Like. A sarcastical, witty- writer in “ Ainslee’s Magazine,” in discoursing on " What Women Like,” declares that tue object of the affections of what he is pleased to call the weaker sex must be something that is pretty like a kitten, or something that is altogether ugly, like a pug dog. He says, carrying to the limit his absurd humour.

“ Of the two most important playthings of the weaker sex, the husband is, in time, though not in importance, the first. He is a most important plaything of the ugly class, perhaps the most important, although the pug is a strong competitor. The pug is nearly -always as ugly in body as the husband, and as such is perhaps the first in a woman's heart. But what counts strongly in favour of her husband is that his disposition is so very much uglier than that of the pug- Here there is no comparison, whatever. A woman has continually to notice howadmirable is the colossal ill-temper of her husband, how delightfully ugly and absurd his whims and fads. S<> the husband has a moral advantage over the pug, which the latter no matter how ugly his wad dling legs, his eyes purging thickgum. cannot eventually overcome. Like the ape, the pug is doomed to extinction as far as supremacy in female affection is concerned. He is fighting a heroic fight for survival, but in his melancholy eye the keen observer can already perceive the disquieting consciousness of a pug-dam-merung. To the disinterested spectators, the coming shadow lends to the pug a tender and romantic charm.

“ But the husband enjoys only a brief triumph. He is not the greatest thing in the world, after all, for

he possesses only the qualities of the ugly class in the highest degree. The ugly class is the more successful of the two, but in a higher synthesis the pretty class of playthings cannot be neglected. Let us reflect from the a priori nature of the case what would probably be the ideal plaything of the woman. It would need to have a very high degree of ugliness both physical 'and moral, but the pretty in disposition and body would also need to be represented. The husband fits the requirements for the ugly, for there is nothing pretty about him. Now-, what object is it that combines these qualities in tne highest degree? It does not take a Hegel to make this philosophical and high synthesis. The average man can see that it can be nothing other than the baby. When the woman gets a baby to play with, she has found what she wants—something very ugiv in body and temper, and something very pretty in temper and body—jusc the thing, just the thing.” o o o o o

Why You Should Eat Bananas

Because the banana is so easily digested. doctors have greatly recommended the use of this fruit tor pa tients recovering from enteric fever. Dyspeptic sufferers also benefit exceedingly from its systematic use. since the enfeebled stomach-coats have no difficulty at all in assimilat ing the substance of the splendid na final remedy. The banana-pulp nourishes because it has nearly five parts per hundred of a substance exact in nature with the curd of milk. Cheese would be a food looked at with horror and apprehension by a dyspeptic, yet cheese'

is really milk-curd solidified; and very uourishiug to people with healthy power of digestion. If the banana has so much in its pulp identical chemically with cheese, it follows that it is as much a food as cheese. But banana-curd, so to call it, is in a soluble condition akin to the albumen of a fresh egg, with which, like milk-curd, it is also identical. So, in eating a banana, one obtains the benefit that would follow the swallowing of a certain amount of egg-white. It is fortunate that bananas are so cheap, as they undoubtedly are the most nutritious fruit-foods. They are excelled in actual nourishing properties by the two sweeter fruits, dates and figs, but they stand unrlv ailed by any fruits in digestibility This is because of their almost complete lack of fibre, -and fibrous matter is what renders many otherwise splendid sorts of fruits hard to digest. The banana has only two parts of fibre per thousand, whereas a date has five and a half parts per cent., and a fig over seven parts in a hun dred. It follows, therefore, that ba nana-pulp when eaten is entirely digested; there is no waste at all. It is watery, and therefore a thirstquencher. Quite seven-tenths of it is purest water, in the form tne Human system can absorb best, as it Is quite free from all admixture, though it is faintly acid with exactly half as much saline matter that date-juice has, and slightly less than one-third of the fruit-salt figs contain. Food and drink alike are contained in the green case of the banana, the abundant food-gift very easily grown in tropical lands, where heat renders manual exertion difficult. The tree

is the Musa sapientum, and it grows luxuriantly with very little attention, springing up either from cutting set in the ground, from seed, or from leaf-axil bent downward and soil-cov-ered until it has taken root.

Dainty Apple Desserts.

Just now apples are in their prime, and a few simple desserts may prove acceptable. While some of these may be familiar to you, I hope some may also be new. Jellied Apples.—Put over the fire in a saucepan one pint of water, two cups of sugar, and the juice of one lemon; peel, core and quarter enough tart apples to make two quarts, and when the syrup has boiled ten min utes put in the apples and cook until tender. Put in at one time only as many apples as will cook without crowding. When done, take the apples out carefully and put in a dish. In the meantime have soaking half a package of gelatine in one cup of cold water. When the fruit is all cooked, remove from the fire, and add the gelatine to the syrup, stirring It until dissolved. Place the saucepan in a basin containing cold water, and stir until cold, turn the thickened sy rup over the apples, and set in a cold place to harden. Serve with whipped cream. Apple Pot Pie. —Line a deep pud ding dish with paste; peel, core and slice sufficient apples to fill the dish: put in a layer of apples, sprinkle with sugar; another layer of the sliced apples, sprinkle with sugar again, and so continue until the dish is full. Pour in a little water; cover the top over with paste, leaving an opening in the centre to allow the steam to escape. Cook over a slow fire, or. if preferred, bake in the oven. Serve with sugar and cream.

Apple Meringue Pudding.—Peel and quarter two quarts of tart apples; place over the fire in a saucepan two cups of hot water and one large cup of sugar; let the syrup boil, then pu. in the quartered apples and the juice of one lemon; cover and let boil slowly twenty-five minutes. Skim out the apples and place them in a shallow dish, heaping up the fruit in the centre. Let the liquor boil down quickly, and pour over the apples. When the pudding becomes cold, neat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth and add four large of powdered sugar. Heap this meringue roughly over the apples and place in a cool oven to brown. Serve with a custard sauee.—Martha Tate Wentworth in “ The Daily InterOcean.” Steamed Fish.—Pour over the fisn a half pint of vinegar seasoned with salt and pepper. Let stand an hour in a cool place. Pour off the vinegar, put fish in a steamer over boiling water, and steam twenty to forty minutes, according to the size of fish. Drain well and serve with melted butter. o o o o o

Children’s Appetites.

To promote children’s appetites take care that they have plenty of outdoor exercise, and that they have only suet simple, homely food as they can digest. If this be done there will seldom, if ever, be any cans? for anxiety on the score of their lack of appetite. If children are fed on highly-sea-soned and rich foods, and are allowed to eat between meals, their little stomachs are over-taxed, and not only do they lose all healthy appetite, but the food they take does not nourish them as it should do. Illness is a most expensive and in

most cases a preventable nuisance, and the best way to keep children happy and good is to keep them well, which is usually easily managed by attending to simple rules of health. A child’s appetite is a pretty fair indicator of health; so if it fails, and the failure is not due to indiscretion in diet, see -whether it is worried over lessons and has enough sleep. Keep it from reading sensational stories, and. if needed, give it a short holiday from school.

A New Way of Wearing Earrings.

Although earrings have once more come into vogue among the fair sex, few women would care to wear them after the fashion adopted oy a certain San Francisco variety actress. Instead of lending her ears to these adornments, she wears them hanging from her finger-nails. It is only her left hand that is thus peculiarly adorned, at the sacrifice of its utility: but. in addition to the diamond earrings which glisten at her fingertips, she wears a big jewel, fastened by chains to the centre of the back of her hand. To permit of the holes for .he earrings being made she has to keep her nails very long, but as her fad renders her whole hand practically useless, this does not matter much. She employs a professional manicure to attend to her bejewelled nails, which are daily under treatment, in which a chemical preparation is employed for the purpose of toughening them. As might be supposed, the boring of the nails is a very delicate kind of operation, for there is always considerable risk of breaking the nail after it has been carefully trained to the requisite proportions. Of course, at certain intervals, the nails have to be cut and new holes

made. These are trying times for both operator and patient, but not sufficiently trying to cause the actress to abandon her strange whim. How she eame by it nobody knows, but it was probably one of those feminine freaks in which actresses are prone to indulge, and for which there is no accounting. But. whatever its origin, it appears to have once landed her in a very singular predicament. When she was passing out of a room, on one occasion, one of the earrings, or nailrings. as they ought perhaps to be called, was caught in the door as it accidentally slammed to. Infortunately, the door had a spring lock, the key to which was more than a mile away. One of the actress’s companions suggested that the imprisoned hand should be rel.ased by cutting the nail and leaving the earring where it was. But. although time was precious, there being an important engagement to attend to, it was not so precious to the actress as her bejewelled nail. She would not hear of its being cut. and having despatched a messenger for the key, insisted on remaining a prisoner until it was brought. The consequence was that she nearly lost her engagement, but she would have preferred even that to the loss of her nail and its valuable, if extraordinary, adornment. O O O tv o A certain musical peer, who was deeply irritated at the conduct of his guests, who talked loudly while a violinist was playing at a party, addressed them in a loud voice when the pieee was over. “Monsieur A. will now play his solo again; this time, ladies and gentlemen, without your kind accompaniment.” It would be difficult to say who was most abashed at this action the guests or the unhappy violinist.