Housekeeper.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 440, 22 September 1904, Page 7

Housekeeper.

A WORD WITH GIRLS. THE modern girl has -much to be gratefulfor, so far as education and freedom go, and can claim immense advantages over the girl of a quarter of a century ago. What with the growth of women's universities and the uprising of domestic training schools, every facility is afforded for thorough instruction in subjects varying from the classics to the cooking of a potato. Many girls are in feverish.haste to cut short what is often the happiest period of their lives. Sweet sixteen is a glorious age it girls only knew it. But at sixteen they want to be twenty, and they miss a great deal of the sweetness of girlhood by their perpetual chase after age. And by and bye they want to be young again! The high-spirited girl in her teens rovolts against control; but the late Sir Edwin Arnold wrote truly when ho said, ' It is very certain that the only safe way by which we can loam to command is to begin by learning to obey,' and he referred to the famous little poem of George Herbert's, which tells us that even to sweep a chamber conscientiously and in a loyal spirit ' makes that arid the action fine,' and wound up his interesting article jby saying that a rights minded man or woman will make kings and queens for themselves out of their own consciences, and turn the lowliest chamber wherein they work to a palace, because royal work is being done wherever, serving man,, we servo also God and our times. The, secret of success lies in being thorough and sincere, and whatever duty a girl may be called on to perform should be done heartily and to the best of her ability. Slovenliness is a serious fault, and indicates' a careless, thoughtless nature, inclined to destroy rather than build up. It may appear nothing very grave in itself, but is apt to lead on to a certain degeneration of the finer qualities of a character and to deaden one's appreciation for correctness. Many a disappointed girl would be very much more satisfied with her lot -if those about her took the trouble to train her mind in simple, high thoughts as well as train her hands to accomplishments. . One sympathises profoundly with the girl who finds .herself in an uncongenial environment, but let her abandon at once the idea that grumbling and frowns will-make her state one whit more bearable, BEAUTY SLEEP. It is an old saying that 'beauty sleep' must be obtained before midnight. It is certain that a sufficiency of sleep is necessary both for health and beauty, and that sleep should be taken in a well-ventilated room. ; Insomnia, which proceeds from a variety 1 of causes, is most trying in its effect. • Sometimes it can be counteracted by a glass of warm milk or soup, taken the last thing at night, or by a warm bath. Reading in bed sometimes has the effect of inducing sleep, but the practice cannot be recommended as healthy. Anything that is a strain upon the eyes should bo avoided, and reading by artificial light is undoubtedly bad for the eyes. The brain should be relieved from strain at least an hour before bedtime.