Of Interest to Women

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 157, 8 May 1940, Page 7

Of Interest to Women

WOMEN'S DIVISION AWAKERI BRANCH The annual meeting of the Awa-ke;-i Branch of the W.D.F.U. was held recently, Mrs Lux ton presiding •over a fair attendance. The meeting opened with the Creed and then the minutes of the previous annual meeting were read and confirmed. Then followed the reading of tin. balance sheet by Mrs Haultain, ihe .year's report by the president, the housekeeping report by Mrs Maunder and the librarian's report, all being confirmed. The election of officers resulted •?is follows: — President: Mrs E. A. Haultain; "vice-presidents: Mesdames Dodunski and H. Luke; secretary: not yet appointed; committee: Mesdames Urizzle, Fowell, Luke, senr., Knight, N. McGougan. E. M. Butler; house "keeping secretary: Mrs Maunder; trustee account: Mesdames Haultain and Maunder; advisory members: Mesdames L. Luke and E. A. Haultain; competitions: H. Luke; exrQpKinge table: Mesdames D. Butler ■ and T. McGougan; librarian; N. McDonald. Mrs Lux ton was appointed delegate to the Patriotic Committee. Mrs N. McGougan thanked the retiring" president, Mrs Luxto.i, for "lier loyal support during hor term -of office as president. The prizes were presented to the winners of the competitions for the year as follows:—Floowei: Mrs Brizzle 1, Mrs N. McDonald and Mrs PI. Luke 2 equal and Mrs LU\~ ton 3. General: Mesdames It. Lulqe 1, Brizzlc 2. J. Graham 3. Competitions for the month were won by the following:—-Sponge. Mesdames N. McDonald 1. N. McGougan 2, H. Luke 3. Darning: Mesdames H. Luke 1, McDonald 2. Flo Aver: Mesdames Brizzle 1, N. Me-i ■Gougan 2, Martin 3. Afternoon tea brought the afternoon to a close the hostesses being Mesdames Brizzle, Fowell and ButJer. ;NO UNIFORMS "FOR FRENCH WOMEN THEY PREFER FEMININITY Trousers and uniforms seem to Tiave a subtle fascination lor Eng.; lishwomen, and since the outbreak -■of war they have been indulging <their fancies to their heart's content. Not so the Fiench women. It is not that they are taking their place in the new scheme of things any less keenly or capably than their English cousins. They know by an instinct bred through anany years of war just what is exipected of them. And consequently they take it all so much as a matter of course that thej' refuse to look on their duties sis in any way masculine, and therelore demanding trousers or uniforms French women are taking the place of the men as capably as English women, and are turning overnight into land workers, bus conductors, canteen organisers, and car ■ and lorry drivers. But because their ■-grand-mothers and mothers had to • do the same or the equivalent, they refuse to think that they are doing anything out of the ordinary—something which calls, for instance, for sl special outfit. Love of Individuality. The real reason why French women refuse to don trousers and uniforms is perhaps their love of irn dividuality. They do not want to run the risk of being accused of -apeing the men, but, more than that, they do not want to lose their own personal individuality. To be a French vifoAsin is to be individual, -and the thought of any regimentaii<sft»is- unbearable. It is not that they despise masculine touches. Not a bit of it. But they will have none of them until they have been thoroughly feminised, thereby leaving the purely masculine behind and becoming in turn purely feminine and fantastic and fetching. Although France has lived with •a background for war through many generations, France refuses to mobilise its Avomen for war service. This is because French women have not yet been given a vote, and until this privilege has been granted the

Government cannot officially organise any corps for -women. There is another reason too,, and that is the system of military training in France. Unlike most other nations, France always lias an army ol 3,000,000 trained men ready for an emergency, and women arc not needed for national service as soon as they are in England. SHORT BALL GOWNSi LENGTH OF SKIRT'S The law of skirt lengths is being laid down in London ballrooms. Smart women are dancing in "glamour lame" dresses 16 to 17 inches | off the ground. The new short dresses have not yet reached the provinces. "Women arc still wearing ground-length dresses at dances in towns where troops are stationed," a well-known dress designer in Carlos Place said. "These gowns look tawdry in the ballroom." The only occasions on which the well-dressed woman will wear a ground-length dress to-day arc m her own home or Avhen she dines out. Short dance frocks are made with attractive back movements in tho form of pleats or other fullness so thai they swing as the wearer dances. They are cut low in front, zip fastening up the hack, with short sleeves squared at the shoulders.

A JOB OF WORK WOMEN'S LAND ARMY Some idea of the manner in which English and Scottish girls are helping to win the Avar is furnished in a letter received from Scotland by a Wellington resident with relatives north of the border# A Avell-to-do man writes of his daughter: —left here on January 3 to take up a job on a farm near Aberdeen as one of the Women's Land Army. She- is working as a dairymaid, and has long hours and hard work. However, she seems to be liking her work,, and is keeping well. She rises at 4.15 a.m. (it is midwinter), milks one cow by hand and puts the milking machines on the other 30 cows; puts up the cooler and strainer, lights the boiler, and washes the bottles and cans. She then loads the van, and about 8.30 a.m. has breakfast. About 9.30 a.m she starts again, washing bottles and cleaning up the dairy till 1.30 a.m. She then has dinner and a short rest. After that she has to return to the dairy for the afternoon milking, and gets finished about 6 p.m. She has supper about 7 p.m. and then goes to bed. "I am missing her terribly, but as long as she keeps well and happy I must put up with it as she is so keen on doing her bit to help in these trying times.' HOUSEHOLD HINTS WHEN STEWING FRUIT THE RIGHT METHODS By adopting the right method of cooking, the flavour of many fruits can be wonderfully improved. The following hints may be helpful. To make them tender and of good flavour, dried fruits should always be soakec? thoroughly before cooking. To bring out the flavour of dried fruits, it is necessary to add a little lemon juice to the water Avhen cooking. When serving prunes, crack a few stones and add the kernels to the dish. Apples stewed slowly in a small quantity of orange juice makes a much more interesting dish than apples stewed in the ordinary Avay. If, Avhen steAving fruit, you find you have added too much water thus making the syrup too thin, try thickening it with a little cornflour to about half pint of juice. This Avill thicken it sufficiently without making it apparent. You must first drain off the juice, and use a spoonful of it to smooth the cornflour. (Continued foot next column).

Add the remainder of the cornflour, boil for a minute or two, keeping it stirred. It may then be mixed with the fruit again. This hint Is most useful when stewing prunes or other dried fruit, and a good proportion of water has to be used and a comparatively small amount of sugar. « * • ■ Caramel for colouring: Put %lb sugar into a saucepan and let it get very brown. Pour over it a quarter of a pint of water and stirr till it boils and all the sugar is dissolved. Strain and when cold put in a widemouthed bottle and cork well, and keep for colouring soups, gravy, etc. * 9 * » Never put potatoes on the table in a covered dish. They will absorb their own moisture and becomc soggy. ■ * « * To remove tea-stains from linen: Mix V2OZ powdered borax in a pint of water. Bring to the boil. Stretch the linen taut over a basin, pour some of the boiling borax water otn the stain, rub gently. Repeat as often as necessary. Rinse in very hot water.. fi « * a Are you troubled with cockroaches? If so, try cucumber peeling to exterminate them. The cucum ber acts as a poison to the cockroaches.