WOMEN'S CORNER.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16410, 2 January 1919, Page 2

WOMEN'S CORNER.

The Lady Editor will be pleased to receive for publication in tu® "Women's Corner" items of social or personal news. Such .terns should be fullv authenticated, and engagement notices'must bear the signatures of both parties. Correspondence is invited on any matters affecting, or of interest to. women. Mr and Mrs Manning arc spending a week at ''The Lodge,'' Hanmer Springs. Mrs G. T. Hall, wife of Colonel Hall, N.Z. Headquarters Staff in London, was a passenger by the Arawa for England. Air and Mrs Arthur Sims (Riccarton) left Wellington by tho Arawa for Newport News (U.5.A.).. Mr and the Misses Knublev (Timaru) have been staying at Hanmer Springs. Miss Ruth Russell, a "special" writer on the staff of tho "Chicago Dailv News," spent two weeks aa an empioyco in a munition factory m order to write of tho work from personal knowledge. Mi«s R. Crichton (Wellington) has gonc"to Mount Cook after a short stay in Christchurch. Mr and Mrs B. Christie have returnee 1 , to Dune-din after a visit to this city. Mrs Mathias and Miss Buller have returned from New Brighton, and are staying at W arner s. Mr and Mrs D. Mackay (Hnrunui) are staying at the Clarendon. Mr and Mrs O. B. Bridger (Wellington) arc in Christeliureh on their return from the South.

Tho manv friends of Mrs H. M. Chaprel!, of Rangiora, will be pleased to know that she is recovering from her reccnt severe illness.

Mrs At well, wife of Captain Atwell. of Rangiora, entertained the Boy Scouts, who are camped on the Ashley river-bed, to afternoon tea Monday.

The engagement is announced of Miss Vera Howe, only daughter of Mr and Mrs A. C. Howo, ot Napier, and Mr C. E. Maney (Main Body, N.Z.M.C.), eldest soir\of Mr and Mrs E. M. Maney, of Hastings.

Tho engagement is announced of Lieutenant T. C. Evans, New Zeaknd Forces, youngest son of Mr Evre Evans, Oamaru, and Elsa Phyllis, third daughter of the lato J. H. Heckler and Mrs Heckler, Forrest Downs, Mangatnahoe. Tho marriage will take place shortly.

At Romford, England, on October 17tii, Rifleman David M. King, of the 3rd Battalion, N.Z.R.8., third son of Mr and Mrs D. E. King, of Temuka, was married to Lily E., eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs James H. Butcher, Romford.

Countess Lavinia Magri, better known as Mrs 'Tom Thumb, has celebrated her 77th birthday, . says a New York message of tho first week in November. The Countess Magri was a beautiful American girl, just 32 inches high, when she married General Tom Thumb, a perfectly-proportioned man of 31 inches. The wedding took place in America, and President Lincoln organised a special reception in their honour at the White "House, Washington. In tho early 'sixties the General, who had previously visited London, took his bride there, and everybody went to sec the miniature pair. Tho Genoral died in 1883. and Mrs Thumb afterwards married Count Magri, an Italian nobleman. of about her own height.

The manager of a large business house in Wellington • told a reporter that he found his position decidedly perplexing. "I have the best staif now that I ever had," he said. "I am using girls in places that were always filled by men before the war, and I say frankly that I am satisfied the change was for the good. The girts are just as intelligent as the men, they learn just as quickly, and they are more reliable and conscientious. There are exceptions on both sides, of course, and I ought to Bay that we pay good wages and get the best class of girl. We don't employ flighty 'flappers.' My trouble now is to find places for the returning men without doing damage to my staff and injustice to the girls, some of whom havo been with us now for over three years. We are going to play . tho game by the men. Every man who went to the front from this office can como back at his old salary if he wants to. But there are going to be more girls employed in this office than there were before the war."

Our London Correspondent states that at a luncheon given by representative women in London to matrons-in-chief of the military services of the Crown, Princess Louise (Duchess of Argyll) presided. Miss Thurston, Matroin-in-Chief N.Z.E.F., was present, but Miss Conyers, Matron-in-Chief A.A.N.S. (who is also a New Zealander), was absent owing to illness. Dame Ethel Becher, Matrou-m-Chief Q.A.1.M.N.5., said that on August Ist, 1914, the regular nursing service consisted of 290 members, and the Reserve of 173 —;a total of 463. Immediately on mobilisation they were able to call up 800 trained nurses, who were supplied without a hitch. Today the nurses of the Q.A.I.M.N.S. Reserve, working in all war areas, numbered 8000, and the V.A.D. nursing members 6000. Damo Becher expressed a personal gratitude to the Dominions matrons-in-chief for help and co-operation whenever they had been brought in contact. She had many oversea nurses and V.A.D. members working in the Q.A. hospitals, and whenever she required more she had met with a response which the women of England would ever remember with gratitude. '

Tho Railway Commissioners are evidently guided by antique standards of decorum that make no allowance for freaks of eccentric womankind (says tho "Sydney Daily Telegraph")- At the Central Railway Station an aged porter scratched the top of his cap when a fair maid of Sydney, on being politely informed that- smoking compartments were the exclusive privilege of man, demanded admittance to one on the ground that she wished to smoke, too. The porter found all his old-fashioned ideas of the gentleness of woman fast slipping from him. A mist swept across his eyes as he saw himself obliged to adapt himself to a changcd environment. Faced with tho- fact that tho compartment was 'reserved for "smokers," and that tho lady came under that category, ho consolod himself perforce with the thought that the train was about full, that this was just tho last remaining seat, and ho let her occupy it. The solution for this new problem seems to be the setting apart of both a woman's and a man's smoker

in addition to compartments for nonsmokers of both sexes.

September has not the holiday atmosphere of August, and at tho moment many English mothers are preparing to send theii young folk back to school, a very arduous task in | these days (says the London correspondent to the "Australasian"). Not only is travelling difficult, through doubled fares and reduction of trains, but tho replenishing of the school wardrobes is a trial which every mother is glad to have done with. It pains an economical housewife to pay 25s for a pair of boy's or girl's boots which used to be half a guinea. The serge or tweed for a daughter's dress now costs 12s 6d a yard, whereas it used to be 3s lid or 4s lid. Woollen underclothing—a necessity during an English winter—can be procured after long searching, but a boy's flannel shirt, which used to cost 3s 6d, will now cost 9s 6d. As for_ a suit for a boy of ten, the mother is lucky who secures one for less than £2 2s. And these price's are what average middloclass incomes have to meet, incomes which have not been swelled by war bonuses of 100 or 120 per cent, as in manv working-class homos. _ However, by rigidly curtailing one s --- ouirements and doing without all forms of luxury, most of us manage der-Secretary of Alines, and tho youngep all that can be expected in the midst of such a world turmoil. . Among ladios who ate afflicted with cvperfhious hairs Dr. Waldron's preparations prcva a boon, as they can be applied with per/set safety. A special outfit for fiumTiy r us<f comnrisca Maesaco Cream for Freckles and Sunburn, Vanishing Croam for npplyins for© powder; Rougette, ail emollient for too life, and a delicate powder, any of four shades. Prico 16s, postage 16s Gd. MRS EOLLESTON. Dominion Buildings, 1 Cathedral squaro. HOT-WEATHER DRINKS. The following are wholesome and. refreshing hot-weather drinks: — Barley Water.—4oz of pearl batfev, 2 quarts of water, tho l'ind and juice or half a lemon, sugar if.likod. Wash tho barley and put into a saucepan with cold water to cover; bring to the boil and strain. Put tho barley into a jug with a thinly-peeled rind of half a lemon, add two quarts of boiling water. Let it stand till cold; add tho lemonjuice, strain, sweeten to taste, and serve. The barley should bo used for a pudding, soup, etc. Ginger Beer. —Boil lib of sugar and loz of powdered ginger in half a gallon of water. Put one heaped toaspoonful of pream of tartar into a large saucepan Pour the boiling liquid on to it. Add another half gallon of cold water, and, wiien luke warm, put in one teaspoonful of brewers' yeast and the juice of a lemon. Cover and leavo for 24 hours, and then bottle, and keep for a week or so before using. Economical Lemonado. —Rub the rinds of four lemons upon ilb of loaf sugar. Remove the thick white skin and pips and slice tho pulp. Put it with the sugar into a jug, and pour on one quart of boiling water. Cover closely, and when cold, strain, and it is ready for use. Lemonade to Keep.—2lb of sngar, loz of citric acid, half a dracham of lemon essence, 1 quart of water. Boil tho water and sugar to a syrup (it takes about 15 minutes), put into a basin, and allow it to get cold. Pound the> citric acid, mix the essence of lemon with it, add to tho syrup, mix well, and bottle for use.

Lemonade Powder. —Jib of caster sugar, loz of carbonate of soda, loz of tartaric acid, 4 drops of oil of lemon. Pound the above and mix well together. Put into dry, well stopped bottles, and keep in a dry place. Put a spoonful ip a tumblerful of water wlion required for use.

Phubarb Sherbet. —Cut }lb of young rhubarb stalks into sliorfc lengths. Boil in 1 quart of water for 20 minutes. Strain through a muslin, and sweeten with 1 tablespoonful of sugar. Stir' till the sugar is dissolved, and sorve cold. A strip of lemon rind boiled with the rhubarb improves this. More sugar or honey can be used, if liked. TO-DAY'S RECIPE. Tipsy Cake. —Take a stale sponge cake, and in choosing tho size consider the dish in which it is to be served. Prick it through in several places with a skewer, and soak it in sweet wine and brandy. As the liquid runs into tho dish, pour it over again. Blanch «ome" sweet almonds, cut them lengthwise, and stick into tho cake. Pour a custard into the dish and serve.