EVERYDAY TOPICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 9, 5 October 1907, Page 3

EVERYDAY TOPICS.

DIAGONISING A HANDSHAKE. That tho condition of tlio liands is an index to the state of t!:o nerves is affirmed by several leading specialists in nervo diseases. "I always insist on shaking my patients by tho hand,!' said an eminent physician recently, "and have learned raoro from that handshake than from an hour's conversation with them." Symptoms are exaggerated, and trifling disorders taken too much notice of by people with nerves, but in the movement or tho liands, whether controlled or lacking regulation, restless or still, with a low or high temperature, the whole diagnosis of a "nerve case" may be supplied. ;Shooting practice for girls is now' recommended as a '. "nerve tost." "Go out and shoot rabbits" was the advice'given lately to a number of girls suffering from "the end of season and on many stations girls arc taking "a rest cure" in this . way. ."'.'•' MELBOURNE AND ITS SERVANT PROBLEM. ~ Ail: energetic committee of Melbourne women are endeavouring to solve the servant problem. Mrs. '3. T. Staiighton, the vice-president of the , National.League, ■is interesting herself actively in tho movoment, and the various suburban Mayoresses are calling meetings of mistresses and maids in tho local Town Halls. The scheme proposed by Mrs. .Staughton and her co-oper-ators is threefold. It includes a '.bureau, of'information for mistresses and maids, whero a registry-keeper will receive a fixed salary, and it will not be . to her interest that maids should' change their 'places, as such changing will not resv.it in bringing lier fees. A training-college for domestic workers and a home for girls from the country are tho other.parts of, tho scheme, 'i'he funds are to bo supplied by subscribers r.t half . a guinea yearly. Tho details aro not yet arranged, but the main idea of the plan of founding an Alexandra Homo for Domestic < Helpers is excellent, as' it is to raise the status of'

six «s switchmen, yardmen, and flagmen, forty-three as carriage and hack drivers, six as ships carpenters, two as roofers and slaters, .one hundred and 'eighty-five as blacksmiths, five hundred and eight as machinists, ciglit 5 as hoilermakers, thirty-one as chars coal, coke, and lime burners, ana eleven as borers. 3 • ELLEN TERRY'S FIRST COOKING. 3 Ellen Terry, in tho "Story of My ; Life," ns it is being told in "M.A.P.'" 5 says that though she now considers j herself a good cook, she started badly. t "It was a chicken. Now, as all the . chickens had names, Sultan, ' Duke, ! Lord Tom Noddy, Lady Teazle, and so ; forth, and as I was very proud of them s . as living birds, it was a great wrench ; to kill one of them, to start with. It . was the murder of Sultan, not the 1 killing of a chicken. However, r.t last . it was done, and Sultan deprived of : his feathers, floured and trussed. I had no idea how this was ail done, i .but I tried to make him "sit up" nicely, like the chickens in the shops. "He came up to the table looking magnificent—as large as any turkey. . "Hasn't this chicken rather an odd smell?" said a visitor. "How can you?" I answered. "It t he quite fresh—it's Sultan." "However, when we began to carve, tho smell grew moro.and more potent. ' "I had cooked Sultan without taking out his in'ards!" DECEASED WIFE'S' SISTER. "Rosedo Boheme," in her chatty letter from London to the Sydney "Telegraph," says 1 : "Some colonials coming over herd hayo found tho Deceased Wifo's Sister question very unpalatable. So 'possibly somo of you are ,as pleased as divern people on- this side that tho lon;>snoh'Gcl Bill has become law, and that you can marry your sister's widower, an' it please you. As to the hardship this peculiar restriction entailed there can be no possible doubt. It has banished or ostracised the wealth, it has caused the poor' to live in open defiance of the'law, and'it has put a life-long stain on innocent children."

ono dreamed of building a large house without a ballroom. There aro at present hundreds of ballrooms in Melbourno and suburbs, which are novel used from one year to another. Hostesses say thoy cannot get real men tc come to their parties, but only boys and bo boy and eirl entertainments are the ones that flourish. Ever King Edward has been finding oul that there is a disposition on the pari of mon to watch, rather than t< dance. At the last Court ball be sig nified his wish that the general com pany should dajicc, and that tin young men present should find part nors and keep tho ball going. Tin lack of dancing men, which hostcssc: eomplajn of so bitterly, has been at tributed to the adoption of the dinnoi jacket as a suitable garment for tin boy who is too old for the Etoi jacket and too young for the regula tion evening suit. Before the clay: of such compromise boys were kept ii the background as rigorously as the girl with her hair clown. But nowa days a boy is tired of parties before ho is 20, and that is a probable reason why the number of dancing mei: grows fewer and fewer. THE SHORT SLEEVE. - That the short sleeve is a pretty and popular fashion there is no doubt, for it gives a dressy finish-to the fete gown which materially helps towards its success, -when called iwon- to appear as :i semi-evening gown. In fact, many a smart race frock can be easily tamed into full evening costume by .-.imply removing the transparent yoke air! collar, for the sleeves, according to the present fashion, are appropriates to cither occasion. However, notwithstanding its dressiness, the short sleeve is often deplored as a most extravagant fancy, for the price of the long undressed hid sloves has increased, at- a rate, that is almost prohibitive, as regards evory-day wear, and, m addition to this trouble", many eldcrlv women have found fault with the elbow length as being-unsuitable to them. So probably the latest, decree that sleeves are to be made to the other extreme will give satisfaction. The newest idea is a deer) lace ,cuff, wrinkled for choice, which extends half-way over the hand, terminating in a point. The great French actress, Madamo Rejane, is responsible for this change, which was bound to come sooner or later ,for the short puff has had a longer lease of favour 'ban is usually accorded nowadays. There is no doubt that the elbow There is no doubt that the elbow 'length will Inst out the summer, but those who do not find it convenient oan wear the deep cuff, with the comfort of knowing that they are slightly ahead of others. FASHIONABLE STARVATION. The Paris correspondent' of the 'Lathes' Field" asks whether Englishwomen are as anxious to get thin as the Pan'siennc. It appears 'that tho desire for an attenuated figuro is becoming a mania in Paris. Whenover a' few women aro togethor the talk is of nothing but Turkish baths and anti-corpulent diet. "If," says tho writer, "only stout people woiit on m this way, one could understand' tho natural desire to return to normal proportions, but the slimmest women aro the. ones who take the treatment most seriously and with the greatest vigour. The morning hours are spent m vapour baths, and most of the afternoon is given up to the cult of the. moment." At the present time it is considered smart to do without rood, and luncheon often consists of a glass of orangeade or milk, with nothing to-eat, and sugar, salt, and butter are expressly forbidden. At dinner time, when surrounded by the' most expensive delicacies, the extremist sips a cun of tea slowly and oats a little fruit. . One beauty doctor charged £100 for the following prescription :-"Eat only vegetables cooked by steam; drink nothing but orangeade, and that only after meals; banish sugar and salt from the table' sleep with the window wide open; wash, the hair every night with an ' miusion of walnut leaves, and spread it,over the pillow to dry." This diet craze is quite in harmony with the hygienic -freaks, indulged in some time ago, when it was correct to get up before daybreak and walk barefoot through wet grass, and do other equally uncomfortable things, in order to "harden the constitution." • i . THE USELESS DRAWINGROOM. A well known architect has been advocating the abolition of the drawingroom from small suburban homes. lie says that the best room in the house is given up to the "drawiiigroom"—a room never entered except when there aro visitors. To bo without a draw-' ingroom would doubtless occasionally bo a drawback. A single evening visitor would in that case havo to be entertained by tho whole family in the sittingroom." But male members aro absent in the daytime, and afternoon callers might well be received there. The comfort of the family all the year round should count inoro than tho convenience of stray visitors. • By tho conversion of the drawmgroom (which in a six or eight roomed houso is more or loss of a white elephant) into a sittingroom, the house at once becomes more comfortable for the inmates. The drawmgroom, with its stupid bamboo' tables, which - hold nothing but a. ridiculous vaso or two; wicker chairs' which creak ■'. and crash under the weight of an ordinary-sized man, and decorated fireplace, in which no fire ■is ever lit, is .banished, lot us say. Away with all tho trumpery and gimcrack stuff. The sam'o room, with a iersian rug on the floor, a good square table with art serge cover in ■the middle, two or three roomy and comfortable chairs for the men-folk somo pretty solid carved bookshelves, a wnting-tabje, and a folding cardvable, on wmch reposes a sowin" basket perhaps, will be a distinct gain to the house hold. The father of the family will no longer prefer a chair by the dimngroom firoolace or window. Ho will grow to' be part and parcel of the new "comfy" sittingroom. ' . A WOMEN'S ORCHESTRA. One of the attractions of the Exhibition of women's work to be held m Melbourne this month will be fie performances of tho feminine orchestra, of which hitherto little has been heard. It is quite distinct froai tho choir and brass band, and it is under the direction of Miss Macßurney, Jlns. Bac , and Mrs. Ewart. • an accomplished violinist. The orchestra (which is for stringed instruments only.) numbers 120', and the performers have been working together assiduously at tho rehearsals since April iSomo of the. most-diligent students are girls under twelve years. That an immense amount of practising is necessary before the orchestra can be ready for'public performances is only to be expected, but both lady conductors arc delighted with the progressalready made. Grieg's lioldberg Suite is being rehearsed strenuouslv. and the Marcho Militairo of Schu-bert-Weber is well in hand. A waltz by Tschaikowsky and a concerto by De Beriot are included in the repertoire, while many pieces by other composers aro being worked at. An interesting .number is a suite for a small stringed orchestra, composed for the exhibition by Miss Arkwricrht, an English composer of merit. This composition, which has received great praiso from musicians, has not yet been played in public, so special interest will attach to it.