The Ladies' Magazine.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2386, 30 December 1908, Page 2

The Ladies' Magazine.

t.'mißT.r.T Baaim - ENGAGED FOR TWENTY-ONE YEARS. WOMAN’S REMARKABLE LOVE STORY

Tlie story oi : an engagement that lasted for twenty-one years and then did not. end in matrimony was told in the London Probate Count recently, when Miss Laura-Leggett,, daughter of a. veterinary surgeon practising in Regent’s Park-road, sought to propound the will of Mr. John Creighton Brand, formerly a clerk in the Bank of Scotland, who died on December 16, 1907. The will, which was written on a sheet of notepaper in the saloon bar of a- public-house in Goswell-road, was opposed by Mrs. Mary Goodenough and Mrs. Lizzie Wilkie Simpson, sisters of tho deceased, they alleging that it had not been properly executed, that Mr. Brand did 1 not know of its contents, and that it had been Obtained by undue influence on .the part of Miss Leggett. Mr. Thomas, K.C., said that Miss Leggott for something like twenty years had been on terms of the greatest friendship with Mr. Brand. At one time they were engaged to bo married, but for some reason the wedding was postponed. In August, 1907,, Mr. Brand con-, templated a trip to Scotland by water, and the day before he started met Miss Leggett ■by appointment at the Oakley Arms, Goswell-road, which was kept- by Mr. and Mrs. White, her friends. They had tea in the saloon bar with Mrs. White. There he wrote tlie will and- gave it to Miss Leggett, and the following day ho went to Scotland. He died about three mouths later of bronchitis, on December 16, 1907. Mr. Thomas W T . Taylor, retired builder, of Stoke Newington, said he was present in the Oakley Arms at the making of the will and saw Mr. Brand sign it, and at Mr. Brand’s request. witness added his name to the document.

Cross-examined by Mr. Barnard: You do not know that on September 2 (the date of the will) he was out drinking before breakfast, and was under the influence of drink early in the morning ?—He was not in the evening; he was sober as a judge. (Laughter, in which his lordship joined.) The plaintiff, Miss Laura Leggett, giving evidence, stated that Mr. Brand was engaged in the Bank of Scotland for twenty-five years, and he resigned in 1902. He assigned to her a policy of assurance on his life, and she had kept it until the present time. He had given her heaps of presents—bracelets, pearls, rings, and his mother’s watch. He visited Her father’s house once a week for twentyone years. Cross-examined by Mr. Barnard: ' There are hundreds of letters here which passed between you; can you point out any single letter written by Mr. Brand in which lie speaks of your engagement or marriage?—There was no occasion for such a thing. I was honorably engaged to Mr. Brand for twenty-one years. He loved me and intended to marry me. The jury found for the will, for which liis lordship pronounced.

CHILDREN’S FROCKS. During tlie holidays, of course, tlie chief requisites of most of the garments intended for the children arc that they shall be simple, cool, and comfortable. - The little ones don’t want to be dressed up in elaborate frocks and suits that, will be utterly ruined after a morning’s romp in tho fields or on the sands. Still, a few “dressy” clothes have to be included in the holiday outfit;' and nowadays it is no very difficult matter to fashion these in the prettiest styles imaginable from the airy materials sold at quite reasonable prices. There are so many dainty muslins to select from that even the most exigent taste can be satisfied; and according to the complexion, and coloring of the intended small wearer may the fabricating medium of this little model be blue, pink, or white. White muslin sprinkled over with a tiny pink flower would be sweet, with chemisette and 1 under-sleeves of plain white, trimmed Valenciennes lace. ■ The skirt is arranged with three volants,’ the upper one whereof is gathered into the waistband, each being hemmed with lace, a decorative detail again employed on the pretty pinafore corsage. The sash would naturally emphasise the color of the.design, and cffeoti a charming conclusion to a charming little frock. If preferred, this model, arranged l for'girls from ten to fourteen, can be carried out in zephyr, lawn, or batiste.

EARLY TO RISE. The following is from the pen of a contributor to the “Sydney Morning. Herald.”—l awoke just >as the daylight came shimmering in at the open windows of iny room. Why I awoke was a mystery to me, as I never do until breakfast time, and then only by force. Anyway, I did wake, and looked at my watch; just 4 o’clock, time for more than three hours’ sleep, so I turned over to enjoy it; but sleep I could not. If it had been on the stroke of breakfast and getting-up time I could have snored in a second, hut just because there were three solid hours for it I felt as if I never wanted to go to sleep again. • A rooster crowed somewhere far

away; another answered closer, and one answered that again closer, and my bed (for it seemed close enough to he" there, anyhow). Such a deafening row. The room seemed full of roosters. How can people sleep, I wondered.

I sat tap and tried to think. It’s hard to think before breakfast. Some people, novolist-s and such like, say they do all their brainwork before the sun is .up; but. I can’t imagine how they do it; unless they breakfast in the middle of the night. Anyhow, I decided to get up. Why shouldn’t I and show the rest of the family what I could do when I liked; and didn’t tlie old verse say: "Early to 'bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, and wealthy, and-wise.”

I felt quite excited and burg lavish as I crept down the stairs , and out into the fresh, dewy morning. It was beautiful. Fancy anyone in their right senses lying in bed on a morning like this, wasting time and missing all its beauties. _ The roosters were still answering and re-answering one another, after the manner of their kind, as I wandered away down tlie hill. There seemed to be nothing awake on the face of the earth hut myself, not even a rabbit. Tho cows looked at me in sheer stupefaction, as much as to say, "Fancy you getting up;” and went on lying there and chewing their cud. Even the horses stood with hanging heads, asleep. So I sat down and waited for the sun to rise. It seemed to take a frightfully long time over it, and had evidently decided not to get up too early on that particular morning, though generally it rises much too early for me. But at last it rose, and when I had spent hours and hours admiring it I sauntered home. Everybody will be up by this, I thought; I was awfully hungry, and went. back sniffing the air 'for the old familiar smell of bacon and eggs; hut nothing greeted me, except snores and snores. Were they all stricken with a- sleeping sickness, I wondered. I looked at- the clock. Half-past five. Good gracious; no one would.' be up for hours, except the men for milking. Whatever do people do when they.are silly enough to get up early without a- purpose in view? A brilliant idea struck me. The eggs; I’d gather the eggs: I scrambled through hedges, and crawled under- tanks, and climbed haystacks, and got myself torn in rags, and scratched, and covered in gore, hut not an egg could I find. Apparently the hens hadn't got up yet, or had decided not to lay until after breakfast. "Small blame to them.” Was everything petrified? I wondered. There was nothing about anywhere, and nothing to do. I took down a. book ,and sat on the verandah, determined to .study till breakfast —and awoke to the refreshing sound of frying and the scent of coffee. They were up at last, the sluggards. I went in and’ was greeted with a chorus of "Fancy you being up so early; you do look seedy.” "How can yon all sleep like logs on a perfect morning like this I can’t imagine. Whv it’s the best part of the day,” I said. I finished breakfast iii a somnambulistic state, and might have been eating golf balls for all I knew. I was sleepy and had decided to lie clown, when I remembered it was my music lesson day, and I had to drive seven miles to it. I struggled through my lesson, -then home again through tho burning.sun, to discover a house full of visitors, whom 'I had to help to entertain. 1 felt as though I hadn’t seen bed for years and years, and someone suggested .as though I was sickening loi typhoid, or .appendicitis, or someBut everybody had gone at last, and the sun had set, and the roosters were .asleep, as I fell gratefully into bed, doing tho "early to bed part with ease, .and resolving never to get up. so early a gain,-; no matter how rich it would make me, and thinking as I dozed off that night was really the best part of the day that day anyhow.

CHILDREN’S PUNISHMENTS.

—SOME "DON’TS” AND

"NEVERS.”—

Don’t punish a child if you are angry. . , Don’t punish lum fior breaking anything, unless he has been told not to touch it. Never punish him unless he knows he has done wrong. Never let him think you are punishing him out of revenge. Never persist in a punishment if you find it ineffectual. Never hit a child on the head. ■Never deprive a child of sufficient food, though any luxury or thing especially liked may be well withheld. When a child is sorry,_ and the punishment over, let all be forgotten and forgiven. Never go barking back to such punishment. Never threaten a punishment without giving it if the need arise. Never shout at a child by way of punishment; always speak gently. If a child persists in naughtiness, try bedtime talks and quiet reasoning. A punishment, to be really effective, should he indvidual, not general; for what will benefit one child will do the other no good, or rather harm. Different natures need different treatment, and where an old-fashion-

©d whipping—which so many of my correspondents have advocated —may •in certain cases he the best thing-for one naughty child, boy or girl, it would; I fancy, be not advisable for another. However, as I have recognised throughout, or tried to, a general‘rule can hardly be applied; but. I think we may leave the punishment fearlessly in the hands of the average mother .sure that she will do her best for her child.

EACH IN HIS OWN TONGUE. (Of poems published within the last fifteen months, says tlie "Critic,” three or four have at once become popular—none of them more so tlian "•Each in Ill's Own Tongue,” by William Herbert Car ruth.) A fire mist and a planet, A crystal and a cell. A jelly-fish .and a saurian, , And a cave where the cave-men dwell; Then a sense of law and beauty, A face turned from the clod — Some call it Evolution And others call it God. A haze on the fair horizon, Tho infinite, tender sky, The ripe, rich tint of the corn-fields, And the wild geese sailing high— And .all over upland and lowland The sign of the golden-rod— Some of us call it Autumn And others call it God. Like the tides on a crescent sca- - beach, ' . . When the-moon is new .and thin, Into our hearts high yearnings Come welling and surging in Come from the mystic ocean, Whose rim no foot hath trod — Some of us call it Longing And others A picket frozen on duty, A mother starved for her brood, Socrates drinking the hemlock. And Jesus on the rood; And millions who, humble and nameThe straight, hard pathway trod— Some call it Consecration And-others call it God.