Items for Ladies

Horowhenua Chronicle, 12 April 1910, Page 4

Items for Ladies

■"PARLOUR, KITCHEN AND DRAWIXGROOM. (Gathered from Various Sources.) FASHIONS IX PARIS SHOPS. Tho jabot i.s getting longer and longer. A new material for blouses in toilo do soie. Rows of gilt buttons trim tailored coats. There is a steady tendency toward narrower skirts. Grey velvet and silver buttons look well together. Some of the inew hats have embroidered velvet crowns. Shepherd plaids aro appearing once more in all colours. The new short coats will fit loosely and hang in straight line. I'ringe i.s being used on many of the turbans of draped straw tr silk. Indications are that the bolero ami Eton will again come into favour. Dyed lace of simple pattern is worn under the top blouse of sheer material. High shoes of white buckskin promise to be popular the comiiif spring. Great round bolster, muffs are rivals the flat and largo envelope affairs. I -lie newest black silk stockings are embroidered up to the instep with tin.v jot beads. Quaint i.s a bag of white suede in a naised pattern of a swan outlined in brilliants. Many a summer gown will have the skirt made up of a series of rnfiles of varying length. Dresses of coloured embroidery on white will among the unusual gowns for summer wear. It is not unusual to find four, five, and even six kinds of lace in 'combination on a single gown. White cotton crepe will bo used quite as much this spring and summer as last year. Some waists of this material aro now seen rich with elaborate designs embroidered in colours. Silk and cotton a.nd silk and linen mixtures are to be much in evidence in the spring materials. The newest theatre bags are of gold cloth with a raised embroidery of gold cord in a pattern. Worn with auto coats aro gloves of brown or grev chamois or reindeer, with wide gauntlet cuffs. Silk and cotton and silk and linen mixtures aro to bo more in evidence than they have ever been before. Rlaok and deep blue velvet have been constantly resorted to as becoming contrasts in Paris neckwear. Elaborations have reached the skirts, and. in place of tho long, plain, draperies w.hich were so plentiful last year, one finds now skirts that aro as mindi mazes of needlework of one kind or another as the waists. MRS DRUMMOXD'S lIUMAX LETTER. Mrs Drummond, a well known member of the Women's Social and Political Union, was the other day the means of having the first "human letter" sent through the pest in Glasgow. She was in the city with her boy, and desiring to solid the child homo, she resolved to "post" him, the id<-a being suggested to her by the recent action of suffragettes in London who sent ''human letters" to members of the Government. When she made her desire known to the officials i,u Charing Cross Post Office they were surprised at the unusual request, and indicated that they had doubts as to whether such a transaction could be carried out. Mrs Drummond. however, was able to convince them by a reference to the rules, and tiie officials undertook to despatch the hoy. A form was filled up and givem to a telegraph messenger, who took charge of the boy and conveyed him to tho address given. The messenger obtained a receipt on delivery and returned with it to the Post Office. A LADV IXVESTIGATOR. Mine. Curie, whose researches in the science of radio-activity have led to tho discovery of the new radio-active element polonium, lives a hermit's life, and seldom leaves her laboratory. When I called at her residence in the Rue Cuvier she sent a message saying that the many hours of close study and work through the night in connection with her discovery had so disturbed her health that she could see no one. Professor Lippmann; the famous chemist, who presented her discovery to tho Academy of Science, was, however, able to impart some interesting information concerning tho discovery. "Firstof all," lie said, "its interest is especially theoretical. Von know that many tons of pitchblende had to be treated to obtain this. infinistesimsil piece of polonium, but it has not yet been made clear that the polonium is isolated. Mine. Curie has been able to obtain from pitchblende several tenths of a milligramme of a body \uiich contains one-tenth of a milligramme of polonium, which i.s now under observation. Vou ask me to describe polonium, but I cannot, for, as I have said, it is not yet isolated, but here i.s a curious phenomenon in connection with it. The little fragment of metal is at- present enclosed in a capsule of quartz and this is kept in a liquid. Well, this liquid bubbles and sizzles. This phenomenon is probably of electric origin. The polonium gives off a strong smell of ozone, and bubbles of various other gases continually arise from the liquid in which it i.s kept. A capital point in connection with polonium is tlio rapidity of its transmutation. It will, therefore, bo possible at an early date to examine the constituent elements of this mysterious body, whereas this will only be possible with radium—which is less radioactive—at the end of 1000 or 1500 years." "AT READERS' OWN RTSK." Black Cap Pudding.—Rub three tablespoon fills of flour, smooth by degrees into a pint of milk, strain it and. simmer it over tho fire until it thickens; stir in two ounces of butter; when cool add the yolks of four eggs beaten and strained, aind half a pound of currants, washed and picked. Put the hater into a cloth well buttered, tie it tight, and plunge it into boiling water, keep it in motion for about "five minutes that it may be well mixed. Dressing for Lettuce.— Little bacon or pickled pork in a skillet, three eggs, one-half pint sweet cream, one teaspoon corn-starch, added after cooked. Fruit Salad.—Yolks of three eggs I beaten light, one cupful olive oil, beat well while stirring into eggs, two-thirds cupful of thick cream; beat thoroughly as you add to eggs and oil. Sugar to taste, tablespoonful of salt, one-fourth teaspooinful of red pepper. Cabbage or Potatoes.—One cupful of boiling vinegar, two eggs beaten well, one large tablespoonful of mustard, one large tablespoonful of corn starch. THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. The "Matin" publishes an interview ■ which the Italian journalist,

Signor Antonio Scarfoglio, claims to have liacl with tho Empress Eugenie at Naples. "Between my past and present (the ex-EniproSs is reprinted to have said) there nt'e not oiily fifty years Imfc quite ten centuries. ' What can T say, and to what purpose? I had a dream, and it was- a great drenin for tho country which liad welcomed and embraced me as sovereign. Hut this dream i.s dead —killed by destiny—and T have wished, and f wish to disappear with it. "T nm a. poor woman who has lived much and suffered much. At present f seek peace and quiet, and oblivion, in a -tranquil corner of the worid with beautiful flowers and brilliant sunrise, where my soul may be dissolved little by little, mill saline; with sky and sea, thus dviiio; before ni.v weary body. have loved Franco too much not to endeavour with all my strength to forget her." Tho Empress would not sp«ik of her souvenirs. "T am as one walking backwards," she said, "facing the horizon w.hich he has already crossed. I have reinounced the future. T live in my youth and my past. All else is but a shadow—a dark .shadow. "T resemble yonder trees. They too, like myself. live on the remembrance of their past beauty. Hut they are awaiting the spring, whereas \ no longer have anything to expect. Men mv sad winter is drawing to a close," PERSONAL ITIOMS. I l l'oni an authoratative source in St. Petersburg, a Vienna, correspondent that the condition of the Isaritsa has become so grave that she i.s no longer able to recognise tho Tsar or her children. I nere is indeed scarcely any hope of her recovery. At times the Tsaritsa wanders restlessly about her apartmeints, after locking -Mid belting all tlie doors and wind nvs ill terror at some threatening dander. When in this state she does not recognise either husband or children, but is in a state of complete mental aberration. The Queen has lately experienced a few mild a tacks of facial neuralgia, h'om which lie has suffered so considerably of late years, but there are at length definite indications that this affliction is gradually yielding to treatment. It is anticipated that- her Majesty's forthcoming trip to the Mediterranean will do much to cause tho disappearance of this painful malady, l nt her physicians insist, that she slum expose herself to fatigue as little •is possible. For this reason vlic Kimr is anxious to keep down the biir Court functions this year to the ab-vilute minimum. The Japanese have added a course of prone-r courtship to the curriculum of the flirts' school in Japa.'.i. Here in Levin wo would as soon f hiiik of establishing a school for teaching ducks to swim. The olde«?t woman in the world "elebrated 'the I'2ofh anniversary of h<M' birth on the 91st F'-bi'ivirv at Po®en. She is Fran Dutkiewiez. •n'd althoucrt. she is bent anrl feeble, almost blind and donf. she is not bedridden. Fran Dutkiewic'/, remembers the Xaivler-nie wars ••■id the fall cf the L!'tH» Corporal. Sbe was married over DO years acto. •nid !"•« been a wid' for mop- +!»;• n half a ciMifurv. tier descendants numb"'-r 500. and she has t-gre.at-great - grandchildren. MrCTf ADO A ROUT LTTTLE. The blue eyes of a star danseiise in one of the Paris theatres was the primary cause and the ill-timed lighting of a cigar was the secondary cause of a Spaniard and Frenchman meeting each other recently to fight a duel in the Pere des Princes. The principals were a Spanish gentleman, said to be resident in London, and M. Payer, a Paris merchant. All three met for -the first time last week, when they happened to occupy the .same compartment in the Sud express coming from Madrid. The Spaniard, lighted his cigar. This act angered the lady very much, and she declared that the Spaniard was very impolite, to permit himself tho luxury of smoking in the presence of ladies. The Spaniard seems to have replied that he was within his rights, as smoking was permitted in the compartment. Then M. Payer, who had been seated beside the fascinating star and basking in her smile, like the brave man he undoubtedly was, flo;v impetuously at 'the Spaniard like a fighting cock, and probably would have pulled his nose only that the ladv, fearing bloodshed, held him back with vice-like grip. The incident led to a due exchange of cards mud tho fulfilling of other formalities inseparable from a wellconducted duel. Tt was raining when the two men faced each other, and the field of honour was thickly covered, with mud. They fouirht with swords for over an hour with intervals of rest. The Spaniard was wounded several times, and in the last emeounter touched so deeply in the sword arm that he was unable to continue. So the duel was declared ended, and the principals left the ground unreconciled.