Woman's World.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 23 February 1911, Page 4

Woman's World.

CARMEN SYLVA

Nobody in tube kingdom of Roumania works harder Ihnii its Queen. By nine o'clock, according to a writer iin the Girl's Own Paper, she is at lier desk, winter and summer, and many of the 'hundreds of letters received she answers herself. She. controls all the institutions .she ilua.s founded, and takes a personal interest in; ai'll the inmates of her homes and orphanages. Sih'o klnows exflctwhat is going on and frequently visits all those places, talking to everybody and finding out exactly what is going on and frequent lp visits flill these plales, talking to everybody and finding out exactly what eaolv person wants. In addition to all this work, she has always some book on hand and often the supervision of a. translation as well.

A JAPANESE WOMAN DENTIST

A Japanese woman dentist iluas recently established herself ifn the West End of London. She began lier career as a,nurse ; then she went on t'o .study dentistry in t-lio_ hospiParis, wihere she qualified. When at Pars, where slve qualified. When at work she""wears the soft, silicon kimono of the- lady of Japan, at prosent in the most delicate grep, with touches of faint blue, and she moves without the slightest sound, for her feet are encased in the white "t-abis'' of her native and distant la.nd. Like all modern dentists, this lady states emphatically that she prefers work such as stopping and renewing to extraction of teeth. Gold crowns, plateless work, bridge and pivot work she considers iher .speciality, as in this she canjnakc use of' the skill slio ;has acquired !hy constant practice. Ladies and children are her special .line. THE APT oFLTSTENTNG.

There is some ground for complaint that in the matter of listenin pour modern maimers are Iml. The children who were brought up to believe that they must listen to the wisdom of mamma and papa without interruption or criticism were in a fair way to become plea.santer company than a generation of people who want always to hear themselves talk. The jrt of listening is not now understood. Ft doe.s not consist in suffering bores gladly: in sitting like a. cistern for ''the dull drip of desultory declamation." It involves some capacity for directing and managing the stream of talk. Almost everpone 'has some subject or other on which they can say things worth hearing. No doubt it is generally "shop." Tiut if you have no capacity for being interested in other people's shop you had better retire to a ihermitago. REVIVAL OF OLD FA Sid lONS.

It is only when we inquire into the origin <of patterns such as nvo used for furniture, lace, jewellery, and so on that we discover how few of the shapes and desii'/ns we admire -so much are really new. At ■no period in history has there been such a distinct leaning to revivals a.s at tho present moment, as a very short investigation of the subject shows. For example, most of the chairs, conches, sideboards, and bedroom furniture now being shown in the shops as the "latest designs" are obviously modelled on those of the Georgian period, whilst l.he Jacobean influence is in its way equally distinct. Then, again, few of tho new printed cretonnes and chintzes are wholly original in pattern, for the majority are simply copies of old hangings. And the same remark can be made with respect to the new jewellery. which bears distin:-! traces of the early Victorian fashions. Lockets which are the newest development of the present fancy for pendants, were the favourite neck oi'naments of our grandmothers, and our earrrings inigiht bo pointed out as a further proof of the return to old modes. The strings of heads which to-day we wear as a finish to a smart toilette are but imitated from the end of theeighteenth century, and from that period we also derive the belt clasp of wrought metal. In the .same way the enamel that is just now so extravagantly used represents the days of .snuff boxes and bonbonniers. Lace forms about the most important detail for the adornment of our gowns, and here again we apparently do bettor than follow the lines laid down by bygone generations. True wo have machine-dri-ven looms, but the old patterns cannot be improved upon, and .so we find ourselves in the paradoxical position of really backwards whilst to ourselves we seem to be goinr* forward.