WOMEN'S INTERESTS

Hokitika Guardian, 28 May 1932, Page 3

WOMEN'S INTERESTS

SWING TO AMBER. . AGAIN POPULAR WITH WOMEN

For thirty years the feminine world has been untrue to amber, choosing in prefernce not only previous stones, gold and silver, but even all kinds o? imitations. But in the last few months one sees amber everywhere, although the more or less clumsy bracelets and hangers have given way to more delicately-shaped ornaments. The shops show articles of many colours, from milky white and rose to the deepest yellow. The return to favour of this ancient semi-precious material has attracted the attention of clever handicrattsinen, and, .above all, of carvers of amber. One sees dainty flasks, jewel, boxes, powder boxes, tiny images of saints or of buddha, and altars. Among the treasures shown at a recent exhibition by a Berlin firm was a. valuable altar, its batyj and doors made of thin planes of dark amber. When one opened its doors, a delicate greenish-yellow shone from the interior. A Munich sculptor made the altar, which is hardly more than eight inches high and of the same breadth.

The articles of personal adornment are of surprising variety. There are broodies, pendants framed in silver, bracelets, buckles, and even rings of different coloured amber. Necklace.in particular run through the whole gamut °f colours. One finds here numberless combinations—amber with mountain crystal, . chrysoprase, amethysts and other semi-precious stones —and there are ear-rings to match. Many really beautiful sets of this kind have been observed at this year’s fashionable balls. In the days before the war amber, was occasionally used for the decoration of gowns. At one court ball a prominent society woman appeared with a long train glistening with hundreds of small amber beads.

Although amber is nothing but the petrified pitch of coniferous trees, geologists regard it as a mineral. Millions of years ago all Northern Germany was covered with coniferous forests. Whenever a tree was injured it exuded pitch, and this accumulated for age after age. Then came the ice age, with its vast glaciers from the north and buried the flat lands for thousands of years. And under its pressure the pitch hardened into amber. • But the only really great deposit of this mineral, and the only one o" any. commercial importance to-day, lies near the village of Palmicken, not far from Konigsberg, and close to the Baltic Sea. Hero one finds great strata of blue earth, the remains of the forests of primeval days, where most .of the world’s supply of amber is spoored. Amber is also found in corain other, places on the Baltic and also the North Sea, and in some southern lands, hut the deposits are so scattered^and the pieces of amber so small that no systematic and profitable mining operations are feasible.

Regular mining is done in Palmicken. Small quantities of . amber are also washed upon the shore by the waves or secured by dredging, but most of the mineral on the world market is obtained by mining The blue earth is found at about 150 feet below the earth’s surface. Some years ag<. the Prussian Government, which has a monopoly of all amber in the State, decided to begin subsurface mining. At first the work was conducted as in any mining. Shafts were sunk an a tu"nels were driven out horizontally to secure the amber-bearing blue oort I ’. which was then brought to the surface where the amber was washed out. R”f the difficulty and expense o' 1 shorin'* no the soft earth were too great,Hand this svstem was abandoned.

.Amber ivns known as long a"o as the Stone .Age. Witli stone, wood and bone it is one of the oldest materials ever employed bv man. Tt is found in ancient graves in all oarts of E"vope. for primeval peop’es ascribed magic values to it and for that reason buried tbeir dead with amber ornaments. To this day one finds it in connection with certain folk-costume 0 in Germany. Perhaps its electro-mag-neftc qualities were responsible for the magic properties ascribed to it.

All the museums of the world possess valuable collections of artistic amber carving's from the dav« of the Greek and Romans, the MidcVc Ages and the Renaissance. Especially film are the collections in Berlin. Danzier. Dresden, Florence, Moscow, Petrograd Paris and Vienna. These include n ( 'i onh’ ornamental boxes, figures, flasks cabinets and house altars. hut also whole sets of dishes, chandeliers chess-boards, drinking vessels, etc.

WOMEN INVADE CLUB

MALE STRONGHOLD CRUMBLES

Women have broken into yet an other male stronghold this week!

.Members of tbo Junior Constitutional Club in Piccadilly may now invite their friends of the fairer sex to linn I or dine with them at the club on Sat urda.vs and Sundays.

One o: the best rooms in tin’s hither to exclusively male resect lias been “u 1 conditioned” to receive them. The morning room has been divided inti two, one part being furnished as a special dining-room, and the other as a lounge. Moreover, feminine touches- flowe's artistic lamp-shades, and settees draped in pastel coloured loose covers have been introduced to make the women feel thoroughly at home.

Hints from Home and Hbroad.

NEW USE FOR WOOL. FILLING OF MATTRESSES

With the low prices for wool throughout the Dominion and a serious reduction in the income of farmers, any further usee to which wool might be put locally would be of great value not only to individual iarmers, but also to the country as a. whole. In addition to providing an internal market for wool, with resultant relief to the growers, the use of wool in place of imported materials would be a further step toward keeping money in the country which would otherwise he sent overseas Jt has been suggested that New Zealand manufacturers might utilise more freely the cheaper classes of wool as foreign materials, the chief of which is holstery and cushions in preference to foreign materils, the chief of which is kapok A number of manufacturers have already realised what can be done in this direction, and several types of locally-made mattresses are now on sale which are filled entirely with pure New Zealand wool, which has been thoroughly scoured and prepared for this purpose., In ordinary times and normal prices wool is, of course, too valuable a material for stuffing purposes except in articles which can be sold at a luxury price, but owing to the present' fail in values well-filled wool mattresses .are now procurable at prices which compare favourably with those filled with kapok. While they can hold their own on the score of prices, they are superior both in comfort and lasting quality. They are warmer in winter and c. o'er in summer than kapok and retain their resilience or “spring” much lunger than the commoner materials, while they do not give such a. volume of dust and not so prone to heroine lumpy.

GREEN FACE POWDER.

AID TO WEARER’S HEALTH.

Green face powder, skilfully applied to hide the redness of the nose, was strongly urged by Mr Stanley Redgrqve, a. delegate at the pro essional nursing, midwifery, and public health conference held in London recently.

“Speaking as a mere man,” he said, “I prefer living in a world of pretiy women to living in a world of ugiy ones; and I do not suppose that 1 am unique in this respect." In. the case of dietetic patients undergoing treatment for digestive disorders, for instance, the use of cosmetics was a real aid to recovery, he declared. The woman makes up. She looks well. She feels well, and the e - feet of the treatment is enhanced.

As for perfumes, it appears that almost all of them are good autisepii. s, and Mr Redgrove advocated their extensive use not only by women but also by men.

WIFE’S ACTIVITIES DISAPPROVED

Lady Butterfield, the American-lio-n wife of Sir Frederick Butterfield, lias resigned from the post of president of the Keighly Women’s Conservative Association, to which she was elected during her absence, because her husband did not approve of her taking on any public work. Lady Butterfield at first declared that she intended to accept the post, but her husband stood firm, and she agreed to discuss the matter with him. The result of the discussion is the allowing statement from Lady Butterfield herself: “One’s real happiness is in the home. Any public duties are a secondary matter, and, if one’s health is not equal to both, public matters should ho dropped for the woman’s real happiness.” '

THIS WEEK’S RECIPES

Mock Cutlets

Ub minced meat (cold) 6ozs cold potato, salt and pepper to taste, 1 or 2 tablespoons sauce, 2 eggs, breadcrumbs, )oz macaroni. Mince meat finely, mix with potatoes. Work mixture well, then add sauce, salt, pepper, and sufficient of beaten up egg to bind. Flour hands, form into balls, then press on board into form of cutlets. Put a small piece of macaroni into the end of each, dip ino the remainder o the beaten egg, roll in breadcrumbs and fry in boiling fat for about 10 minutes. Decorate with parsley.

Lemon Souffle

loss sugar, lor. butter, lor, flour, 1 teacup milk, 2 eggs, lemon essence. Put into saucepan, stir in flour until it is a smooth paste, add milk, stir until quite thick. Remove from fire and drop in yolks of 2 eggs and sugar and lemon. Add whipped whites of eggs, tin u put souff'e into a. greased shape and steam, without lid, for 1 hour.

Walnut Cake.

](V>7, flour, fOoz sugar, l()oz butler. 'I eggs, one teaspoon baking powder, one teaspoon cocoa, one teaspoon spie - , two flit ml Tills chopped walnuts, (ream buttci:' and sugar, add eggs, well beaten, iui ( | then the dry ingredients. Ir<> with chocolate icing. Ihike one hour.