WOMEN'S INTERESTS

Hokitika Guardian, 3 December 1932, Page 3

WOMEN'S INTERESTS

BRITISH FASHIONS.

American, French, and German buyers are coming to London to see what i s being produced in the way of British fashions. At the opening of the Fashions and Women’s Wear Exhibition they saw that for autumn aim winter fashions:

Skirts are to remain the same length, touching the", floor for evening wear and shorter for daytime. Fur “dolmans” or “tippets” of grandmother’s day will be fashionable.

Thicker materials will be used for evening wear because women want better tailoring.

j Knit wear, for afternoon and walking dresses, is being made' in England for the first time. It used to come from Germany. CHAMELEON HANDBAGS. Chameleon handbags, in deep metallic colourings, such as peacock green knd steel-blue, are the fashion in England. They are fitted with those modern 1 anetal clasps resembling parts of a i machine, which, according to advance fashion news, are to be seen, a great deal this winter.

Most women will be glad to hear that seal and calfskin are again to the fore, for nothing could be smarter and, at the same time, more serviceable for the purpose. Diced grains promise to be popular, and there are some attractive models in velvet pigskin. Owing to the vogue of two-colour outfits predicted for the autumn, many handbags are made in two-colour schemes. Designs are sophisticated and geometrical in character, insets of a contrasting colour taking the form of bold squares, triangles or heraldic quarterings, similar to those seen in some of the latest jumpers. ODD LOVE LETTERS , TWO UNSENTIMENTAL DIVINES (Proposals by Notables) Was there ever a lover so umomantic as George Whitefield, the famous di-' vine, who wrote this to the parents of a , girl he wished to marry:— 1 “This comes like Abraham’s servant to Ilebekah’s relations to ask whether you think your daughter is a proper person to engage in such an undertaking. - If so, whether you are pleased to give me leave to propose marriage to her. You need not be afraid of sending me a refusal; for I bless God, if I know aught of my own heart. I am free from that foolish passion which the world calls love. . “I write only because I believe that [ it is only the will of God that I should alter my state j but your denial will 3 fully convince me that your daughter ( is not the person appointed by God for me'. ’ ’ '

When he received the parents’ per-

mission to approach the young lady, Whitefield wrote to her : “I make no profession to you. The passionate expressions which casual lovers 'use, ought, I think, to be avoided. 1 can only promise to keep my matrimonial vow.” The girl, possessing more spirit than her parents, gave the unsentimental divine a well-merited lesson (in manners.

Not less unromantic was Dean Swift’s proposal t« Miss Waring. It took the form of an ultimatum calculated to scare and disgust the most amiable of

woman.. I ' “Are you in a condition,” lie wrote. I "to manage domestic affairs with an income of less than three hundred pounds a year? Will you be ready to engage in these methods I shall direct for the improvement of your mind, so as to make us entertaining company for each other, without being miserable when we are neither visiting nor visited ?

“Cleanliness in parson and competence in fortune are all I look for. I singled you out at first, from the rest of woman, and I expect not to be used as a common lover.”

What Miss Wa ring’s answer was to this “laying down of the law,” we do not know. We know, however, that she refused to become the wife of so' callous and unchivalrous a wooer. Dr. Abernethy, famous almost as much for his rude manners, as for bis surgical skill, had seen Mis s Anna Threlfall only once when he made up his mind that she would be desirable as a wife. He had no time to waste in billing and cooing, so he wrote the following business-like offer of his mind : “Dear Madam,—l am much too busy a man to have timo for dove making. but I should like to marry you, and shall bo glad to learn your decision before the end of the week.’ r

To the young woman of his choice, a blunt and undiplomatic lover wrote: “You’re none so young as you once were. You’re not much to look at, but a good worker. You’d better take me. I’m willing to have you, and you mightn’t get another chance.”

Rowland Hill begged a ladv to accept him as “a poor worm in the. character of a minister of Christ, and another ‘poor worm’ wrote thus to the lady who had won lvs heart:— “I am convinced that T could never make yon happy. The devotion of my life would not recompense you for the sacrifices you would make in marrying me, but if you think otherwise, in pity let me know by return.”

Hints from Homs end HI road.

1 EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN. For centures and centuries, woman has been man’s chattel. For centuries and centuries one of mail’s main urges has been to shut women away not only from other men but even from the companionship of her own kind. Less than a century ago, there was no woman’s club in ail England. The average female of those days, whatever her class, lived a life or comparative seclusion. Again let the average girl, and more particularly tne average poor girl, of to-day thank her scars that such an epoch lias gone by. Even as to-day they are no longer denied the society of men, so are girls and women no longer denied the society of one another. Their sport/s, their work, the very style of modern living, iittle town flats and little suburban houses, the mere circumstances that they are constantly travelling in and out of the flats and houses either pleasure-wards or workwards, all combine to broaden the. ties of female companionship.

HERE AND THERE INSIDE THE HOUSE.

When washing tussore silk, use bran water in place of soap. 'To stop a door lunge from creaking give it a spot of oil or rub it with a lead pencil. Spoon s stained with egg should bs rubbed with damp Salt' be.ore being washed.

A few shreds of candied lemon peel will give a delicious flavour to bread pudding. Gilt chinaware should never be washed in soda (water; soap alone should be used.

To curl feathers, damp and roll them in curling pins as if curling the hair. Leave for 24 hours; then comb out. A yard of cheese c(oth soaked in paraffin oil, with a little linseed oil added, makes an excellent dustcloth. GOSSIP FROM OVERSEAS. Queen Mary, like all good housewives, buys anti-moth' herb sachets for the Royal wardrobes, fche likes best potpourri and pomanders. Her Majesty’s favourite potpourri mixtures are lavender, rose, and an 18th century .blending of dried petals and spices.

Out of every £loo’'' which English housewives spend, only £ll gees for cereals, including bread. Whereas £C3 is spent in all kinds of animal products. The British are among the world’s greatest meat-eaters.

I At the fashionable Mediterranean resorts the rumba has superseded til. other dances. In London shy English couples still prefer the eternal foxtrot> with an occasional old-fashioned waltz. But abroad they are the first to answer the insistent pagan call of the Cuban rattle, and are among the best dancers of the rumba. \

Paper rose leaves are the missiles now hurled at newlyweds, in place cl confetti and rioe. filiowers also include paper buds and flowers, silver slippers, and silver horseshoes*. DO YOU KNOW? That any fresh fruit which i s peeled and sliced for salads can be prevented from turning brown by sprinkling with lemon juice. This very simple hint enables you to p epare fruit salads several hours before they are needed—an advantage that will recommend itself to all those who dislike last-minute preparations.

| That a rice pudding can be made in half the usual time by first boiling the rice in water. The grains will then need very little baking, and you wil not find it necessary to use quite so much milk.

That the full flavour of mint and parsley may be brought opt by washing it in hot voter, instead of coid, immediately before chopping.

HAVE YOU TRIED THESE?.

Ginger Gems. £lb butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup golden syrup, 2 small teaspoons baking soda, I tablespoon hot water, cups flour, | packet of spice, 1 packet of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger. Beat sugar and egg, add syrup heated. Put water and soda in a cup and fill with cold milk. Then add slowly ether dry ingredients. Put in well heated and greased gem irons and bake for 15 minutes. These can be made not quito so hot by putting -J cup of cinnamon and ground ginger. ** * * Holiday Biscuits. Eight ounces flour, two ounces butter, one egg, half cup sugar.: half tes’snoon baking powder. Sift flour and baking powdor, rub in butter, add .sugar and egg (beaten). Roll out and cut to any shape fancied. Bake a light brown in a quick oven. Spread with jam and place two together. '