WOMEN'S INTERESTS

Hokitika Guardian, 23 February 1933, Page 3

WOMEN'S INTERESTS

CONVERSATION.

ITS TAXABLE POSSIBILITIES.

t -lii the days when ladies and gentlemen of. fashion decorated their cheeks with patches and their hair with powder , ;l . wily English statesman, rapacious as all statesmen are, conceived the bright idea-that a tax of a guinea a year on

every powdered head would provide iiiaiidosme increments to the financial resources of the State. This ; naive, combination of poll-tax and luxury-tax suggests- other possible sources of national revenue. Has it ocurred to anyone,-in all the discussion of possible tax revenues, what a steady income might flow from.- a levy on excess conversation? If such a scheme were put in operation before the next hotel, boarding house-or seaside cottage holiday season, - o.ur Treasury officials- might find themselves in March, 18'ff-i, - c'«m,putijng , a surplus instead of being busily occupied in concealing the real extent of a deficit.

Not that thjs implies any taxation upon good talk. Real talk should be subsidised, not taxed. Hut when a young and feeble idea carries' a load 0 f language heavy enough to support one of 3 Kant’s categorical imperatives, such open extravagance should pay a luxury tax. There is the ejaculatory woman : “A red rose! A red rose! How beautiful! Ho,v wonderful a colour! Did you ever see anything more beautiful!'Now, if >ou saw that colour on a hat you would say it was 1 horribly crude! All roses, of course, are lovely, out I always’ said red roses are my favourites, Lucyy and I think I’m as fond of ilowers as anyone. Red is so cheerful. Isn’t it wonderful what Mature does?” Or the reminiscent woman : “A red rose. Isn’t it pretty? Father was .always so fond of red roses. Hd died in 1800, you know—yet, years before T knew you, my dear, dust that summer we took him to Rotorua. .Everybody was so kind. Whore was I? Oh * yes, the rose. We always had red roses ct home. Cousin Selina’s husband’s sister sent us the-first bush’and so on, unhasting, unresting, the irrevaleiit chatter proceeds. We all know them. Individuals may . vary, hut the type is fixed. There is always with us the talker who fears science more than bombs;' whose chief idea of social amenity is oral verbosity ; who persistently reaps a sentence a second from a mental fertility capable of producing only an idea a day,, A,levy on.excess eonversatons would accord perfectly with the theory that surpluses are the rightful subject;of. taxation. Times of,public stress, sessions of Parliament, political campaigns, religious revivals, would .all yield large revenues. Exemptions m private life would, of course, need to he .meticulously worked out. Liberal allowances would be ; nw.de for babies, family disagreements and, golf blun-. d e rs Dinner conversations at boarding houses would be strictly standardised. A heavy tax would be imposed m non-essential-talk earlier than the meat course. A good story or two over of fee would lie wholly exempt. Penal sv:rtaxes would he exacted lot any drawing room conversation deiogatoiy to absent persons or verging on the discussion of scandal. Women who have no reticences, :md who will tell you things that no human -being .should ever tell another would be taxed to the full extent of their'incomes. Levies on excess talk would combine the two theories-of protection and revenue which are already linked together in our system of taxation. If the -taxes-operated id the protection and .revenue which are already, linked together .in cur system of taxation. If the taxes operated in the protective sense then the result would 1 be more frequent intervals of blessed, silence between acquaintances, and we should be eased of a mental .traffic, jtrain. thilt • wearies both -mind,' and •pi rit. If, however, the levies failed to protect, and loads •of surplus, language continued to plough ruinous, ruts in our mental highways, it would still lie possible to achieve a ■c-rtain emotional release. Courteous attention to the devastating flow'of 3xcess conversation would then be:ome ,a patriotic duty. Wo should endured our martyrdom with proud stoicism, knowing that ' our grim patience was diverting (increasing revenue* to the service of our impec--111 ions country.

EDUCATION IN DRESS.

ECONOMY AND CUT.

LONDON, December 30

1 One of the reasons why gh'ls are so much better dressed now than they used to be is that they ar e determined 'to have well-tailored clothes. The demand for these has been so great that you can now buy th e most inexpensive clothes and be sure of getting s» good cut. *•'

A girl with a modest dress allowance who wears a ‘well-tailored, camel-hair coat and little hat, scarf and bag to match of brightly-striped jer G ey, will look as smart a,? th e woman who has' spent' a small fortune on her tweeds and a eountrv fur coat.

Then y,ou can get adorable little imitation astrakhan-jar-kelp for two '<)>• three' guineas iftincl' 'O'nHy the expert* .•an teli the difference between these and the. real thing. These also ar<?

Minis from

Mom 2 and Ml road.

beautifully tailored, and Worn with a well-cut dress of line woollen materia) you are as smart any woman about town.

T had a very forcible proof of this recently when meeting a society woman in town, whom I know chessed by the most exclusive designers. She was wearing a long coat of n:ivy biu e pilot: cloth that fitter her perfectly, and was : ■tastened with th e ' newest clips, and, with tins a scarf and cap of diagonalstriped jersey material in blue, white; and red.

• Later, in‘the. morning I saw in a ghop window the exact duplicate -of 1 this smart, coat, and marked quite inexpensively, proving that with good taste and judgment it is easy to achieve cldc 0.11; qujte a small income. There ar e certain rules about -dress materials, styles- and colour,? which should b e included in a .modem girl’s education, then when the time comes •for her to expend her own allowance there -would' be fewer mistakes -and Ices money wasted.

One of- the - first points to remember is that 'the .fewer dinc-s a dress dr coat has the smarter it is likely to be. Also, ■ that .no garment can possibly look well if the lines of the seams o r trimming do not match each other. That is, if one is diagonal and the other straight or round. Generally speaking, the less trimming a drees has the more becoming it wi-'l ,be. Diamant 0 silver lace a.n,d odd -patches df ■embroidery all dettraot from beautiful material that is well cut and fitted. Ornaments that are .part of the dress scheme aiv> the only ones which enhance a gown. Thus, buttons' lire smart when used lo fasten a bloii,?p or rdeeve when they actually have button-holes. But a row of buttons that serves no useful purpose ie rarely a successful addition. Buckles are generally smart because seldom used unless for a practical purpose, and the same' thing should apply to bows. Never put -a bow in surh a position that it would be impossible to tie one. In buying materials it is always worth the extra expense to secure a heavy, dull surfaced rutin. o thin,crepe .de chine, or a heavy faille silk. ; Thin laih.d-.ishjny materials are usually • disappointing. ■ Manufacturers have appreciated this with the result tfiat materials are lovelier than ever this u-i&ason. •

All the new silkr, will have a dull or a rough surface, and a suggestion of substance to allow for tailored c ifects -and ' clever dr:ping. Patterned materials’ should be cares fully chosen. Multi-coloured and muddled pattern,? are never, good. Cl e:ir " cu-t 'mattems with fresh -colours are always successful, they need no ad'Ornruent, and are best when cut m simply svelte -linns that follow the n»tui‘'l figure, with fullness at the liein to lend grace. Then everv girl should be taught the value -of colour. It if? a mistaken idea to imagine that bright cdlAurs .are only for the ,woman with perfect colouring. On the contrary, bright colours will somotims swamp their prettiness, whereas a Tull or (neutral .ghade■ will bring out all the glowing tint,3 of Hair and skin-by way of contrast. The woman whose hair is just brown and oomnlexion merely .passably twill, gain distinction by wearing a frock of some,-clear colour mef) os gentian blue,! glowing' red, • warm .yelloiv, .or a clear, bright green.

Anvonp-df • these .which m + « rs - a complement to her . eyes will lift ‘her .appearance right out of the ordinary, /lid it is-attention to such -details as these which matter a great deal more than -actual money in achieving that well-dressed look we all desire

HAVE YOU TRIED THESE? ’Coconut C ike : —Onettliird cup butter, 1 cup sugar, L cup milk, L‘- cups dour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, f te’aspsoion salt, 4 egg whites, teaspoon almond flavouring. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add-tli e milk alternately with the flour, sifted With fiho baking powder and salt. Fold in the beaten egg whites, flavour, and pour into 3“ well-gre:sed cake - pan? 7 inches in diameter. Bake in a ■ moderate oven fo;. 20 minutes.

•Icing: One cup dessicated coconut., Boil together 1 cupful of sugar and J cup water t,o 238 degrees -F. (soft balls in cold watr). Bat 2 egg whites .untileti.ff enough to spread. Spread each layer with the icing and then sprinkle with the coconut

American -potato Pancakes • To 1 pint, vif well-drained potato pulp add 2 beaten eggs, } teaspoon salt, a teaspoon baking powder, and 2 tablespoon,, flour. Add milk if the mixture does not -sfiread easily.' Use' 'a frying pan 10 inche s in' diameter, and cook in hot flu to the depth of i inch. This amount makes 8 cakes

Rice Pancake's: Mix together 1 cup cooked rice and ‘ 1 cup cold milk. Stir in II rup.s of prepared pancake flour and -add 1 well-beaten egg. Drop by spoonfuls on a hot griddle iron. Serve iu stacks of 2, with’delicately seasoned creamed ham and peas between and poured over the top. This amount makes 12 cakes.