WOMEN'S INTERESTS

Hokitika Guardian, 13 July 1933, Page 3

WOMEN'S INTERESTS

Mints from Jiome and Mbroad.

ANCIENT CULINARY ART OLD COOKING DEVICES In ancient chronicles we read that our first parents had little use for culinary knowledge. The world was created in the autumn and tile fruits of the earth were ripe and ready for their maintenance. All that might have been required was the boil dig or r©»st_ ing of the cruder products, or the pro* sorvation of richer kinds. We are told, also, that after the fall the sinful couple were not allowed to eat the flesh of the animals which had developed in the interval. Rut, following the. Flood, the ban was removed, and Noah and his family thus “indulged”—lived sumptuously thereafter. The brevity of this note about old-tune cookery makes it imperative to pass to less imaginary data.

Refinement of the culinary arts ill the •Western world came with the Greeks, whose highly-esteemed cooks introduced to Athenian kitchens spiceS and sauces from the East and from Egypt, as aids to appetite and digestion. Many of the Greek recipes were adopted ,by the Romans, whoso taste however, lacked the nuances of th'e Greek. At fmst they eared more for abundancy, than for the delicacy of their dishes. But at the apogee of their civilisation profusion, gave way to succulent incentives' to their palate.

Haro was greatly esteemed by the Romans, and Caesar was astonished when lie learned that his English colonists would not touch it. They had j also a passion for pork. Pigs were feel on figs until they died of “apoplectic pain,” which, as a writer says, wasthe nearest approach to the “dying of a rose in aromatic pain.” Scotsmen may care to know that the Romans were the first to make the “true, and original haggis” of pork instead of mutton. It was called “ventrem porci" num,” and in Apicius there is a full list of its numerous ingredients.; The aborigines of Britain lived the simple life. They had no oil, barbarian butter is not mentioned, and neither hares <>-eese nor liens were eaten “from } 0,a notion of superstition.” They lived mainly 0 n .milk and flesh. The Normans it was who inaugurated a peiiod of “grand, entertainments.” Richard 11. was renowned for the “splendour and elegance of his table, his niceness and delicacy in eating, like Heliogabalus, who.se,. f . .fayouritp, dishes are said tp have,, been the tongues of peacocks and nightingales, and the brains of pheasants.” From these records we pass to the time of the rare,, first edition of a volume on cookery, which was compiled by Rarkunncp Scappi, ..private cook-/to Pius VV, and published in Florence in’ 1750, .Among the various remarkable pictures in this hook au,e an instrument for .raising large pots on to tlie.fire aiid a. mill witji three spits revolving' siriir ultaneously aliove a big fire, each at different speed, regulated by clockwork machinery. y .

FASHION’S NEW LINES

HIGH HATS “WITH CARE” “It is the top half of a woman’s dress that counts in the day-time fa ions,” said a well-known London dress designer recently, apropos of the new season’s mode. A square .shoulder line, •ftnportant sleeves and high neckline, immediately give a 1938 look, however simple the materials of a gown or suit may be. ’ Even the high hat has its aim in life, which is to set off the “tray” shoulder line and prevent us . from looking too square. However, beware of these high hats. They are difficult iii the extreme, and only a very small minority of women can afford to weai a hat that is merely lAiiart, but. no* 3 becoming.

Personally, I consider the whole duty of a hat is to flatter the wearer. That is why the hat with a moderate cloche brim that can be tweaked into a dip at any point to suit the individual and so form a “frame” for the face, will always remain popular. The crown changes with each season—now square, now round—and is this season crushed at the top and slightly higher at the back; but the becoming littjle. brim —like the brook—goes on forever.

Paris has gone “all out” for ribbons this season; the passion for accessories gives scope for constant change and new ideas are always appearing. There are ribbon hats, ribbon capes, ribbon belts, sashes and scarves of all widths in every colour, plain and figured, in satin, taffetas and fine wool.

Soft silk tartan scarves drape the neckline, -of many navy ensembles. Another scarf idea may be of broad navy-blue ribbon, spotted or striped with white. It it threaded through two long button.-holes at each Ride of an upstanding coat collar, and it then tied into a bow in front, where the collar falls int<> rovers. A black ensemble had an apple green and pearl grey scarf, tied carelessly at the sjde of the nock opening, one way is to make a- collar of ribbons and drape it in front in two loops, ore above the other. This in bright red on a grey frock looks fresh and g^.

Ribbon on evening dresses is much used for shoulder straps. ’ Long braces may be brought to a bow and ends at the waist behind. Again, ribbon will form a sash, or perhaps a large ribbon bow with two loops and no ends, will do duty a$ sleeves. 1 Ribbon evening capes are charming in two colours These may be tied in the back or front, or on the shoulder, but the ends of the tie should be long. Elaborate evening gloves can be expensive but a recent brain wave induced a girl, who is very smart but equally hard up, to buy a pair of short black suede gloves and cut off the tops and... attach deep white organdie cuffs to ..wear with a long black" evening gown, and the effect was ravishing. , ’ty-f by: There is only "one kind of fancy glove that is definitely un-smart, that is a g’ove with a little buff that turns back on to the glove. These are being sold 'off very cheaply 1.-atod if you cut the cuffs off and .add- fancy material gauntlets, or crochet .deep, gauntlets of heavy white knitting cottop or n)acrame string you can have the smartest gloves at a very srpall cost.

WOMEN’S ECONOMIC POSITION

THE BASIS OF MARRIAGE. “It is. years since Sylvia pankhurst railed the flag of women’s .freedom ; and- though she did hot -strive in vin, and the feminine vote and the vote have become established facts her idea] still far from realised, said the English writer, Ann Baxter, in a recent outspoken article. To appreciate this more fully we "must go str fight for the central position, which is purely and simply '.hipheyr Wome,n of all ages to-day are; shackled by their economic dependence on men.

“The unfairness of a woman’s position in the. modern world fis that so-, irtiety does not Offer her independent security*L We,;ktill live in when a woman’s labour is looked qpop as cheap Lbour, and the ;i\va‘ge;-paid he,. x is 'based on the resumption that she 3(5 living on either a'-Tat he* a .husband, or that at lekst she'•‘can turn /to-a. map for help.

“To my’ opinion, this is a most unsound basis, particularly at the present time. The age-old .controversy as to whether or not women should be' allowed to occupy job,- that mi "lit be ' , 'filled"'by i ' : tnenos'' entirely beside the no’nt at n -time whe,-, the ravages the wAr have: made nw’v women /the mainstay of their .families. -V;.'

“The altitude adopted might be pis-, tii-fied .if the jobs held l)y wortien'-were always sinecures, but a good stenograph,er, for example, is ‘ often - the ’• ip.nd most' ,vit*l mit in the business world. She. "dees all the ppade work. Take a business man’s secretary away’ from him ard-' /what -brave bou left? A pretty helpless individual., What ;is true in business .is True id -industry. Repetition i* idle, but investigation shows that the facts arc the same—the story of women in mi’ls and factories and shops indicates'the same attitude. The first result J of Such conditions for women is that they turn nv'irrjage into a necessity, and often into a stroke of business; on the part of the wife. I do not have to explain that such .an approach to matrimony not only reflects on the fact 'that women are still far fpom. free, but also throw* all the emphasis in the wrong direction and bodes ill for happiness. «yfy .suggestion is not that women would naturally seek marriage .if they were independent of it,'.' -Buts .‘that they would /then be able to seek ib for the ,rjght reasons instead of the wrong ones. The question of health ab so of primary importance. “T am not an rpostle of sex war. I see no conflict between men and women. lam not interested in suggesting that women are in any way snnerior to men.

“But purely on social . I maintain that in the future one of the greatest tasks before progressive men and women 'must be the emancipation of women, from the burden of financial dependence and economic insecurity.

SACHET) BIRDS IN THE :EA|STSacred birds are almost as plentiful as sacred beasts. The South American ovfen bird, for example, is a small species that may hp seen constructing its'.nest of clay the year round. For some reason, however, the natives in sist that it is never known to work on a (Sunday'. As one reliable authority has recorded; “To &ay that you ha-ye seen it plastering mud on its nest without' Tegard to the Christian day of (upst, .is regarded. as blasphemous by the- natives.”

This superstition which sticks faster than the. mud, is a curious ope, since the bird ha 6 only acquired its religious habit since the introduction of Christianity into South America. The Egyptian ibis has been deified Vnd embalmed '(upon -a grand scab* iHJerp, however, the reason, for its exalted position is far less obscure than in so many other cases of animal worship. Un'-ike pestiferous monkeys, swollen-headed bulls and self-assertive eats, the bird is a real benefactor to jt.s human petrous. Apart from- being r trail times tame and entirely harmless, it acocunts for • numerous inspefe that ravage the. crops.