THE PASSING OF VEILED WOMEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 140, 3 September 1927, Page 20

THE PASSING OF VEILED WOMEN

Not so very long ago the mere mention of a Turkish woman brought visions of a heavily-veiled figure with a pair of inscrutable, mysterious black eyes peering through very narrow slits. And the background would be a severely shuttered and curtained house. These things have not absolutely vanished from the Turkey of to-day. They still exist in the more conservative circles, but the Turkish woman has already begun to win her right tr a free, unveiled life. The women of Turkey have to-da. their own union, the “Kaden Birghili The president, Mme. Naziya Mouhed din, is an extremely capable administrator, and makes the best use possible of every chance to promote the development of social and political life among her countrywomen. It is easy to imagine that her task is anything but a light one in such a land as Turkey, where barely a generation ago a woman was regarded as some sort of soulless, voiceless domestic machine. The union had a congress at Constantinople a few months ago, when it was decided that women should demand equal political rights with men—and certainly they have earne< them. Nearly all members of the union arc exceptionally good linguists, and arc thus able more easily to keep abreas' with their sisters in the West of Europe. One of them js a well-known steamship agent, while others are taking up various branches of educational work, becoming interested in the League of Nations, and gradually working their way into most professions. This brings me to a story: A few years ago there was a great women’s congress held in Italy. About eighteen nationalities were represented, but, so far as I could make out, there were no Turkish women among the delegates. At the last session the question of slave-traffic was brought up, and a woman rose to speak. She spoke in brilliant French, spoke most ably and convincingly. One could sense that she was one of those whose speaking electrifies the whole audience. Her French was that of a native, but when she sat clown, a neighbour whispered to me, “Isn’t she marvellous? And to think that her own • mother never had the veil off her face!” V.S. STOCKING WISDOM If the stockings are fine lisle, crepe lisle, for instance, each time they return from the laundry rub the threads of the heels and toes on the right side with a piece of bees-wax. You will be surprised to notice how effectively it prevents holes from coming. If a hole does appear tack a piece of net over it on the wrong side and then darn on the right side; the repair will be almost invisible, provided you have taken the trouble to match your darning cotton to the colour of the stockings. To set the colour of delicate stockings, soak them in a pail of water containing a quarter of a pint of turpentine. To Stop Ladders When you suddenly find a hole or ladder in a fine silk or lisle stocking, rub a little soap above and below the hole; this stops the ladder from running down the stocking. Silk stockings wear best when they have been laundered before use. Never hang them on the line, but roll in a towel after washing. Soak first in cold water, wash in soapy lather, rinse in cold water, and press when bonedry, over a damp piece of muslin. To Re-Foot Stockings Cut the stocking right along the seam and across the heel, taking away the worn portion. Then, with the old foot as a guide, cut a new foot out of the best part of another old stocking. Tack the new foot in place on the leg, inside the stocking, and oversew all round with wool, to avoid a seam. Use For Old Stockings When quite beyond repair, put a couple of stockings one over the other and tack in place, making a glove in the same shape as a washing glove. This you can use as a shoe polisher. Stockings split open and tacked together make good floor polishers.