FIRESIDE SCRAPS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 353, 23 March 1889, Page 4

FIRESIDE SCRAPS.

Right of Women to Propose. — Mr Dion BoucicauU. has published his opinion that, women thould be allowed to propose. He " hates a privileged class, and prejudice?, however respectable ;" and " why an honest woman may not freely and honourably acknowledge her pieference in selecting a partner for life " he does not see. Selection, however, suggests possession — the certainty of acquiring what we have set our hearts on — whereas a proposal presupposes at least the possibility of j ejection. How dreadful it would be for a you nee woman to have the reputation that some young men have of *' making fools of themselves " after supper (or indeed any meal ; 5 o'clock tea would, perhaps, be worse than supper) by proposing indiscriminately ! It is a practice, lam told, that, grows upon you ; bub it is nob what the doctor calls a wholesome growth. For a young person to boast of the lovers she had rejected may be ciuel, but it is natural enough ; so the Indian chief plumes himself on (and with) the scalps of fcho fallen ; bub for her to sustain defeat in her own proper person seems not exactly right. After a few seasons it might be said of one of Ihcse too advanced (and advancing) young persons, just as is now said of the too impressionable males, " That girl has asked more men to marry her than any girl in London." It might be true, but to my thinking ib would nob be pretty. — James i'ayn, in the Illustrated Neivs.

"OriD.v" on Dressing Ciiildhtx. — In an ai tide on dress " Ouida " says: — Children should be diessed as well from infancy as the means of their mothers permit ; thus only can they grow up with that ease in dress and the habit of it which are essential to its effect. The dress of children should be simple and never overladen, but it should be picture-like, and white should predominate. Nothing suits tho soft lines and colours of all childhood so well as white — indeed, at all ages white dress is beautiful. It is of all tilings the most agreeable to wear, because as it shows ©very speck of f ]irt, perfect cleanliness is en&uied by it. Marie Antoinette preferred white gowns to those of any colour, and most women of any delicate taste will s»how the same preference. The dominance of black which is seen chiefly in London is an error ; it; gives a most gloomy aspect to concerts and parties, and nothing collects dust so rapidly. Black or grey is well worn by those women who nre obliged to go about alone and on foot, because thus clad they attract little notice in the street ; but for the woman of tho world, who usually drives wherever she goes in cities, this reason for the adoption of sombre garb does not exist, and it is a fallacy to suppose that black is becoming. White clears the complexion, but black dulls it, unless, indeed, the black be black velvet, now so seldom used, yet in which everybocty, male and female, old and yonng, dark, and fair, look their best in cold weather.

Dog's Hair Cloth.— A new material i s much talked aboubin Paris. It is made of dog' B hair, and the first piece of it was piec-entcd by the Elbeuf weaver, who made it, to President Carnob. The colour is brown, and bhestufl looks likearough tweed, but feels silky, and may be supposed to be wonderfully strong. The notion has pleased the Parisians, and there is quite a demand for j dog's hair tissues, both for dresses and for I gentlemen's waistcoats. A portrait of the dog whose silky coat first suggested that, its hair might be spun and woven is given with every piece of the stuff. ~

Self-Education.— One of Uie advantages of self-educabion lies in the fact that ifc porj mits a strong will to follow a personal | taste. An explanation of the great succebs often of whut are called self-made men may be found in their freedom to follow the path of most attractiveness. Many a mind is diverted by the father or mother, or by the dignity of a college course and faculty, from the channel for which nature fitted it, ' and thus a genius dies, not of neglect, bub of too much attention. The good of a col- ; lege consists partly in its being a world's exposition of menial wares. The student ; can see and taste all the kinds of fruit that ; grow on all the trees of knowledge. Each ' professor stands for a department of study and action. Each conspicuous student is made eminent by some mental quality of mind «cr form of acquisition. Thus the taste and drift of life are not settled by the fact of an uncle, but upon the broader basis of having soen the many paths in which genius may tread. By the time the student has entered his junior year he should begin to suspect what he is good for, and should begin to be&tow some extra attention upon all that would fit him for that pursuit. The man who spends his junior and senior years upon simply a college course will never a&tonish or benefit society much in his manhood life. 1 If a youth finJs himself unable to go to college he need not feel that all is lo?t or that half or a third is lost. Self is the all. It is that something which arises above the schoolhouse.

Inventors at Work. — The rate ab which the inventive genius of the mother country appears to be at work is quite startling. In the lirst number of the Mm/rated Official Journal {Patents) a list is set out ot applications which were made for patents from the Ist to the sth of January, and they mount to no fewer than 251. They come in at the rate of fifty a day, and deal with almost every phase of our life. Machinery has of course, a prominent place, but wo havealso inventions for such domestic purposes as preventing accidents to the hands of persons engaged in cutting bread, the simultaneous

opening of envelopes and extracting of letters therefrom, and for preventing children looking afc their hands in playing the piano. An improved toothpick, a new cut of gloves, a combined whip and walking stick, a new rocciver for catching grease from candlesticks, a sanitary ink, and a medicated pillow for inducing sltep, are a tew more samples of the little aids to civilisation which our inventors aro always supplying us with. It would be difficult to say how many or how few in the whole list will hit the public taste ; but sometimes an inventor of one of these apparently insignificant but commonly used articles finds that he has " struck ile."

Talking. — " A still tonguo shows a wise head," is a capital old saw, but, alas ! how few of as follow it ! I thought I had learned to have a still tongue year's ago, but every now and then it wag* "a little too much and gets me into all sorts of scrapes. I have always thought that if you felf. that you were right, you ought to say so, and stick to it, and keep on saying it and sticking to it, but X lind it isn't the best way to get on in the wcvld, Stick to it, if you are t>nrc you are right, but do leta snying. Don't talk at all unless it id necessary to do so It takes far more talent, as someone s>aid, "to make a good listener than it does co make a crood talker.' Pl'i v and Patikxck. — It is true tha no bad man is ever brought, to repentance by angry words, or by bitter, pcoi nlul reproaches. He fortifies himself against icproof, and Inn Is back foul chaigos in the face of hi& accuser. Yet guilty and haidened as he &eem?, ho has a heart in his bosom, and may be melted to tears by a gentle voice. Whoso, therefore, can restrain his disposition to blame and find fault, and can bring himself down to a fallen brother, will soon find a way f o better feelings within. Pity and patience are the two keys which unlock the human heart.

LONI.KVJTV AMD L]IE HABITS.— TIIO life habits of people who have come to be centenarians aro described as follows :—Activity, out-of-door exercises, and eaily rising with moderation in diet, s>eem to bo the most important factors of longevity. Few tiring tend to promote health and vigour moio than acthity — activity wiihout excitement — ati activity which does not wear the body out. The candle ought to burn briskly, and, as a gin oral rule, at both ends, regarding the head or brain as one and the limbs or locomocary agents as the other ; but it should not burn too fasb.