WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 305, 3 February 1910, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

KINDEST OF QUEENS SOME TALES OF QUEEX ALEXANDRA. 'there can be 110 doubt that 110 QueenConsort of England lias ever been so popular and so loved as Queen Alexandra. just as "before her there had be.'.a no more popular Princess of Wales. Her wonderful charm of manner, her beauty, her. kindness of heart, lias all served to make us her devoted admirers. The stories told of her are simply uncountable, and every one of the?n shows her in some pleasant light. Her passionate love of animals is well-known. A little while back some Canadian ladies expressed a warm desire to present the Queen with a couple of Canadian horses and wrote asking if the gift would be acceptable. Her Majesty waived her rule against receiving presents, and replied that she would be. very pleased to accept the horses. The committee formed to organise the gift procured two magnificent horses, with long tails and sweeping manes; but one member of the committee, a veterinary surgeon, had the horses' tails docked before they wove shipped to England. When the animals arrived the Queen was placed in an awkward dilemma. She is very much opposed to the docking of horses 1 tails, and she felt she could not accept and drive the horses that had been sent. Yet not to accept "41x0111 was to fail in courtesy to tile Canadian ladies who had sent them. A way out was found by one of her Majesty's friends, who sent a note of explanation to a member of the Canadian committee. The committee at once begged that tlie horses might I e returned, and they were replaced by a pair of undocked animals. Her Majesty is, of course, passionately attached to her native land, and any Danish lady or gentleman who comes to the Court of St. James' is sure of a welcome from the Queen. But it is not only to Danes of high rank that the Queen shows kindness. She was lunching one day with one of her intimate friends, and towards the end of the meal she complimented her hostess on lier cook.

j "My cook will be very proud," replied ! the other. "And you may be interested I to hear that she is a Dane." ! The Queen was delighted, and asked I that the woman should be sent for. The cook appeared, nearly hysterical with excitement, and uttered incoherent replies to the royal congratulations. "What part of Denmark do you come from?'' the Queen asked. The woman told her; and she was overjoyed when the Queen said ehe knew the village very well indeed, and talked to her of things Danish for some time. Her kindness to the cottagers about | JSandringham is well known. It was ' while she was in Norfolk not long ago that she heard of the illness of an i'd cottager. She at. once ordered a carriage and drove off to see him, and on learning from the man's wife that the doctor had ordered certain delicacies that they could not afford, she told the woman not to worry, that she would 1 bring lliem herself. She returned to Sandringham. and packed a hamper with the tilings the old man needed. By this time it, was ' getting late, and the weather had become very damp and unpleasant, but in spite of this the Queen re-entered the carriage and completed her errand of mercy. Not very long ago the Queen and 'Miss Knollys were walking in a quiet lane near Windsor, when they came upon an old countrywoman in difficulties. W T ith a huge cabbage under one arm and a basket slung over the other, she was vainly struggling to get over the style. The Queen hurried forward. "Let me hold the cabbage," she said cheerfully. She slipped it under her ■arm. while with the free hand she steadied the tottering dame until she had scrambled over in safety. Then, in Ihe confusion of the moment, her Majesty was about to walk away wit I .', the cabbage under her arm. The story goes that, when she was a little gild, the Queen and some other children visited a wishing-well. Each whispered their 'heart's desire down the well, and Queen Alexandra'.* wish was: "That I mav be loved." I

FASHIONLAND (Times' Lady Correspondent). Lofidon, December 17. THE ELECTION AND ELECTION FROCKS, A TTaily paper has a short article that will be interesting to New Zealanders on elecUoii gowns. 'As the important period of the general election is quickly approaching. our women, anxious to help and work for their friends and country, are busy ordering and choosing gowns for tile campaign. I must, therefore, describe some of these charming creations, which seem to me ideal gowns for this occasion. Velvet is the keynote—velvet and fur—and what looks more suitable for January than this combination, given a charming face and figure to wear it? The favorite colors are heliotrope and dahlia, with large black velvet hats trimmed with bouquets of velvet and fur roses. Draped skirts are very much in evidence, and are very elegant if not too exaggerated in style. Should the weather prove wet, cloth and tweed will be much seen, but as long as votes

are secured, what matters a few mined gowns in these days of luxury and when women wax eloquent over the cause? Afternoon gowns iu channeuse and satin souple will prove welcome additions, which may be worn under fulllength seal and musquash coats for platform and open-air meetings. Velvet for hats and toques of alf descriptions will be needed in numbers, and the shops arc preparing some 'truly charming models for the occasion. Another paper gives an account of Suffragettes'" and anti-Suffragettes' gowns for the same occasion, under the heading of -Rainbow Hues /of Lady Canvassers." The question of campaign clothes for the general election is uppermost in the minds of many fair politicians, and tailors and midistcs are busy organising new ideas in electioneering toilettes. Though the lady canvasser of to-day no longer emulates the example of the first and foremost of electioneering ladies, Georgina Duchess of Devonshire, who bought votes with kisses, the effect of a smart and becoming garb is fully realised. "I am advising ladies who will be active in the constituencies to wear a smart Russian tunic costume," said one tailor on Saturday. "The skirt can be cut quite short, and the coal, which fastens well over the chest at the left side and may be bordered with fur, will protect its wearer against January chills, and at the same time look very trim and smart.

"Tlie party colors can be introduced in tlip braiding of the coat and hat, which might well be one of tlie clos<;fitting toques now fashionable." Scarlet, green and white, the newlychosen colors of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, will i>e worn by its members. Purple, white anu green, the now familiar eoiovs of Miss Christabel Pankhurst's followers, will appear in the Suffragette toilettes. Green, white and yellow will announce the presence of the Women's Freedom League. The pretty vieux rose and green favors o: tiie Actresses' Franchise League strikes another color note, and the Women a Anti-Suffrage League will add to the confusion with the rose, black and white, which arc already represented in their toilettes at gatherings of the League. BOOM OF TURBAN COIFFURE. Short though its reign has heen the days of the "swirl" and the turban method of hairdressing are numbered. It has never been very widely popular because, after the be-curled coiffure in favor before tlie turban style appeared, it appears loose, and somewhat untidy when carried out as many Englishwomen adorn their heads. Many are the conjectures as to 'what tlie next style will be, for no definite fashion is yet in vogue. A Gainsborough coiffure lias "been Suggested, the hair very full at the sides, a double coil twisted into the chignon at the hack, then brought over the sides of the head. Little curls are worn on the forehead. THE FOLLY OF WEARING FALSE 'HAIR. j

On the subject of hairdrcssing a leading article in a scientific journal runs: "Fashion is a tyrant. She regards not health, comfort, beauty, grace or good taste. She calmly dictates 'high-neck dressing.' and the Tittle podgy, neeldess woman goes about in agony, almost sawing lier poor little ears oil'. Dame Fashion says ; i)uteh collars' and the slender, swan-necked spinster walks among men and women looking like a gentle giraffe escaped from a zoo. ''Dame Fashion has many vagaries. And one of the most recent —and mo-t absurd —is the wearing by women of quantities of false hair." The medical aspect of the result of this is a serious one. The weight put upon the delicate bulbs of each hair by metal ornaments, heavy oonibs, false plaits and pads, is to induce absolute baldness, and it is a fact that the ivoman who wears false hair for long ■fl'ill eventually have none on her head but wnat is faisc. PRETTY NECKWEAR. Dainty little hunting stocks of bhuk satin are very smart. They should have turn-over collars of white embroidered muslin. RETURN OF FLOWERS. Feathers, it is decreed, have enjoyed a long enough reign, and flowers, disdained during the summer and autumn, are to be seen once more on millinery. IX PRAiSE OF TRAINS. Says a writer on feminine fripperies: "The train is an emblem of pride in life, and reveals a sense of dignity and the beauty of pageantry. A bride without a train is like a peacock in the moulting season. She lacks a perception of what is due to her, unless she is just slipping off her single' life in the quietest and most unceremonious manner, too happy to think of the world outside. A HIDEOUS FASHION. Lace veils, not nnlike window euruuns, arc not beautiful as tliey arc worn in London, but we hear that 'in atrocity called indignantly "the erysioelas veil" is to be seen worn by many Parisian leaders of fashion. It has both flowers and insects embroidered on it, and completely hides the face underneath from view. EXIT BUTTON TRIMMING. It is improbable that buttons will boused in profusion much longer, and West End dresmakers have chosen as a substitute motifs of guipude lace in the form of padded lace butterflies, dragonflies, etc., for trimming the front of cloth fronts. From the plain button ?o ancy laee is a big step, and it remains to ue seen whether idie innovation will prove a lasting favorite. A CARPET-CLEANING HINT. A new use for old newspapers is to

make them into carpet-cleaners—to do this damp them and tear into little pieces, then spread them over the carpet. Afterwards sweep carefully, and you will find that the pjiper as well as cleaning the carpet has also absorbed the dust. FAIR if FASHIOX.S Whatever feeling the critic has with regard to Oi'bert and German's new opera, ''■ Fallen Fairies,"' nothing iv.it praise can be given to the dresses of the fairies, which are really exquisite. Every color, every shade and eve;y variation of a shade that one can think of is represented, and in dainty graceful clinging robes" the lovely tints are well shown off. The wings are cleverly thought out. They are of tile lightest painted or tinted silk and are attached to 'he wrist, so that when tlie fairy holds her arms by ner sulc the llimsy material is just a draping—when she extends her arms the effect is that of a beautiful wing on each sale. Oil their he.ids are all soris of fascinating ornaments, dragontlies, butterflies, pigeons' wins?. etc. /