WOMAN'S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 59, 18 June 1910, Page 10

WOMAN'S WORLD.

DOMESTIC .PROGRESS. A writer in the London Daily Mail says:—A few evenings ago 1 had an advanec view of the. Id-a' Home Exhibition, to he opened I.V- week-end at Olympia. Even though the great hall was full of 'workmen, it was easy to see what a .splendid .show was 'being .prepared. As L glanced at display after display and went over the charming model home that -has been erected in the centre of the hall, I could not but be impressed by the evidences of the great changes that have come over British domestic architecture in our time. Compare tinaverage small house 'built, say, thirty years ago and the average house of today, for beauty, comfort, or convenience. Thirty years ago we were just beginning to emerge from the ugliest and most depressing stage of national artistic development. Houses at that time were high, narrow and many storied. Basements were practically universal, and in many of them gas had to be lit on every dull day. The gas fittings were crude and clumsy, and the inverted gaslight was not yet dreamed of. The windows of the men important rooms were as big a 9 ipo9fti'it:<->---a ibigness the more necessary because tile papers on the walls were in irosi cases of a light-kill- . ing nature. Architects seemed anxious then to ,put the kitchen as far away from the diiiinghi'oom a possible, and to have a steep and nanr-.v flight of stairs between them. Bathrooms were altogether the exception, even in the houses commanding a fairly high rent. As for putting a bathroom in a workman's house, it would have been deemed a foolish luxury. Cupboards were.few, hallways were almost uniformly exceedingly narrow, and most houses had no water supply save on the lowest floors. Compare that with the house of today, as seen in the Ideal Home Exhibition, or more or less in any of our newer suburbs. Basements have gone utterly, for the modern builder would not more think of making a basement than of building a house the shape of an ark. The narrow hallway has been transformed into as square and roomy an entrance way as the breadth of the land will permit. In place of the old monster window with big glass panes, smaller and more neatly designed windows have come. At the same time, the abominations of blue and red glass that the old builders delighted in for sidelihts have gone utterly. Light glass and light papers are the rule. Artificial illumination has been revolutionised. /Everyone who can afford it has electric light, and to-day, with low voltage and filament lamps, electricity has become practically as cheap as gas. Where gas is still used, the invention of the incandescent burner has enabled us to have graceful light devices that once were unimaginable. Even the sevenroom cottage now has its bathrooms, and architects are planning bathrooms with beautiful tiling, and many devices •for comfort, so as to add constantly to their attractiveness . Staircases are built in easier gradients, and there are not so many of them, the houses having more rooms on a floor and not being so high. In the .kitchen almost every housewife, save in great mansions, has gas cookers, which reduce labor to a minimum. Hard wood is often used* for floors; the old stone door' steps Which had to be whitened each morning have given place to tiling, which requires at the most a quick wash with a damp cloth. The workman's Wife pf to-day fjas her comforts in her .home which the rich merchant's wife of a generation since was unable to command'. Along' with this improvement of homes there has arisen a general desire among people of moderate' means to 1 own their own • houses, and, if possible;,, to have them ! built from their own designs. The readymade house, like the ready-made suit, may or may not fit em'e's requirements, but A'ou must not be too particular over ' it. ' , ,

THE CARE OF' THE HAIR. The condition of the hair for many days after a shampoo depends on the fashion in which it has been dried. Undoubtedly the fact that girls permit their locks to hang straight, clinging to the head, after washing, accounts for many instances of straight tresses. For it is wonderful what effects may be gained by a little management when drying the locks. For example, the hair may be divided across the top, as it is in making' ready for a pompadour roll. The upper portion should be lifted, as though a roll were to be put beneath, and a slight .twist made in the long hair, which is then pinned on top of the headi This entirely prevents that downward sweep of the locks that is so unbecoming. The pinning is done while the hair is damp, but not wet. To allow the tresses to dry with a decided parting anywhere on top, where it will show later, is a great mistake, because, unless the hair is unusually fluffy, it will certainly divide of its own accord later, and only special care will prevent the growth showing. When the hair grows in such a manner as to part naturally, the tendency must be fought against from the first. The problem of preventing' parts may be met in this way: The lodes for two inches or more on worn sides of the division are to be gathered and smoothily brushed back. Then a comb is pushed in to hold the mass securely and prevent the hair from spreading. Before putting on a hat it is well to draw the hair over the division, wnich otherwise will have opportunty to make itself more evident from the .pressure caused by the hat. The girls who think it is a nuisance to arrange their hair, especially for the night, fail to realise that it lies for hours on the pillow, and is more than likely to grow according to the way it falls. The effect of sleeping on the hair is shown by the fact that girls whose hair is naturally wavy find the side of the head on which they sleep less wavy tlian the other. On the same principle, if" artificial waves are used through the night, that side on which one sleeps will have the most wave, because the pressure is greater there. The habit of not taking down the coiffure at night can have but one effect: it will make the- hair lose its lightness, tor the lodes lie together settled, and so will be neither thick nor soft. To take down the coiffure and arrange the hair, even in the same style improves the appearance of the head for all time.

USE FOR SAWDUST. Sawdust may ibe made to serve a num'l>er of purposes for the housewife. (I) It is splendid for removing sediment in glass and earthenware, etc. (2) A handful .thrown on a dying fire will help to revive it. (3) Well dried and heated, and sprinkled over grease spots in carpets, etc., it is very useful in removing these objectionable 'marks. It should be well rttbhed in, and left for a few hours and repeated if necessary. (4) Heat some sawdust on a sheet of'paper in the oven, and it is an excellent remedy for mildew and damp spots on. metal for other polished goods. (5) Rub some dry sawdust on articles that have 'been polished, and the polish will last longer. (6) Slightly moistened sawdust, sprinkled on outhouse floors, verandah, or larder, etc., and off with a hf r d broom, will dean tutjjiiooia vtiUioLi. liju.; i..