WOMAN'S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 158, 13 October 1910, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD.

(Conducted by " Eileen "). BEAUTY CRAZE. The strange suggestion made by a medical man at an inquest at Birkenhead that many girls are in the habit of eating raw rice, to the detriment of their health, from an idea that it improved their con.plexion, led to investigations being made in London by a Daily Chronicle representative. "I never heard of such a thing as eatino raw rice to benefit the complexion," saTd a woman doctor with a large practice in a poor district of London. '"lt is impossible to imagine how raw rice could improve the complexion, unless it was thought that by causing indigestion it might produce an interesting pallor. But 1 have never come across the belie/.

•'ln the Mse of the girl whose death is saiii to have been partly caused by her inordinate appetite for raw rice, i .should have thoualu it simply an instance of a iiiorwd aabic of chewing. Bon. girls au.i noiuui in certain stages of ill-health uo sullVi ironi thy strangest cravings of this km-d. I have across remarkable instances; I have known a child v.ho had an irresistible longing to chew cinders. '•'Die majority of the factory girls needing medical treatment whom I have met with are generally suffering from anaemia. This is usually brought on by working an.; living in a bad atmosphere, and'by overstrain; but, of course, unwholesome i'ood plays its part. '*T!:ey drink too much tea and eat too many pickles; and in the case of the pickles, there is no doubt that though they like them because they are tasty, they also have an idea that they encourage a slentle; iifss of figure. "But 1 do not recollect any case of illness in which health had been deliberately sacrificed to appearance. Except, perhaps, an occasional case*of tight lacing. But you never can get the patient to admit that she tight laces. If you remonstrate gently, she always declares indignantly, 'Why, I can get my fist up.' That is always the answer they give." Another lady acquainted with various aids to "beauty"' employed by factory girls and others of that class said: "Both factory girls and servants often consume a great deal more vinegar than is good for them, with a view to making themselves thin and pale. I suppose they get this ideal of beauty from the penny novelettes, where the heroine is always pale and slim. I remember a servant of ours, a nice rosy-cheeked country girl, but a little inclined to stoutness, who 'would not be induced to leave off drinking vinegar, which she hoped would make her thin. "Of course, pickles are largely eaten by factory girls for the same reason, especially pickled cabbage; while others sudk lemons. -I had not myself heard of girls eating raw rice, but it is quite possible; I know that some girls buy stareh in pennyworths and' halfpennyworths to «at j*st like sweets."

HEALTH COMMANDMENTS. Under the auspices of the Women's Imperial Health Association of Great Britain a caravan will start from London on Saturday (says a London message on August 20), on a pilgrimage of health. Among the objects the promoters have in view is to teach the following ten health commandments:— Keep windows open day and night. Do not spit. Breath through the nose by keeping the mouth shut. Drink pure water. Eat slowly, take well-cooked meals, and cultivate regular habits. Wlear loose clothing of seasonable material. Take regular open-air exercise, in sunshine if possible. Wash the whole body at least once a week. Work, but do not worry. Get house drains certified by sanitary authority. With the object of improving the national health the association, with which a number of well-known medical men and women are actively connected, has adopted the novel means of having lectures upon health illustrated by biograph. pictures, delivened by competent lecturers from the steps of a caravan in the town and villages through whieh it will pass | in its pilgrimage through the country. "This is essentially a woman's movement," said Miss R. V. Gill, the secretary, "and it is to the women that our lectures will chiefly appeal. We want to deal with the health question at.its \eiv foundation, and so we are going to teaoh flie mothers of England how to rear and nurture their children that they may become strong and healthy citizens."

LITTLE THINGS OP DRESS The skirt that is hampered in soma way at the knees still continues to be popular (says a London lady correspondent). It was originally called the aeroplane skirt, and now goes by the name j of the tied-in model, an expressive dej scription, for the effect of being tied in lis accomplished by means of the sash, a stitched band> or an ornamental fold that holds whatever fulness there is in at the knees. Some of the holiday hats with enormously high crown are wound round with silk ribbon, and are trimmed ■with aigrettes of flowers, such as roses, iris, Canterbury bells, and delphiniums There are also hats with absolutely no I crowns, trimmed on the brim, or even on the underside, to take away the effect of height, with widely-blown blossoms like water-lilies. With black hats trimmed with black, it is the fashion just now in Paris to wear a veil of deep purple or brilliant <gTeen 3 according to which happens to be the most becoming. The veils have figured meshes and are much patterned and arranged over the brim in such a way that they make a trimming. There is another new veil which is greatly liked with black hats, i and this has a foundation of rose tulle I of fine mesh, over which are sprinkled dots quite close together. In som e cases

the rose veils luvvo another veiling beneath tliem, which is caught to them by the dots, and this is citlxer of the thinnest of white tulle or of a soft shade of mole. One of the new fancies in eloves is to put colored embroidery on the back of them. This idea has been revived from the middle ages; the patterns used now are the same as were used thim. Whether or not this idea will be popular remains to be seen.