WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 199, 1 December 1910, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted bv "Eileen")

STREET ETIQUETTE,

Several youm; fellows of various social grades asked a contributor to the Nelson Mail to give a discourse on street etiquette as between the sexes, because they often lind themselves in a quandary in regard to the initiative in greeting. Thev say that hosts of girls do not I seem to know that it is their prerogative to bow or nod first, and that they wait for the men to raise their hats before they smile, bow, or nod back . The reply is worth noting: —"Now, the etiquette of street greeting between the sexes is simply common-sense. If a girl or woman desires to continue an acquaintanceship, made, say, on introduction at a friend's or at a social Gathering, she bows at the next meeting, say in the street. It is her right, and also her protection. for it- is a matter of common knowledge that many 'bounders' seek to scrape acquaintance with girls by taking the initiative in greeting. Hence, it is a rule of social life that the woman should always bow, nod, smile, or grin first, and that the man should wait for her to do it before he greets her. The breach or the neglect of the rule is very embarassing to both women and men, and it leails to much misunderstanding, and sometimes to unpleasant complications."

EXTRAORDINARY LOVE ROMANCE.

' One of the most extraordinary love roimance3 that the Westminster coroner said he had ever heard of came to light at an inquest held recently on Eugene I Henry, aged 44, a medical student, of High-street, Lewisham. Ten years ago he divorced his wife. Yet, every tlav since, he 'has met her, and lias constantly written her letters, telling her of his passionate devotion. He jumped from Waterloo bridge into the Thames the other dav. and seven days later the body was recovered. In one of the letters to his divorced wife he wrote: — "Absence makes the heart grow fonder. —Best love and millions of kisses." Another was signed: '"Your fond and devoted lover, Eugene"; and a third one: "Yours ever, Eugene." Mary Keen, the divorced wife, of Bellenden road, Peck|ham, said that the deceased divorced her ten years aeo, but had met her every day since. On Wednesday week he told •tier he was going to drown himself, and asked her to commit suicide with him. She had received a huge pile of loveletters from him since lie divorced her. When he spoke of drowning himself, he said he. was miserable at home —leading a terrible life with his mother. He added that he never wished to part from her (witness), but that his mother made him divorce her. Because they were parted 'he used to fret, she said, and he had told her Ire would rather die tll:vn give her up. She had no chance of defending the divorce, which was wrongfully obtained, and her husband told h r that he was sorry his parents had mad: him break up her home.

BOER WOMENFOLK. —— ' Writes the Hon. Geo. Fowhls, New Zealand representative to the South African Union celebrations:— 1 '! dined with General Botha at Groote Schuur last, night, and found him and Mrs. 'Botha charming people. Mrs. Botha is quite a queenly woman, and, like all the other Boer women, takes a keen interest in public affairs. I am deeply impressed with the fact that, one ;rrsat source of strength their womenfolk. The Dutch women are mostly strong, virile people; they have been reared under oonditions which make them laugh at the idea of the scarcity of domestic help. It is true many (of them have had native helps, but frequently in their history they have not onlv been deserted by theni but have had to turn out and load the guns to help their husbands to defend their homes against natives and other enemies. All this struggling with nature, animate and inanimate, £hrou<rh the long centuries lias produced a remarkably stroiiij: and vigorous race of men and women, both physically and mentally."

CONTRASTS IN DRESS To all appearances, we are, in various departments of dress, in for a period of strongly marked contrasts. For instance, while evening colors are glaringly conspicuous, the majority of those for the daytime are quite subdued, not to say dull. The latest productions include silks and velvets and crepes of Paisley patterns, and none of these are bright. llt is well-known what a toning down effect a fllmv veiling of black will have over a bright Paisley—well, the fabrics are now woven in shades so subdued as |to have the same appearance as a glaring medley has when it is seen through a black overdress. At first these appear dingy, particularly when arranged in juxtaposition with one of the glimmering satins or rich velvets in vivid emerald or in the new bright blue against whieh the blue bag would seem quite pale, or in the gorgeous kingfisher tone of peacock. In their latest phase the Paisley .patterned materials are intended for dresses, for blouses, and for trimminxrs, and perhaps, on the whole, they are more acceptable than were their often quite crudelv-hued predecessors. Then, in the realm of shot fabrics there is much to be seen which is anything but bright. Take the dress moire-antique, a great deal of which is shot; the color combined with black will most likely be brown or mulberry or indigo—every effort seems to be made to avoid any strikingly gay schemes for the daytime. Further, much of the shot velvet is dull in its result —a bright blue is shot with black, a dull rose displays a good deal of the sable hue, brown is crossed with black, and so on, and all such mixtures are characteristic of the newest schemes. There afre many striped velvets and velvets which have a small check pattern, but all through the object has been to produce something that ( does not need to rely upon any outside agency to bring about an ensemble which shall be distinctly dull. The people who no longer possess the freshness of youth, the latest effects will probably be quite acceptable, and a very great deal of the modern material is far better suited to the figure of the matron than to that of the maid.