WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 235, 9 February 1911, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen"). ' ] HOW ffO TRAIN THE IDEAL WOMAN. \ SOME LIVING LESSONS. j Writes Mrs. Elizabeth Sloan Chcsser, M.8., C1i.8., in a London paper: The idea that no girl's education is complete until she has a delinite knowledge of home science has steadily advanced during the last few years. The aim of all true higher education must be to produce women of the best type, trained in all the practical duties of the home as well as intellectually proficient in the arts and sciences. The old idea that a woman somehow understands intuitively how to cook a dinner and bring up a baby is not borne out by facts. The unI trained woman is a muddler. The young | mother who has never received any I teaching in child management has ofte'n to buy her experience dearly. The domestic arts must be patiently acquired just as chemistry, philosophy, Latin and Greek have to be mastered step by step, fact by fact. To this end domestic economy classes must become a recognised section of every girls' school in the Kingdom, and child management should be regarded as the one subject in the curriculum which is compulsorily for every scholar. The highly educated girl with no practical knowledge of cookery, household management, and the care of children is some-| thing of a farce, but she may not realise her helplessness until her baby, .aged four weeks, is in her- arms, and the trained nurse is departing to her next "case." .We cannot blame the young mothers whose babies die from improper feeding, mismanagement, and maternal ignorance. It is our educational system that is at fault. What is the use of algebra, mathematics, or logic to the wife oi a struggling professional man, if she docs not know how to provide her small family with good nourishing food at the minimum of expense? If housewifery and child management were taught systematically at school, it would affect enormously the comfort and happiness of countless numbers of homes in every class of society. The infant mortality rate is highest among the poorer, but it is far higher than it need be in all classes. The poor babies are too often left to the mercy of the nurses whose smart uniforms and arrogant manners hide a vast amount of ignorance. High wages do not ensure knowledge of infant science, and the nurses who have had a definite training in child management are in a small minority. They are expensive also, and out of the question for many people who pay big wages to their cooks and who coulu not support life without a motor car.

By teaching every girl in the country the elements of what is woman's most important work, we shall help to solve the infant mortality problem. Witli regard to the practical teaching in'schools, dolls would answer to the purpose to some extent, as they do in Japan. It would not, however, be a difficult matter to arrange for a woman doctor or trained nurse to give a demonstration once a week with real babies on the feeding, hygiene, and general care of infants. Thousands of babies die annually because their mothers do not understand infant eare, and the nursemaid who said, when she was asked what temperature the baby's bath ought to be, "when he turns red the water is too hot; when he turns blue it's too cold," is by no means an extreme example of ignorance. A BEAUTY DOCTOR'S CONFESSIONS.

A lady beauty doctor recently contributed a series of "Confessions" to an American newspaper. They make interesting reading, and throw some curious sidelights on human nature. It comes almost as a shock to learn that there are many women, and not a few men, who are bitterly dissatisfied with the shape of their noses, and bear Nature a grudge in consequence. Unhappily for the malcontents, little or nothing can be done to alter the form of the most prominent facial feature "once it has chosen its shape for life." Nevertheless, the beauty specialist is constantly appealed to by despairing owners of unsatisfactory noses. "I am much troubled about my nose," wrote one worried correspondent. "If you can tell me how to shorten it I shall be ever so grateful. Is there «ny form of exercise or calisthenics which will reduce the bridge?" Alas! the doctor was powerless to aid. "I knew then," she says, "of no gymnastics adapted to reducing the bridge of the nose, and know of none now. But the address of my correspondent is carefully preserved, for there is no knowing what new light science may some day shed on this knotty problem.'" Another lady wished to learn whether anything could be done to shorten her little daughter's nose. "It would not be too long for her when she grows up,' wrote this anxious materfamilias, "but it ought to be stopped now. I would take her to a surgeon, but I cannot afford it." "Blessed be the poverty that prevents," replied the beauty doctor, who treats many defects to the satisfaction of her clients, but is saddened at times notwithstanding to find there are limitations to her powers. That she cannot, by taking thought, add a cubit to the stature or take' a cubit off is one of her regrets. Yet the tall people who want to be shorter and the short people who would give the world to be taller are neither few nor far between. "If you will kindly tell me of a recipe to prevent me from growing any taller," wrote one perplexed correspondent, "I will buy that copy of your paper to get the recipe." But not even this alluring promise availed, and the coveted "recipe" has still to be discovered.

GOOD HEALTH AND HOW TO KEEP IT. One of the best ways to remain in good health is to keep regular hours for eating and sleeping. Have your meals at the same time every day, and so arrange matters that there need be no hurry over a meal. If irregularity has been the custom hitherto, now is the time to begin to live methodically. Go to bed at a set hour, and rise as regularly. It matters not whether your hours of sleep be six or eight, the essential point is for you yourself to have what will enable you to get up "fit and fresh." j The morning cold, or cool, bath—taken ■

quickly, and followed by a brisk towelling—is a great aid towards maintaining the health and efficiency of the body. There is a growing tendency to indulge, between meals, in little teas. This represents the modern development of the once-fashionable nips of spirits among men. And while the cnange is all for good, a better way still would be the omission of all such tit-bits. If food is taken at these times the stomach loses its proper rest, and suffers; and, in any case, repeated doses of tea are, like repeated and unnecessary stimulants of any kind, injurious in the long run.

USEFUL HINTS To extract splinters driven into the hand when scrubbing floors and stairs, till a wwe-mouthed bottle nearly full of boiling water, place the injured part over the mouth of the bottle, and press down tightly. The suction will draw the flesh down, and in a. minute or two the strain will extract the splinter, and the inflammation with it. An excellent shampoo powder for greasy hair is the following, which any chemist will make up:—Borax, one ounce and a-half; camphor, quarter of an 0:.>.: quilla bark, in powder, quarter of .:n :mnce; oil of rosemary, twenty li.::iji:-. A few drops of glycerine, in the proportion of a teaspoonful to a pound of Hour, will make a cake light and feathery. Three teaspoonfuls to evenpound of fruit when making preserves will keep the sugar from fermenting, and stops all danger of crystalising. Hot milk, heated to as high a temperature as it can be drunk, i.s a most refreshing stimulant in cases of cold or over-fatigue. Its action is very quick and grateful. The effect of hot milk is far more beneficial and lasting than that of alcohol. It gives real strength, as well as acting,as a fillip.