WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 236, 10 February 1911, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen"). LET SOMETHING GOOD BE SAID. When over the fair fame of friend or foe The shadow of disgrace shall fall, instead Of words of blame, of proof of thus and so Let something good be said. Forget not that no fellow-being yet May fall so low but love may lift his head; >• Even the cheek of shame with tears is met If something good be said. No generous heart may vainly turn aside In ways of sympathy; no soul so dead But may awaken strong and glorified If something good be said. And so I charge you by the thorny crown And by the Cross on which the Saviour bled, And by your own soul's hope of fair renown Let something good be said. . —G.8.8. WAS AGAINST THE HOBBLE SKIRT

The ladies' tailors of America have declared war to the knife on the French "hobble skirt." At a meeting of the Association formed for the purpose of liberating America from the thraldom of Parisian designs, a letter denouncing the hobble skirt was enthusiastically cheered. The letter was from an American designer in Paris. Describing the French hobble skirt as being only a yard about the knees and for too short for its purpose. the writer said that it was ''meant to show off as much of the figure as the law would permit." The Association, according to all reports, "listened horrorstricken." After a vivid account of how Frenchwomen clad according to the new fashion.had to be "lifted by their escorts into their motor cars," it was decided unanimously that such a fashion would never find great favor in America. The members finally declared themselves in favor of a skirt for American women "that fits fairly tight all over, or appears to fit tight, but which miist be long and graceful, and also have the quality of concealed fullness." A model of a new American motor skirt was exhibited. It fits tightly except at the knees, where there is a series of pleats. The Association, amid further cheering, passed a resolution prohibiting members fr.om resorting to the deceitful practice of pretending to customers that they are forced to be absent three months in the year for the purpose of studying Parisian fashions, whereas in reality they j spend their time at the American seaside i resorts. In future they must proclaim | their designs for what they really areAmerican, not Parisian.

HOBBLE, HOBBLE. Hobble, hobble, little maid! Wonder you are not afraid, Up around the hips so generous, Down around the knees so slendeious— Hobble, hobble,.little one! Wonder how your hobbling's done. If a little breeze should blow, You would topple over—so! There/ don't cry, no harm is doneHobble, hobble, little one. NAMES OP FABRICS.

Calico comes from Calicut, India. Satin comes from Zaytown, China. ( Serge is named after Xerge, Spain. Mosul, which is in Asia, is the namesake of muslin. The ancient city of Damascus is responsible for damask. Cambric got its name from Cambria, and gauze from Gaza. Taffeta is named after a Bagdad street where the material was at one time sold Alpaca derives its name from the Peruvian animal from whose wool it was, made. j Cashmere was originally made in Thibet, in the vale of Cashmere, where sheep growing a specially fine grade of wool grazed. Thomas Blanket, a celebrated clothier, who is said to have introduced wool into England in the fourteenth century, is responsible for the name of our bed-cover-ing. WEST AFRICAN FASHION.

The aesthetic and decorative uses to which barbarians will turn objects which to civilised races are things of the humblest utility are amusingly illustrated by this "fashion note" from West Africa:—, For some time the officials of the Ger-I man colony in South-West Africa noticed that the telegraph wires and other accessories of the electrical plant disappeared as if by. magic immediately after they were put up. The most diligent enquiries remained fruitless. From other parts of German possessions came reports of strange predilections for articles of German commerce, as, for example, rubber heels, garters, buckles, and so forth, things which the natives of those countries did not generally use. The Go- ! vernor of the colony gave an entertainment one year in honor of the Emperor's birthday, and invited the chiefs of the different tribes to it. What was his stirprise when he saw these native gentlemen appear with his stolen telegraph wires twisted round their illustrious necks. The higher the dignity the more rings of the wire were round the neck. Enquiries were soon started in the outlying village, and it came to light that the white china insulators of the tele-: graph poles had become earrings. A| young lady of the highest distinction in native society wore a rubber heel hanging from her nose, and a young man who was a well-known dandy wore dangling from his ears a pair of beautiful pink garters. NOTES FROM LONDON. London, December 23. Queen Mary has once again shown her practical patriotism, and this Christmas lias commanded ten of the leading pottery firms in the potteries districts to I submit samples of their productions for I her inspection and selection. From these J she has already made a large number of '

purchases. This is said to be the first time the Royal patronage has been given to the products of the potteries, and the Queen's action has caused intense satisfaction among the workers and the people of the district generally. It is believed that the trade, in which SO,OOO British workpeople are employed, will be greatly benefited. Mdlle. Dutrieu has eclipsed yet another record in aviation. At Etampes, on Wednesday, she flew 105 miles in 2h. 3omin.—the longest aeroplane flight ever acomplished by a woman. The credit (if having first produced ''C'hantecler" in England rests with a lot of school children, pupils of the Albert Bridge School, who gave a scene from "Chantecler" early this week in the Chelsea Town Hall. The act was abridged, and the scenery was mainly a screen or two, but the effect of the children dressed up as chickens and turkeys was excellent. Tlie play was given in French. Lady Aberdeen and Lord Aberdeen were present on Saturday last in Paris at a meeting of the International Association for Medical Instruction, anil during the evening the medal of the Association was conferred on Lady Aberdeen in recognition of her philanthropic work. Lit' y Aberdeen, made a speech of gratitur die honor.

.Vis. French Sheldon, the well-known traveller and one of the twenty-two ladies elected to the Fellowship of the Royal (Geographical Society some eighteen years ago, died a few days ago, aged sixty, Mrs. Sheldon's greatest journey was undoubtedly that which she carried out in ISOO-fll, from Mombasa to Mount Kilimanjaro, at that date a remarkable journey for n lady to undertake, although, since then, ladies have travelled

with little or no risk in many parts of Africa. Mrs. Sheldon was unaccompanied by any white companions. She travelled mostly iri a palaqnin or sedan chair, and j on her return met with an unfortunate accident, which crippled her for a considerable time. Perhaps the most important part of the journey was the visit which she made to the remarkable crater Lake Chala, at the foot of the eastern . slope, of Kilimanjaro. At the time it formed an important contribution to our knowledge of that lake. In IS9I Sirs. Sheldon read a paper at the Cardiff meeting of the British Association on her journey, and in 1892 published her narrative. In 1004 .she made a journey through the Congo, and had been three times round the world. She had certain medical qualifications, and had some attainment in sculpture. She had written a considerable number of books, most of them anonymous, and for several years conducted a publishing business under the name of Saxon and Co. Her best-known translation is that of Flaubert's "Salammbo," which she also dramatised. She was well known as a. lecturer, mainly on her own journeys. A matrimonial school is the latest experiment in education, and according to advice-from America, in the St. Louis district of the United States, at any rate much of the magic and mystery, and' most of the innumerable inconsistencies of love and marriage will he reduced to cold, logical, Q.E.D. form. After this, there will no longer be any excuse for an amusing marriage—or for a tragic one, for that matter. The whole thing is being tackled in a most business-like spirit. A matrimonial school is b'eiri" publicly formed and psychologists, lecturers, scientists, physicians and ministers have been engaged as a faculty, and will deliver regular weekly lectures to classes of young people who are contemplating, or who have already crossed the Rubicon of matrimony.

A Woman s Fellowship ■ has recently boen founded at Girton College, Cambridge, on the following conditions:— That the Fellowship shall be given to a woman of University training, but not necessarily a student of Girton, who shall luuc distinguished herself in some branch of intellectual work; that the first denomination shall be in the hands of the donors, and shall be for life. All subsequent nominations to rest with the college, and to be for life or for a term of years, at its discretion. The value of the Fellowship as offered is £3OO per annum, of which £2OO is secured in perpetuity and £IOO is promised by two donors or £SO during their lifetime. On the nomination of the donors, Mrs. S. 'Arthur Strong (nee Eugenie Sellers), a former student of Girton College, Litt. D. Dublin, Hon. L.L.D. St. Andrews, at prosent Assistant Director of the British School of Rome, has been appointed as the first holder of thp Fellowship, The suffragettes—that is to say, the militant branch of the suffragists—are, according to Mrs. Pankhurst's declaration at Hampstead Town Hall the other day, going to make themselves a fearsome force indeed very shortly. A deputation of 1000 women will wait on the 1 remier at the beginning of tlic session to demand a pledge that a Woman's Suffrage Bill shall be given facilities during the session, and if Mr. Asquitti refuses, a civil war will ensue—women against the Government. "We will continue to break windows or anything else that stands in our way," she said, and : added: 'Next year will be Coronation vnr, when those in authority want nothing but, peace and harmonv. Let the Government look to it that'they secure it by giving women their rights!" For a long time there has been a strong feeling in the Railway Clerks' As-

sociation against the enrolment of lady clerks, apparently for the reason that they receive only about a fourth as much salary as a man, and because it is feared that they would embarrass decisions on a wages question. But the Association have at last forsaken the narrowness of their ways, and intend to assist lady railway clerks to improve their position as far as the Association's influence goes for that purpose. The first lady member of the Association was enrolled recently.