WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 263, 28 March 1911, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted hj " Eileen ")

AS SMART AS PARIS A joint meeting of the manufacturers' and retailers' sections of the London Chamber of Commerce was held recently at Oxford-court, Mr. J. Collie Foster presiding, when the following resolution was adopted: That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable that the members of the joint section should be recommended to give their support to an all-British display week in London of manufactured goods, and that the movement should be extended to the country generally at the earliest possible date. Leaders of fashion in London have been quick to discern the possibilities of the All-British movement exemplified in the West End "shopping week," March 27 to April 1 (when only British-made goods will be displayed), and the Daily Mail All-British Fair of Fashions at the Festival of Empire at the Crystal Palace this summer. The well-dressed people who are seen at Ascot, the opera, the horse show, and other places are quite ready to join in any scheme that will give heart to the British manufacturer and encourage him to produce the dainty fabrics in which they clothe themselves. They even think that they already show more patriotic' preference in their shopping than the average of the less wealthy who buy cheap Continental imitations of costly British stuffs. Mrs. Hwfa Williams, who has for a long time been acknowledged to be one of the best-dressed women of the day, expressed the opinion that a woman of fashion may easily clothe herself from head to foot in all-British materials without losing a fraction of her smartness. Already many do, perhaps without being aware of it, for half the material of the gay gowns which come from Paris costumiers has its origin in English mills. . Twenty years ago the well-dressed woman had to buy French-made materials because British could not be obtained. To-day the fashionable evening gown consists of satin, made in. England covered with a chiffon tunic, woven and dyed in this country and embroidered with metal lace, also made here. ■ The fact that the most beautiful gold and silver embroideries can now be bought with the guarantee of sound British manufacture is enough to arouse the enthusiasm of any woman of fashion in country. Ladies like Mrs. Hwfa Williams and her friends are delighted to find British workers again producing the splendid white and gold brocades for which this country was famous in the days gone by, the sumptuous damask? for evening dresses, and some wonderful velvets. Bed velvet is now being made for furniture of the same genre as the finest Viennese.

f Once, as Mrs. Hwfa Williams pointed out, one had to go to France for artifi ficial flowers, which are now beautifully made by the Duchess of Sutherland's Guild. There are many flower-makers in London to-day "ho can copy faithfully the finest French models. So, too, with ribbons, for which Coventry is again becoming famous after suffering long from French competition, and even silk stockings, once only to be found in France, can now be made and bought in England. For underlinen ladies are now buying Irish lawn, because it is just as fine and rather stronger than the French lawn, which was formerly thought an indispensable part of a lady's wardrobe. Everything, in short, can be made in England, even the little "wriggly" trimmings, first made in Leicester for rail' way carriage cushions and now used for the adornment of smart cloth dresses. The whole conclusion of the matter, from the point of view of a woman of present-day society, is that England has at last begun to "wake up" to the importance of making beautiful as well as useful articles for feminine wear, and that the would-be well-dressed woman need no longer hesitate to ask her dressmaker for "all-British" materials. But fashion must still come from France. THE AFRICAN DOMESTIC. He appears at your door early one morning, his face all a-grin, his white teeth flashing, his bare legs newly polished. In that strange way in which news travels from kraal to kraal, unfathomed as yet by the white man, he has heard. 60 miles and more away, that your "boy" is leaving or has left. So ho has come to place his services at your disposal. From the inner recesses of his somewhat scanty covering he produces a muchworn paper. It is his reference from his last "missis," or more probably from the "big boss." If the latter has written in. facetious vein, the paper testifies to the | fact that the bearer is as good, or worse, as the ordinary houseboy. That he remained in his (the writer's 1 } service as long as he could put up with him, and , no longer, and that he is the usual Kaffir type. Not very encouraging for the, "white missis," who has left a white Aus-' tralia probably, and knows little or nothing of the dark and devious ways of the Africai domestic. A short colloquy in broken English and fragmentary kaflir, and "the boss" is called out to see what he can make of the new "boy." Either ke turns him out neck-and-crop, or sets Mm to work at once. "Jim" he is called for short. It is hard to get a new idea into that thick skull of his. Why knives and forks want to be laid straight every time, or why chairs must be arranged according to the taste of the mistress and not to his, is a mystery to him. Every day for weeks he'has to be told the same things—to sweep this way, to dust that. Whatever he may Jiave been in his last situation he is not an unqualified blessing in this, and by the time ho has learned how to uo a few things passably, has been talked to incessantly, and threatened with numerous thrashings from "big boss," his home-sickness comes on, and he is so utterly useless under this afTlUtion, so impudent and lazy, that go home he must, and the training of the new boy begins again. He has to be watched continually. In the kitchen he will forget that salt is a necessary adjunct to souns and stews and vegetables, and that meat must not be left on the stove to boil furiously In the house he must be told continually that the fluster is not made to play with and that the trinkets on the dressingtable are yours, and not his. But the '

Kaffir boy needs little housing, and mealies satisfy the gnawings of hunger. His room is built away from the main structure. A bed and a chair is sufficient furnishing. One virtue he possesses: he is good to children. It is no uncommon sight to see the little fairhaired baby caressing the black face of the Kaffir boy with both arms twined round his thick neck. His wages? He asks no more than 5s weekly. Out of that he will save to carry or to purchase another wife. The Kaffir woman is of no use in the English household.

The lithe little Indian servant in Africa (is very different; he is a gem, if he has | had proper training. He is so observant. Show him or tell him a thing but once, and he rarely forgets. He can cook, and sew, hang pictures and lay carpets. His dinners are served so daintily, and how he seasons his dishes remains a mystery, since he would on no account, if of high caste, taste anything he is preparing. He •lives on tea and rice. .His wants are few, his virtues many. The Indian ayah is a precious possession in the nursery, and much devoted to her little charges. In a few years' time, however, the Indian servant will be an unknown quantity in South Africa, for under-hiring is to be stopped. The Kaffir boy is being educated, and ho will probably despise domestic service, and the Afrikander will find the domestic problem as unsolvable as it appears to be hereabouts.