WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 178, 26 January 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen.") WOMEN WORKERS Very great satisfaction and pride is felt by the ladies who form the Council of the National Union of Women Workers in the fact that the Queen has given her patronage to the conference which opened at Glasgow last month. Her Majesty, in graciously According this honor, permitted it to be added that as a rule she was not able to accede to such requests, but she was aware of the excellent work that was done through the Union and these gatherings.

MISS BRADDON With more than half a hundred novels to her credit, Miss Braddon, who celebrated her seventy-fourth birthday last month,'cannot be blamed if she prefers to 'take life easily, and, in Thackeray's phrase, to "lay the weary pen aside." It was while performing at a theatre in Hull that she discovered that neither acting nor poetry was her forte, and wrote her first novel, "Three Times Dead." Before it Was published the publisher, involved in difficulty, had passed on the sheets to another man. There was talk of destroying the "rubbish," as it was called, and this was done. One can imagine the chagrin of the second publisher when Miss Braddon sprang into popularity and he found that* he had fooliihly destroyed the first> effort, that might iave been a gold mine to him.

ECONOMY Should wives be paid? At present (says a writer in the Express) it costs a man pounds for his wife's ignorance in , managing the home. When the first child is born it. is almost invariably halfstarved because the mother does not know how to feed it. The average working man's wifa worries herself to a shadow studying false economy. She buys two for three-halfpence when one for one penny would be cheaper, saves sixpence on the washing bill and lets a 4s Od saucepan burn dry, spends a day turning the bedrooms upside down, and lets the child black the paintwork with a blacklead brush because she is too busy to put it away, buys her vegetables and meat from the ipan that calls three times a week, instead of buying in the cheapest market, and leaves the gas burning in three rooms to save matches.

THE? CHOICE OF A WIFE Judge Gaynor, the Mayor of New York, has varied duties to perform. One of these was the sending of a reply to a man in Arkansas City, Kansas, asking ■the Mayor to select a wife for him in New York City. This is the Mayor's reply:—"Dear sir,—Your letter asking me to find a wife for you is at hand. How is this? Why do you send away up here to New York for a wif<S? Do you not know the proverb that he who goes far from home for a wife is apt to be fooled? And then, again, how could I Recommend any good girl here to you? You may not be so attractive as you think you are. From my way of thinking, most any w.oman a man happens to meet is altogether too.good for him., But it seems you are unable to find a wife among all the* women in your locality. Do you not think that you are altogether too particular ? lam very certain that there are many there .who would make good wives." The applicant wrote that' the wife he wanted must be "true and virtuous, of noble character, a good cook and housekeeper, between eighteen and twenty-five years of age, not over sft 7in in height, and not over 1« pounds in w«ght." He had "no objection to a girl of foreign birth or ,iarentage," but "she must have brown iiair, good health, a perfect form, and be •.t'hat you would call good looking."

"KATE" OF OKLAHOMA One of the most prominent social reformers in America is Miss Kate Bar<°J Oklahoma), who is a member °< /V 6 '. a . te ' and has the official rank of Commissiotier of the Department of Charities and Corrections, with chambers in the Senate buildings. Beginning a ?k Z6 ?*?f ars a^o ' a £ e eighteen, the Millgate Monthly tells us, her crusade on behalf of the poor, suffering, oppressed and defenceless, in the newlyopened southern reserves of Oklahoma, Miss Barnard's wonderful self-devotion has obtained numerous in the condition of the masses. She is responrw^°V three P r °Y isions in the State Constitution and thirty-two laws in tho Statute Books, most of which were fought at every turn by large and powerful corporate interests. Of stirring oratory, statesmanship, breadth of vision »n;jr d n St empathies, Miss Barnard is uni versally as "Kate" far beyond ' Oklahoma boundaries.

FLOWER GIRLS' HARDSHIPS. London flower girls have fallen on evil days. With their baskets of gay blosWest trr P ° intS in the cit y and nest End, they were accustomed to stand, but at many of these places they are seen no longer. The long spell of hot, dry weather has been most injurious to flon-culture, and as a consequence has caused a dearth of supplies, and has ihfv t 6 ?r C t° f flowers V( / r y considerT ? th e flower girl thi's has spelled uin, as her trade depends entirely on the cheapness of the market. Her customers are mainly those whp can only afford to pay a penny or twopence for iVnn'ift? /"anyone to expend sixpence at her stall is an event which seldom happens. She relies on quick sales to recoup her for her outlay, and the small margin of profit she allows herself disappears completely when flowers are scarce, as they are at present. These vendors of floral wares have indeed hard 1 ves; they must rise early, must go to the markets betimes, and are obliged to dad 't, . Wea , th i r ' ° ften i!lsu inns) clothes, however cheap, must me renewed, and their footwear!

FASHION FRILLS. Ruffles appear on skirts and sleeves. ro ,n?v C AT T e e - are madc loose and ™ fi] 4 nch lrai »g> soft in color, is one of their special features. ■Smart blue serge gowns have cuffs and reverg of w j lUe ga( . jn ( ; eneral] the colors 18 emhroiderpd with we U mingled alU^ire fl s°sXVe C r dS ' Slashad tunics reveal deep skirt ruffles ox net and lace. neckwear!' 1 " o '' Vehet butt ° ns trim lace Hats with large loose velvet crowns have upturned and embroidered brims. get l With a wide band of h°^ 6 M"L fUr Me l ™»"8 r* a7ld tUniCS ° ften S] »OW the ! ( l woU at th « tack, til t buttons then slanting down towards the centre front of the skirt