WOMAN'S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 204, 26 February 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD.

(Conducted by "!il«e»"). • WHAT WOMEN WEAR. DYED RABBIT SEINS SOLD UNDER HIGH-SOUNDING NAMES. Things may or may not be "what they seem," but in a large number of cases they are most certainly not what they are called. The Fur Skin section of the London Chamber of Commerce has recently sent out a circular on the subject of the names under .which certain furs are sold. The circular warns the public as to the incorrect names given to furs. By arrangement with the Drapers' Chamber of Trade a list of trade names for these furs has been drawn up. It is considered permissible, by these two bodies, that these fur 9 may be sold under fhe agreed I names.

What these names are the Fur World tells us in a long list which gives the true name of the fur, the false name of the fur, and the names under which certain furs may be sold, according to the agreement oetween the two bodies named. Here are some examples:— Real name, rabbit dyed; incorrect description, sable or French sable; permissible description, sable coney. Incorrect description, seal, electric seal, Red River seal, Hudson seal, seal musquash; permissible description, seal coney or musquash coney. Real name, rabbit white dyed; incorrect description, chinchilla; permissible description, chinchilla coney. | Real name, goats dyed; incorrect description, ibear; permissible description, bear goat. Real name, kids; incorrect description, •lamb or broadtail; permissible description, Caracul kids. | Real name, marmot dyed; incorrect description, mink, sable or skunk; permissible description, sable marmot, mink 1 marSiot or skunk marmot. Real name, ink dyed; incorrect description, sable; permissible description, sable mink.

■ It "Will appear to the "man in the Street"' who pays for these furs that many <jf the "permissible descriptions'' dre not much, if at all, more enlightening than the condemned "incorrect descrjptl6ns." I Nevertheless, it is well to reme'mber;'that "sable coney" may be, in truth, "dyed rabbit,"

DANCES FOR NEXT SEASON. | ! ' ■ - I |:iv THE UNCLASP WALTZ. ; Of all) the smaller social duties that towadays fall to the lot of the married oman, surely (says a writer in a Home paper).i that of dance chaperone is the pleasantest, for is this not essentially the era of the youthful beauty who requires but little looking after? The girl of to-day is not only often charmingly pTetty of face, but she is self-possessed, and, withal, so sure that she's all right with the world that she is prepared to enjoy to its utmost each and every hour. It follows that when she sallies forth to a dance, by her fine capacity to revel in the exercise and appreciate all the elements of the entertainment, she adds a very definite delight to the onlookers. Partners there are for her in plenty, and thus the chaperone, relieved from all the old-time anxieties connected with the uprooting of wall-flowers, finds herself at liberty to pass the evening pleasantly. She has also the opportunity to note how few otker chaperones are present, most of the matrons who want to dance enjoy themselves after their fashion having brought a party or two of young friends to share their guardianship. She notes, too, that this season (the -rticle is taken from an English society : yapcr, the dancing season being now at its height) has brought with it an unj usually large supply of those little I changes that are yet of great importance I to the dance-loving members of the com- ! munity; not so epoch-making as the adS vent of the barn dance, first specimen of I the freer style now so general. .Perhaps j the prettiest of the new dances is the Valse-Mazurka, a charming combination <<f the two forms indicated by the title, and by its originator dedicated to that Very discriminating critic of graceful movement, the Duchess of Westminster; ijnd certainly one of the most distinctiye ii that known as the Unclasp Valse. ' The changing position of the dancers give much variety, for it is done in this wise: The, partners do not hold each other at all, but start standing face to face, and sTretching both arms sidewise, let their fingers touch without interlacing, and thus extended to eight bars; ordinary valse. Then the man withdraws the slight support his fingers had given to hers. He puts his hands by his side, and she lets hers meet behind her back, and for eight bars they valse close to each other, without absolute contact, the man having the privilege to lead where he will and to reverse, while she must follow and be ready at the end of her short period of semi-independence to resume the original extended position for the recurring eight bars. Plenty of space is needed, of course, but it is astonishing how few disasters the human semaphores occasion.

■ All the numerous varieties of Boston are this autumn danced round instead of straight; and the very most up-to-date called officially the 1911, has a most agreeable fresh feature. Having begun in the ordinary way (round, of course, to be in mode of the moment), theTe should be on the reverse turn six slow sliding steps done sideways to half-time of the music; then Boston round again. The point to remember to ensure success in the 1911 is not to take the sliding steps until after the reverse turn.

The one-step and the two-step are still in undiminished favor, and the former has acquired a vague, mysterious interest by its application in the Ghost Walk —at intimate gatherings perpetuated in almost complete darkness, when the lowering of the lights give a restful charm to the gay scene. This innovation is said to have originated with a resourceful hostess whose party was threatened with premature disbanding by the sudden failure of the electric supply, while hastily collected candles only feebly dispelled the gloom during what happily proved to be an only temporary darkness. The general trend this year Is rather towards increase of pace, and emphatically towards increase o.f . smoothness; and there is never a square to be seen—gone, it seems gone entirely, in spite of the stately quadrille that yet is the de rigeur to open a ball at Court.

ON GROWING OLD Mrs. Creighton, widow of the late Bishop of London, has been giving her views on "Growing Old." In a lecture on the subject which she recently delivered at the Farnham Corn Exchange (England), she said there were many different opinions as to when old age began. The question of when to retire from business or professional work was always a puzzling one. People were unwilling to give up, and that was one of the difficulties of growing old. But to retire should not mean to become useless. Moral and intellectual provision must be made, in order that the last years should not be wasted. They should seek to have some innocent employment for their hours, which should keep them happy and content. A real

delight in reading would make it easier for old people to cultivate a capacity to be alone, and many would find pleasure from their observations of mankind and Nature in old age. Veterans must not j believe that everything was going to the J dogs. They should never parade their 1 superior wisdom, because it might not ' be so illuminating as they imagined. To keep up a real living interest in things on the world's.great stage would make their lives interesting, not only to themselves, but to others. It was piteous to see the last years of life occupied by care about trifles. If the sorrows of life had weighed them down, they could at least try to keep their gloom to themselves. Old age should bring tolerance, and with tolerance should come understanding. A serene old age was the fruit of long discipline, and revealed character, which could only be built up by life effort and belief in goodness. MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN. Marriages, according to a popular saying, are "made in heaven," but neverthe- i less it is a common article of belief that marriage does not exist there, for "in heaven they neither marry nor are given in marriage." But this an age of doubt, and of new ideas, and we find that the notioil of ''single blessedness" is being assailed. A correspondent of the Lon-: don Guardian wrote recently of the probability of marriage in the future life. Another correspondent, "Patience," followed by saying:—"This idea would to some lonely, frustrated, incomplete lives on earth be indeed an additional inspiration to fight on bravely to the end. I have enough faith to be sure that what God does is quite right, though I be given no mate here, and never to doubt that arrangements for all necessary happiness above can safely be trusted to Him—but it would be of untold comfort to believe in married life in heaven. 1 had a saintly grandfather, vicar of one parish for over forty years, faithful priest, husband.and father, who was convinced that the life of husband and wife as understood on earth—purified and raised, maybe, but essentially the same —would exist in heaven; but until your correspondent's letter I have never heard the same comforting message." Most people make a heaven to suit themselves. To the Jew of old it was a place rich in gold and precious stones; to the African it is a cold place; to the Red Indian a happy hunting ground, and so forth. It may please the "misfits" of this life to view it as a land where all men and women shall be mated according to affinity. A future state in which sex plays any part is, however, too gross for people of spiritual mind. Heaven would, after all, be little better than that of the Turk, if it is assumed to have any room for sex- : ual relations.

NOTES The eldest daughter of the President of the United States has established a Wagnerian cult at Washington, styling the organisation the Wagnerian League of Ladies, each member of which, on election, assumes the name of one of the heroines of the master's operas. So far does Miss Taft's enthusiasm go that not only does she attend all Wagner concerts and wear Wagnerian head-dress, but she has had a Wagnerian horn fitted to her automobile as a danger signal. If she has many imitators" in the latter respect there will soon be most discordant sounds introduced into the Federal citv.

The incredible has happened. The women of Ireland woke up one fine morning in December to find themselves eligible for nomination to seats, on Irish county and municipal councils. The Bill giving them that privilege—entitled the . Local Authorities (Ireland) Qualification of Women Bill—came into operation on the first of the present month, and will be made use of for the first time in ; connection with the municipal contests for Belfast City. The Bill is a marked instance of important legislation being carried through the Legislature without any public notice being given of it. The reasons seem to have been that it was introduced as a private measure, that it met with no opposition at the second reading stage, and was then referred to one of the standing committees, who do their work in private. For the second time in succession the gold medal and travelling studentship of the Royal Academy Schools in London for painting have been won by a woman, the successful student being Miss Margaret Lindsay Williams, who last year surprised the" schools by taking several of the principal awards. This year, in addition to the gold medal, she has been awarded the silver medal for decoration. The travelling studentship is awarded for a historical painting, and is of the value of £2OO. The outstanding feature of this year's awards is that in the painting school all the prizes save three have been won by women students.