WOMEN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 289, 29 April 1913, Page 6

WOMEN'S WORLD

NOTES FROM LONDON ___ A CENSUS OF WORKERS. An interesting table, showing the proportion of working women in the principal centres of the world, places France first on the list with 53 per cent, Great Britain has 45 per cent., and ties with Denmark. PEACEFUL SUFFRAGE FIGURES.

The membership of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies —a constitutional body of which Mrs. Henry Fawcett, L.L.D., is the president—now has a membership of 42,000, which means an increase over last year at the rate of 1000 a month. MISUSES OF NURSES' UNIFORMS.

A public meeting, at which Mrs. Bedheld in London shortly to consider the nurse in the world, will preside, is to be held in London* hortly to consider the question of hospital nurses' uniforms which, not being copyright in any way, are now being brought into far too constant disrepute by women of immoral character who adopt them actually as an aid to crime, and in order to mpre easily trap their victims. A resolution is to be submitted by nurses calling the Government's attention to this serious matter. BILL CONCERNING FLANNELETTE. v.'A.Bjil knpWas",se. F*bricsH |6f .C'oMih^6^^ant' ; s'e»k's-to 'restrain'dealers, -not from selling flannelette - and other similarly dangerous fabrics, but, from labelling and advertising them as safe. In January alone there were no fewer than 87 deaths from clothing catching fire, and, out of them, no fewer than forty were flannelette. The Bill empowers the Home Office to set up a standard of safety, and penalises thase who sell as safe what does not conform to that standard. NEW WORK FOR WOMEN.

A very influential committee of women, comprising matrons of several large hospitals, wives of headmasters, headmistresses, and a lecturer in hygiene and domestic economy, has been formed in London to bring before university, college, training school councils and the general public, the need that exists for women dieticians in large institutions such as public hospitals. much above the intelligence of the average good cook is wanted, it is urged, and a promising department opened up for Women graduates in home sicences would undoubtedly benefit institutions which to 6 often are recorded greatly in need of reform in the catering and housekeeping departments.

INGENIOUS WAYS OF EARNING A CRUST There are many ingenious ways of getting a crust in London, but one of the cutest has been evolved by a young woman—a journalist by profession, and the writer of a' least one published hook. Writing is not as remunerative as it be, or else it is in the interests of copy that the journalist now : calls herself "aii,'agenl\for shop-soiled goods'" and in her modest suite of rooms near Buckingham Palace she interviews an extensive clientele. Her. chief ers are visiting colonials, South Africans, and other strangers within the gates of Cosmopolis, but many London women of the half-smart set are entirely clothed frorn ; her establishment. Her goods' are. all hall-marked -with such 'names as London and Paris respect, and you are offered a wonderful Paquin gown with a fiftyguinea label on it for five guineas; an opera wrap with the compelling name of Drecourt upon it, may have 27 guineas erased in favor of 63 shillings; a Redfern coat and skirt now 4 guineas, was formerly priced I<s guineas. Under the soft-shaded electric light you can detect no haw in these beautiful garments, but Madame will riot deceive you—they are slightly faded in some harmless way. Hats, blouses, tea-gowns, furs and other feminine apparel are all offered at such ■surprising prices that you would imagine the house obliged to stiffer such depreciation in value would have to go bankrupt. The secret, however, is that Madame is not an agent for shop-soiled goods. She is actually a glorified old-clothes buyer, and she buys from duchesses, marquises, and the loftiest and wealthiest of feminine nobility in England. These fashionables wear an evening frock once, or twice at the outside; a blouse for one hour; a hat gets an airing or two, and cannot be seen again; a fur may become distasteful after half-a-dozen wearings; an opera wrap must not appear three times in a season; the same tea-gown must not be donned twice in the same country house, and constant changes are the hall-mark of the smart world. This necessity for quick changes would mean an overflow of wardrobes if rnudame did not come along once a month and bargain for the deposed garments. The cast-offs do not bring their first owners much coin of the realm, but it is better than sheer los?, and it all means a little bridge money. It is madame who makes the profit, and she does not spoil her bargains by dumping them into a large black bag. Her goods are carefully packed and sent to her establishment, where they are overhauled by expert fingers, and all traces of wear removed. Fresh sleeve preservers are inserted, new ribbons run through lace tuckers, muslin strips tacked round the hems of the skirt, new hat linings have the old signed ribbon inlet, and all the Bond-street and Louvre labels are replaced, with marked-down figures. A smart dressmaker and a clever milliner suggest alterations to suit your figure or taste, and Madame herself beguiles the customer with intimate anecdotes of aristocracy with whom she is undoubtedly on speaking terms. One feels somehow that she has seen better days, and this adds to the piquancy of securing a bargain. The majority of buyers never suspect that they are getting second-hand wearing apparel, and perhaps they would not mind if they knew the former wearers were English peeresses.—Sydney Morning Herald.

WANTED, A COMMITTEE OF WOMEN

"Is there any way by which the Government could show public appreciation and approval of the admirable work done in many directions by competent women?" enquires the wife of the wellknown Positivist writer in the pages of the National Review. "Might it not be possible," asks Mrs. Frederick Harrison, "to construct a sort of standing committee, on which women known for their efficiency as inspectors, examiners, etc., would sit, with some dozen other women chosen from outside? It would be very easy, she says, to construct such a committee. When nominated the members would act as a bureau of information to receive complaints and to collect evidence. It would be non-sectarian, nonpolitical—a purely honorary body of a consultative character on questions which concern women and children. It would stimulate the somewhat jaded feeling of women for their local government duties, and would be a. public acknowledgment of the debt the country owes to its distinguished women."