FOR WOMEN FOLK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 273, 28 April 1915, Page 6

FOR WOMEN FOLK.

PERSONAL

MAKING OFFICERS.

" BY EILEEN."

" Eileen " will be glad to recsive items of interest and J value to women for publication or reference in this column. |

Tfco engagement is announced of Mr. G. 11. Sisley, of the Post Office'staff, Wellington, and now with the Expeditionary Force in Egypt, to Hiss Nellie Lumsden, youngest dawglfter of Mr. C. E. Lumsden, of Leppeitan. ADMIRAL BEATTY'S ROMANCE. HIS MARRIAGE TO A MILLIONAIRE'S DAUGHTER.

AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT. TRAINING IN THE FIELD. When the history of the Great War comes to be written, the part devoti d to the making of officers for the now British armies will not be the least interesting. Never in the history of England has such a body of subalterns been created in such a short space of time.

A dashing young admiral wedded to a millionaire's daughter'is a matrimonial combination more often met with in fiction than in real life, but the lore story of Admiral Sir David Beatty, the hero of the recent North Sea battle, proves such an instance. In 1901 the young admiral married Miss Ethel Marshall Field, the daughter of the American millionaire, 'Marshall Field, who built up a fortune out of the greatest dry goods store in the world. Lady Beatty brought to her husband immense wealth, and amongst her wedding presents were a collection of precious stones given her by her father, who was a connoisseur of jewellery, and toured Europe in search .of choice specimens. A few years ago Lady Beatty's famous jewels aroused the covetousness of a gang of skilled thieves, who broke into her .house at Melton Mowbray and camped with several thousand pounds' worth of valuables. They also took with them a number of Admiral Beatty's medals and decorations, but these were dropped by the -thieves during then? Ili<rht, and ultimately recovered. the outbreak of the war Lady Beatty has been using her wealth, to aid tiie wounded. She has turned her private yacht Schiela into a hospital ship, and personally superintends its good work at Queensferry. Royalty and society are interested in the charitable work of the handsome admiral's wife, for she is one of the best liked among American wives of English husbands, and (juite a favorite with the Royal Family. Sir David Beatty is aide-de-camp to King George. The late King Edward was often the guest of the Beatty's during the shooting season, for their residence at Invercauld faces Balmoral from the other side of the Dee.

'Prior to the outbreak of the war Admiral Tieatty and his pretty, cultured wife were popular society entertainers, aiid many names to be found in tlie pages of " Debrett's Peerage" figured on their visitors' list. But now that her husband is " watching and waiting " for the (jennan navy on tlie North Sea, Lady Beatty has closed her town and country houses, and is working under the Red Cross banner, and persuading many of her aristocratic friends to do tlie same. Despite her fabulous wealth, Lady Beatty is very modest. A few years ago, when her husband was Captain Beatty, she induced him to decline a title which might have been his, as she preferred to be simply tlie wife of an admiral of the British Navy.

MOURNING IN PARIS. MOLE-GREY CHOSEN INSTEAD OF BLACK AND WHITE. Writing upon the subject of mourning, a correspondent in Paris says tliat n, taupe-colored gown is more correct for light mourning than a creation in black and white; mole-gTey is a specially subdued tint, and one which seems, naturally, to suggest sadness tinged with triumph. It is that idea—"sadi:-. tinged with triumph " —that tie n:ourning worn by those bereaved by war indicates.

In London also one sees little very deep mourning, though a great number of people are wearing quiet black raiment, and the sad sight of a- young widow in her weeds, with the long crape veile hung from her hat that tells of her loss, is frequent. The hat (it may be said in parenthesis) or else the toque is more often chosen than the bonnet of old days. On the 'whole, it is clearly and without a doubt shown by the dress worn that the bereaved realise to the full that for a man to die for his country is the best death of all. '

Grey is a very favorite neutrality no \r. One can scarcely call it a «olo*. There are many shades of it, from the soft dove tint to the deep steel one. Purple, too, is worn for mourning, as well as mole and grey, and of it there aie some lovely tints. Very many of the new models bear Russian names, adds the correspondent in Paris. For example, there is a delightful gown for afternoon wear wMch has received the name of Petrograd. The materials were black charmeuse and navy blue serge, and at the waist and collar some lovely silk embroideries were introduced. In this case the black satin sleeves were long and quite tight —in fact, they were skin-tight from elbow to wrist. It was a simple little gown which had a special cachet, of its own.

WOMAN DOCTOR'S SACRIFICE. The death has occurred at Kragujcvatz in Scrvia, of a distinguished English lady doctor, Miss Elizabeth Koss, who was acting as a Servian military doctor, and contracted typhus fever, which proved fatal. Miss 'floss graduated only twelve years ago and had specialised in tropical diseases. She was a Fellow of the Society of Tropical Medicine, and hold the certificate of the London School of Tropical Medicine.

Shampooing, Hairdressing, and Twisting. Electrolysis for the permanent removal of superfluous hair. Switches, Toupees, etc. Ladies' combings made ud to any design. Mrs. BEADLE, Egmont Toilet Parlors, Griffiths' Buildings, mm Carnegie Library.

Almost 20,000 subalterns were required to begin with. The first call was made, of course, on the existing Officers' Training Corps at the different universities. Practically every member of those units who showed capacity for command, was commissioned at once, and over and over again the strength was recruited from much the same class of young men. The Officers' Training Corps themselves went into camp, ai'rt passed new recruits through the month or two of essential training as quickly as possible. Within two or three luonihs of. joining, the young men were posted to battalions or the new armies or oi the army in the field, and went straight on to their work. Or, if they were for more technical arms—artillery or engineers—they went to Woolwich or Chatham, or to some of the fortified garrisons for a few weeks very .severe training. » Subalterns from overseas, and especially from New Zealand, where the military system gave them a good grounding, have in many cases been posted to regular battalions without further train-, I Ing. Numbers of young men so appointed got to the front in an incredibly ! short time, and have- long since disi tinguished themselves. Practically any I well-educated colonial, with only the • nvcrage military knowledge of the New j Zealand and Australian young men, has i been able to get his. commission in the British r.nuics without much difficulty. | Another nursery of officers for the | first six months of the war has been t.bo I two regiments of irregular cavalry, King Edward's Horse, Ist and 2nd. The firmer, which is the only British Tentorial regiment liable to be enrolled for service abroad, was formerly the "King's Colonials," and is composed chiefly of oversea students at British universities. The 2nd Regiment was formed ft the outbreak of the war under the ruspices of Mr Norton Griffiths, Lord Lon idale, Lord Murray and others, and ei :i----j sists of colonials and others who ha-.c I Been service and is commanded by I Colonel Montagu Cradock. These regiments hoped to get to the front early, but the War Office too soon recognised their value for the preliminary training of young officers, and they are still in England. Their stall's remain as at the beginning, with the occasional promoi tion, but the rank and file have changed I a good deal through the members reI cciving commissions in the artillery and j cavalry. The artillery has in this war mopped up an astonishing crowd of subalterns, and shoals of oversea students, whose tastes never went towards noise, are now full -fledged battery oiliecTs. King Edward's Horse are now full of ho;;e itgain, for the rumor is rampant that they are to brigaded with Canadian cavalry, under Colonel Seely.

As in the Boer war, but at a mu.-'i earlier stage of the campaign, the Wn c Office has promoted a considerable number of men from the non-commissiom d ranks—perhaps two thousand up <o -date. Many of these have performed noteworthy acts of valor, while nia'iy more are gentlemen—there are even clergymen who enlisted in the ranks on the outbreak of war, and have seen souv) Bcrvice at the front.

A new departure in the training of subalterns is disclosed in General French's latest despatch. The Artists' Rifles (28th County of London), familiarly known as "The Devil's, Own," are recruited from a superior class of London professional men, and have always been a sort of O.T.C. apart from the educational institutions. General Frerch says:

"Having had some experience in peaoe of the working of the Officers' Training Corps, I determined to turn the Artists' Hides to its legitimate use. I, therefore, established the battalion as a Training Corps for officers in the field. The cadets pass through a course, which includes some thoroughly practical training, as all the cadets do a tour of 4S hours in the trenches, and afterwards write a report on what they see and notice. They also visit an observation post and spend some hours there. "A commandant has been. appointed; and he arranges and supervises the work, sets schemes for practice, administers the school, delivers lectures, and reports on the candidates. The cadets arc instructed in all branches of military training suitable for platoon eui.:manders. Machine gun tactics, a knowledge of which is so necessary for all junior officers, is a special feature of the course, of instruction. When firrt started the school was able to t nil out officers at the rate of 7o a month. This has since been increased to 100 lieports received from Divisional and Army Corps commanders on officers who have been trained at the school aie most satisfactory."

Lieutenant Wilfred Findlay, son of Sir John Findlay, got his commission through the Artists' Hides, and Corporal Rawlins, son of Mr C. O. Rawlins, of Dunedin, was killed when he volunteered to cut some entanglements during bis 48 hours' tour of the trenches.