WOMAN’S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 May 1922, Page 10

WOMAN’S WORLD.

ROYAL HONEYMOON. PEACE OF COUNTRYSIDE. PRINCESS IN SHROPSHIRE DELIGHT OF RESIDENTS. Looking tired but happy. Princess Mary has just arrived here on the first stage of her honeymoon, wrote the correspondent. of a London panel* from Shifnal on February 28. As the train drew up at the station, I noticed that the Princess was apparently taken by surprise at the end of her long journey. She jumped up from her chair by a big bowl of pink carnations. handed her coat to her husband, and gave a tidying shake to one of the silken cushions which had helped to make the Royal saloon so pleasant an apartment on the way from London. Viscount Lascelles was smiling happily as he helped his wife down the steps to the red-carpeted platform. Altogether I caught the impression that, after the pageantry and ceremonial which had marked the day, the Royal I...’de and her husband were glad to find themselves at last enfolded in the friendly peace of the countryside. It had at first been intended that exservice men should form the guard of honor on the platform, but finally the counsels of the people, who said that the “little bride” as they call her here, would be more at homo with a guard of women, were allowed to prevail. Consequently, as the Princess stepped from the Royal train, after her great, but tiring day, the first sight which met her eye was the familiar uniform of the Girl Guides—a uniform she has herself so frequently worn with pride and pleasure. In charge of the 60 bonny girls who thus had the honor of welcoming Commandant Princess Mary to Shropshire, were their commissioner, Mrs. Wilson, and their leader, Mrs. Swinburne, wife of the vicar of Shifnal, who is a descendant of the poet, and hopes to preach before Princess Mary before her honeymoon is over. THE YOUNGEST MARY. Little Shifnal, which has only 3000 inhabitants. has done its best to show how proud it is that the Princess has chosen to spend the first days of her married life close to its borders. Fluttering behind the guard of honor were hundreds of little Hags, which, with banners of a gold-embroidered scarlet cloth, hid the utilitarian little rooms of the station platform. One of the first to greet the Royal bride was little Mary Elcock, the youngest Mary in Shifnal. who was chosen to present the town s bouquet of pink and white carnations to the Princess. Mary is a nine days’ heroine with the children of Shifnal, who have been making little excursions to the station ail day long, “to see if the pretty Princess had arrived.”

Ranged in the stationyard were exservice men of the locality, and by them and 400 school children Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles were heartily cheered, as they left on the last five miles of the wedding journey. LOST TO PUBLIC VIEW. They entered Lord Bradford’s estate at Sarewsbury Lodge, and the cottagers and children of Weston gave them their last cheer before the trees which are thickly set over the estate swallowed them up. The great wish of the Princess and Lord Lascelles is that they may be left to enjoy the unbroken privacy which is the greatest boon Royalty can ask. All the same, it is said, the greatest congregation ever known in Weston Church is expected next Sunday, when it is hoped the Princess may worship there. The interest of the countryside may be judged bv the fact that the small station at Shifnal has to-day been overwhelmed by 800 passengers, instead of the average of three. Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles are practically alone at Weston Park. By their special request a temporary telephone, which it was proposed to install, has not been put in. They brought with them from London only Viscont Lascelles’ valet and Princess Mary’s maid. They were received at Weston Park by Mrs. Rae. Lord Bradford’s housekeeper. No member of the family was present. A special staff of servants uad been sent from London.

ROYAL WEDDING PRESENTS. HOW THEY ARE ACCEPTED. SOME FACTS ABOUT THE RING AND TROUSSEAU. The greatest care is always exercised by Royalty in accepting wedding presents. ‘Fashion has a trick of following a Royal “lead.” and it is obvious that were’all presents to be accepted unchecked, glorious opportunities would be open to enterprising business people. “Trade presents,” therefore, are liable to fall under suspicion. After the ceremony, the presents ot Royalty are usually on show. King Edward’s and Queen Alexandra’s presents were exhibited for days at the South Kensington Museum. Figuring amongst the costly gifts of kings and emperors, Indian rajahs and mighty cities were such articles as a shew! from the wives and daughters of Paisley weavers, and a Bible subscribed for by the children of Windsor. When our King George and Queen Mary were married, thirty years later, the young couple had their presents laid out in the White Lodge and threw open the house. Crows of many thousands besieged Richmond, fighting for admission. Londoners and excursionists from the. North thronged the roads, till in the end it was thought wiser to remove the presents to the Imperial Institute in London; One of the presents was a golden bowl from the City of Edinburgh—in which, by the way. our present Princess. under her full name of Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, was afterwards to be baptised at Sandringham Parish Church. Another present was twelve d’oyleys, made by kiddies in hospital. THE RING. Queen Mary’s wedding ring was made from gold from a Welsh stream at Dolxelly, and the gold for Princess Mary’s

ring was probably taken from the same source. Queen Mary also hud n “keeper ring,” made from Scottish gold. At Leadhill, in Lanarkahire, are some ancient mines—worked out centuries ago. From here, however, in 1893, enough gold was scraped to make a “keeper.” THE TROUSSEAU, Our Royalty always like British people to 'be responsible for its wedding garments. For Queen Victoria’s wedding dress, the lace (which alone cost £1000) was ordered from Beer, in Devonshire, for the special purpose of finding employment to a then much-distress-ed industry. Its working occupied two hundred women for eight months. Queen Mary, again, married in silver and white brocade from Spitalfields looms, stipulated that her whole trousseau should be of British manufacture; ajl the silk was to be English, the flannel Welsh the tweeds Scotch ai|d the lac? and poplin Irish. And now Princess Mary has had her trousseau made by British people.

MARGOT SURPRISING THE AMERICANS. DISCUSSES MANY SUBJECTS. San Francisco, March 14. Mrs. Margot zxsquith, the wife of the former Premier of Britain. in her lengthy tour of the United States, has continued to startle the average Ameriicans, and when she returned to New York from her visit to Canada, Margot was interrogated upon some of the most beautiful women of America. By all odds the most beautiful woman she had met was the Countess Minetto, daughter of Louis F. Swift, the multi-millionaire Chicago meat packer, was the opinion expressed by Mrs. Asquith. “T have another lovely American in my memory,” said the famous British author. “Your Miss of Chicago, who was Lord Curzon’s first wife. She was one of the most beautiful women I ever saw.”

The discerning English, noblewoman gave her reasons for choosing the American born countess: “Mme. Minotto,” she said, “has beautiful features, face and skin. When beauty is a gift of the Creator it is as fair as art. Always beautiful women have elegance.” She had this striking description for loveliness: “Loveliness —a plain woman can be lovely. But beauty is beauty. I carry no illusions.”

Margot, “grandmother of the flapper,” interviewed and written about in a score of cities in the United States and Canada, was not satisfied just to read about herself in American newspapers, she said. “She was eager for news from home—England. “Your newspapers are all right in the way they have treated me, but the ‘top’ of them is abominable. I never reed the first sheet, which is usually filled with murders and suicides, Charlie Chaplin’s pants or Mary Pickford’s dogs. They screech and bellow—the front pages, not the dogs."

Between puffs of her ever-present cigarette, Mrs. Asquith gave views on international affairs, the British Cabinet crisis, American prohibition, American cities and American traits in general.

To American prohibition, Margot, raised a warning finger and admitted she had. told President Harding what she thought about it. “At balls and parties in England the boys and girls don’t get even this much drink,” she said, holding two fingers of her right hand very close together. “Here I understand it is common practice since prohibition for young folks to drink and get drunk at dances. But when I am travelling or am thirsty, or am having my dinner, and ask for just one sip of brandy, I am told it is impossible. When I first came over I thought I would admire prohibition, but now that I have seen how it works, I think it is abominable

EXPENDITURE ON DRESS. QUESTION OF ALLOWANCE. JUDGMENT RAISES DEBATE. London, April 8. “Prodigality is a feminine fault, not a feminine necessity. I fail to see any circumstances to justify 50 or 60 dresses yearly for a wife. It is for the husband, not the wife, to fix the standard of domestic life early. If he wishes, he can limit the standard of his countess to a shooting lodge or to a suburban bungalow.” These are some of the piquant phrases sprinkling Mr. Justice McCarclie’s judgment in favor of Lord Cathcart in his suit against the countess (formerly the wife of Captain de Grey Warter), in which the Earl of Craven was cited as co-respondent. The decision, which has already been facetiously dubbed “The husband’s character,” covered a w’ide range, beginning with Nero, “who never wore the same garment twice.” Mr. Justice McCardie held that marriage itself never gave a wife authority to pledge her husband’s credit, and in this case authority was completely absent. Subject to that proviso, the husband, if. the parties were living together, must supply the necessaries of life—including food and clothing—though on this point an old authority had said that the wife must be her own carver. A wife with a fixed allowance could not pledge her husband’s credit. He believed the Countess Cathcart really desired the gowns with a view to her elopment with the Earl of Craven. The Judge ended with the warning that anyone who trades with a married woman on her husband’s credit does so at his own risk. The judgment has caused much discussion. West End dressmakers are fluttered, and society women are indignant. The Daily Mail is collecting opinions of fashion leaders. One prominent hostess fixes £5OO ns the minimum dress allowance for a London season. Another equally high-born lady lays down the dictum that a hat which is enchanting at Cowes would be moral suicide at Ascot. More reasonable opinions fix £lo’oo yearly for a society woman entertaining moderately, adding, “ £2OO is enough for the average middle-class woman.” The Times points out that the law on the point is well settled, but pcesses hardly on tradesmen, particularly ‘dressmakers, who cannot possibly ask a customer what her dress allowance *s.

THE FUN OF, DANCING. (By the Editor of The Dancing World.) Dancing, as it is practised to-day, is a pastime—that is a fact which is ap; parently forgotten by the theorists who are for ever deploring that “its traditions” are violated by incorrect, inelegant styles. It is all a matter of temperament. What one man finds a serious form of art, enough to absorb much of his time and thought, another will regard as merely a pleasing, inexpensive way of whiling away his leisure hours. The majority, therefore, dance to please themselves—and they are happy. A great point is, however, that no one can dance persistently without benefiting from the gentle exercise it provides. I know at least one winner of walking championships who trains for his contest upon the ballroom floor. There are other instances of benefits gained. The elderly gentleman who night after night will be seen upon the floor at a well-known dancing place, is finding in the dance the only cure yet discovered for chronic insomnia. Another finds that dancing has practically cured him of shell-shock. To many, be it noted, dancing provides a gentle, soothing exercise, bringing benefits equal to more violent forms of exertion, which in some cases would be actually harmful. People are, however, no more attracted to the dance for its curative properties than they are attracted to medicine for the same reason. They go a-dancing solely for pleasure.

Fun and “novelty,” that is, variety, •form the basis of every form of recreation which continues to attract us, and the dance band which introduces something of “surprise”—with an additional show of “fireworks” —will please the enjoyment-seeker far more than the most masterful rendering of a classical item. The fun of a novelty night is enjoyed all the more for the reason that the audience produce it for themselves.

The diversion is as harmless as it is enjoyable, and wherever “novelty” nights are introduced, everyone enjoys himself, votes the affair “a jolly evening,” and determines to come next time.

SOME USEFUL HINTS. Cleaning a carpet.—A carpet can b" successfully cleaned at home in the following manner:—lib of Castile soap, lib of borax, and 4 quarts of ooiling water. Put ajl the ingredients into a pan on the stove, and dissolve. Next add ilb of cream of tartar and the be-aten white of an egg. Apply the preparation with a small brush, treating a small portion at a time. Dry with a elean cloth wrung out of hot water. The carpet should be thoroughly swept first. The care of linoleum. —The rough boards of a floor should be planed, and the cracks filled in, before a new linoleum is laid down. The cracks should be filled with wood-filling, obtainable at all oilshops. A clean and colorless varnish will preserve a printed linoleum. Leave it for about 48 hours before walking over it, and don’t apply the varnish till the floor covering has been down at least four weeks.

Linoleum can be cemented to the floor with great advantage. However carefully tacked, the linoleum is bound to suffer in the process. Of course, the cemented linoleum can be taken up when required.

Lady Ludlow, who recently took the oath as a justice of the peace for Bedfordshire, was the widow of Sir Julius Wernher, when, a couple of years ago, she married her present husband. She owns Luton Hoo, the beautiful place in Bedfordshire that once belonged to the famous Madame de Falbe, says a London paper. The organisation known as the Children’s Happy Evenings Association owed much to Lady Wemher, as she then was, for every autumn she had a show of dolls at her Lontfon home, Bath House, Piccadilly, where hundreds of dolls dressed by wellknown society women were on view. It is said that during the war she subscribed a million pounds to a wav loan. Her second son married Lady Zia Torby, a daughter of the Grand Duke Michael and the Countess Torby, whose other daughter is the wife of the present Marquis of Milford Haven. The slender silhouette is still the most popular outline of the moment in New York. Skirts are neither long nor short; but just preserve the happy medium. The uneven hem has an immense success for afternoon and evening wear, and has many variations. The tendency of collars is to be high. The velvet band topped by a sheer frill of white organdie is much favored. The three-piece suit—that is to say, a frock and coat—has superseded the perennial coat and skirt to a great extent. The newest sleeves are long and pagoda shaped —widening out at the wrist and in many cases almost covering the hand. All sleeves tend to become wider. The voluminous bishop sleeves gathered into tight cuffs at the wrists, which, end in full frills of muslin. are seen on many of the newest dresses. Silk and woollen crepes are quite the most fashionable materials. Lacquered effects are striking features of the latest millinery. Bright colors are used, and ribbons of every description play an important part both in the making and trimming of hats. Many of the smartest toques are formed entirely of flat rosettes slightly overlapping each other. Mrs. Amelia Spurgeon (an aunt of the late Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, the wellknown Baptist preacher) died a *few days ago in the 103rd year of hdr age (says the Post’s London correspondent, writing on March 3). She lived for many years in Anerley. but for the past year was practically an invalid. Born in the same year as Queen Victoria, Mrs. Spurgeon spent much of hr-r earlier life in the country districts of Sussex, and was in receipt of a small pension from the Agricultural Benevolent Institution. On her 100th birthday she received the following message from the King, dispatched by His Majesty’s private secretary: “The King is much gratified to learn that you are to-day celebrating your 100th birthday, and I am commanded to send you an expression of His Majesty’s congratulations and good wishes.” Mrs. Spurgeon came of a family notable for its longevity, and a brother and two sist&rs lived to be over 80 years of age. She had no children of her own, but brought up a niece, who looked after her in her later years. Till within a short time of becoming a centenarian she was able to read the newspapers daily, and then, though her sight and hearing began to fau, her brain remained clear and active, and. she retained a keen interest in outside affairs.