LADIES' COLUMN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 149, 15 December 1870, Page 7

LADIES' COLUMN.

From a false regard to public opininon, or as a matter of convenience,, or for the mere purpose of securing a home and being settled in life, thousands enl'-r into the most sacred of human relations with no such feelings towards each other as will lead them to " bear and forbear." There is a popular feeling that it is somewhat a disgrace to a woman to pass through life unmarried ; and, shrinking from that obloquy, multitudes marry according to the forms of law when they are not drawn together by any qualities of mind and soul, and there is no true marraige of heart, What wonder, then, that discontent and misery arise, and a divorce, if not sought, is often desired 1

The Jamestown (N. V.) "Journal" tells the following remarkable story :—: — There is a woman in the town of Harmony, Chautauqua county, who has not spoken to her husband in 21 years. In the year 1840 her husband contardicfccl her hai-shley in the presence of company, and she threatened that if ho didn't behave better towards her she would never speak to him again. He retorted that he wished she wouldn't ; and she has not since then spoken to him. They have continued to live peacefully together, and during the long silence have had several children. Everything goes on at their house as usual with farmers. The husbaud is attentive, and docs his com versing with his wife through one of the children. For instance, he will ask a child nt the table, ' Will your mother have some more meat? Or, at another timo, 'Is your mother going to town with me to day V The family is wealthy, and belong to the better class of Chautauqua farmers and respectable citizoas."

Young widows arc always blytho. They ever meet one with a smile and flattering word. Cm any one tell why? Young widows pay very scrupulous attention to their dress. None know so well what colours, black or otherwise, are suited to their complexion, nor what freaks of millinery serve best to heighten the beauty of their form. Their knowledge of this subject they well put into practise. Does any one know why ] Youngwidows, if at first pleasant, gay, and agreeable through afloctedness, become so through habit. It is said that she who marries a second time i.s a bolter wife to her second than to her first husband. Who can give a reason if we have not done it 1 Young widows are the most charming part of creation — the envy of one sex, and the beloved of the other ; and why 1

The women of Cambridge have associated themselves together for tho purpose of purchasing their food and clothing at more reasonable prices, and getting their cooking laundry- work, and sewing done betcor and more conveniently than at present. To these ends, they propose to fit a kitchen and laundry large enough to serve at least 50 households ; and to open sewingrooms which will furnish the clothing of these households. To start the kitchen and laundry they need a capital of lOOdol. for the kitchen, and 50dol. for the laundry, payable cash down, or in instalments of not less than lOdol. per month. Subscriptions to the storeroom and bakery belonging to the kitchen will also bo received at 25d01. each.

A French journalist, M. Bertrand, has discovered a new profession which, it is interesting to know, is pursued in London. Ho calls it a slr.tuge, eccentric profession — " bizarre" is his own word — and, as regards its characterisation, he is not far wrong. It consists, M. Bertraud explains, in picking out pretty girls of low station, washing them, dressing them like young ladies, giving them a few lessons in deportment, manners, and the art of speaking English, and then exhibiting them in the parks, public gardens, and theatres, until they attract the attention and gain the heart, and ultimately the hand, of some rich man. " Little by little," we are told, " the poetic illusions of the honeymoon disappear, until at last the husband discovers that he has married a girl without a position or education. So much the worse ! But in toe meanwhile the bargain has been struck, and the matrimonial agent lias pocketed his premium. These improvised young ladies are, it appears, called " drapery misses."

No French woman, no English woman of cultivation, now-a-days, wears her garter below her knee. It is ruinous to the shape of her calf. More than this, are serious consequences of another kind. The principal vein of the leg (\ ena saphena brevis) runs just beneath the skin until it nearly reaches the knee, when it sinks beneath the muscles. Now, if this is contracted at its largest part by a tight garter, the blood, is checked in its return to the heart, the feet arc easily chilled aud more liable to disease, and the veins of tho leg are swollen into hard, blue knots, becoming varicose, as it is called, and often break, forming obstinate ulcers. This is a picture which a physician sees nearly every day. With the garter fastened above the knee all this pain and deformity are avoided.

Now that the ladies are having everything their own way, it is said that printed declarations, with blank forms, are to be used by young ladies who Have lovers too modest to propose. The ladies themselves fill out the blanks, and of course no sensible man can refuse signing them.