"The Distaff."

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2292, 19 March 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

"The Distaff."

USEFUL WORK

KNITTKI.) PKTTICOAT, A YKRY good petticoat is in brioche knitting, the upper part being ribbed. Required, IfjMb. of four-thread superfine fleecy, scarlet, or any colour preferred, and a pair of long wooden knittingneedles, No. 8. Kor the front of the petticoat cast on 120 stitches. Ist row— Make J, slip 1, putting the needle iu as if about to purl, knit 1, and repeat to the end of the row. Ind row—Make 1, slip 1, knit the next stitch and the thread that lies over it together, and repeat. Continue kinitting as the second row, always taking 1 care to slip the stitch, as if a,bout to purl it, and to knit the tsvo crossed stitches together, till you have knitted a piece about 20 inches in length. Next row—Purl 1, knit 2 together all along. Next row—Purl 1, knit t, and repeat. Work same as the last row, only decreasing by knitting two stitches together at the beginning and at the end

of the needle in every fourth row, at the same time keeping the ribbing straight, till you have sufficient length for the skirt., then cast off. Recommence with I*2o stitches for the back of the petticoat, and knit exactly the same as the front breadth, only when you get to the 18th row of the ribbed part, divide for a placket hole, knit 60 stitches and turn, and finish off these GO stitches to the length required, and then knit the remaining GO stitches. Sew the two breadths together, and sew the top on to a linen band. For the border—lst row —1 double crochet in stripe, of the brioche kfJTtting, 2 chain, 1 double crochet in the next stripe, and repeat. 2nd row —1 double crochet under loop of two chain of last row, 2 chain, another double crochet in the same place, and repeat 3rd row—l double crochet under loop of two chain of last row, 3 chain, 1 double crochet under next loop and repeat. 4th row—l double crochet under loop of three chain of last row, 3 chain, .1 duuble crocket under next loop, and repeat.

MADGE DINES AT A CLUB,

(TKDTII.) What do you t.bink, ray dear ? We have been to dine at a club—a regular Loudon club—and we are not now at all astonished that married men do not rnind occasionally dining' at their club in order to let their wives have a quiet evening with their dressmakers, and what is, I am afraid, more important, their cooks an evening out. Charlie has an old friend of his, who often comes and diues with us, and, though a bachelor, he was anxious to return our hospitality by inviting all the members of our household out to dinner —that is to say, papa, Maud and myself and Charlie, instead of contenting himself with merely inviting the latter. And here let me digress, in order to enter a protest on our behalf on the fact that even the apparently nicest bachelors seldom show us girls any little civility of this sort in recognition of what we do to entertain them. They satisfy their consciences by asking one's brother out—a brother to whom the going out is 110 treat—and they never think of us. And this is doubly inconsiderate, seeing that we, and not the brothers, have all to do with entertaining them when they visit our homes. But there—l expect the reason is, that all the nice bachelors—viz., those who think of us—soon cease to be bachelors. But to return to our club dinner. Well, my dear, we went to the Wellington—-the club in Clrosvenor-place that has recently been resuscitated under a new regime. On our arrival we were taken to a private entrance especially reserved for ladies, and we entered the new suite of rooms that have been quite recently opened. And such a suite, such a drawing-room, so oosy, so extravagantly nice, such curtains, such furniture; and then, to make it quite complete and yet to retain the privileges allowed at a club, a portion of the room is partitioned off by a glass screen, behind which the men can smoke without leaving us as it were altogether, awl yet without upsetting those of our sex who object to tobacco —a happily decreasing minority, lam thanktul to any, as I feel sure tint the permission of a freer use of tobacco in Jiulics' society would ensure our seeing a. great deal more ot men at our social entertainments —a result which would, i know, prove mutually advantageous and agreeable. A JUBILEE 01"FEEING TO THE QUEEN.

A movement has been commenced having for its object the receiving of contributions towards a personal jubilee offering to the queen from the women and girls of all classes, grades, and ages throughout the United Kingdom, irre.respective of religious creeds, political opinions, and all other distinctions or differences 111 life, as a mark of loyal appreciation of her public and private character during the past 50 years, from the subjects of her own sex; the nature of the effering to be decided by Her Majesty herself. It is proposed that the contributions shall range from a minimum of Id to a maximum of £1, and be collected by the wives of lord lieutenants, members of Parliament, mayors, alderman, the clergy of all denominations, and all leading proprietors and householders, in their several counties, towns, wards, and districts. A leaflet has been written for general distribution, which runs as follows :—•' The women and girls of the United Kingdom, of all ages, .ranks, classes, beliefs, and opinions, are asked to join in one common offering to their Queen in token of loyally, affection, aud reverence towards the only female sovereign in history who, for 50 years has borne the toils and troubles of public life, known the sorrows that fall to all women, and as wife, mother, widow, aud ruler, held up a bright and spotless example to her own aud ail other nations. Contributions to range from Id to £1. The nature of the offering will be decided by the Queen herself, and the names of all contributors will be presented to Her Majesty.' Any number of this leaflet will bo sent on application to the hou. secretary at .12 Carteret-street, Queen AnneWato, S.W., or to any member of the Executive Committee at .17 Crosvcnor-gardens, S. YV. A large and influential committee of ladies aud gentlemen has already been formed in London, and steps will at once be taken for the formation of sub-committees throughout the kingdom, while it is hoped that the movement will also be taken up in the colonies. The trustees are the Duke of Westminster, the Right Hon. \V. H. Smith, M. P., and Sir James M'Cate!Hogg, M.P. ; the treasurers, Lord Charles Brudenell-Bruce and Mr Charles Merlov ; aud the bankers, Messrs < 'outta wl oin; London and Westminster Bank. - ; >uee'i. JAPANESE WOMEN IN EUROPEAN DRESS. To begin with, these unhappy women have 110 waists ! Think of that, ye leaders of fashion ! The reason of this pitiable state of things is said to be, that the obi, which for generations has been tightly bound round their hips, has utterly destroyed that graceful curve, aud without it not all tlio gemtis of all the Parisian i'-essmakers ea.i make a woman look elegant in our modern dress. And what makes their case even more hopeless is, that they are very :.hort, generally under five feet, often iuu; above four, and, in youth at least, very thick. They choose their colours badly too for the perfect taste that ruled their national costume seems quite to desert them when they deal with ours, and. in consequence—although it is hi'rsh it is perfectly true—the women of fashion that drove past me in the streets of Tokio were very suggestive of the young lady in a Christy Minstrel farce. ■

Until within the last few mouths the Empress clung to the old style, and it was very curious to see her portrait side

by side with the Mikado's, she dressed as slit; might have been a thousand years ago and lie in a modern European military costume. She has now, however, decided to discard the old style on state occasions, and the ladies of the Court have teen ordered to do the same, which, from an a:sthetic point of view, at least, is deeply to be deplored.