THE ELECTRIC HOME JOURNAL

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 6, 22 August 1930, Page 30

THE ELECTRIC HOME JOURNAL

HAVE you ever tried to make out a list of all the electrical units there . ave in existence? I have to-night, and it has made my head whirl. We are surrounded by electricity, but not overwhelmed by this strong power, so safely are we guarded by our efficient power-boards and Public Works Department and city councils, to say nothing of the inspectors from the N.Z. Fire and Underwriters’ Association. Electricity, this faithful, reliable, strong servant of ours, is subservient to our very touch. She cooks for us, washes, sews, scrubs, washes-up, dusts and polishes, and when we are ill heals ‘us with health-giving rays. She is ready at once to light us on our way, to take us from place to place, to transport our voices, deliver our messages, warm us and cool us, guard our food from microbes, and control our shops and factories. Whether we are working’ or playing, we turn naturally to. this our servant, yet our greatest friend, for it seldom fails us in our hour of need, and gives us of her best to save our lives. Electricity is doing everything it can nowadays to preserve beauty and health. All modern lighting fittings are designed for resting and preserving the eyesight as well as for attractiveness. A SHORT time ago it was the fashion for housewives to send their maids to evening classes for fancy cookery. But since the introduction of electric stoves things are reversed, as most mistresses delight in doing the cooking themselves ;.and it is they who attend classes to learn the most economical way of using electrical power. For there is a right and wrong way, and the thrifty housewife will soon learn just when to turn off the switches and cook on storage heat, and what things to put into a cold oven to cook while the oven heats; thus halving her bill. S it fashionable to be slender or of magnificent build? Well, just in case being willowy is the rage-let me tell you there is no quicker and easier way of attaining the thin silhouette than to eat a small head of raw cabbage each day. Make the cabbage into salads or into sandwiches with Rex cheese and brown bread, or just eat it with salt. This diet is the very latest "slimming " food in the United States, but a friend of mine tumbled upon it several years ago and passed it on to her friends with excellent results. UST a moment; while we are on the subject of fickle fashion. Personally, I love grey hair, but I’m in the minority-however, if you want to prevent hair turning grey use cold tea

once every week as a‘dye. It is harmless and most effective. Do men read these pages? HERE is a proposal afoot in the University of. Chicago to institute a degree of Bachelor of Arts in Dishwashing, Cooking and Sweeping, the reason being that educated girls refuse to enter domestic service, which they consider undignified. Perhaps -in the not-too-distant future our Wellington housewives, instead of asking for references, will simply demand _ succinctly, "B.A. or M.A.?" and engage accordingly. HOPLE are having their ears pierced again, now that long, heavy earrings are returning to fashion. Formerly, this slight‘ operation was _ performed by a doctor, and occasionally by a jeweller, but now there is a lady "puncturiste" in London, who devotes her whole time to the job, and does it scientifically. On one occasion she was surprised to receive a visit from a male client, until she discovered that he was going on Secret Service work to the East, disguised as a native, and pierced ears were an important part of his make-up. ; "THE following lesson in hygiene is quoted from an English paper: Scene: A music-hall. The occupant of the next seat. had sneezed when making his way into his seat after the interval. A few minutes later a note was passed along. It was on a slip of paper with the printed name of a London hospital, and read as follows: "Your education in hygiene has been sadly neglected. If you will call upon the undersigned at the above address he will be pleased to remedy this, free of charge." It was only lack of a pencil that prevented me from passing along a much more pungent note at a Wellington theatre the other evening -and for a similar offence. ~ MY JOHNSON’S successful flight from England to Australia seems to have created an atmosphere of nearness between the two countries. At all events, one Australian lady is known to have sent invitations to her London friends for her daughter’s wedding in Sydney a month hence. We presume that the few extra days are to allow for emergency stops-forced landings, and any other little contingencies which might arise. APROPOS of a request made to the football authorities by the City Council for payment of the traffic inspectors employed during the recent Test match, I have just received from a friend an account of the expenses of

his wedding, at a fashionable London church. Included in the usual itemssuch as carpets, floral decorations, choir-boys and organist-was a bill for the service of police. In order to ensure the comfortable arrival and departure of his: guests he had to request Scotland Yard to send a certain number of police to keep the crowds back; and each policeman had to be paid for at so much a head, inspectors costing double. At this time of the year, when oranges are comparatively cheap and plentiful, it is a good idea to vary the daily menu with dishes made from that wholesome fruit. Here is a recipe for orange jelly :- Ingredients.-1 pint of water, 40z. granulated gelatine, 6 oranges, $ lemon,

4 oz. sugar. Method.-Peel off thinly the rind of two oranges and the half lemon. Soak it in the water with the gelatine. Then add the sugar and stir over the fire till the gelatine igs dissolved. Add the juice of the oranges and lemon, and bring to the boil. Strain it and pour into an oiled or wetted mould. This dish is delicious with meringues and cream. war would you do if your daughter was "dying to go on the films’? Discourage her," says Elinor Glyn, "by every means in your power." According to Mrs. Glyn the necessary qualities for a successful film. career are too seldom met with among girls of to-day, or are too difficult of attainment for the average. Good features and personality should be the chief attributes of a would-be film actress, and to these must be added a perfect speaking voice. Only after unremitting toil for at least two years in the culture of her mind and body can a girl hope to get a chance in British films; but if she is really determined, no amount of parental discouragement will keep her back. But it’s a hard life. |

"THE latest letters from London have been full of the Henley Regatta, and the opening of the river seagon. For once the weather, was kind,‘and the result was a record crowd, and a cosmopolitan one at that. The best oarsmen from all over the world were assembled to do battle for the various trophies. The gorgeous colours of the women’s‘ frockg #nd parasols as they sat in launch®s and punts turned the river into a. beautiful. flower garden. Flowing chiffon and georgette draperies of ankle length and huge hats were the order of the day, but it is a significant fact that nearly all’ the American women were wearing sensible short white. or coloured frocks. A vivid note was struck by a punt full of girls wearing pyjama trousers of "jazz" hues, with enormous straw hats. Altogether this appears to have been the most picturesque regatta for many years. F you ever get a piece of steel in. your eye, try using a magnet. You laugh! It’s not a joke. "N2VER let life knock you down. Meet it fair and square, and if it hits you hard give to it like a tense spring-and spring back.’-Wilfred Ewart (in "Way of Revelation’). JULECTRICITY in the farmyard will soon be a commonplace of everyday life. Already many of the larger farms have their own plant which supplies power for lighting and heating the house, and at the same time enables the farmer to use it for milking machines, thus saving labour. New possibilities in the poultry-yard are foreshadowed in the following episode : -A film company at the Elistice Studios in England: wanted a hen as local atmosphere in a farmyard setting. They borrowed a Buff Orpington, which had refused to lay an egg for over yo years. Directly the hen took up /its residence in the studio it began to lay a daily egg, and this is attributed to the violet ray values of the studio lights. . " ‘HOSE who have old pewter articles as part of their decorative scheme in a room are sometimes puzzled to know whether to polish them or let them remain dull, Since the main object of such articles is obviously to embellish a room, the metal should not be allowed to lose its decorative lustre. Only museum examples or fragile _ pieces should be left with the dirt of antiquity on them. To clean pewter first soak for several hours in strong soda water, then clean with sandsoap. Polish with brasso and "elbow-grease."

Electricity LECTRICITY can do Lots of useful things for you; Light yaur room and warm your bed, Cook the food on which you're fed; Wash and dry the clothes you wear, Put a nice wave in your hair! Milk the cows and saw the wood; Lots it does for public good; Life was surely drab and gray Ere Electric Power held sway!

J.

M.

FIUNTING through some tattered recipes in my grandmother's desk the other day, I came upon an old"fashioned remedy for broken chillains, It was nothing more or less thhan grated raw turnips, applied as hot poultices over the sore parts. Ap‘parently. it was quite effective, too, bene underlined twige.in faded violet HEN enamel ‘bowls are used for -home dyeing, the stains left on them are often difficult toremove. Try rubbing the bowl with a mixture of eooking salt und parafiin, ; then: wash "in warm soapy water and: rinse with cold. The stains will-be found to. have completely disappeared. HDRE is a craze at present among young mothers in England for giving their children. poise, by having them taught. ballroom dancing from . their. ‘tenderest yéars, Many tots who can scarcely prattle a sentence, have mastered the rhythm of clapping to music, and prance. about on their feet with’ absolute unself-consciousness. The shy child will soon be as great an anaclronism as the: rétiring bachelor. AMERICANS: are much addicted to statistics, even. on such romantic subjects as trousseaux. Hconomy in the purchase of a trousseau is one of the foundation stones of a happy marriage. This is the principle laid down by the New York Federation of Women’s Clubs (says a British United Press message). The budget is graduated according to the salary of the prospective husband, the relation between salary and trousseau expenditure being: For the 50 dollars (£10) a week husband; 200 dollars (£40) for trousseau. ¥or the 100 dollars (£20) a week husband; 500 dollars (£100) for trousseau. ¥F a door is jamming at the top and you want to discover the exact spot in order to plane it, place a sheet of, notepaper on the top of the door and closé it, At one point the paper will be caught, and this will give the’ required indication. TH latest whim for the entertainment of Wngland’s idle rich (by which I do not mean the recipients of the dole) is to be a "floating casino." In plain words this means a _ liner which. will be chartered, fitted up as a palatial hotel, replete with restaurant, ball-room, swimming bath and gambling rooms, and anchored somewhere off the coast. Motor-boats will be used to convey visitors te and fro, and if any are unfortunate enough to miss the. last boat to shore they can stay the night onboard in sumptuous cabins. Wh about the magnificent liners lying wWnused in our own’ harbour off Ngahauranga? Here is an idea-free of charge-for some of our enterprising organisers.--(Henley Cable T. and MONG avery large. percentage of the .population of New Zealand, "horse-racing" has played a very important part:in the enjoyment of life this week. Are we to let Australia always lead, or is the time soon:com-: ing when our electrical engineers turn: night into day, and illuminate our xacecourses? We need not then fear the approach of evening. during «the winter months when we attend the race meetings. On the racecourse at Hast Perth where night horse racing is conducted, everything is.so: wonderfully equipped that it is probably without

equal in any country. There are special reflectors used which produce diffused illumination, making the course proper .absolutely . shadowless,. More than 120 miles of electric wiring has been used on this wonderful installation. WASHING nowadays has lost its terrors in an up-to-date, home. Only a few days ago I saw a lady acquaintance, dressed ready to attend a charity meeting, doing her’ washing with an electric washer. ‘ All she had te do was to put the clothes into the washer, and in a very brief time they were’ beautifully white The lady wore her pink crepe de chine: without getting a drop of water on it. ONE of the most delightful events in London is the weekly dancing in the natural amphitheatre in Hyde Park,

sponsored by the League of Arts. Various dancing-class students perform in the atena in the sunshine, and hundreds of spectators view, the display from be_neath the shady elms, on the grassy, semi-circular slope, At one of the recent performances dances of various na-

ALISON