WHAT WE WOMEN THINK

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 25, 31 December 1931, Unnumbered Page

WHAT WE WOMEN THINK

_ ?anorama. . Piter noon, femininity fluttering on "- the Quay, squeakers abroad in the land, balloons briefly gay over bright ‘eurls of children. The Old Year wanes ‘to a close, and pathetic vendors of ‘paper flowers and strange beasts make 'frentiec appeals to purchasers of rub‘phishing wares. A boy of thirteen or so, threadbare, neat and eager, keeps ‘up breathless, insistent patter. "Here "y’are, lydy. Screw ’em tight as tight, ‘snd they'll go up like *"Inkler!" he reinepates, as he thrusts forward a ‘painted monster the like of which has ever flown o’er land or sea. : A forlorn derelict, with bulging boots an ravaged face, hammers out on \Wheezing hurdy-gurdy, "Christians, eaweke! Salute the Happy Morn," with tvagic irony affecting to the most wbhinse. With the shamefacedness of {>-itein bestowing largesse in bright ligt that beats upon public philanv .oay, We drop in a coin, and are glad vi gleam of silver content amid much dull brown in ragged cap that serves as temporary treasure-chest. Comes a portly matron of fifty summers, clad in pink organdie and a near-ly-ermine necktie that has seen better

Gays. "I sez to Bill," she loudly declaims to plethorie friend, "I don't ’old with this ’ere Christmas business. ‘Meals as usual,’ sez I, no better and no worse. Wot’s Christmas done for Bill and me!" And thus belligerently _ dismisses the Hope of the World, the greatest anniversary of Christendom. Under the War Memorial, a limping veteran, with a tanned, lined face, stops fo 2 moment to buy some oranges. "Wor my pal. He’s dying over " ‘els the aloof Assyrian, who profyere 20 word of sympathy, but hands hire che fruit in profound silence of uv; anen race. "Together at Gallipoli!" &s the man, oblivious to lack of revps4s3, as his wistful eyes stray "over clues ." where his comrade is fighting a lesing battle. icading for home, we buy a paper "rtira local Adam of Dublin, who stifles Fawuiccus yells, and with a touch of the urogue renders thanks for recurrent vr utnity. The long shadows stretch sronrd us, a solitary sandwich man nnéers past, the sad year is going, dite ‘, almost gone; and over the horiv= flimmer sails of the ship of good "ope freighted it may be with fulfil‘at of gallant endeavour, reconciliaiin of clashing issues, balancing of the cu dgeat ¢ perchance a peace that passes « «derstanding, heart’s happiness in os «vorld or the next. ; "iy year is a fresh beginning, wes -. my soul, to the glad refrainAo, in: spite of old sorrow and older ' omung, Tike teart with the year and begin again, -ILV.I. tise "tight Staff. a he "RE are few women in modern pudlie life more respected than Miss 1}. agaor Rathbone, whose return at the he ‘wi of the poll for the Combined Engliso Universities is one of the minor sitions of the general election. So -w 6 the women in the late Parliant have been returned, and Miss Ratoone, of course, stood as an Inde-hent-one cannot imagine her as ye ‘hing else! She has a magnificent "ord of public service, which began ‘hen she came down from Somerville "olleoge, Oxford, and was the first Woman to be elected to the Liverpool

OO OO ON ODS SF NN OS U8 OIE as Ne TC C-O City Council. Miss Ellen Wilkinson once rather flippantly described Miss Rathbone as "looking what she is, a great public institution." She has a fine, strong face, beautiful eyes, a clear, forceful mind, and a telling voice, well suited to the House of Commons. In Glass Houses. ROOMS almost entirely furnished in glass, with glass-covered walls, have been produced by Lalique, whose amber-coloured dining-room with a solid glass dinner table, will linger in the memory of all who have seen i. Very beautiful effects achieved by plateglass, backed with silvered plaster or emobssed lead paper, have been shown also Dy this master. Moulded panels of giass, set in a framework of steel, have wlso been used by Lalique in a variecv of ways. Last year he made 2 set of altar rails for a church, with three panels consisting of long glass strips, decorated with a deign of lilies; while his great glass fountain, with eight panels of figures in high relief and seyenfteen cascades, was one of the points | of interest of the Paris Exhibition of 1925. ahh eae oe eo we eo De ee eo Dee oD @ Oo Se Oo one

Glass statuary and moulded glass mascots and vases have travelled far since that time. Alterations of transparent and opaque rectangles of glass of elegant and novel proportions are ‘among the decorative glazing effects in buildings of modern design, 1s well as the heavy engraved glass panels, so charmingly used, set in wooden glazing Dars. A shop in Bond Street has walls and pillars entirely covered in mirror glass, in square or long-shaped panels of rather small size, the whole effect being gay and glittering and an admirable background for flowers, scents and feminine frivolities. Copper-coloured mirror glass is used in the same way in a tearoom in Piceadilly. It might well be copied in the bathroom of some private house, with a steel ceiling in contrast with the copper-lustre of the walls. Great glass jars as lamp standards, flower vases, with moulded or cut deoration, glass wall-sconces and chandeliers, powder bowls, trinket sets anil writing sets of the same material, are no new departure, though their decorstion and design are new in manner and are now carried out by new methods,

Praise! Oh, Dear, Nol L=t the following anecdote be a lesson to all who remain inhumanly silent. It appeared that the Duke of Wellington once requested a great connoisseur, one of the finest judges of cooking in Europe, to find him a chef, Felix, whom the late Lord Seaford was reluctantly about to part with on economical grounds, wag recommended and received. Some months afterward his patron was dining with Lord Seaford, and, before the first course was over, he observed, "So you have got the Duke’s cook to dress your dinner." "T have got Felix," replied Lord '§., "but he is no longer the duke’s cook. The poor fellow came to me, with tears in his eyes, and begged ime to take him back again at reduced wages, or no wages at all, for he was determined not to remain at Apsley House. ‘Has the Duke been finding fault?" said I. ‘Oh, no, my lord. I would stay if he had; he is the kindest and most liberal of masters. But I serve him a ‘dinner that would make Ude or TFrancatelli burst with envy, and he says nothing, I serve him a dinner dressed, and badly dressed, by the cook maid, and he says nothing. I cannot live with such a master if he was a hundred times a hero!’ " Lovely aces. Ei have grown accustomed to all sorts of lovely colours in laces, but the latest idea of coarse and fine woollaces in black, white, and every bright shade is most effective for sports clothes yokes, blouses, cardigans, and even delightful evening frocks. The Nottingham industry is appreciably assisted by this practical winter vogue. A most successful contrast in sports clothes is so easily attained. A dark brown or deep purple flannel frock is cheered by a yoke and under-sleeves of lheige, or pale mauve wool-lace. This is effective in either a coarse or fine design. Nothing is smarter than a dark ereen Wool suit, with blouse of fine wool-lace in tender tones of pale greens und biue. A house frock, composed of a coarse durk green wool-lace earried out a daffodil shading by a yoke and sleeves in two tones of finely-meshed lace in pale yellow wool. A girlish gown for the evening, that looked like the finest Shetland shawl, elegantly draped, was in palest pink, with a contrasting fichu-like berthe of a deep apricot in a slightly coarse design, The Crisis Club. jViss ROSALIND NORMAN, the daughter of Sir Henry and Lady Norman, is one of the leaders of a group forming the English Crisis Club, which hits not any premises but is merely a band of young people, all of whom are friends, haying, for the object of their venture, 2 reduction in the cost of muuusement and recreation as well as in the arranging of certain charitable enterprises, Parties arranged by members of this club must not cost more than 3/6 a head, and if a theatre or cinema party is the object in view, seats in the pit or other cheap part of the house must be chosen. As Miss Norman says, husbands, brothers, fathers, and. sweethearts need some amusement in the evening, but why should it cost 80 much?