THE LADIES’ WORLD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2452, 17 March 1909, Page 7

THE LADIES’ WORLD.

THE DANGER OF J)R \ -CLEAaxNG S The London papers are strongly wag- | • : r v , ar against the use of petrol ior | | r ” cleaning. Like benzine, this oil I \ i u-o-elv used by amateur cleaners. and even ‘more dangerous than that. oil. A'min and again we have heard of dreadful burning accidents from-the use : oi - these oils, and yet women go on using them as calmly as if they mere , harmless. Many think tnat so long as ■ik r i n not fake the- oil too close to a r li dit all is safe, but the real danger lies (gnTthe fact that both benzine a.nd petrol off'an inflammable vapour, which floats, and, under certain conditions, can reach a light at a distance. In comparatively still atmospheres, suen as | t i, a t of a room, the heavy vapour will ■ slowly travel distances of ten, twenty, or even tliirtv feet m a direction m- ■ duced by.a fall of the ground, or gently moving air currents, and, if it reaches ho-lit, will instantly flash back, and "ignite the spirit from which it is evolved. , ■ , Women are more exposed than menY to tlm risks arising from benzine and octroi not onlv because they use them ov dhv cleaning, but because tlieir .(T-.ilv domestic duties often lead them into danger. A woman may bo cleanjn,r her gloves in an outhouse, having taken every precaution against fire, when the noise of a hot tie 01 saucepan Voiliim over will make her forget her occupation for the.moment, and rush to turn off the gas, immediately causing the spirit to ignite by her contact avith who I'oht. Another danger from petrol or benzine results from the careless ha- ** lot of throwing it down drains. In London several dreadful burning accidents have happened to men working m sewers from the ignition of petroleum j vapour given off by spirit which has i thoughtlessly been thrown down a sins.The opinion of authorities on the' suopict is that to teach people how to use petrol iu the home is only one shade lees mischievous than teaching children howto play with fire. Worcis of caution are neglected or forgotten at the critical moment, and the'only safe method is to 'iuive all dry cleaning done only on the premises of a licensed dry cleaner, l where all precautions are taken against accident. OBSERVATION. The power of observation plays no small part in a boy or girl s future, and when we remember that the greatest ■discoveries and most glorious victories •ire the result of attention to detail, ought we not tc cultivate this latent power in our children? Observation' •does not arise from curiosity. A cuirious person eees and forgets: an otserrant one sees with the seeing eye, notes every detail, questions its origin, remembers the scenes as pictures .winch flash upon that inward eye. Three small boys passed our gate a few days ago, and I watched them curiously. ’ . ! ‘-Willie,” shouted a uttle feixow, “these people have got a new door, and it's time, too;” and.the small observer put his head on one side thoughtful'^. But Willie and his brother, after tellin <>; the child to “stop staring,” ran nn their way. The snißll philosopher stood cstili. (From my bedroom window -rll saw his eyes .travel over our new door, '■note the leadbghts unci the gold paint; not the smallest part escaped bis bright eyes. The whole form ox the door was stamped in' his memory. He 100 tied to ifix window, saw ms there, and ran Vi Lilly away. Did you ever see young children lookin w at a picture? One may gaze ax the colors, and then turn over; anotlicr may point out /noiidevingly n biirtl, a dog, and even a stone. A child is never too young to note the little things which, after all, are the most important. Who. knows what some ox our schildren may. be. Perhaps a second ~y floor go Stevenson or a Sir Isaac New-. ' ton. There is a great possibility ior r,n r bright Australian boys and girls. Tea eh them to observe, and leave the rest to the future. Even if they are net illustrious, they will possess thatkeen observant power which the quick--1 v-rnoving world or to-ctny Ctornoncts. sncl which is “essential to success in every path of life. There i; an.old quotation which says of observation, ■The ant have often given credit to the vim fur powers that are permitted to none, merely because the vim have niaae a proper use of those covers that are per"in it ted to all.” THE PRECIOUS FIVE MINUTES. I once heard that one of the heM amateur musicians in a large .hng ioi city, some rears ago, was a married lady of about 40 years of age. Someone asked her how sue had managed i keep up her music vvie she had the cares of a large famny. Her reply was that during the fifteen years sue Jiao , been practically tied aown with a faixiiiy / s6vou children s.tm> had seldom omitted a daily practice. “I make it a rule, she said, mat unless I was actually ill m bed or that something serious prevented, to piactise at least five minutes every day. Uf course, five minutes was tne miuinjiim amount, not the maximum, ns i ax times had three or four hours a day; - but there have been many months m ■ that time when I have not been able to get any more, and I attribute my retained technique to these precious ii\c minutes of finger exercises.’ This lady had, of course, been a thoroughly trained musician betoie she : married, 'for unequal practice of tnat sort would not have made her one. At the same time there are many guls wlio have had a good ordinary musical education, and when they marry, because they cannot have two, or even one Four’s regular practice every clay, they give up their music altogether, and it is onlv years after, when it is too J ate too pick it up again, that they begin to regret the frequently lost five minutes. Even five minutes’ singing practice, when one can get no more, is su' ■ficient to keep the voice “oiled, as it v were, and to keep at bay that LsagresY y able vustiness which creeps into it kO rapidly when practice is neglected. Five minutes a day at physical exercise* will give a straight back and an upright carriage. Five minute* good rending-—I mean scud reading a * give erne food for thought in a.mndance for twenty-four hours. W'' only five minutes a day given t-o Shakespeare. At the end of a year he would be far better known than he is with the desultory hour or wo gi T >cSueh a great deal can. be done w ith vkyo minutes regularly jnven. For mHomme onlv -five nr mites given .eyeiy ' d-v to the.care of ithe handswdl moUo them beautiful and dainty. A -i°iough manicuring such, as neglected., hand* sometimes demand is seldom, n eve . •required. Just a few touches here ancl J u there /with the orange stick and me, a • . t’oar snips with the scissors,, and a smart polish, will keep them in the best •order. Five minutes, too, for brush- §? i»g 4’ne hair, '.given .daily, keeps ix; ray ’< A - ■ : more glossy than twenty , minixtes or N&lfe -• half an hour once a week. ': ; .

.. J. 1 } sewing, five minutes means the ‘stitch- 111 time.”

Even five minutes in the garden •>.neans a"score of weeds away, or the pot plants watered.

•• 4 UC I So ' ou ? in all sorts of ways, where it is impossible to get more time, fixe minutes regularly bestowed is a mo-u •wonderful length of, time, and. works most wonderful results.