THE LADIES’ WORLD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2572, 5 August 1909, Page 3

THE LADIES’ WORLD.

•HOME MADE JAM MAKING AS

A PROFESSION

A woman writer in an Australian exchange eloquently advocates jam-mak-ing as a lucrative occupation for women, deploring the fact that many women ivith a natural aptitude in this direction are eking out a living by oainting pictures that nobody wants, < r making d’oyleys that can be bought for a few ponce at any shop. It. is difficult, she observes, to convince these women .that the demand for such jam.,, jellies and preserves as the factories do not deal with'is constant. Many of these are inexpensive to produce. In melon jam alone there are sufficient varieties to make its home manufacture remunerative. Alelon and pineapple jelly, melon and Cape gooseberry jam, melon and passion fruit jelly are merely three among many other excellent preserves that the home worker can deal with successfully. . The profit on these jams, as well as on marmalade, depends on their being sold at reasonable prices, and also on being put attractively on the market. Hotels and boarding-liouses abound, and they, as well as restaurants and big private houses, are tlie chief factors in the consumption of home made preserves. A thorough knowledge of the subject can be easily gained in a few weeks by any intelligent woman, and as the industry is one that must bo worked up slowly the initial outlay is small. It is worthy of note tliat the few women who have gone into the business have made a success of it. They have not made fortunes, but they live comfortably in their own homes, and have 'provided for their families in a way they could never have done had they been forced to join the ranks of the outside workers.

The question arises if home jam making can be made a lucrative occupation where the fruit has to be bought, how much more so when, as in many parts of New Zealand, housewives may have in for the picking?

lIOAV TO AVASH AN EIDERDOAVN QUILT. If possible, choose a breezy day. Preface the washing by mending any little holes in the covering or the seams. Alakc some soap jolly by slicing Ub of soap into 1 pint of water, and simmer it until it is dissolved. AA’hcn it is cold it will bo jelly. Allow a tablespoqnful of liquid ammonia. Work to a nice lather and when all the soap is dissolved, put in the eiderdown quilt (do not use all the suds at first) and squeeze it .with the hands till the water becomes dirty. Then place it in fresh suds, and repeat.the process till it is clean. Rinse out t-lie soap in several changes of water, and then squeeze, out the water, shake the quilt, and hang it out to dry. Shake it frequently before it is dry, and when it is dry shake it gently till it is quite soft and full, otherwise it will dry lumpy. On no account use a mangle, or it will be utterly flat and quite spoilt. DOWDINESS NOT A VIRTUE. Many things in regard to women have been entirely changed, and among the better and wiser changes is that old thought that the women who were given to good work must needs he dowdy, it is undeniable that “good” women used to wear dowdiness as a sort of hallmark of virtue. As a matter of fact, dowdiness is merely a mark of bad taste and a sign of some lack in tko mind. AYomen are no longer lacking in the wisdom that chooses pretty rather than ugly clothing, and women who do not make the best of their appearance, even when visiting their poorer sister, are losing a golden opportunity of giving pleasure. All poor people prefer prettiness to dowdiness. It is wrong from an ethical point of view for any woman to despise adornment in moderation and good taste. It is merely outraging our sense of th© beautiful instead of cultivating it assiduouslyl and choosing lovely colors and harmonious adornments in place of the revolting, ugly garments that are still sometimes supposed to express hygiene or virtue. —Airs Nash, in “M.A.P.”

FOLKS AVHO HAVE “FIDGETS.” (In the “Ladies' Home Journal.”) Have 1 you over noticed this fact: Watch people when they are reading, or in conversation, or -even when doing nothing at- all, and you will discover that they are surprisingly restless. Some part of each individual, either liis head, feet or hands, is almost always in motion. If you watch them long enough they will begin tc< make you nervous —just as they are unconsciously making each other nervous, ft seems really as if everybody had tlio “fidgets.” As a matter of feet, the “fidgets,” in a modified form, have become a national malady. Men. and women both have them. They arc not a pretty habit, and, what is worse, they use up nervous energy in a perfectly wasteful fashion, if the actual energy that thus goes to waste every day could bo put to industrial purposes it would supply power enough to run mills and illuminate'cities with electricity., But it isn’t that kind of power. It is the kind of power that runs human .beings and illuminates minds with intelligence, and every particle of it that is wasted is just so much sheer loss to the health and enjoyment of human living. 'lt may seem a small matter to the individual, but any doctor will tell you that' it represents a surprising proportion —some put if as high as one-third—-of the total nervous energy available to run tlie mechanism of the average American human being; and it is a waste that can be stopped if the individual will take the trouble to do it. “Fidgets” accumulate,- and they generally begin by tapping feet while reading or constantly changing one’s position during a conversation. A little “fidget goes -long way in creating a habit which competent observers declare is becoming more and more a menace to the health, dignity and self-control of the American people.