THE LADIES’ WORLD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2655, 10 November 1909, Page 3

THE LADIES’ WORLD.

MEN WITH HOBBIES

DO THEY MAKE GOOD HUSBANDS?

There is no mistaking the man wPh a hobby; Jhc is too enthusiastic to me passed over. By a liobby i.s meant the love of following some useful pursuit. Wails ascend 1 from young wives, who cry out that their husbands are too much interested in their hobbies to love them. Why is it? Evidently because the wife is not interested in her husband’s hobby. It is a wise plan for the girl in love to find out her'lover’s hobbies, and ask herself if they are interesting for her, or if she could become interested in them. Jt’s a simple /precaution, but not trivial enough to he passed over. One should always remember that in marriage two persons have' to live .together for life, and anything that may’ cause unhappiness in wedded life is not too trivial to give thought to beforehand. Undoubtedly the man with a hobby makes the host husband. He is loud of home. and. having the blessed gift of industry, his home is rarely unhappy.' Unfortunately oftentimes the 'husband’s hobby does not make for usefulness. and in such case he may neglect liis daily affairs. Then it is for the woman, by the power of her love, to turn him to the right direction.

ORIGIN OF WEDDING CUSTOMS. The “old shoe” custom is generally supposed to come from the Hebrews, and is supposed to have originally implied that the parents of the bride gave up all authority over' her. The Germans had long a custom, which perhaps they have not wholly given up even now, of putting the bridegroom s shoe on the pillow of the bridal bed ; and in Anglo-Saxon marriages the father gave a shoe of the bride to the bridegroom, who touched her on the head with it to remind her who was now master. The wedding ring was used among the ancient Hebrews, primarily with the idea that the delivery of a ring conferred power on the recipient, and thus the -wife wearing her husband’s ring shared his authority. The ring in the Roman espousals was a pledge 'of loyalty; and the idea that it should he worn on the third finger of the left hand, because “a nerve connected this linger.with the heart,’-’ originated with the Romans. The use of a bridal-veil is a relic or the far-off time when the husband was not allowed to see his bride’s face till after marriage. It 'is said that the wedding-cake is the direct descendant of a cake, made of water, flour, and salt, of which, at the Roman high-class weddings, the married couple and the witnesses partook at the time of the signing of the contract. TREATMENT OF RED ARMS.

Red arms are always a source of trouble to their owners, and if they represent a pressing anxiety the first care should be that of improving the general circulation, indulging in sufficient exercise, taking good nourishing food, and avoiding constricted clothing or •damp garments. As regards the arms themselves, the experiment may lie tried with capital effect of washing them night and morning with a warm lather made with good soap, and rinsing them afterwards in lukewarm water when a out lime should'be rubbed over the skin until a fresh and invigorating reaction sets in. An alternative method 1 which can lie recommended -is -that of applying a paste of oatmeal and water. Ihe finest meal should be used, a handful being stirred with ti wooden stick, a teaspoonful of borax and a little ammonia added and the whole well mixed. I Jus should be allowed to cool, then applied to the arms 'with a complexion brush, and the paste, allowed to dry on. It should .then be wiped off with a damp sponge, and the arms dried with a soit towel. ~ ... Sweet oil represents an excellent skin softener, and will be found always helpful in cases where the hands have become coarsened bv the action of hard water or manual labor. A small basin should be filled with the oil, .slightly wanned, and the hands held in it for a few minutes, after which they should be rubbed dry, one against the other, in front of the fire. A little warm le-mon-juice applied just after washing the hands is always recommended as an effective bleaching agent. HOW WE GET OUR FASHIONS. It is impossible for the outsiders even to imagine the difficulty of hitting a votrue, a type of frock, or a tailoi suit, that may be easily adapted to all figures and faces, and that will appeal to the greater number. Each season some particular type of costume leads, naturally the best that has been invented. and- to he the maker who has thus hit the fancy of the majority is a distinction to be coveted and that carries with it much profit. In this making of models there are experiments without end, and incidentally the frocks made get sold to “the buyers,” who from all the big cities of the world go just now to Paris to get something rto bei going on with. Incidentally the model-maker may get a lead in this way. If it happen that nianv buyers want one model, that a particular experiment may bo regarded as a probability of the coming season. Often a leading house will try to push a favorable idea it has conceived, and almost force it on the market. If tlie idea be one that will appeal to many tlie venture .succeeds; /it not, of course it has to go the way of all failures. Even an important house may sometimes misjudge the inclinations of the moment, and waste their time and money and labor over those things which they ought not to have done. ’’-—“Daphne,” in “Black and White.”

MASCOTS. The belief in mascots, or talismans, as powerful to avert disaster or to ensure luck is no new thing. 1 rom very remote times faith in the \\encl influence of certain charms has existed, and at the present time, whether m faith or unfaith, many persons choose to exhibit these curious tahsmistic objects. It is the fashion to assume that some mysterious power repelling evil or productive of good belongs to them. A black cat is. a. mascot in favor with some motorists. Bridge players almost invariably, attribute luck to some toy talisman, 'to a diminutive gold pig, p’ 1 instance, or a Cinderelladike shoe m gold both being accredited mascots with’ many devotees of this popular game. Stories could be told of men and women of .powerful intellect who are firm believers in the mysterious occult influence certain articles exercise over their fate and fortune, but entertain their several creeds secretly in fear of the ridicule such siipeistition might excite in professed sceptics. It has been said truthfully that no person living is totally devoid of superstition in some form or other, flout the .idea as many will and do.