THE LADIES’ WORLD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2677, 6 December 1909, Page 3

THE LADIES’ WORLD.

•HINTS ON FURNISHING

Furnishing fallacies die hard, especially the one that persists in regarding anything dingy or dull a.* “serviceable” and “suitable” for houses where ecenomy has to reign. As a matter of fact, says an Australian paper, in such houses brightness and''-fresh-ness are the qualities to work for, because much of that which is only makeshift or entirely lacking can. be condoned and even pardoned when the tenoral appearance is attractive. • But there are certain temptations that assail the economical furnisher, and these ought to be sternly resisted. - To begin with, self-colored carpets show' spots and fading far more than patterned ones, and the beauty of light-colored cretonne covers and brise-brise or short curtains, with pleated flouncings, is apt to depart with their first visit to the laundry. On the other hand, the socalled “serviceable” things are just as much out ff place in the would-be dainty home as these unpractical items. Because a white-grounded cretonne is inadvisable, there is no need to choose a bold red or blue or brown one, with an imitation tapestry pattern, nor need one,, after turning reluctantly away from sole-colored Axminster carpet, go to the other extreme and choose a chopped-up pattern of many hues. Then, in the matter of paint for woodwork, many people have the dullest ideas. They choose lifeless greens or heavy terra cottas, and so on ,'without realising that ugliness is dear at any price. After all, white paint does not make much extra work. Naturally it has to he dusted, but so has all colored woodwork, and cream or white enamelled paint goes a long way to brightening a dull room. Certainly it does not fade or change color. Cretonne covers need not be rejected as long ns the background is considered carefully, and some with dull green, smoky blue, or soft biscuit shades slimy uu the gay .printing just as well as white or cream. Besides, there is the recommendation that such colors wear excellently. To -give as much fleer space as possible is the latest idea in furnishing, and, with a vow in that direction, the latest fitments for bed or reception rcoms are so designed that there should be an open space in the centre of the apartment. In a description recently given of a bedroom arranged on the new-' est lines as much of the walls as possible were used for cupboard accommodation, and mantelpieces were so fitted with tiny folding tables that they fell out at a touch when needed for morning tea or for the other thousand-und-one uses small stands can be put to. Rooms are no longer crowded with •bric-a-brac, and wall brackets (except for express use) are “out,” and not a single “occasional” table is to be scon. What are known as “nests” of tables—that is, each fitted into the other —are brought out at tea-time, hut when not in service are put out of sight. Everything tends towards the simplicity which nowadays—paradoxical as it sounds—is the cult of the luxurious.

MARK TWAIN AS FATHER-IN-LAW

, Mark Twain appeared (says the New York correspondent or the “Daily Mail”) as chief jester at the wedding ci his daughter, Miss Clara L. Clemens, to M. Ossip Gahrilovitsch. the Russian pianist. Dressed in the scarlet cap and gown of a doctor of literature of Oxford University, the humorist perambulated among the guests at West Redding, Connecticut, explaining that the costume “wasn’t intended as a joke.” Then he circulated among the congregation long slips of paper, containing an interview with himself, which he said lie had prepared “in order to avoid any delay in the ceremony.” In this interview Mark Twain gave an imaginary reporter a lull history of the Russian musician’s courtship of his daughter. “Then the marriage .pleases you, Mr ,Clemens?” the reporter asked. “Yes,” Mark Twain replied, “fully as much as any marriage could please me or any father. There are two or three tragically solemn things in this life, and a happy marriage is one of them, for the terrors of life are all to come. A funeral is a solemn office, but I.go to one with spiritual uplifting, thankful that the dead friend has been set free. . “I am glad of this marriage. Mrs Clemens would, also have been glad, for she always had a warm affection for Gahrilovitsch-; but. all the same, it is a tragedy, since it is a happy marriage with its future before it, loaded to the Pjimsoll line with uncertainties.” As soon as the ceremony was ever, Mark Twain doffed the Oxford robe, and donned a white flannel suit. To the forty guests, all from New York, who attended the wedding breakfast lie explained that lie made it an invariable rule to charge all male visitors to the house a dollar, in order that the building fund of the Redding Mark Twain Library might not languish. “I give you an autographed* receipt for your dollar,” Mark Twain concluded;’“this you can carry away and .sell for’ a dollar and ten cents.”

THE “COLOR CURE.”

The “color cure” for both prevention and cure of various minor diseases is being tried satisfactorily in both private homes and sanatoriums (writes “Rex”! from Sydney). It has becA used especially to combat the “morbid sensitiveness’ ‘that many growing boys and girls suffer from, and really consists in decorating the rooms of a house in different predominating colors, l'or the over-sensitive soft tones of pink or pale blue prevail, or any color which, does not distract or disturb the eye; for those mentally weak, or inclined to depression, the vivid tones of red have a brightening effect, while for those who suffer from headaches or weak eyes the restful;toncs of green-are utilised. Blinds, wall coloring, curtains, hangings, lamp shades are all made to match the color of the room,, and a case” is easily diagnosed by the color of tli6 room one occupies in a sanatorium.