LAND AND WATER 
December 5, 1914 
THROUGH THE EYES 
OF A WOMAN 
Clothes and the Dressmaker 
THE dressmakers, whether of high or low preten- 
sions, are having a difficult time. Numbers of 
them have made heroic efforts to keep on their 
staffs and to give half-time employment to the 
little run-about pattern girls, who, as much as 
anybody, are realising that war is a cruel affair to the non- 
combatant. 
To their great credit, many women have bought gowns 
and hats, and are doing so still, in spite of the burden ot 
taxation ; and, moreover, those who have stopped to weigh 
the financial problem of the worker have paid for their 
garments with promptitude. It is certainly a poor kind of 
patriotism that urges us to give so largely in certain directions 
that we are compelled to dislocate our ordinary channels for 
the distribution of wealth. Nobody wants to dress up or 
follow fashion blindly when the nation is suffering as it has 
never done before, but there is a right kind of spending that 
helps more than everything else to keep the social ball rolling. 
It is a very serious thing to the numbers of women who have 
established themselves as dressmakers when orders only 
come in one at a time, and it is catastrophe itself when patrons 
order clothes with the air of a benefactor and then forget to 
pay the bill till weeks become months and months bring the 
inevitable quarter-day demand for rent and a host of other 
calls upon income. 
It is almost exasperating when prosperous women make 
a virtue of wearing old clothes, for we all know plucky and 
clever people who have ventured their small capital upon the 
prospects of peace, to whom orders would mean release from 
all sorts of quandaries. And clothes have become very 
reasonable, both in shape and price, and have accommodated 
themselves to our moods and our purses very agreeably. 
American Teas 
The resourceful among us are always inventing new 
ways by which to gather in funds for pet hobbies and schemes. 
It is one thing to write in cold blood for a donation, however 
small ; it is quite another to smooth the . way with an 
invitation to tea and toast, thus combining business with 
pleasure. The " American " tea is in full swing. Why our 
neighbours across the Atlantic have given a name to this 
type of function it is impossible to say, but perhaps it is a 
survival of those early days when sparse communities came 
to one another's rescue for special services, such as gathering 
apples, harvesting, and sewing. An invitation by me at the 
moment invites me to tea, between the hours of four and 
half-past six. On the reverse side of the card I see that 
I am asked to take with me some article that can be offered 
for sale at the tea and I also pledge myself to buy somebody 
else's production ! It is a simple and ingenious method of 
collecting money, which is capable of indefinite extension. 
The things we take are to be useful for a soldier or a sailor, 
or a wounded man in a hospital, so that there are two strings 
to this cleverly-contrived bow. It is a very nice point this 
question of giving. It would be quite as easy to send a few 
shillings as to go to the trouble of making or buying some- 
thing in order that we may buy again ; but there is a queer 
little kink in the human mind. People will allow themselves 
to be cajoled into giving when they will hesitate to add to a 
long list of subscriptions or donations, however humble. 
The fragrant cup of tea, the meeting of friends, and the fun 
generally all produce their effect upon our generous impulses. 
The amusing part of it is that we are aware of this, and we all 
mutually submit without a murmur. 
The Military Post 
The number of letters we receive acknowledging our 
letters and our suppUes make us very grateful to the 
authorities who deal with that hard problem— the active 
service post. Nobody who has the most elementary grasp 
of the difficulties of the opening days of the campaign marvels 
that a few letters went astray, but now the safe receipt of 
letters and parcels is the rule, not the exception. The 
" chocolate and the soup, and the peppermints were topping," 
wrote a subaltern, and " we had a first-class smoke when 
the baccy arrived," was the acknowledgement of another. 
The letters are much more interesting, too, and the Censor's 
erasures occur less frequently. Possibly, the youthful writers 
have learned their lesson and understand the business better 
Anything more trying than those first official post cards 
It is hard to imagine ; tliey were so curt, and were just 
enough to make us long for more and to set our thoughts 
exploring in every direction except the right one. 
THE COUNTRY 
HOUSE LIBRARY 
Christmas Books 
IMPERIAL DEFENCE * 
A VOLUME worthy of serious attention is " War and the 
Empire," which embodies the practical experience of 
one who has served in official capacities both in the 
Colonies and in the United States, and presents well reasoned 
views on the defence of the British Empire, with a definite 
reference to the actual defence of the British Isles and how 
this can best be accomplished. Although written in suf- 
ficiently simple language for any average reader, the book 
embodies the views of a technical expert, and in consequence 
is an authoritative work on Imperial defence. 
* " War and the Empire." By Colonel Hubert Foster, R.E. 
(Williams & Norgate.) 2S. 6d. net. . 
THE CAUSE OF THE WAR * 
ONE of the best books on the cause of the war up to the 
present is " Germany and Europe," which consists of 
a series of public lectures given by the author at 
Bedford College, and states both sides of the case as fairly as 
can be done. The case for Germany, as well as the case 
against, is presented ; the author writes with a full view of 
the danger of factiousness and a fuU understanding of the 
ultimate aims for which the Allied forces are contending. 
" Not for safety only but for the larger life, not for trade but 
for the breaking down of barriers, not for colonics but for 
goodwill among men . . . not for material gain but for the 
things that matter." It is a concise review of a great subject, 
so written as to deserve a very large public. 
*" Germany and Europe." By J. W. Allen. (G. Bell & Sons.) 
2S. 6d. 
ENGINES OF DESTRUCTION * 
" ly ^ ODERN Weapons of War " is a popular handbook 
I y^l to the various engines in use on sea and land, and 
is noteworthy for the excellence of its illustrations. 
The text is strictly untechnical, and is descriptive of modern 
guns and explosives, naval guns, machine guns, torpedoes 
and submarines, mines, and aircraft of various kinds. It is 
not a texj:book for the expert, but is so written as to give the 
average man an idea of the nature of the weapons now being 
used by the armies in the field and the navies of the opposing 
nations. A careful perusal of these pages will contribute 
largely to a definite understanding of the war, both by sea 
and land. 
* " Modem Weapons of War." By Cyril Hall. (Blackie & Sons.) 
FOR OUR BOYS* 
WS. PARTRIDGE & CO., LTD., have some capital 
Christmas books out for boys. Space does not 
• permit of any long description, but three which 
have been brought to our notice are well worthy of mention. 
" The Boy's Book of the Navy," revised by Cuthbert 
Hadden, gives us the history of the Navy in a style easy to 
understand and free from wearisome technicalities. It would 
make an invaluable present to a youngster of a practical turn 
of mind, the period covered being from the days of the 
Phoenician warships to that of the super-dreadnought. The 
book is admirably illustrated. 
" The Dreadnought of the Air " is a thrilling story of 
adventure by air in many climes, which commences with the 
disgrace of a sub-lieutenant for a practical joke against his 
flagship and ends ultimately with his promotion. 
An excellent story of school and college life, entitled 
" The Last of His Line," will be specially welcomed as a 
Christmas or New Year gift. It is an exceedingly well- 
written story, and avoids the maudlin sentimentality so 
detested by boys, and which so many writers of their stories 
seem to think essential. 
• " The Last of His Line." By Gunby Hadath. 6s. " The 
Dreadnought of the Air." By Percy F. Westerman. 6s. " The 
Boys' Book of the Navv." Revised by Cuthbert Hadden. 3s. 6d. 
(S. W. Partridge & Co., Ltd.) 
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