The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-21
bad shape. You must have them put in

bad shape. You must have them put in order.'
 ITO put my hands in order she sent me her Swedish maid. This maid had studied with a pupil of Ling, and she knew all about the care of the skin as we'll as ex- ercise. I placed my hands in her care, telling her to do with them what she would, but to return them to me in good shape in time for dinner.
 '.She took them in her smooth palms, massaged them, and while she worked gave me lesson in hand culture. learned that most manicures injured the hand by their painful method of treating the nails. This young woman, though she
 worked with my hands a long while did not once cause me the slightest discom- fort. 'She insisted at the very first upon
 bleaching the nails was trifle uneasy at her method. She took a white powder which she said was chloride of lime and potash and mixed It in the palm of ner hand. dropping in water until she had
 white paste. This she rubbed all over my hands, following it with a quick wash. l asked how she dared to use so powerful a bleach upon my hands and she ex- l plained.
 2" If the proportions are right and you put the hands through a dozen waters | immediately no harm is done
 She told me also that this was the 1 famous bleach known to those who have l studied the Swedish culture of the hands If I am doubtful of the skin, if il I looks too fine or too delicate, I use the
 carbolic bleach instead. But for the big 1 smooth English skin I am not afraid oi 1 the other,' she added.
 | 1T learned that 1t is not the shape of the hands that counts so much as it IS the color. They should be white and the whiter the better. I was also informed 1 that the hands change color rapidly. II 1 you are out of sorts. bilious or tired there will be yellow spots on your hands. Ii | you are worried your hands will be red; ii ] in pain your hands will take on a iivfc whiteness that is as disagreeable as red ness. It is only by being in perfect con
 dition that the hands are the right shade
 and this leads to the matter of diet 'English women have dieting down to 8 l fine point. Their hours for meals are diff l ferent, their food eis not like ours. then
 drinks are largely confined to tea, .heil very way of drinking tea is unlike -ha' | of this country. The result IS skin pure and clear.
 .sThe trick lies, so the Swedish maid
 told me, in drinking at the right time. ihe 1 time to drink. If you want to be peaut'tu'' 1 is at least one hour before dinner, .sn hour and a half is better. The drink may
 be tea or water or very weak lemonade l without sugar or weak coffee. But .hsre l is one proyiso It must be warm. This does not mean hot. The English woman sips her tea slowly, letting 1t cool In .he 1 cup. but the American woman gulps II down hot and is troubled with indiges- | ton.
 For white, clear skin tea is best. Tor brilliant eyes woman may drink not I water with lemon or grape fruit squeezed l into it. For brains and wit vivacity and i the other mental qualities. coffee is rec commended.
 ''To get back to the hands, there ere other ways of whitening them. Washing l at the tub is an excellent whitener. but
 the hands must be soothed afterward, the
 skin quieted. The reason why washer
 women do not have ladyllSe hands is that
 they go out afterward to hang up the
 clothes If they would rinse all the soap 1 out and dry their hands in ground oat- meal after washing they would not suffss