Pinch me, I’m dreaming
Ordinary massage is no longer practised in the leading beauty salons of Paris or America. In its place "pinching" and "kneading" the skin to disperse wrinkles takes place before the application of the beautifying creams and lotions which are used to give the complexion that delicate transparency so much admired. This is good news for the woman who desires to apply treatment to her face, for while by the rubbing form of massage it is quite possible and highly probable that the skin may become stretched and the wrinkles, which the massage was intended to remove, be deepened, "pinching" and "kneading" can have no such unfortunate result. The skin should be thoroughly cleansed before a start is made. Face and throat should then be smeared over with a good, nourishing cream, and the tips of the fingers also smeared with the same before "pinching" is started. Beginning at the side of the chin and working upwards and outwards towards the ears, the face should be lightly pinched all over the cheeks, under and around the chin, and particularly over that portion of the neck which lies immediately under the ears for it is here that hollows appear to reveal a woman’s age.
Native name restored
The capital of Norway will from January 1, 1925, be called by the nine-hundred-year-old name of Oslo instead of Christiania. The significance of the name of Oslo is as yet uncertain. The most modern explanation offered is that given by the Professors Haegstal and Torp, to the effect that the name is an ancient Norwegian one that means "the grove of the gods".
Oslo was founded about 1048 by King Harald Haaedraade. In 1568 the Danish Government had already planned to move the town of Oslo to another place for the sake of defence. In 1624 King Christian IV came to Norway with plans to found a new town on the Akers Hill and forbade the citizens of Oslo to build new houses on the old site He personally saw to the staking up of streets in the new town — and the citizens of Oslo had nothing do do but to obey the order of the King and move to this new town, which received the name of Christiania.
The best route north
The Secretary of the Otago Motor Club has received the following telegram from the South Canterbury Automobile Association: "Timaru to Rangitata traffic bridge, follow the main road to Orari and thence straight on, following the electric power poles to Rangitata railway station, thence following road parallel with railway to Rangitata traffic bridge."
More homes needed
The definition of the New Zealand Board of Health of an overcrowded dwelling is one occupied by an average of more than 1 person per room. The figures provided by the 1921 census are now somewhat out of date but are interesting. In 1921, the number of persons living in overcrowded dwellings in the dominion was 164,898, or 14.9 percent of the population. On those figures, the census officers estimated that 24,099 additional rooms were required, equal to 4820 five-roomed houses. Though this shortage will by now have been to some extent overtaken, this is offset largely by the increase in population. The prospects of increased activity in house-building are therefore promising.
— ODT, 30.12.1924 (Compiled by Peter Dowden)
