time on a trifling thing of no use!'"

And Mr. Kfoury commented: "So it is with the ladies in America: they are absorbed in quarreling over this fashion, and it is a trifling matter that does not deserve all this effort from them!" We all laughed at Mr. Kfoury's wit, and I took my leave and departed.

Then I made for the house of Mr. Habib Abou Chahla, hoping I might be allowed to talk with him for a few minutes before his house grew crowded with the callers whose problems can be solved only at the Ustad's hand. The first thing that struck my eye as I entered was seven motorcars crouched around the house, and I nearly turned back, so sure was I of the value of the Ustad's time, and so afraid that he would make light of my question, that my pains would go for nothing, and that I would be rebuffed in the first interview I ever took from a man.

But my self-confidence drove me to knock at the door... In the waiting room I found myself among some of the callers, and their talk was of the Ustad's energy. Among the things they said: "He works twenty-four hours a day without tiring!" I could not reasonably take their talk at face value, but I made no comment, and sat awaiting my turn. Before long Mr. Abou Chahla appeared in the doorway with his beaming face — though the cigar was not in his hand this time, as I had grown used to seeing his picture in the papers! I made haste to speak, so as not to take too much of his precious time. I said:

"My question, Ustad, is not about the Tapline, nor about governmental or judicial matters. I am the correspondent of a women's magazine, and my question may seem trifling in your eyes — but the readers of 'The Woman's Voice' insist on hearing your opinion of this new fashion over which such an uproar has risen in the world."

He showed none of the surprise I had imagined, and said, attempting a smile: "You mean these long dresses?" So he is informed, and understands!! I said: Yes. He said: "Personally, I do not like the long; but let every lady wear what suits her and agrees with her figure. A lady must not cling to the fashion merely because it is the fashion, regardless of whether it suits her or not!" And the Ustad smiled playfully and said: "But this long fashion suits the ladies with stout legs — those ought to follow it without hesitation, to ward off unwelcome sights!" And he charged me not to omit this observation, for in his view it is very important!

I asked him whether he preferred the dress with padded shoulders or without, and he said that he

does not like the high padded shoulders which give a woman a military look and rob her of much of her femininity; and a woman must take care to choose what brings out in her the meanings of beauty, without artifice!

And I went out, bidding the Ustad farewell, admiring his courtesy and his suppleness. He was slow to give me his photograph, yielding only after insistence, and it became clear to me that the Ustad is bashful when it comes to presenting his picture to thousands of ladies!!

She is the daughter of Mr. Jamal al-Husseini, and a graduate of the American College in Beirut — a dark young woman, elegant, lately returned from America,

where she was in the company of her husband, Dr. Shahid, who went to the United States to visit the hospitals and to specialize.

I asked her personal opinion of this new fashion and she said: "I was in America and witnessed the uproar the women raised there over this subject. What the American woman protests against most is the long dress, which Paris is imposing; and this, in my opinion, will not spread in America, because it is not comfortable during work. But personally I favor this new fashion as it is now current in America — that is, reaching to mid-calf. I bought a number of the long dresses over there, and it is not my intention to shorten them. I believe that long dress suits us — we Arab women — because most of us are of middling height, and the length of the dresses gives the figure a willowy look. I saw these dresses displayed in the great fashion houses in America, and they caught my eye and pleased me."

I said: "And what is your view of removing the shoulder padding?" She said: "Last year woman went to such extremes in enlarging this padding that the look of women's shoulders became ugly. That has now passed, and woman has returned to moderation, lightening this padding so that it merely completes the roundness of the shoulders — especially if the woman is thin, with prominent bones!"

And when I asked her opinion of hip padding she said: "The dresses and 'tailleurs' with padded hips did not sell when they were shown in the fashion windows in America, and so they were moved down to the ground floors, where they are sold at trifling prices — the fate of any goods for which the demand is small. This is proof that woman did not approve of hip padding, and I do not imagine