THIS week 100 years ago, Berrow's Journal, in its Hints for the Home column, offered some arresting advice on health and hygiene and on how to be a cultured woman.

These eyebrow-raising hints from the edition of March, 1904, are well worth repeating. Here's what the Journal suggested to those with aspirations of becoming "The Cultured Woman":

"She is one whose manners are always perfect and who does not offend you by gushing over you one day and freezing you out the next.

"She is one whose gowns attract no notice unless by their absolute suitability. She can be friendly without being familiar and can repel without being rude.

"She refrains from saying malicious things, not only because it will ruin the shape of her mouth but because they are in bad taste. She always makes you feel at ease with yourself and the rest of the world.

"She is one who, if stewed puppy were served at your dining table, would praise its flavour and talk of the civilisation of the Chinese.

"She can make order come where disorder has reigned and put everything where it should be. She is one with whom it is a delight to associate and is governed by the desire to make life run smoother and easier.

Commandments

"She is the one woman it would be well for all women to imitate!"

The same Journal column of 1904 also offered these 10 "Commandments for Health and Hygiene":

Rise early, retire early, and fill your day with work.

Water and bread maintain life, and pure air and sunshine are indispensable to health.

Frugality and sobriety form the elixir of longevity.

Cleanliness prevents rust. The best cared-for machines last the longest.

Enough sleep repairs waste and strengthens. Too much sleep softens and enfeebles.

To be sensibly dressed is to give freedom to one's movement and enough warmth to be protected from sudden changes of temperature.

A clean and cheerful house makes a happy home.

The mind is refreshed and invigorated by distractions and amusement, but abuse of them leads to dissipation, and dissipation to vice.

Cheerfulness makes love of life, and love of life is half of health. On the contrary, sadness and discouragement hasten old age.

Do you gain your living by your intellect? Then do not allow your arms and legs to grow stiff. Do you earn your bread by your pick-axe? Then do not forget to cultivate your mind and to enlarge your thought."