Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1867-06-21
LIS, W. FRIDAY. JUNE 81, 1867

work there till night, with the exception
of their breakfast and noon recess.
The housekeeper's prospects in the
southern states appear less brilliant than
those of the farmer. House hands, in
general, are the most clum-y, unskilled,
unframed, delaying, deferring, shirking
tribe that can be imagined. The idea of
doing anything at the same hour and time
for two consecutive days, Of keeping any
regular lines and departments of labor,
and going on Systematically as in north
ern household, seems never yet to have
davned on their minds, any more than the
kindred idea of washing dishes at regular
seasons when you have done using them.
instead Of letting them all stand in jolly
confusion till they are wanted again.
There are some old families here who
are exec lent housekeepers, and who have
managed 10 retain under tLe new regime
their old house servants, and such proceed
without trouble. But the generality of
professed house servants are fond of con-
gregating in cities, ask exiravagant wages
for coming out on plantations, and would
be considered, as TO any of our northern
standards of housekeeping. good for very
little. A woman with ordinary strength
and pair of hands would much prefer
cooking her own dinner, sweeping her own
parlor, and making her own d. to allow
ing that jubilee Of dirt confusion
which results from the combined efforts of
Judy, Lizzy. Sophy, Viry, and any half
dozen others, all of whom seem to cons i'd
er themselves necessary TO help along each
others operations, and think themselves
excessively abused if they are not allowed
TO do everything in company.
a glance at the southern kitchens at
once shows that they were made for this
barbarous. unsys,ematic, noisy. dirty way
of getting on. A neat, tidy kitchen, in a
house with hot and cold water. SIT tubs,
sinks, and other arrangements for cleanli-
ness and order, is thing quite undreamed
of by these poor souls. The kitchen of
our establishment is a log tut, about twen-
ty PAGES fr-m the honse, with great open
fireplace. The windows are unelazed.
and can be only closed from wind and rain
by wooden shutters which shut out LIGHT
as ii, and in windy weather the great
chimney smokes TO that degree that the
Stewards cooking stove, which has lately
been introduced there, seems utterly con-
fused in its mind, and to ask itself the
question, Am really a Stewards stove, or
am leaky old chimney fue There is
no sink or drain of any kind; the only
resource for getting rid of house slops is
to pour them out of the window aforesaid
Luckily, this fine, dry. white Floridian
soil swallows any amount, and yet looks
clean as if rothing had happened. FL
nally, there is no resource for bringing
water into this kitchen except the well,
which is situated qui.e distance off. in
the yard. One cannot but admire the
composure with which our cook, who, bv-
the by, asks twelve dollars month for
her services, will sit at about ten O'Clock
finishing her everlasting breakfast, which
is taken by easy stages from eight o'clock
onward, while her fire goes out in the
stove, and there is not drop of water in
her water pail, nor thought of heating
any dishwater. Then when the idea of
washing dishes is actuslly brought to her
mind by message or expostulation from
her mistress, she contemplates it wholly
as new and unexpected emergency, and
probably discovers for the first time that
she is out of wood, and must send Lizzie
down in the lot to call up Joe 10 cut some,
or else that she has got the rh' umatism
in her shoulder, and must get Aunt Win
nah TO draw her wafer, and sends Sophy
down TO the cow-pen to look for her.
Pending these operations she viii seat her
self quietly, with all her unwashed dishes
around her. fold her arms, and appear lost
in contemplation. To do her justice. she
often, in the most hidd, n, unprecedented
and unexpected ways. gets up something
very good to eat, makes excellent coffee |
and corn mniiins, and stews some of this |
tough Florida beef so that it is really |
m st presen;able dish. and has odd inter-
walls of cleaning up her kitchen and wash
ing her dishes. which take one entirely by |
surprise, because the most philosophic
mind can never predict when they are
likely to occur-they are the secre, coun-
sels Of her own cruiable will.
Speaking OF beef leads us to treat of
the diary matters of Florida farm which
to Northerner have truly an original
mir
Our dairy woman i an ancient, strong
minded, strong limbed sybil from South
Carolina, who is generally called Aunt
Winnah. The whole care of milking.