Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-07-14
From Hearth and Home
Letter from Western Girl.

II ASK you 10 AlNN lllult 10 Alt AullUNlUG ltNNls
lt is an actual letter from Western girl TO her
father now visiting in New York city. She Is
lovely and accomplished, speaks French and Ger
man as well and iluenty as English is ON unusu-
ally fine musician, has visited foreign lands, and
is the staunchest little patriot you can imagine.
Yet this girl can cook, and wash, and bake. She
can do it, say, and do ii well but that doesn't
cook, washerwOman, and baker. Then when she
sits down 70 write 10 that father, she sends him
good, up-and-down, straightforward letter, as you
shall see
Ny Dear Father Mr.. Pruden has been
here about the new house. | am glad it is
to be smaller than the present one. Servants
are so hard 10 get here, and living is such a
labor if you have a great house on your
shoulders, that you cannot enjoy it, Big
houses, extensive and stylish living, do not
suit the Western country. Servants are un-
reliable aud untaught the whole burden
falls on the housekeeper, How many pale,
liieess women you see in the West, and in
the East, too, for that matter Young fresh
looking women marry, and in five years you
would scarcely recognize them; while their
husbands look as fresh as on the day Of the
wedding. One cause Of this is complicated
housekeeping. When q man undertakes a
business, he finds trained men ready to assist
him he knows what there is TO do, and Sc
cures help accordingly. A young woman
here goes to housekeeping very often with
out any help at ALL or perhaps with one awk-
ward girl There are three meals to get every
day-that means cooking and then come
the dishes to be washed after each meal. 1t
would take about forty-fye pieces for break
fast and supper, and seventy for dinner for a
family Of five one hundred and sixty-hye
pieces to be carried from the dning-room
to the kitchen every day washed and carried
back. If you have six rooms in your house,
there is one room to be thoroughly swept and
cleaned daily, besides brushing up the others,
making beds, bringing in wood, and carrying
water. Twice week there is bread-making,
twice a week yeast-making, one day washing,
one day ironing, all your pantries aud safes
to be washed out once q week, dairy-work to
attend to, besides innumerable Jobs in the
way of preserving, jelly-making, picking
pork, curing hams, putting down pigs'-feet,
looking over and wiping off your apples twice
in the winter, making hog s-headcheese. mince-
meat, a thorough house-cleaning twice year,
then the sewing, dresses, aprons, shirts draw
ers, gowns etc., by dozens. Then supposing
the housekeeper has a baby an average six
months old baby weighs about eighteen
pounds Say she has this child in her arms
forty times a day IA cross infant is taken up
much more frequently,) and often she works
with the right arm, while carrying the bum
die Of a baby about with her left Who isit
says there is anything in gymnastics equal to
the endurance of the mothers arm
Even when the days labor is accomplished
and she goes to bed she still holds her baby,
and does not sleep soundly, for fear of roll
ing on il or its getting uncovered she must
attend to its wants several times in the night,
and must lie in a constrained position for fear
Of disturbing it. | have heard women say,
they " would give any thing for one night Of
undisturbed sleep, with no care" on their
mind Then in the morning up and at it
again Don't you see why women get pale,
and why they are sometimes little cross,
and why their husbands wonder that their
wives don't look pretty and dress well, and
entertain them as they did before they were
married ? The wives don't reason on the
matter they thinklit is all the mans fault,
and then they turn cross and so things GO at
skies and sevens And this is the place
@ne'g Io."." ,. L' ;E",o ro,;n" would heln that
oi' l uoh .n'nA ,o'S T.. ssonId NJ I'D
very nucn woman ,aDo' ,non a"'~ n,',st raai;ao E
study III 'ne nIs. p'ao'i ine" %ua' n ~ ,ha
that II Is gre". ,"Dol " ny "Yuse, '"I, -
Is very great laSol W ."''. ,aal;hi9 aaS - -,
Seyera' Sn''uren, ahL neA' " ;,hpn, 9;ir ~
ralse a i"'ill'y ., e,sn. =, ,ha G,mHv H.
ci'her 70 ''e i"o'aol " a. " nj daal -
must also understand lnat s?ou Ie"' VI
money Is roqu'Ieu II 'uen "Trle m - 49,, ~ ,a,
rieu on III s'y'isu way, ~ ~
hand their wives thous"nu uo,lais anu 'A
Pect from II 'eu-,nous"'," a""a"a .Ln' Az ,ot
iNing' anu grunu'' Deo"ale eo .S 'Ies on Lonn'a
H. anu 'neli Ihe oooSs' 'ao 'nD n"I sSorld hs
'he nurses snoulu % 'uuoaso @nJ ."iat;sol, os
as wen par ioi '"oil sIi 49, ~ %
men are Tor 'helrs' ana mere snoulu NJ o1 res e
uiar puslnesS agreouent po'%ee" '"' 'A'' "
me Won donT ~ oflen hear OF the clerks IN .
store all starting off and leaving the propri
etor in the lurch, but you hear it every week
,f sorvant.girls Helen has had four differ
on, ones during the last month. When you
want m a doctor to cure your body, or your
child,s hodv. YOU get an educated man, who
bas h;s d;nIoma TO show that he is competent,
and yo, nav him in proportion but you want
nnyse ~ assist YOU somewhat in the care of
vour child, keeping it in health and develop
ing it morally and physically, and for this
YOU get coarse, uneducated woman. by the
time yoar child is three years old she has