Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-09-29
m-ousEKEEPme Zine 49,.


Inc OtleT DAY heard some One cal
homework drudgery. That was because
she didn't know how to do it. Do all
women to-day agree that it's beneath
them to take care OF their houses and
children, even 70 washing the windows
OF the former and the fGees Of the latter?
"But we can spend our timetO so much
higher purpose, - say the wise sisters. /
am not at all sure Of it. How? By
joining David's army Of the d~iscontent-
ed, and growing dissatisfied with your
education, standing, and hopes Of heav-
en-in a word, dyspeptic. Half the all
ments Of American women originate in
want Of work. They sicken for want Of
exercise with apurpOse. They eoutrive
year byyear to lessen their trivial round
OF duty, till busting a what-not becomes
a serious task, not 10 be undertaken
lightly, and seriously complained Of
when done. NO apology viii be offered
for reminding these superfine ladies,
that in the pressure Of social and intel
lectual dutie s-sO-ealled - they are
losing their dominion over their
families and over the hearts Of men,
spelling their looks, narrowing their in
comes, and forfeiting the best interests
life gives WOmen. This charge il not
brought against working women at pres
ent, but against mistresses Of families.
especially Of the middle class. Wo-
mems work Is placed to their hands.
and they refuse 10 touch il, and weary
themselves trying to find fresh paths
for their feet. Exceptional genius ex-
pands in these channels, and oYerlows
them, but Il is a slender jet that springs
outside them at the start. The call to
other vacations may come to those who
are busy in this, tOa peasant girl tend
ing her sheep, who saves France-tO a
mother working for her little ones, who.
writes b removed ofthe decade unaware
70 the schoolgirl lingering in N~ewbury-
port gardens, who fings color enough
in her pages 20 dazzle imagination :
but to the young woman shutting her
young life up to ~self-culture, waiting
and longing FOR a missiOn-a fading
memory, a disappointed hope; and to
the woman Of society, longing to iden-.
tify herself with some event, heroic
cause, failure and ehastisement. There
is a calling every woman, whatever
her want Of talents, may learn, and be
remembered for when poet and essayist
are in their graves. Who cares for the
intellectual young woman who wrote
labored verses in the days Of the revolu-
ton? There were such, forgotten now,
while Mrs. Adams good management,
and the hospitality of many another
honest matron is famous to this day.
The inflated verses are the mOckery Of
an advanced age, but the hnmeIy, house |
wifeIy virtues keep their flavor from age
TO age. Does a woman deserve respect
who calls the work of her sex drudgery?
There are women who always speak of
it by that name, but they are usually /
inferior and uuder-bred, wOmen who
write about muses. and "messes7 for |
print, prigs or guys ofthe feminine gem
der, tiresOme in society, egOtistic at
home. These are the class who COM |
plain of eramped facilities and heavy
burdens, whose time and ability are too
precious to waste in seeing that the soup |
Is piquant, Orthe shirts well aired. They 4
bring out 'last articles in manuscript |
10 amuse particular friends, and con
verse in q topical way, unconscious |
what a stuffy Odor pervades their rooms, |
or how ~shOckingiy matched all the col
ors Of their furniture may be. I do not
speak Of the women who neglect their
houses either for study or society, but of
those half-sensible women who perform
commonplace duties in q grudging, dis
dainful way, all the time feeling that
they waste, to use their formula, abilities
which might be so much better employ
ed. They dust rooms, and mend clothes,
and bake cake, and call this housewife
~, and say the nOblest calling of women
means no such frivolous ~pretense, but
work genuine and comprehending wash
ing Of dishes and kettles, securing of
tinware and backing stoves, pairing Of
potatoes and putting onof coal, in short.
the whole horrid round indispensable to
bright houses and good fare. Many wO-
men may not be called on TO do these
things, but every woman, princess or
peasant, ought to know hOwthey should
be done, and have dexterity and prac-
tice enough to know how to do them.
This is q wOman's province, which all
gentlewOmen should learn Just as men
learn the science Of war, till they
know how much sand goes to q charge
gunpowder, and how much labor goes
to squaring earthwOrks. Many people
are saying this over in different ways-I
George EliOt.and George Sand indirect
", in their heroes and herOines, who are
never by any possibility afraid Of the
meanest labor; Mrs. Craik, Frederick {
Bremen, and Mrs. Stowe more explicit {
", but all together will not avail so
much with the perverse feminine mind ]
the declarations Of one of the opposite Y
sex. A nan has spoken the mind Of
MS class about it, in words which wo- /
men ought to be grateful forever to hear. q
Mr. Ruskin picks the crown of house {
out Of the dust, and sets it on {
With words like these, which I condense: t
'Woman's first virtue is to be intensely c
happy; and always to dress herself T
leautifully-nOt finely, unless on Occa- {
sAns hrrN Nha, vrarv Rna1w~. al k,1r,~s I a
ully, too. Also to dress as many other {
as she can; and to teach them d
low to dress if they don't know; and to C
consider every addressed woman or b
hid she sees rs a personal disgrace; a
to get at them somehow, until 6
.verybOdy is as beautifully dressed as q
Iirds. Now you needn't say d
-Ou can't, for you can; and it's what n
gu were meant to do, always; and to il
ress your houses andsyoUr gardens, too; v
nd 70 do very little else, ] believe, ex- b
ept singing land housewifery). Il
means the knowledge of Me a
ca and Of Gree and Of Calypso and of d
felen and Of Rebekah and Of the Queen 81
I Sheba. 1t means the knowledge of p
Il herbs and fruits and balms and q
pices; and Of all that is healing and b.
.eet in fields and groves, and savory tC
/ meats; il means c~arefuIness and in q
e~ntiveness and watchfuIuess and viii b.
and readiness Of appliance; it &C
ieans the economy of your great-grand- n
and the science Of modern "
lemists; it neal much tasting andno W
'atching; it means English thorough II
ess and French art and Arabian hos CO
itaiity." Does this strain seem too high ID
own for the s-erviceSnamed, which peo- Of
choose to call servile? That is be- tn
luse they are trained to divorce senti- IN
.ent from work. Hs girl only feels Of
she is spelling her hands by doing g
)useWOrk, she will naturally detest it. 81,
she fails to love with the poetry of sh
she will prefer to wait on her pli
II because the tendance of a lady is so he
UGH daintier than q servants will be, We
ID no pains will seem too much to Do
axe her home bright, and the cOndi- We
ms Of life Of an exquisite purity. There wi
e good housekeepers enough left in en-
York whose orderly souls are ba
rung by the waste and COMMISSIONS oil
e servants fate sends them. For re- II
lement's sake how can ladies prefer
e attendance of Bridget who moves in =
Of dust and whirlwind Of disor- en-
T to her best results. OF her WAYS n,
at are dark, it is not appropriate to to
eak. How she kindles the fire with wa
lole candles instead Of pine wood, ha
Der face with a dinner napkin, Ba
d tucks stray handkerchief into the ha
are secrets her mistress buries tri
her heart. But her ways Of doing her an
st are odious with ~elatteF, Stops, and wa
Ease, so that women imagine these tar
~inseparable from houseWork, and tri,
volt against it. There is nothing ne lio-
more repulsive in housekeep- Jol
than there is in the career Of an ar gui
t, a physician, a naturalist. Think of be
: dabbling with migilp and turpen- still
e, the horrors Of the disseeting room, Re
the analysis Of specimen tomato l54
rms. Women hate housekeeping be- BIZ
Use they only half learn il, and are arr
yer sure Of success, or because theyf fav
MT half do it, and are overtaken in all ter
= vileness Of neglect. People always cor
e what they do well. No woman ags
v call herself past mistress Of house N
ferry who cannot do all that is wanted wor
a house without anxiety or effort, on
t as a pianist pisys.-Sbjr5ey Dare. Xii
out
DONA AOm AOH' on
- de
Bertha Davis, Of Rochester, writes to for
,lare that American women as a rule, din
1T know how to wriggle their behind Of
lch with grace. She made further Ma
It as follows: ecu