The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-06-17
Household COnVenienceS.

In a great many households fully one
half the labor of the women is wasted
This waste comes from bad plans on tn,
part of the householder, from imperfec
ideas on the part of the housekeeper as t.
what arrangements are best, or what arr
| possible, and from habit easily acquired
of putting up" with things as they are
In the planning of a house, especially Of
the kitchen and dining-roOm, the woman
who is to work there should have voice.
She knows, or ought to know, how the
pantry, the sink, the stove, the Ventila-
ton and lighting of the room can be so
adjusted to each other as to meet her indi-
vidual needs. 1t makes a great differ
ence in even the work of one day whether
the workable is six steps or twenty from
the pantry whether wood and water are
close at hand, or must be brought two or
three steps from an clubhouse or from out
OF doors; whether the dining-TOOm is on
the same floor or a flight of stairs higher
up. AS rule, the more compact and
narrow the space in which the kitchen
work can be compressed, the more easily
will 1t be gone through without great IA
tigue.
The old-fashioned kitchen has given
place in modern times to one lust large
enough to contain every thing a kitchen
should contain and no more. In one of
these model apartments the cook can
reach every thing she wants almost as cas-
lily as an engineer of a steamboat can take
hold Of any part of his engine. Stove,
sink, pantry, workable, irOning-table,
stationary tubs, are all within a short ra-
dius; and this is just as it should be. The
style of building houses in flats is going to
do great deal for city women by putting
all their work on one floor. A woman
who has never enjoyed the luxury of liv-
ing on one floor cannot adequately con-
ceive what saving of muscle there is in
it. Stairs are the beteS nOirs of modern
houses. But to those who must go up
and down stairs there are mitigatiOns
in the shape of 1umb-waiters which
are by no means as common as they
should be. A great many women forget
to count their own labor as one of the
most costly investments they can put into
an enterprise. and not estimating it at its
true worth, they take little pains to Sc
cure the largest returns it can pos
slbly make. lpstead of sitting down qui-
city and planning out every thing care
fully beforehand, so that every stroke will
tell, and keep time with every other
oNiOh's lllCl dI OllCt lllO Tile llllUSI
ef hard work, and go on in haphaZard
fashion till the task is done. of course
such women are always behindhand and
chemically worn out. A household cam
paign needs as careful planning to secure
the largest results as does military cam
paign. The strength and resources at
command, and the power of the enc
my to be conquered, need to be rigidly
estimated, or failure somewhere is sure to
follow. In the matter of conveniences for
doing homework quickly and well there
is great deal yet to be written and said
for the enlightenment of both men and
women. Because our grandmothers
wrunga all their clothes by hand. we should
not be required to do so if it is possible to
obtain wringer. If any woman sets her
heart on having wringer and washer,
and sewing machine and house organ,
she will be very apt to have them, lust as
her husband will contrive, if Le is at all
enterprising, to have horse rake, a reap
er, or a mower on his farm. She NAV not
get them all at once, but get them she
will The house organ is included in the
list of conveniences, because it is such a
concord maker in the family. Instead of
sitting down to cry over her fatigue, the
tired mother or daughter NAV soon learn
to play it away, and it is as important
that we should have all the facili-
ties for resting, as that we should
have all for working, since both
tend to the same result. There are
even yet parts of the country where els
terms and pumps are comparatively I'M
known; where when it rains every body
must run to put tubs under the leaders.
and when the precious liquid is wanted
for use, carry it into the house. The
work of few idle days in late fall or early
spring would suffice to build a cistern,
and conduct the rainfall on the roof into
it. Some money for brick and cement
will have to be expended, but cigar less
day for a few months would cover that
expense. From a cistern water could
readily be pumped into the second starv
of houses, and if waste-pipe in the same
story carries water away, what a saving of
labor would be made! The money re-
quiIed to meet the outlay for these con-
veBiences might be saved out of ruffles,
trimmings, and culinary superfiuities on
the principle that the ''life is more than
meat, and the body than raiment," and
that II we can't have both, We'll take the
more intrinsically valuable.
If the housewife has butter to make.
there should be on the same floor with the
dairy stove, with water and fuel at hand,
so that pans and other vessels may be
cleanssd without and tedious carrying to
and fro. Rubber tubing can be had for
conducting water, and if il is TO be raised
pump al one end of Il will answer a tenn
porary purpose. The final end of ali the
conveniences and facilities for doing house
work should be to save time and strength
for the cultivation of those powers which
are noblest and those faculties which sur
vive the body. Our mothers need time to
60 into the open fields and woods and give
themselves up TO the enjoyment of trees
and flowers and clouds and singing birds
and signing breeZes; need time TO forget.
in the perusal of the varied books and
periodicals so multitudinous and interest
ing, the petty annoyances and narrowness-
es of daily life; need time TO cultivate the
social instinct. and 10 keep themselves
fresh and blooming for their husbands and
their children.-Neio York Tribune.