The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1876-08-09

~ Is Seluom tnat we nave read anything
which smacks SO much of genuine truth as the
following from the Wsstsrn Farm Journal,
and we would commend it to those who may
think keeping home is less responsible or
noble occupation than filing a niche in any
other position ii life.
With what enthusiasm tie young house,
keeper enters her Clean. bright attractive
kitchen. With what a glow Of delight she
engages in her duties. Everything is new,
pure untarnished. The sunshine CLEANS in
rows of bright tin, the shelves are free from
even a hint of dust, and the surface Of the
surface of the china is smooth. The tea ket-
tie sings cheerily away on the stove. How
keenly and with what alaerity she enters upon
her duties. With what dispatch Tie work is
disposed Of. How foolish in her once to dread
housekeeping.
But there comes time when all this is
changed. No longer the bright surface of
the TIN and kitchen untensils reflect the rays
of the morning sun. They are too dffgy and
dirty to reflect anything. AS she opens the
door of her cupboard, disorder and unceanl-
ness stare at her from every corner. Spots of
grease dsfigure the kitchen floor, and the
stove is, in appearance, far, very far from
Suggesting a fit place for the preparation of
anything one would wish to eat.
| She realizes then that vigilance is the price
of cleanliness and order as we'll as liberty
Then the thought comes with bitterness, per-
haps, tIrat It IS daily hand to hand fight
with dirt and disorder that must be MAIN
tanned to secure surroundings in which work
can be done cheerfully and successfully. Then
as she brightens the tins, cleans the cupboard
and scrubs the floor, she feels the drudgery
of house-work. 1t will be acknowledged that
to so over the same round of duties every day.
week in, week out, for months and years, be-
comes tiresome. To cook, wash dishes,
sweep, dust, and perform all tht multifnrious
tasks pertaining to housekeeping, savors very
much OF drudgery, indeed is drudgery.
But while yoh, my friend, WELD the scrub
bling brush, flourish the broom or mop, and
envy those in other departments of labor their
immunity from household drudgery, know
that there is irudgery pertaining to all en-
ployment, a drudgery more exhausting. more
uneeasng than yours. There is thrill of ex-
quisite Joy in the soul of the poet when a new
and beautiful idea comes to him, but the
working out of that thought in expression, is
labor of the sevelest kind.
But then he has a poem,' you say, exult-
ingly, "and only clean floor Only that
and nothing more You haze much more.
For imagine your efforts will not end with
tho cleaning of your floor, but the lesson you
learn there will show itself in other depart
ments until you possess what should be the
highest aim of every woman, a welEcrderea
household, a neat, attractive, delightful home.
4 hoide Is not that as good as poem !
People can live and thrive without poetry,
but the lack of homes has been the ruin of
many.
To make. hqme all the little details of
every day life, that sometimes seem so SMALL
SO trifying, SO far beneath the dignity of in
teigent womanhood, duties that the veriest
drudge can perform, are of Importance. Sue
cessful homo making is one OF the problems
of the age. If you, oh patient housewife,
in your quiet corner Of the world unobtru-
sivey working, practically solve the question
which taxes the intellects of the wise and
gifted, solve it by entering heartily and cheer
fully into all the detail of your work, have
you labored in vain? And il this be repeat
ed in the thousand homes of our land, will
not the foundations Of our nation stand SO
strong and firm that all the opening flood
gates of evil will not be able to prevail against
them?
Lift UP yodr head, then, toaihg one mag
Nifty your office. Place yourself, as you have
right, among those who are doing the noble
abiding work of the world Exalt your lowly
duties to the level Of your high conception of
what home is and what # means. Then no
work will seem mean, no duty trifiing. Then
we will hear no more of the drudgcry of
Homework than of the drudgery Of painting
picture, or writing poem.