Sharp County record., 1878-04-05
The Small Arts of Living.

Hardly any thing is too small to spoil
the comfort of life, if it be misplaced.
A speck in the eye, kernel of wheat in
the boot, pin-point touching the skin,
d band too tight or a needed strap gone
and good-by comfort
Considering how much depends on
our daily food, it is surprising how little
is thought of the conditions under which
it is taken, in many families. Some
people think a good deal more of what
is on the table than what is said or done
around it; and some few, perhaps, re-
verse the order-an operation that may
do very well for special occasions, when
what is said is something extraordinary
but one that we shall beg to be excused
from "as regular Diet" even if the
Gods came to dine, until we are able to
dispense with all that is implied in a
good appetite!
The cookery is too big topic to touch
in this connection; though what with
cookery schools, a better knowledge
among the people, and higher standards
made familiar by our best hotels and
dining places, the art has greatly ad-
vanced in this country within the pres
ent generation. Good bread, a properly
broiIed steak, and roast done to turn,
no longer excite the special wonder that
once they did. By-and-by perhaps it
will not be unusual to find a good soup,
or vegetables that haven't been spoiled
in cooking!
There is no more hopeful sign for the
future welfare of society, and especially
of its homes and home-makers, than the
movement now inaugurated, of giving
practical instruction to girls in useful
arts and everyday industries.
Girls are being taught dress-fitting
and cutting, in all its branches, on sci
entifc and artistic principles. Why
should they not be? Is there any matter
of dress that gives our women so much
trouble and vexation as this? And what
modiste's taste is likely to be so true
and good as that of an educated, refin-
ed, sensible woman-planning for her
self? Should we not see more OF that
individuality which is one of our great
lacks as a nation, if our girls were so
skilled that they could give form to their
fancies and embodiment to their ideas
in these matters.
The question of economy need not
enter into the calculatiOn-though it
manifestly has very direct bearing up
ON II II is matter of independence
of more fitness and better art. Every
( lady, of high or low degree, ought to
know how to plan any garment, upon
correct principles-just as much as she
ought to know how to plan and cook a
dinner, though she may never be call
ed upon to do it.
Millinery is another and kindred in
dustry-and very practical one, too
in these times. Why should merely
well-to-do man pay twenty dollars for a
dress-hat for his wife, the materials for
which cost perhaps five, when he has a
daughter whose taste, if properly train
ed and instructed, could produce much
more exquisite and tasteful creation for
half the money? Many women are
born with an eve for color. They know
intuitively what is harmonious and be-
coming; but they might as well have
been born blind for all the use they are
able to make of their gift in dress, adorn-
ment, house-furnishing or what not
The modiste, the milliner, the upholster-
er, and the rest, combine to smother
their God-given sense of the fitness OF
things.
There are many other lines Of learn
ing to which we may refer hereafter
For this time we close as we began
Give the girls a chance. Lead them
out. Golden Rule.