The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1879-08-30
Co-operatIon in Housekeeping.


Says the New York Times. The man
who, to an inquiry how he came 10 marry
an Irish girl, replied that marrying a,
American one would have Compelled him
to hire an Irish girl to take care of her.
showed what is coarsely known as horse.
sense, II he looked only to the question
of getting necessary work done: for. by
some unexplained law of compensation.
it does not seem to be practicable to oct
brains and muscles In the same BODY
The dexterity, nimbleness, readiness Ia
emergencies, and tact, which are charm
ing IN the woman of to-day, are obtained
at the price of physical strength: what
in New England, is called faculty has
lost much of the endurance that once
made it effective. Miranda knows per-
fectly how TO do, with the utmost of neat
ness and good sense, and at the minimum
of labor. every detail in domestic life
but her strength is insufficient. so she
must call in Bridget to cruelty her daily.
She is the brain; Bridget is the muscle:
but the muscle will not obey. Bridget
is can't, won't and don't personified. She
has been dimning the eyes, decking the
hair, thinning the hands. cloudinQ the
brightness and shortening the days of
her American sister during the last
quarter century.
The race of servants-if il Is really
written in the order of creation that
there shall be such thino-is still :
barren ideality; events have not vet pro-
dueed it. There is no relief exca,,t in
lessening the dependence on servants
by so reducing domestic work that X
may be done by very small families. and
that upon all it may bear less seyerelv-
There seems to be less Opportunity for
applying in practice the co-onerat;ve
principle, which is simply to do IN one
place, with especial facilities. soma 81
the heaviest portions of work-as If fI,,ne
by the gas companies the
results and concentrating the means-
The first step should be to make mora f,f
the laundry. Instead Of doing the
seyerests part of work, TO which onlv
robust women are equal, on a small
scale IN thousands of scattered houses
unite the work and thus ENLARGE the
facilities. The cities are full of so-called
laundrles, which consist of 3 cellar or
equivalent place, where somebody uses
on small scale the familiar old imple-
ments; but, except in the great hotels.
there are very few establishments to be
found which carry out the idea. which a.
to utilize machinery and dispense with
muscles, as in everything else that Is
done economically. There has been :
laundry in Troy for many wears which
receives and returns articles BY express
chiefly collars and cuffs-oyer onita an
area OF country in three States at least
In towns sufficiently compact it might
be practicable to extend the plan further
to cooking. The late NJ Blot devised 4
scheme of that sort in both New York and
Brooklyn, but it failed, for some reason
we do not now recall. In using the word
cooperative, however, we do not mean
that the scheme should necessarily be a
mutual one, like a cooperative store
only that 1t shall secure concentration.
Better administrative ability would be
necessary, and more practical difficulties
might arise in carrying out the mutual
plan than in letting private ownership do
everything. On the other hand. the
partly cooperative scheme, il it once
conquers success, has manifest advan-
tages. 1t is impossible to deny. how
ever, that any way which should dispose
of the washing and ironing, and tighten
the cooking, would go far to change
domestic life for American women. Co
operation has left housekeeping alone
hitherto. Is there not areasonabIv
promising field there for giving new
turn to it?