Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-08-11
A Romantic View Of Dlshwashing.

In the entire routine of domestic duties
there is nothing so universally disliked
as washing dishes It seems not to have
single redeeming feature. Necessarily
it must be confined TO kitchen precincts
must be shut off from all that is attractive
in the hOme-its music is rafting Of
china and tinkling of tins-its perfume is
not of "new mown hay" The artistic
soul may find something beautiful in lay
ing the spotless cloth and arranging upon
it the dainty china or snowy crockery; a
lover OF the beautiful can find pleasure in
sweeping, busting and arranging room,
that will meet her eye all day with sense
OF approval, but where Is the woman who
can do more than make dish washing
other than merely endurable.
Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher, several
years ago, in one of her excellent articles
on housekeeping, tried to meet the case
| by advising those who had to wash dishes
to use instead of cloth or other coDtrivan-
ces an ordinary whisk broom. This is
excellent, but this alone will not make
| the,duty pleasant. Nothing but the spirit
which accompanies the work can do this,
and to enjoy 1t thus 1t Is necessary that
| the preliminary arrangements be care
fully attended to.
There are few ladies of the older
school who attend to their silver in the
dining room, but these are fast dying out.
| In any case, the same order must be oh
served. Remove from the table first glass.
ware, second silver laid nicely upon a
| plate, then cups and saucers, plates care
| fully cleaned of all scraps, then the rest
of the dishes. See that every dish is
made as clean al possible without wash
| ing, and pile plates first, upon these, des
sert plates, ssucers by themselves, and all
small dishes in as small compass as they
can be made to occupy. During this
part of the work the mind must necessa-
rily be upon it, but then begins the actual
dishwashing, which can be made STEP
ping stone TO the highest self develop
ment. With foaming water and soap,
with clear water for rinsing, tray for
draining, clean tea towels for drying, there
is now no hindrance to a half-hour's com.
munion with Carlyle or Alger or Spencer,
Martineau or Tennyson. They are 80
near In spirit, so far removed by mere
sense, that no thought of insult is felt
though you choose them for your COM
panions while performing the mental duty
of washing dishes. AS freely, aye, more
freely will they conf1de to you their
choicest thoughts, as if you were prin-
cess in palace. In company with these
hours of quiet, wherein the memory be-
| comes enriched by things best and most
enduring, 1t soon comes to pass that all
the day beside grows tame and common
place, for who among our acquaintance
can take their place or give us a single
thought where these give score.
| In these days of rapid changes, where
the wheel of fortune turns so quickly
that we scarcely know our friends to have
reached the top ere we hear they are at
the bottom, many have been the heart
aches and bitter thoughts at beingsforced
to give up social pleasures for home du-
ties. Where there is no love for culture
or thought, this is indeed pitiable, but
| where the soul aspires there can be no
permanent regret, when they pause and
consider whom they leave in the parlor
that is the peer of their hour in the
kitchen. In the one case chattering
theory, in the other the worlds greatest
minds.
I know lady who considers her dish
washing hour most sacred, because in it
she feeds thus on highest thought. Learn.
ing by heart whole chapters of Carlyle,
| long extracts of Martineau, wonderful
passages from Emerson or Alger, she says
she can be disturbed at any or all hours
better than this. Try it and give as the
result, ye wearied mothers and over-laden
daughters, when six months have passed.
-Adodnce.