St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-02-13
A Word to Housewives.
BY AUGUSTA MOORE.

''For the body is more than the house. "the life
than" scrubbing.
Having kept house long enough to
discover some of its dangers, L would
like to warn myself and all others
against them.
Do not allow your household goods
to become your master. Do you smile?
Consider. There is many woman, at
this very moment, who tolls as slave
to her "things." She has parlor with
nice things in it, and she wears and
wearies herself more than they are all
worth, to keep them nice. Her whole
house is prettily furnished; but she
dare not use her "things," for fear they
will not always look new. But the
tyranny OF all the rest of the house is
nothing compared to that exercised
over her by the furniture of her kitchen.
IT'S there that many woman, wife OF
a ..well-to-do man, perfectly able, and
perhaps not unwilling, to hire plenty of
help for her, spends the chief portion of
her life. And she spends it as the slave
of her tools and implements. There is
not tub, nor a pail, nor wash board,
nor wringer, that she is not more
careful and saving of than she is of her
self. Don't you believe this, reader ?
| know it, and should not be greatly
surprised were yOu the woman herself.
Didn't yOu ever wiring out by hand
your clothes, to save either the clothes
or your insensate wringer? Didn't you
ever kneel and wash your floors by
hand, rather than use a mop, lest you
might splash the base board Didn't
you ever lift the slOps from your wash
tubs, pailful by pailful, to window
back of the sink-peThaps a zinc-lined
one, too-rather than pour anything
$50 dirty" into that sink ? No! Well
for you, then; but women do these
things daily. Not the lifting of wash
water, of course. Washing day has
this recommendation comes but
once week but on that day that very
thing is done, to the danger of the back
of her who does it, reaching with that
load way across the sink, which was
made on purpose to be used to make
work more easy. But the harder some
women can contrive to render their
work, the better they seem to like it.
| know wOman-she is not far away
who often signs out, "Ho hum
lCiSh | was smart" She works, slave
like, all day long, nearly every day but
Sunday, yet groans under the conscious
ness that she "dOn't get ahead" and
''can't turn off work" Why? Simply
because she is too particular. She has
allowed her love of having things well
done to cross the boundary between
virtue and vice and she is becoming a
suicide. Twice already she has been
very near to death i'm consequence of
her terrible thoroughness and neatness.
She feels obliged to do her own house
wOrk-washings, ironings and all-be-
cause she can get no one who will do
the work to suit her. "Help" will put
the wrong stick of wood into the stove {:
will hang the soft water dipper on the
nail of the hard water dipper; will pour
water into the sink, instead of Juggling
it all out of doors; won't hang the dip
pers up right edge out when on the
right nail won't rinse the clothes till
you could see pin in the bottom of
the tub they last came out of !; and
ether such like things. The little
housewife of whom l speak does them
faithfully E: but, of course, she is "tOO
band, or to be the playmate of her chill
NCllHcI Sic TAKE tIt
fort of religion that, were she not al
ways so weary, might be hers. Every
dish and spoon about her house must
shine, no matter how dull her poor lit
tie soul grows by consequence.
Now it is good to be neat and clean.
Few hate dirty-lOoking OF dirty-smell-
ing things or persons more heartily
than your scribe; but | submit that the
body is more than secured tins, and the
life more than scrubbed floors. Things
can be kept sweet and wholesome with
out wearing out soul and body over
them. If they cannot, let them go into
the fire A return to hearty, cheerful,
savage life is preferable to seeing wo-
men, especially wives and mothers, kill
ing themselves to "take care of their
things"
Far better be without "things" than
to become a slave to them. l knew a
great splendid Indian chief once, named
Maungwadaus. He went with Mr.. Cat.
lin to Europe, and there lost his wife.
''She died." he declared, "of too much
houses" The expression has never
been forgotten. The same disease is
killing hundreds, if not thousands, to-
udy' IL II d SOIIoWlul ldCG tndJ our
dear New England women, even more
than men, are making vices of the viz
tues of neatness, frugality and indus
try. These virtues, when far OUTLYING
the necessity which gave them birth,
always degenerate into vices, and no
character can be truly lovable that is
stained by them. Their tending is to
narrow and dry up life-to make it
mean and poor. As DR.. Holland says
"There are well-tO-dO New England
people who will not let their children
cultivate flowers, because flowers are
not useful, and involve a waste of time
and land. They will not have an in
strument of music in their houses be-
cause music is not useful, and costs
money and time; they will not buy
pictures because pictures are not use
full, and because they cost money; so
that many a rich mans parlor is as bare
of ornament as a tomb would be. They
will not attend lecture, because,
though it would furnish mental food for
a month, it would not bring their shil-
ling back to them. They will not at
tend concert, nor hire minister who
possesses fine gifts, for the same reason
that they may have a little more
money!
He might have gone further and said
They will not hire the help they need,
though they might thus obtain time to
cultivate their minds and indulge the
hIOhar tastes that Cod bac ri va, +lop,