St. Landry democrat., 1881-12-24
In the Kitchen.

A good housekeeper NAV for mo
ment shrink from rolling up her sleeves
putting on a real work apron. and tax
tng hold Of the kitchen work in earnest
Gut not for long. Putting ones hand,
10 the work reveals such gross neglect
and the absolute necessity that there
would soon have been for change, fa1
better than any supervision can do.
Passing round among the work. step
ping into closets or storerooms while
doing some light work for cake or
desserts, cannot enable the mistress to
estimate the true way in which her
work is done. One who has not done
any rough manual labor for months,
perhaps years. may not willingly bend
to the work, if by any rebuke for care
lessness her servants leave her For a
day or two, when she first finds herself
alone, all must seem strange and the
work hard. She will make many mis-
takes and feel half discouraged. Her
hands, long exempt from the rough toll.
will be stitfened and sore from handling
ironware, the scrub brush, or washing
dishes in hot suds. But this will not
annoy her long. Soon she sees the
great change few hours of well-ap-
piled labor can make in pantries, dish
closets, and particularly in the dishes
themselves, and then she begins to find
solid pleasure in her work.
The perfectly washed DISH polished
with a spotlessly clean and dry towel,
is a JOY to look upon. The silver takes
on new ulster, the glass is as brilliant
as crystal, and holding it up to see il
any mote or speck or lint remains, if
the lady sees only the clear, transpar-
ent glass, shining like crystal no won
der her face lights up with real and
far more satisfying pleasure than she
has ever felt in the finest work of art,
because this freshening up and renovat-
ing everything over the house is the
work of her own hands, well and faith
fully done.
When at last, from attic to cellar,
order and scrupulous neatness reign,
how much more good housewife
shrinks from bringing in "help" than
she ever did from losing them! Such
loss she has found her exceeding gain.
But she knows other duties have
claim on her time and strength, and, as
matter of duty, she must look for
help. How firmly she resolves that in
experimenting her servants hereafter
she will be sure that nothing shall es-
cape her notice. She will never allow
herself to form her judgment OF the eff
cheney or faithfulness of those in her
employ by trusting simply to her eyes.
This last experience has clearly shown
her that her eye will never so readily
or truly detect neglect or deceit as her
hands.
''These dishes look we'll. Yes. But
let me take them in my hand. l shall
easily know if they have been we'll
washed and perfectly polished with a
dry towel. The top may be clean. Is
the bottom OF the plate equally so? or.
shall [ ind it sticky, because wiped with
a damp not overclean-cloth?'
Kettles and tins may look clean. and
may have been we'll dried on the side of
the range or in the sun before putting
away. All. Take them up; pass the
finger round the rim, or binding, or
where the handle or bail is attached to
the kettle. How greasy! The inside
seems clean, why should the outside be
so important? Because in a day or
two, if neglected, there will be found a
constant accumulation of greasy par
tcles where ashes from the crate will
lodge, and an ugly crust of this deposit
will soon give an unpleasant rancid taste
to any food cooked therein, however
clean the inside may be-
In no one article is this so apparent
rs in the pans used to bake bread or
cake in. If not carefully washed and !
IS faithfully dried, so that no semblance
Dr. odor Of grease can be discovered /.
about the rim, or inside or out, the I'M !:
1ercrust and sides of bread or cake can
lot fail to have an impure, unpleasant !
aste and smell. In sheet-iron pans it
$ more noticeable than in tin.
All this a housekeeper who has had l.
he pleasure of working without any So :
allied help for week or two, until a
very utensil and arrangement about :
he house is in perfect order, will bear .
mind when, at last, she finds other a
uties must compel her once more to :.
esort to these membranes, and she y
yill most resolutely determine that the Il
York henceforth shall be SO faithfully
'atched that never again will she be
bliged to have so much to clean up
fter any girl. Happy the woman who
oes not find outside calls engross her p
me so thoroughly, the moment she :
rms the kitchen work over to another, 6
lat many small things, here and there, L
I'LL have escaped her notice. To what II
roportions will those small items have sc
roWn when next she is left alone?- W
FRS. Il. W Beecher, in Christian Union. in
pl
Consideration for the Sick. in
w