The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-01-07
Rome Ancient and Modern Teachings
On Cleanliness in the Household.


ed by Dr.. Richardson before the SAM
tary Congress at Exeter, England, /,
short time ago, the subject treated wa
" Woman as a Sanitary Reformer.
Starting with Solomon, many are the wis
sayings with which the King is credited
g A good wife worketh willingly will
her hands, I" She riseth while it is We
night and giveth meat to her household
and a portion to her maidens." Shit
layeth her hands to the spindle and hel
hands to the distaff." "She is no
afraid of the snow for her household
for all her household are clothed in scar
let:" DR.. Richardson proclaims this
ideal housewife to be that perfect type Of
woman-the sanitary reformer.
Xenophon had his own theory as te
the duties of the woman in the household
and invents dialogue between Socrates
and Critobulus, where the wonderful
ways of Isomachus are described. Here
the most practical laws of economy are
laid down. Mrs. IsOmachus was not
the kind of woman to expend in the first
week of the month, when her husband
. has given her money, the bulk of it in
bonnets and cloaks, "for that which is
to be spent in q twelvemonth is not
to be fooled away in month" She
must give her own personal attention to
the food as it comes into the house. II
Isomachus's wife had q pass-book with
the butcher, and had ordered II pounds
of ribs, when it came home it would
have beer her duty to examine it. If it
was under weight, she would have dis
covered it. Ii it were uadly cut, or was
poor beef, or not exactly an
equivalent for the twenty cents
a pound charged for it, she would have
returned it, or would have "wanted to
know the reason why" For when
IsOmachus came home from the Agora
with friend, if the meal had been inn
properly dressed, or the prime material
poor, he would not have held the
Beotian purveyor at fault, but would
have rated his wife roundly for her short
comings. 1t is true, Greek wives did
not ordinarily grace their lords tables,
but still we may be quite certain that
husbands scolded their helpmates at
Athens just as they do in New York.
In the original text it reads: 1.-The
corn that is brought in she must care
fully examine, so that none which is
musty and dirty be eaten for food. :"
Very wise and full of minute details are
the other accounts of the wife of
Isomachus. He himself tells of an adj
venture of his on vessel sailing under
Phenecian colors. A storm arose, and
there would have been confusion, but
on the craft such was the perfection of
order that everything was in its proper
place for immediate service, from an
anchor to basin for sick passenger.
Then Isomachus descants on the neces-
sity of neatness in the house. ga
house, he says, "has an ordination.
1t is not ordained to be gorgeously paint
ed with divers fair pictures, though these
may be excellent, but it is built for this
purpose and consideration, that it should
be profitable and adaptable for things
that are in it, so that, as it were, it bids
the owners to lay up everything that is
in it in such place as is most meet for
the thing to be put" This sentence,
with it's fine classic flavor, means simply,
d" everything in its place and place for
everything" But Isomachus's spouse
did some very strange things, which are
to be forgiven her, tor they were only in
fashion in those very early days. We
have very much improved in the last
1920 years, and, of conrse, what
Isomachus child his wife for then would
hardly expose New York lady of to-
day To marital censure. Mrs. Isomachus
painted her face so that it should be red
der than it was, and blackened her eye
brows and used high heels, so that She
should appear to be taller than she
really was. Then spoke to her her con-
siderate lord and master, and argued
with her as follows: edo give you
counterfeit notes for greenbacks, or
sport ormolu chains for Is carats, paste
brilliants for solltaires, or give you bad
Imprinted calicoes for fast colors?"
And the conscience-stricken wife re-
piled: "The gods forbid that you
should do such thing, for even will you
not DE your own whiskers." And from
that time henceforward the wife of
Isomachus gave up the Balm of Beauty,
pipe clay, sulphuret of anthony, oxide
of bismuth, and cuddle, and took to
slip-shod and limp list slippers. i.
Still, with all the peculiarities of those
early days, when men and women were
neither much worse nor better than they
are to-day, considerable attention seems
to have been paid to the sanitary condi-
ton of the house. In such a warm eli
mate as the Romans and Greeks lived
in, great cleanliness must have been q
necessity. 1t has been repeated over
and over again that the exigencies of
civilization conceal, but do not cause the
disappearance of, what is most nOxious
to the health of the inmates of the house.
We generally see notes of warning sent
forth about this time of year to house
keepers, and they should be needed.
The danger of an unhealthy house in
summer. is hardly secondary to that of
an unpoliced cellar in winter. That
garbage and dirt which has remained
concealed IN the lower portions of the
house want to be removed at once.
Every drain-pipe should be scrutinized.
In summer, some kind of natural VEN
tilation takes place. The house is wide
open from cellar to garnet. In winter
apertures are closed. If there be impu-
rites below, the noxious gases arising
from them infiltrate through the house,
and remain not only as constantly dis
turbing elements, but their pestiferous
characteristics are increased. A house