Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-06-25
MISS CORSON'S PLAN
Might Be Tried at the South With Very
Good Results for SlatterRly and
Untidy Housekeepers.
A Good Cooking School the Pressing
Need of the Times-Bad- Cooks
Ruin Poor Human Nature.

| "Out of two wrongs can one right be
| evolved? Ii one wants to find out what
/ suffering martyr the average housekseper is
In the South, just let one pay a round Of
fashionable calls and listen to the tales OF
woe that one martyr will pour into the SYM
| pathiziDg ears OF another martyr, and you
| will be astonished to find what volumes of
| complaint can be crowded into the short
! space OF ten or htteen-minute call. The
| anguished recital of disaster and dissppoint-
ment which, according TO the reciters. goes
| far TO make up a sort of daily routine of do
mestic torment, leaves one divided between
Indignation at the total depravity OF the
| lower orders and admiration for the heroic
powers OF endurance OF the upper. who, de-
spite the dali home fortunes they describe
so graphically, LOOK as fresh and frolicsome
"a nest Of kittens at the close OF those ter
ribe days. There is no doubt about it that
1t is a somewhat difficult undertaking 10
make good, reliable domestics of personages
who have literary aspirations aud social
craylngsl totally incompatible with the
cooking stove and the dust-pan, and who
soar into realms that are unsafe for baby's
perambulator. The Southern housekeeper
of to-day Is peculiarly unfortunate in liv-
ing in the period when the old, fixed
DOMESTIC INSTITUTIONS
simply mock one as BLESSINGS that brighten
when they Ike their flight" and when IN
der the new order Of things the dignity of
labor is not quite recognized, but is sadly
jumbled up with strsining after book learn
ing and universal desire to ape "white
folks" in manners and habits. Who will re-
fuse Mrs. A. the need of heartfelt sympathy
when her daily allowance of twenty pounds
of ice melts down to about twelve because
cooks governess comes simultaneously with
the ice-m an, and as cooks lessons are of par
amount consideration, the ice stays in the
front yard until called for; or Mrs. BIS de-
mands for our coincidence, because she has
10 dIess and bath baby three afternoons
herself, nurse's music lessons falling on those
days. Or Mrs. C's wall over the ruin of
new lawn because her washweman belongs to
the queens or daughters of something or
other, and left 1t in the suds while she ar
rayed herselfin purple and ine'linen to zine"
the procession. But nobody dares to complain
10 the delinquents, for it does not in the least
matter how bad fix YOU may be in on the
servant question, it is impossible, We all tell
each other, to make any change whatsoever
without worseniDg matters. So We 90 on |
bearing the ills We have, rather than fly to |
those we know not OF, with a patience and a |
meek spirit of endurance worthy of better |
cause. Because, you knoT, We are SO help |
less as a general thing-so few of us can |
make ourselves thoroughly Independent of |
our wretched tyrants. We can all make beds
and flourish
BRooMs AND BUSTERS,
but how many of US can cook dinner with
out risk of everlasting ruin to the digestive
organs of the whole family, or which one of
us could laundry shirt if her Life depended
on it? Thinking these thoughts as pursued
my way from the house of one martyr friend
to another, and wondering if | was going to
be treated 10 variations on the same theme,
L felt relieved when my hostess introduced
orphans as the text for our discourse.
(lrF, lar, ,Iy,I 10, t. l. |
ect; orphans affect no one, never tyrannize,
are not pulled up, are long suffering and
generally harmless Orphans made me think
If two little midgets had seen in the mar
let few Saturdays blackwell enough
clothed, not particularly lean or hungry
ooking, only forlorn looking, as the orphan
hat Is entirely dependent upon public
,harity most always look-and as they
passed from stall to stall, pausing before
ZACH one, to stand mute, with their huge
willow basket between them, receiving
Iumbly the varied contributions OF yellow
'ess and wilted heads of lettuce and "pithy" ,
adishes, thought TO myself that their lives
ad verify fallen in hard places. With the
'rofoundest respect for those who take charge
1 orphan asylums, we must all recognize
he fact that where 80 many children are
erded together, it is almost next to impoesi-
lie to do more than feed them and cloth
hem plainly and sparingly. Beyond few
enerally accepted moral maxims, who has t
me to attend to the individual training of /
hose e
FoRLoRN LITTLE NATURES. +
Vino has time to develop the mental capaci- L
les of 'sylum child, and yet it is the most
ifhcult matter in the world for a lady, let
er be never we'll recommended, to gain
osseesion of one OF these little waifs who are
eiug taught certain dull routine, but who,
TneQ thew Intrusfpd IN oOf aI1a Influence | .
lmost invariably prove unreliable, untruth
III and careless. These disagreeable truths
INST be attributed to the fact that as organi-
atoms, asyums are generally impecunious;
nd as training establishments, it is impossi-
lie Tor those who have such herds on their
and to do justice to them Individually. In
lew, then, OF the two disconnected evils of
evenly domestics and carelessly reared or
hans, why might we not evolve a better
rider OF things? By judicious adop-
on OF the idea that honor and shame
ON no condition rise; act well your part,
iere all the honor lies" we might. Why
light We not have our Miss Corson in the
outh--some gentle woman OF advanced
lcas, who might convert the forlorn little
atterns that are objects Of pity orphans
1d o. contempt domestlcs, into skillful, | Il
eat, efficient cooks; into brisk and tidy
ousemaids; into gentle and trustworthy
lrses? A cooking school attached TO an
PuaH asylum ought 10 prove an unmIStaka- I
e blessing TO the inmates themselves, for
MIss CoRsoN's STYLE OF INSTRUCTION
such as TO convert the plaiuest fare irto
e most attractive food. And as soon as it 1
comes an accepted social maxim that there 1
as much dignity in cooking a meal we'll as
running sewing machine all day, or that .
is quite creditable to nurse somebody
;es children as it is to remain a dependent
ION public charity all of ones days, such B
questions as are contained in these ram r
ing sentences may be received with more +
respect and less of derision than l am IL
raid will be their inevitable portion now.
MOTHER GOOSE.