The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1883-02-21
THE BLACK ARTILLERY
A New York Girls Experience In a Mass''-
chusetts Seminary

/ Chusetts seminary.
You know they fit us tor life here-teech
us French, music, ceramics and house
work. To-day took my first real lesson in
housewoik. Heretofore | had had taste
OF il in beng detailed to pare apples for
hall an hour after supper. To-day | was
called oh''-that is, instead of working
regularly after supper at the apple BUSH
ness, | had TO take another girls work
after dinner. IL was my first experience
| with what the girls call "the black artil-
iery." and may 1t be the last The black
| artillery" you must Know, are great black
iron steam kettles in which
they cook our meals. There Aie six OF
them. They are ugly.looking AS. They
had been used tor dinner, and of course
they had to be cleaned. | had never seen
the girls cleaning them, and i hadn't the
remotest idea OF how the thing was done. ]
was too proud TO ask. So | set to work
with two mops an iron dish-cloth, dish.
towel anu some soap. The things are so
deep that had to balance myself on their
rims, With heels waving in the air, even y
now and then | made a frantic dip at the
bottom. The result of these gymnastics
was smutted apron, q sprained back,
and very unsettled temper.
When had got through diving into the
| Kettle L tired 10 regain ny equilibrium
shades OF misery my luckless heels cap
sized great pail OF dirty water used in
| cleaning the vat. This brought the matron
| down on me in the shake of goats foot. "
one ordered me to mop it up insianter, and
not 10 Track around in it; and | was actu-
| ally forced to come down to the indignity
OF hopping up that dirty, greasy stuff. /
Hoped around wildly with the pail and
mop Tor about twenty minutes, but my
spirit was broken. | was ten minutes late
ior nail, having worked like slave for an
hour ana half and got one kettle cleaned.
WA horses couldn't have dragged me
PACK TO attack the other five.
however, have had two consultations. One
Is seVenty-iive minutes plus time, and the
other Is that left the pipe all stopped up
with grease, had to ladle out every drop
put into the kettle. When they go to
COOK anything there will be flood big
enough to float every one of the miserable
ins5 oil TO .Jericho One of the rules of
the institution is an enforced half hour of
meditation IN q closet every afternoon.
was In lovely mood for meditation that
afternoon. Idont think | ever spent a
more joyous thirty minutes. -. --
We have house full Of visitors, among
them young Englishman and his wife,
who have on from India to finish an educa-
ton for missionary life. They have been
here about three years. He expects to
graduate from Boston university in year
more, and then they will return to India.
Meantime, she will remain here partly us
scholar and partly to learn how to conduct
girls school. 1t seems so strange to have
a married woman in classes with us. She
is a thin little creature, with the worried,
anxious, .deprecatlng face which all mis-
sionaries' wives seem to wear.
The Rev. Joseph Cook leCtured here about
week ago. | never heard such lecturing in
my life. was just completely spell. bound.
The first thing he said was: ITO me, Smith
college, Wellesley, and Vassar are sacred,
but this institution is simply divine" The
faculty were so dull OF comprehension that
they thought he meant them, but us girls
know better. He meant us, didn't heP
--[Extract from letter to a school mate.