Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-03-24
About Small Economies.

Is Cuo DdLu dHu Un6 OUnGr GQ6 COOK;
and against these powerful and antago-
nistic% influences the frugal housekeeper
has her daily fight. Of the two, the
cook is the frankest. She is under no
delusion about her opinions, her princi-
Piles, or her practice. She does not
hesitate for a moment in saying that
one method of administration is lauda-
BILE and becoming to a lady, and the
other is mean, and not to be encouraged
by any cooperation. The two are alike
in their opinion of desirable results.
Both the cook and the husband like the
liberal, Widespread table, but they
totally disagree about the means Of
reaching these results. The husband
believes in the traditional soup made out
of a bootleg; the coo will put up with
a s%oup-bone. but what she likes best Is
a good standing-rib, well boiled down.
The first principle in housekeeping, he
says, is vigilant, thorough supervision.
He approves of the housekeeper who
goes to market, and then, receiving the
stores when they come home, sees that
the bunch of beets is the one she Sc
lected. He likes her to follow this bunch
of beets-to know that they are prop
erly cooked, and that nothing is lost in
the pairing. If the skin can be used in
a stew or the water made to sweeten .
cake, he would consider that q triumph
of housewifery. She ought to know
how many beets are needed for the
family, and if any are left, she should
follow them from the table to the refrig-
orator and thence to the table again. If
she has not enough for another dish,
she should make a salad or some of the
mysterious economicaldishes mentioned
in cooking-school formulas.
To all Of this the wife theoretically
agrees. Whether she personally likes
to do it Or. not, she has faith in some
supervision and direction of stores.
When she attempts to put her theory in
practice, she meets the cook, standing
like a Greek in her way. She may also
take on the courage Of daughter of the
Ionian Isles, but it is ancient Sparta
against modern Athens, and the odds
are on the side of the cook.
When it comes to the bootleg CUES
ton, the husband has a clear idea that
this needs to be boiled in water (Which
is cheap and then seasoned. The cook
makes out the list for the seasoning-so
much stock, SO much cream, so many
almonds, and certain other condiments
at her fancy. The husband agrees with
the cook in believing the soup ought to
be good, but they ~misapprehend each
other about the means of making it so,
To him the merit of the soup is twofold,
1t ought to be excellent and cheap. To
her the bootleg is the disadvantage,
and she gallantly brings the larder to
the rescue. He looks to the wife to
have the soup answer his just demands.
The cook looks to her for her resources.
The two are alike in another respect
they believe in the feast and have no
regard for the consequent famine.
Nothing so irritates q cook as to have
to keep things on hand. What is left
from breakfast she wants to use for
lunch, and if anything remains from
dinner that can not be used for break
fast, she wants to put it in the slop pail
or give it away at the back gate. She
hates to have preserves and pickles and
canned goods put away as if they were
never to be used. She would have plum
preserves three times a day if she had
her way, and her rule is to empty the
jar without regard to the fact that it
holds two quarts, and there are but two
to eat them.
The husband has the same idea.
"Why don't you have the Strawberries
and the watermelon pickle!" he says ;
and then he adds that he doesn't see the
use in putting up things to spoil. They
also agree in then expecting her to be
something in the house.
Tl1 h,,ol,onl :aEo~ o~or~- - ,-oa1l
economies in another direction. He OBJ
jects to the door-plate on which Thomp-
son is spelled with a "p," and a not
understand a woman's passion for a
bargain when she does not need it. 1t
is of no use for her to tell him that it
would be best to buy the children's coats
in February for next November, be-
cause they are cheaper at the end of the
season than they will be at the begin
ming. He thinks their coats are good
enough. and as for their o%utgrowing
them by another season, it is best to
wait and see. If the wife has a pair OF
gloves, why on earth should she buy
another pair simply because they are on
a bargain-counterp He grimly smiles
when he sees a procession OF women
filing out of a store that has famed out
an advertisement of s'great reductions
In his soul he knows that each one Of
the paper bundles they carry contains
something bought because it was cheap
and not because it was needed. In one
way he is right, but what woman, when
she goes out to buy something she
needs, finds it a bargain ready to hel
hand! A bargain is a thing that hap
pens. 1t has its own laws, and one o.
them is that it comes at the moment
when there is no pressing need for it
and when there is no money idle for in
vestment. 1t may be wanted mex
month, and the prophetic soul of the
wife comprehends the fact. When the
day of need does come, and she pay:
full market price, she is grieved because
she remembers.-IHe Continent.
1t is said that the art of making
Damascus steel has been lost to thu
world, bat no one need grieve over it
We have State Treasurers in this coun
try who would steal Damascus herself i
they could get a tow line fast anywhere
IN. Y. NeWs.