Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-04-12
A SPHERE FOR THE LADIES BENEv.
OLENr UNION.

mind 10 suggest an enterprise that Is In
even better keeping with the purpose
of their organization and that would be
of inestimable benefit to the whole pop
ulation, the rich as well as the poor, the
high and the low, male and female.
We premise the suggestion with a
statement that the ladies will concede
without argument, viz: That there is
nothing which affiicts the poor of this
and all communities more than the
want of skill and knowledge in cook
ing and the ordinary work of preparing
food-there is nothing that makes such
a drain upon their purse and upon their
health and happiness as lack of econo-
my and skill in the kitchen. There is
nothing that makes the homes of "the'
comfortable" so uncomfortable as the
ignorance and unskillfulness of those
upon whom they must depend in the
culinary department. There is no such
gigantic cause of annoyance and dis
satisfaction in the homes of this city
than the one to which we refer.
Why is not this problem within the
sphere of the Ladies' Benevolent
Union?
The most benevolent of mortals is he
who makes two blades of grass grow
where only one grew before; and equal
~ blessed and benevolent should be she
who makes one pound of beef furnish
as much nourislment as before could
be gotten out of two pounds, with the
added happiness of being toothsome
and digestible.
The wastefulness as we'll as the misery
that results from the American method
of cookery has become proven bal. 1t is
q matter that amounts to fortunes
yearly-fortunes that are simply thrown
away, that might just as well double
the comforts and add to the luxuries
Of innumerable homes. 1t is impov-
erishing the people, making the poor
poorer, and compelling tn Ose who have
generous incomes to a continual strug-
gle to make the ends meet.
Therefore We say, that whatsoever or
whOsOever enters the domain of the
the kitchen with practictical solution
eff its problems, with pertinent instruc-
ton of how every pound of meat can be
made to yield up all its nourishment, of
how the ingredients of every dish can
be so combined as to make their neces-
sary amount the least possiEe, of how
all that goes to the table cali be made
most palatable, and at the same time,
most beneficial; whatever or whoever
does this is public benefactor.
And now having indicated that such
a work would be in entire harmony
with the aims and ends of the Ladies'
Benevolent Union, our practical sug-
gestion is this: that they incorporate
within their present organization
training school for cooks, where that
large class of worthy women aud girls
who seek this employment may be fit
ted for their work, and at the same time
lie put in the way OF employment, and
through system of education in this
regard make all homes more comforta-
bic and healthy, and very greatly bene.
fit and brighten the homes of the poor
who may have the opportunity to learn
to live better and live on less by in
creased skill in the methods of living.
We have at hand plan for coop
erative cooking school that strikes Us
as commendable, which has recently
been iLaugurated in the city Of Boston.
The object is to provide a training
school for cooks and give the promoters
an opportunity to secure the services of
the cooks so trained. The payment of
s. year will secure membership. and
1,OOOsubscribers are required to maintain
the fund. The subscribers agree to give
a preference to cooks holding a certifi-
cate of graduation in one of the three
courses provided, and the latter, on
their part, promise to take employment
in the families of subscribers who make
application at the school. 1t thus
serves as training school, an employ
ment office and registration bureau.
Some such plan might be Inaugural
ted and supervised by the Ladies' Union,
and be made not only self-sustaining
but means of profit by furnishing for
a fee, q reliable cook to those seeking
such help, and thus work revolution
in the present hap-hazard system of OBJ
tanning that very important but very
rare individual so often misnamed, a
cook.
There is scarcely city in the country
that does not now have one of these
schools. They are no experiment and
can be made self-sustaining and are
without question exceedingly ben
efieial and profitable. Surely there is
no institution in such demand. The
work of the cooking school in its prac-
teal bearing upon the health, happi-
ness and prosperity of the community
in which they are carried on, is of as
much Importance as the doings of Con-
Sress. If the ladies of Wheeling will
offer the relief which this opportunity
opens, the whole community will rise
up and call them blessed.
The National Parties of the Future.