The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-02-07
Cutting the Corners.

more readily Dy some women imam DV
others. There are households in which
the necessary routine work seems to
count for comparatively little, while in
others it occupies the whole of every
day in the week, and excludes all other
kinds of work. The woman with
Faculty" who has all her work done
up in the morning, and is ready every
afternoon to sit in ease at leisure, can
not understand how her neighbor con-
trives to be Gin the suds" all day long,
and never has time to dress herself
nicely and indulge in domestic and
social recreation; and the neighbor as
little understands how it is possible to
''trrn off" her all-day's work in the
morning and have the afternoon to read
or sew or visit. But there are methods
which may be employed by those who
have no faculty for turning off work
that will simplify and abbreviate very
greatly the daily routine. To many
the statement of these methods may
seem tedious and alphabetical, but re-
peated and earnest solicitation concern
ing them assures us that their discussion
will interest many of our readers.
And first, as to washing dishes, which
consumes SO many half-hours three
times day. Some housekeepers first
clear the table elaborately, carry the
dishes to the kitchen and pile them up
in order, then begin solemnly to wash
and wipe and put them away. This
gets the work well done, but it takes
oceans of time" A shorter way
is to roll up beside the dining-tabIe a
smaller table with dish-pan. soap,
plenty of soft, hot water and clean
towels in variety, and, gathering the
glasses, wash and wipe them, set them
on a tray, and when it is full put them
away in their place in the closet; then
gather the silver and cleanse it, then
the cups and saucers, the plates and
other dishes, renewing the hot water
whenever it becomes necessary. Thus
one handling puts the dishes in the
dish-pan, another handling puts them
in the closet. The tray used for put
ting things away saves a great many
steps, and the time of going three or
four times back and forth from table to
closet, when once going will answer
the purpose. A brush and tray used
for the table-cloth will prevent its be-
ing tumbed in shaking the crumbs off,
and lengthen its term of usefulness be-
tween the times of changing it, thus
saving washing and ironing. The
thoughtful housekeeper always puts
water in her kitchen utensils after they
have been used, covers them and sets
them on the stove, so steaming will
clean them, and scraping be as far as
possible unnecessary. The use of sill
yer knives or plated silver knives on
the table does away with the need of
securing knives at every meal, and is
great saving of time and strength.
The same table that is used for wash
ing dishes in the dining-room, when
rolled close to the stove in the kitchen,
may serve to hold whatever is needed
when one is frying cakes or cooking
meats, or otherwise working over the
stove. 1t may be used as an ironing
table, and SO adjusted that the ironer
may take her irons from the stove with
out moving out of her place. What
ever saves steps, whatever saves time
in routine work counts largely in the
sum total, and those who have one of
these work-tables, which have been
twice before described in these col
umns, know what efficient auxiliaries
they are in getting work done quickly
and easily.
As to sweeping. different sweepers
have different methods. Some remove
everything movable from the room,
then sweep it, then dust the articles re-
moved and return them to their places.
This is IA very thorough method, but a
shorter one is to cover everything that
needs to be covered, and, having moved
out furniture, sweep where it stood and
Immediately replace it. Following this
method, when one has finished sweep
ing the room is in perfect order and
needs only busting, and all carrying
back and forth from one room to an
other has been avoided.
A great deal of time is saved by hay
ing articles used in one industry to-
gether. As, for example, if everything
needed for laundry uses-starch, blu
ing, clothes line and pins, irons and
holders and stands-is kept on a GER
tain shelfin closet, there will be no I'M
necessary steps taken in getting needed
articles together. If near the sewing
machine there is chest, or, better, a
case of drawers containing all mate
rails and work needed when using the
machine a great deal of hunting up
what is in requisition will be saved. If
in the pantry or store-closet everything
used when baking is concentrated, no
time OF strength will be wasted in
getting things together.
If the housekeeper, instead of set
thing into one fixed way of doing
routine work, will study shorter and
easier methods, if she can find them,
and keep her mind open to suggestion
in this regard, she will after time
arrive at what is for her the very
quickest and easiest way of getting her
work well done. Children NAV be
trained to save great many steps and
do all the small chores about a house.
These, divided up among two or three,
should be more a pastime than a labor.
"Many hands make light work." When
one is engaged in washing dishes, for
example, she may be planning her bak-
ing, her ironing, her washing, what to
do first, what next, what last, and SO
come to these tasks with a preparation