The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1885-10-05
WOMAN AND HOME.
FAMILY LIFE OF ENGLISH MIDDLE
AND UPPER CLASSES.

Law reign in tue typical English house,
| hold. And there law is enforced with
military uniformity The family is an in
stitution in fact we'll as in name. Parents,
children, servant, guests, are all under
law. And the family is Iaw-abiding com
munity. The coming in and the going out,
the uprising and the down-sitting are regu-
lated hy law. In the houses Of the wealthy
and noble not infrequently the statutes are
printed and po ted in conspicuous places SO
that the casual guest may govern himself
acc. rlingiy. Perhaps in all the bedroom
as we'll a. in the great hall there will be
framed cards hung up on which are printed
the hour for prayers and the daily meals.
| EVERYBODY ON TIME.
| This reign of law legets n strict and valu-
able economy in every direction First of
| all i" savei time. Dinner is ready to ths'
minute: the fa,nily--ali the family-ars a
punetual AS the cook. The carriage is at the
| door ON time, or otherwise the coachmnn Is
| discharged for unpromptneSs and he fort its
| a certificate of good character. Tho chill
| dren go to school on time, and what is of
| Infinitely more Importance, they go to bel
| on time. There are no sleepy, lolling chill
| dren, yawning. sleeping, snoring
| chiIren irritating the nerves of guest when
| they should ha in their beds.
SERVANTS AND CHILDREN.
| SNtlNHHlS hiSe LllfltS anu NhNoh'.
| their days out and their holidays and no
| household crisis is great enough to cause the
housewife TO venture upon diplomatic meaS-
| ures to abridge tlleSA privileges The serv
| ants Rise nn time and retire at an appointed
| hour, and these regulations are as invioahla
| as the order of nature. 1t is the law of the
| family that the children shall he dutiful and
| eifectionate. No child answers back. I
was never in but one English family where
| noticed undutiful sulking children.
| Obedience Is rendered with alacrity and de-
| light. English children are wholly possessed
| Of the belief that to obey means power; that
only weak and witless people disobey when
duty commands. And English children
| have lavel heads upon this vital subject
HOUSEHOLD "EyPENsE BOOK"
| The mother is the head of the house, and
the father is the head of the mother. He il
the source of all law and the mother is the
source of all order The mother executes
the Lehests of The husband. He determines
tie ex enditures Of the household She
makes them. Diaries for the engagement
of the family are kept. Household expendi-
tlil'e books are as necessary t. IA well ordered
in niily AS a fan is to a well-dressel LAZY. BY
his it is not meant it is ornamental-by no
means. 1t is part of the fitting Of tho
house, as the fan IL essential to complete
toilet 1t is like a mariners log book These
expense books are in every family, and are
examined with business care aud exactness
by the husband This is not done for fun.
There is no mean advantage taken by the
wife on the score of good fellowship No
more would wife excuse inaccuracies and
carelessn tss in her accounts than in those of
the grocer or baker All the family bills of
every description--al the wages of servants
even those to coacbm I'm and gardeners, arc
paid by the wife TIE household has but
one expense book.
CHILDREN'S ALLOWANCES"
The elder children have their own allow
ance5. And these are never eXtravagant.
Extravaganza among the we'll bred En- 5lish
is deemed vulgar young lady in a mid
dle-ciass family, say where their family eX-
penditures would be from S. 600 to SlO, 600
year would probably have an allowance
of from $50 to $3.50 per year for all her per
sonal expenses This allowance would in
clude clothing, travelling charities and in
short all personal expenses whatever Ust-
ally children yet at school have annual al
lowances to meet their extra expenses, and
all children are allowed given sum weekly
for spending money.
These allowances are supple nlentei by
considerable gifts from the parents The
birthday and Christmas presents are often
in the form of money OF clothing, and party
dresses of an expensive sort are usually
little pleasant surprise, just before the night
of the company or ball The reign of law
has much higher usefulness than to serve
as an econumizer Of time This tier Is Ger
tainly an important 81, ment and one to lie
wisely conserved and used, But only fancy
what peace and bliss, what absence OF care
AMI friction, are in the gift of this reign OF
law. What savings of hot tempers and ex-
plosions OF irritablity under n regime where
there is no provision for such unseemly and
niscbievous expenditures of strength. Eng
lish Children grow up with their nerves in
tact. They do not know they have an,
nerves, but all the same, anu by reason
thereof, they have nerve.
THE FAMILY AT HOME.
The English in THAR homes are eharm-