Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-09-28
WORK AND WORRY.
BY CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK

CoDyri0hted, 1886
A mistaken idea that should have been
abolished ere this Is that any one can
keep house. AS we'll say that any one
can run a business, practice a trade or
direct vessel. All these employments
have to be diligently studied before they
can be mastered. The same routine
should be pursued in fitting girls for
homes Of their own. Many mothers are
beginning to see this, having learned bit.
ter lessons from their own ineXperience.
The daughters, too. with that practical
good sense which characterizes a large
proportion OF the much maligned Amer
lean girls, are taking matters into their
own hands, attending cooking classes
and making practical tests of their
efficiency at home. Few womanly
women regard married lie as the long,
blisslul holiday lovers and poets are fond
of promising. The matter-of-fact view
of the subjec. presents itself at the. outset,
and the girl who has not served an appren-
tioeship to domestic hindrances aud
vexations might well look forward with
dread to the new path that opens before
her.
Nor lie the way strewn with blossoms
alone for those who have had the acvan-
tages Of home tuition. Keeping house for
mother to whom to turn for advice,
whose trained servants goodnaturedly
strive to make things easy for what they
consider the young lady's within. Is very
different affair from the same business
pursued with undivided responsibility and
with unaccustomed assistance. New
Developments are constantly arising and
the little tasks that seemed almost to
perform themselves at home suddenly
reveal themselves as stubborn difficulties
to he overcome by personal effort.
The hOusekeeper. whether experienced
or the reverse. makes a great blunder
when she does not take into account the
force of friction. One Of the first things
for her to learn is the power of oilng the
domestic machinery, to save both it and
herself unnecessary wear and tear. Still,
while many a woman may so direct her
household affairs that they run smoothly,
IL may be at the price OF such strain
upon herself that the success will cost
her dear. One OF the crying sins, If it de-
serves to be called by so harsh name, Of
the ambitious. bustling housewife is wor-
ry. She lies awake at night thinking OF
what has gone wrong during the day and
planning how she shall remedy 10 on the
morrow. dwells upon the thought that the
pickles may be fermenting, or the pre-
serves sUoiling, bemoans herself over
the rapid lowering of the contents OF the
-four barrel, aud groans mentally at the
thought of the housekeeping bills. She
wakes unre.reshed ana more prone than
ever to fall a victim TO the dozen worries
that are awaiting her descent TO the culin-
airy department, in the shape of late
breakfast, n sourfaced cook, an untidy
cellar or an unswept dining room. Wor-
ries crowd about her steps all day and
she develops rapidly into one of those
women OF whom people say pltylngly /:
"Sbe takes life hard, poor thingl"
No woman who has known house.
Keepers cares and perpleXities can make
light OF these, nor can she condemn I'M
Teservedly the tendency to worry. II is
often misfortune of temperament or
nerves and not a fault of temper. Never
theless, the fact that il grows rapidly by
exercise renders 10 incumbent upon every
woman TO do all she can to minimize the
frettul disposition that makes such
anxieties a burden not to the bearers
alone but To all about them. Care-taklng
must be done by some one, and untOItun-
ately it is not seldom that the load de-
wolves upon one pair OF shoulders. while
other people with thoughtlessness that
Is not only cruelty because II Is thought
less toss their own cares and RESPONSE
biiities upon the already overloaded
worker.
There are critics who do not hesitate to
condemn those who cater TO the needs OF
the physical nature as far below those
whose minds are set upon spiritual things.
Doubtless. II we had all arrived at such n