The Dickinson press., 1888-08-04
IN DUTCH HOUSES.
THE WAR WHICH A PEASANT Wo.
MAN MAKES AGAINST DUST.

MAN MAKES AGAINST DUST.
Interesting Study of Dutch Interior"
How Laundry Work Is Done in HoI-
land - -Scrvants-A Strange Custom.
Food and Cooking.
Had Lady Macbeth lived in Holland, that
"damncd spot would have been out in five
minutes. Nothing, not even it, could stand
against Dutch cleaning woman. She is
irresistible. Look how she is armed. Glance
Mt her weapons. Cloths and chamos, brooms
and brushes, scrubbing brushes for the floors,
hair brushes for the wainscots, feather
brushes for the walls, tooth brushes for the
corner, geese wings for the stoves, hens
feathers for cleaning out the key holes, small
sticks of wood for poking out any unhappy
particle of dnst which may have got into the
cracks of the floor, white paste for the win
dowS, red paste fer the hearth stones emery
for the steel, and several other pastes and
l'"ishcs us the occasion may require These
are the implements Dutch peasant woman
uses to clean out hcr cottage home. Dust is
her natural enemy, she is born into the world
I" fight it, it is her mission, and she does no
more than her mother and foremothers have
done before her. No wonder that such a
home training turns out an exceedingly high
class of domestic servant; and yet, tho Dutch
mistress grumbles Such is life.
DUTCH INTERIOR.
"Dutch INTERIOR from honsekeeper's
as we'll as an artistic point of view, is most
interesting study. 1t is one thing to know q
country we'll by travelling through it, stop
ping at the best hotels, visiting all points Of
interest, taking careful notes by pen and
brush Of all worth recording, but it is quito
another experience and fully as interesting
to live among its people as one of themselves
to sec how they live and think, manage and
eat; when they are conscious no locker on is
by, and that they need not adapt themselves
to amy strangers custom or fancy This
lattcr has been my good luck to experience,
and can truthfully say that there arc no
cleaner, more hosptable, kind hearted, do
nestle people i'll the world than the Dutch.
l mention ''clcaner" first because with them
it comes first. What would become of u
Dutch woman in n world where there is no
dust is n subject for conjecture, and though
look upon my visit to Holland as part Of
the lHppiest time in my life, still my sincere
prayer is that my Dutch friends may never
visit mo. could never live UP to their idea
of cleanliness; the mental strain would be too
great.
Washing is not done weekly as in America,
hut allowed to accumulate for weeks some-
times even longer, M unhealthy custom; but
i'll this as i'll many other respects the Dutch
can hardly bc called II clean nation, from q
hygenic point of view. With them it is dust.
dust, and again dust.
Often the underservants such rs scullery
maid. nurse maid, etc, do not sleep in tho
house This gives more space and room for
the family. These girls come in by the day,
sleeping Mt their own homes ut night All
servants in Holland dress extremely neatly,
generally i'll lilac print dresses, white muslin
caps, and large white aprons.
The same dress is worn in the street as in
the house. If the weather is cold shawl is
thrown over the shoulders. They do good
deal of the household shopping. 1t must be
imlccd delightful for tho Dutch mistress to
have 'ctscy Jane all ready dressed to run her
little rrlanls, instead of having to wait an
hour or more while Bctscy Jane curls her
bang and bedccks herself with cheap finerv,
Tins good arrangement for maid as well as
mistress, for with the former it breaks tho
lnonptony of the daily round, gives her lit
Tie blow of fresh air, besides the opportunity
Of II Slight Irritation with the butchers boy
or tho green groccrs assistant
HOUSEHOLD CUSTOM.
a strange household custom in Holland
is the custody of tho ''g,lest money by the
MISTRESS Each guest is, as in England, ex-
Icctcd t" fco the house servants. In Hol.
land, this money is ut once handed by the
recipient to the lady of the house, who at
certain seasons of the year such us Christ
mas and Easter, divides it equally among
all her staff. Not bad plan when ono
thinks it over, but rather startling at first to
the guest.
And now for Dutch food. All food is
go"'l in Holland, all cooking excellent, beef
and mutton even better than in England
vegetables in abundance. Butter is very
good and plentiful and is used without stint,
but everything is spoiled by being served
cold. Rich dishes which would be most an
petlzing were they eaten piping hot become
rrioulsive, indigcstihle masses of grease
when served from u cold dish on a stone cold
plate. During tho whole of my stay in Hol-
land never once saw q dish covered or n
plate heated.
Cakes are II speciality with the Dutch,
Each town has one or more Of its OWL, and
it was interesting to trace the ancestry of
many of our American ones. Waffles met
me at u kermes ut The Hague. The koekje,
which is to he found all over Holland and is.
in fact, the Dutch word for ''Iittle cake" is
actually and etymolosically the ancestor Of
the New England cookie. Doughnuts | met
everywhere, though cannot imagine from
where they got their ugly name of "dough-
nut In Holland they are called spritsen.
and in French Canada, where they are a
sort of national cake, they are known by the
name of croquignoles, and sometimes beig-
net, which latter name is simply the French
for fritter. imagine that i'll one way and
another we owe good deal of our cooking
to EIolanl.-J. Z. Brooks in Good House
keeping.