Woman's chronicle. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1888-1???, 1888-04-28
Written for WoMAN,s CHRONICLE.
HOUSEKEEPING.


What wondrous meaning does this word con-
vey! Surely there is no charge on earth so sacred
as this one left to woman. 1t was the timestained
cover of an old magazine, Arthur's Home Maya
zine think it was, that arrested my eye. fam
lily gathered about center table with spread
over it, in the center of which was lamp with an
opaque globe and centrifugal rays father with
the evening paper. grandmother with soft gray
hair, some knitting work, and bible. mother
with mending- basket. Some youths with books.
Somr children and a kitten with ball OF yarn.
SuGata scene, in short, as causes you to pause IN
vou1, arily in your evening walk and peep mo-
ment between the half-drawn draperies of front
window,-mayhap you sigh and pass on.
In these prosperous days when responsibility
too often requires solid moneyed foundation and
homes are reared that are but monuments to
wealth, the word "house" has come to be substi-
tuted for that most sacred of words, "home."
ssHome," that means so much-repose and hap
piness and sunshine and love, about which clus-
ter dear memories and associations that grow more
sacred as years pass on. "House," that means
what? rooms--stupid rooms.
What wonder that mans thoughts turn at times
:. from the modern trumphs in art furniture and
brie-a-brac which he has accumulated, back to the
primitive home of his youth, with its sanded floor,
its fireplace, and-his mothers smile. That his
heart acknowledges it's starvation is obvious from
the fact that he transplants the clock and the
spinning wheel in the vain hope that some of the
atmosphere in that best beloved home will cling to
them still. Vain hope! t%A
Perhaps he enmnares his wife's petulance with
AAl.l. has ss, a ~ UQJaa to-
upon her that his mother knew naught Of Soci-
ETY. urges her to have a house as good as her
neighbor, and lfinclple obliges her to be as per-
slstent in her efforts to keep it as it should be.
10 say OF a woman that she is good "house-
keeper" these day means great deal 1t means
tireless pursuit after specks of dust and invasive
cobwebs-and careless servants 1t means an eve
trained to detect the fqast remissness and imper-
lection. The larder must be filled always plate
glass must shine, linen must dazzle, and the do
nestle wheels must move in unison
Ii it means this to be 'house-keeper," what
means it to be a "home-keeper'? 1t means all
this and a hundred things more. After watch
ing every department of the domestic realm, it
means to rise above it all, to conquer ones self
to forget the worries and to smile forgetful of self
1t means to seek satisfaction in the comfort and
happiness of everyone else, to leave the latch
string out for unexpected guests who are liable to
be ushered in on unreasonable occasions, to main
tain an mperturbable exterior in the sight of
rumaged newspapers strewn hither and yon, and
oblivious to tides askew. To study the tempera-
ment of each member of the family, to smooth out
rough places for them, to pluck the thorns from
the wayside, and to make home a haven of refuge
for the tired man to seek. TO guard him from
the trials of your day. even as he shields YOU from
his. 1t means the exercise of that greatest of all
virtues, patience. Patience to wipe baby finger
prints from door knobs and windows; patience to
see mud and crumbs, and say nothing; patience
to see the sunshine fade your best carpet.
How is a man to have sunshine in his heart if
there is no sunshine in the house? How can he
breathe at MONDAY with the blinds closed? Would
you have him to gasp for breath in the darkness?
To man, light means air; TO woman, light
LIl