San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-10-02
WOMAN AND HOME.
WHAT SHOULD BE MANS SHARE
IN GOOD HOUSEKEEPING.

ity-Domestio Unhappiness
II we may for the time extand the meaning
Of the word housekeeping 50 that It shall In
clude the entire care of the home, it Is clear
that the mans share in 1t ought to be tbs
heavier. Perhaps most men would be In
ciined to say that as a matter Of fact It is
heavier. AS a rule tho man has to earn the
money to buy and furnish the home, and to
procure the food, clothing and fuel for the
family; the woman's part Is to keep the house,
prepare the food, make and repair the cloth
ing, and burn the fuel. The husband Is the
provider; the wife, the dispenser, the stew
ard. We shall leave quito out Of account in
this discussion tho exceptional cases in which
inherited or suddenly acquired riches render
personal labor for either man or woman I'M
happily unnecessary. For mankind at large
the apostles rule still holds good: IF a
man will not work neither shall he cat
We do not believe that the labor of merely
earning the money necessary to maintain the
home is commensurate with the labor neoes-
sary to the proper expenditure of the money,
and the proper care Of the things purchased.
Even if the husband, therefore, were to turn
over to the wife all his earnings ON condition
that she attend to the entire management OF
the home, he would have the better Of the
| bargain.
He y7Ouli have the advantage, first in the
number of hours Of E.Jor. Suppose he is a
day laborer, his hours are eight or ten.
Laving home after breakfast, which be
owes TO a previous hours labor ON the part Of
his wife. he goes to his work, leaving his wife
at hers and when he returns for dinner or
supper he finds her still busy; and after sup
| Ia, orc 70,
pass the news with neighbor, his wife must
| spcAd a2HAer hour in putting away the
dishes, attending to the chiLire0's clothing,
ard making s!II;ry preparations for the
Morning.
The man has the further advantage of
suDcrintended work TIE hardest part of
most labor is the worry Of planning it.
Ninety-nine men out of a hundred have set
tasks to perform, carefully pl.nnad and ap-
por;.oned, and their responsibility ceases
with the proper execution Of their allotted
share. The woman, on the other hand, must
plan as well Us execute. The manifold duties
Of the household must be 50 timed as to con-
fict with one another as little as possible.
Very much of the WEAKNESS Of household
work might be avoided if there were wise
supervision and i.lelig GENT method
But, again, the work of man is far less lia-
bic to interruption. The clerk may sit on
his revolving stool for hours and never have
his attention diverted from his commercial
arithmetic; the farmer may drive his polished
pillow through countless burrows with no more
annoying Interruptions than an occasional
stubborn bowlder or nest of buzzing bees;
the clergyman sits in his study with bolted
door, far removed from the requirements of
chlldren, the chatter of visitors or the wants
of servants. But the wives of these men can
rarely pursue their labors for single hour
without many interruptions. In the first |
place many different things have to be man
aged at the SAM Tine, while the dinner is |
cooking the table is being set, the baby is |
watched, and the front room" is busted |
Then if there are servants, they are in con-
slant need of supervision; if the door bell |
rings, the business or pleasure of the caller |
must be ascertained, the children must be |
started punctually to school and luncheon
provided for them, and so on.
Men, too, have better tools for their work |
than women. 1t is only in recent years that
the attention Of inventors has been turned
toward this subject, and STILL with the not
able exceptions Of the sewing machine and
wringer, what important addition has been
pare plane and chisel with kitchen knife
the hydraulic press with jelly bag! If men
had to stir the hasty pudding of America for
one month, there would be thousand appli-
cations for patents ON stirring machines
within the thirty days.
Finally, men receive direct compensation
for their work, while women for their house
work, of course never do; and while on the
one hand they do not want it, on the other
hand there is a wonderful incentive to patient
toll in the anticipation of definite recogni-
ton of ones labor in the form Of money. 1t
seems pleasanter to work and earn $40 than
to do $40 worth of work at home.
If in addition to these things we consider
the engrossing wearing duties Of women as
wives and mothers, is it not evident that
their position in the home is ono Of unequal
service' Disproportionatc not merely to their
physical strength, but actually greater in
amount and life waste than that OF men,
If this is true, and if our first proposition
Ia admitted, namely: that the mans share
ought TO be the heavier, we are ready for the
question, what ought to be mans part in
good housekeeping What ought the man to
do besides merely earning the money to sup
port himself and fanilya
In the light of the preceding discussion it
seems clear he should first of all help his wife
III planning her work. Let every husband
give his wife the benefit of his practical bust
ness experience, and advise with her how she
uaT Lest arrange and time her several duties
that tICy may Least conflict.
In the second place, the husband should
give the wife tho full amount Of money nee
essary properly tn care for the home.
Third-H, should see that she has the bes: