Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-12-31

large measure, duo to the very tact Of her
having failed b keep step with the tendency
of modern civilization She has learned no
lessons Of organisation rs to her labor or
methods Of s9soding the money which tbs
man earns for the support of the family.
Hero is an illustrative case: A. family Of
three grown women and four children In
Brooklyn earned SIC week Their food
cost them S6 a week, or s. cents a day, and
consisted of three daily meals, Of which two
were composed entirely of tea, without milk
or sugar, and bread without butter. Tho
third was of potatoes meat and pie. AT ono
of the cheap restaurants, the owner under
took to feed five longshoremen for el.62 a
day, and gave them for breakfast two cups
of coffee with milk and sugar. apiece, bread
and batter, potatoes and two eggs each.
Dinner consisted of roast beei, ssup with
vegetables and barley, potatoes, bread and
pudding. Supper was of steak, potatoes.
onions, bread and butter and tea. This was
using the most expensive kinds Of meat,
roast and steak being far more costly than
meats for boiling and stewing, providing for
the appetites of laboring men, and taking
into calculation the restaurateurs profit on
his business, the cost of rent, coal, service
and general plant; yet it is not-all this
double what it costs to feed in the meanest
way three women and four children. The
difference Is, to great extent, in the advan-
tage to he had by tbs purchase Of food in
quantity; for the tenement house poor, hav-
ing no place to store their purchases, buy in
indnitesimal quantities What this differ
szce is in the mere matter Of purchase of the
food the following figures, collected from the
retail shops Ia the tenement districts, will
show when compared with wholesale price
lists:
Tea- which Is quoted ct fair and medium
qualities, the same grade that the retail deal
ers sell at fifteen and eighteen cents pound
In quantities-sels to the tenement house
purchasers at three cents an ounce, the guam
tity in which they usually buy it, making it
forty-etght cents pound. Butter for which
they pay two and half cents an ounce can
be bought by the quantity at prices varying
from ten to eighteen cents q pound. Sugar
for which they pay ten and eleven cents is to
be had at wholesale for seven and eight. Soap
retailing at five cents bar can be had by the
box at about three Starch by the box is
four cents pound, and at retail eight cents.
on is thirteen cents the gallon at retail, and
Is sixty Giants gallon Wholesale, and eighty
to ninety retail Flour by the barrel is from
three to three and a half cents q pound, and
At retail is FIVE Lard is, In bulk, nine cents;
at retail, thirteen. Rice is nine cents when
bought by the pound, six when purchased by
the barrel Coffee is thirty cents a pound
when bought by the ounce, and from seven
teen to t.~enty-ons for the same grade in
sacks Turnips are 81 . barrel and Is cents
a bushA
The question Of price Is, however, bat one
half of the sxtravagance Of individual house
keeping A knowledge Of the best food 10
buy, and the NEST nutritious and economical
method Of preparing it, is far moro impor-
tant than che money originally spent. For
example, it is most uncommon to find among
the poorer classes in this city any conception
Of the valves Of soups as cheap and pal
atable fooa-any idea of the superior saving
in boiled meat over roast or fried meat. Dat
and corn meal will almost entirely take the
place Of meat are cheap and easy to cook,
agreeable, wholesome and the most sustaining
OF all cereal food The Scotch and the ne
groes do the hardest Of manual labor upon
very little else than these two varieties of
meal, and are for the most part stalwart and
healthy people. Rice is another one of the
cereals upon which hard working life can be
sustained at the lowest cost, and is also scarce
ly known among the poor Of this city, al
though the Chinese, whom the bitter compe-
tition Of over population has taught the last
possible food economies, have known its value
for centuries
As has been shown, washing can be done
comparatively to the best advantage; and
while cooking and marketing would be more
difficult to arrange satisfactorily, and expert
ments would have to be made, with the nat
ural mistakes incident to all new undertakings,
there is no inherent reason why it might not
be made working success. Some one expert
enced in feeding numbers at the lowest posi-
bic cost might make the estimates, and the
sum required be contributed at the end Of
each week by a sufficient number of families
to make the purchase of supplies at wholesale
possible, adding a certain amount for the
labor of those preparing the food. A model
tenement might contain a kitchen with all
the latest conveniences of domestic science, as
do the aforementioned laundries; and this
could be saved out of the space necessary for
kitchens In apartments, making them smaller,
and consequently cheaper, but at the same
time equally spscieus TO the occupants.
Seine enc or two persons, selected for their
knowledge and ability, would devote their
entire time to the work; and, their wages be-
ing paid by a hundred people, they might get
excellent remuneration for their skilled labor,
and yet the hundred people pay only half
dollar q month each for a competent and
trained cock. In the same way their food
would be reduced in cost by the purchase of
supplies IN bulk and, the attention Of q capa-
bic person being entirely concentrated upon
marketing to the best advantage, preparing
the best and largest amount Of food in the
BEST way for the lowest price, the co-opera-
tive families would get double the value of
their money as now expended, and not suffer
the Humbsrless ills resulting from improperly
nurtured pod;es.-Eli2abesh Bisland in Cos
mopolitSn-
Pins and Needles
ManteI ornaments in fine earthenwar are
again very popular.
Catherine de Med;ci carried the first fold
ing fan ever seen III France. In England
they were the fashion in the time of Henry
VIII
la mixing mustard for table use, never add
vinegar, which destroys its life and favor.
Boil water for moisoening it, and Use the
water l,kewarm