Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-04-13
HOUSEKEEPING NOT A FAILURE.

Not leave the Arct regions
HOUSEKEEPING NOT A FAILURE.
The international discussion of that in
herently absurd conundrum, as marriag,
failure ?' proves as provocative of imita
tion as the work of the genius who frs
favored the public with list of books tha
"had helped" him. OF the many discus
sions which have thus been generated
none is more interesting or practical tha,
that contained in "composium" in lat,
North -Anaeriean Reriew, the theme of debat,
being, rs Housekeeping a Failure ?" L
is, perhaps, unfortunate for the debate tha
the disputants are all members of the
hierarchy that rules the household. There
is not man among them And there i.
not woman, of course, from Rose Terry
Cooke to Marion Harland and Maria
Parloa, who would admit that the sacrl.
fees that have been laid from time imme
mortal upon the altar of the household
were unworthily offered. They are all the
advocates and apologists of the home and
we must wait for some woman with the
pugnacity of Miss Anthony and the daring
of DIR. Mary Walker to uphold, from the
feminine side, the proposition that keep
ing house Is a practical failure, from the
woman's point of view.
1t is, indeed, not little suggestive that
those upon whom the burden and worry
of the housekeeping system fall most
heavily should spring to its defense
with such eager enthusiasm. For these
women are not satisfied with mere denial :
they take arms valiently in defense of the
institution over which they especially pre-
side. They volunteer readily as cham
pions OF the home, to maintain which they
spend many an anxious day and many a
fearful night. Nor will it be bright day
for humanity when the instinct of self-sacri-
flee, which is the divinest element in
women, shall be so far lost that she shall
refuse to do and suffer all in the interest
OF that one saving institution, which holds
fast or reclaims from evil more than all
the churches-the home.
No one will wonder, however, that the
question whether housekeeping is not a
failure has been asked, and asked in per-
feet good faith. For there are not few
persons, unrepresented in the North Am
ericans list Of writers, who would give an
answer In the affirmative. Looking at the
well-filled hotels and great apartment
buildings and boarding houses beseiged
with applicants, the conclusion is inevit-
able that housekeeping has proved fail
ure for these people. And so, for many, it
does. But the cases are rather accidental
than otherwise, and the remedy for most
of them lies upon the surface. There is
the invalid, for example, whose health is
unequal to the assumption of household
cares. But, as matter of fact, the
cares of boarding, for such, are greater than
those of managing household, and more
lnvalids have recovered in the kindly at
mosphere of the home, with the aid of its
friendly distractions, than ever profted by
the relaxing and depressing influences of
boarding-house idleness. There are two
genuine reasons, and only two, but for
which the boarding houses and hotels
would find themselves limited to travellers
for custom. The first of these is the
question of
DOMESTIC SERVICE.
Probably three-fourths of those who
have given up keeping house and
gone into hired quarters have done
SO because 1t was to secure AMI
retain fairly satisfactory help. Toward
the solution OF that problem we seem to
be making no especial advancement.
While it lasts, there will be large per-
centage OF households broken up annu-
ally in dis?air and stamped with failure.
The second real enemy of the home is the
cost of living. Pat it as you may. al
though there are home economics that
balance much OF the supposed savings of
boarding, the accounts are not the same
There Is one element where saving is i'm
possible-the charge for rent. In the
city, wnere the head of the family must
be within reach of his business Office. this
is fixed charge that frequently turns the
balance to the side of the boarding house.
Add the cost Of fuel, where economy is
limited by climate, and, for some families.
1t is utterly impossible to make both ends
meet on the housekeeping basis, while the
plan OF boarding shows q narrow balance.
These are valid reasons for the desertion
OF the household by so many families in
modern social life.
This Is not as it ought to be. Every
argument advanced by the noble-hearted
ladies VINO defend the housekeeping sys-
TEN is valid. Every encomium which they
lavish upon it IS deserved. If country
life gains by comparison with city life in
any respect; if there flourish there in
greater proiusion or sturdier growth the
virtues that flower into true nobility of
character, ii is because there the home is
as necessary as it is sacred-the beginning
and the end Of life and labor. House
keeping IS not a failure. But there are
strong forces operative against i, in mod
ern life. \ discussion of these and of the
way to meet and neutralize them would be
a fortunate issue OF the question that has
been raised.
THE APPLE IN LOVE MATTERS.
In Scotland and In England the apple is
matters. Part of this popularity is proba-
bly, due 10 the common notion that the
tree of knowledge of good and evil was an
apple tree. Horace mentions the use of
apple pips in love affairs. A lover would
take seed between the forefnger and
thumb and shoot it up to the ceiling, and
if it struck ii, his or her wish would be
accomplished. Nowadays maiden tests
the fidelity Of her beloved by putting the
pip in the FIRE, at the same time pronounc-
ing his name. If the pip bursts with a
report it is sign that he loves her, but
should il burn silently she is convinced of
his want of true affection for her This is
often performed with nuts instead of pips.
Gay mentions the common practice Of
pairing an apple without breaking the peel
and throwing the strip over the left shoul-
der, in order TO see the initial letter of the
lovers name formed by the shape the
pairing takes upon the ground. This is
often one Of the many divinations prac-
ticed on Hallow E'en or All Saints Eve.
Another way at the same season is for the
curious maiden 10 stand before looking
glass combing her hair with one hand and
eating an apple held in the other; the face
of the future husband will then be seen in
the glass looking over her left shoulder.
Mrs. Latham, in her Sussex Supersti-
tions," gives ano.1er apple charm. Every
person present fastens an apple "on a
string and twirles it round before hot fire.
The owner Of the apple that first falls off
is declared TO be upon the point of mar
a.. tbax- foil al :.