Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-11-13
Doing Too Much Work.

Y MsSs3 ~<VSNa Nwriter in Tail
H WV ssHA. Talk Now coulG
NRSSsSN EElNGK that desire bt
fASMAS AVs 4 gratitied would
GEN ~ III the busy mind he
8sSs;DSSU content. or would
it not rather still
think of something more that could
be accomplished if there were yet
some more day." The truth is that
the average American nousekeeper
does more work in the six days ct thc
week than ought to be done in eight.
They make themselves slaves to work,
which becomes Il most tyranical task
master when it is allowed to over
power us. Of course we all know
that dishes won't stay washed, nor
beds made. nor rooms swept, nor
clothes clean. That is the very
reason why houscwork is considered
such drudgcry. but it need not be so
if managed the right way.
Take wash-day for instance: in the
majority of homes it is bugbear
whose approach we think of with
dread. One woman. either the mis-
tress or the maid. does all the wash
ing for the rest of the family, who
nine times out of ten. perform their
share of the disagreablc work by
having skinny breakfasts and picked
UP dinners. Besides all this the
whole house is pcrvaded with the odor
of soapsuds and saturated with the
effluvia of soiled linen. while the
windows, walls. carpets, everything
dampcncd with the unhealthy steam.
Ii the one servant does the wash
ing and ironing the mistress has to
cook, wash dishes, answer the door
bell. and do all the thousand and ono
things that are sure to demand at
tention on those days. so that she is
tired out body and soul. If the mis-
tress is maid as we'll. and attempts
the washing in addition to all the
other work. it is of course ten times
worse for her, and she wears out just
so much faster. 1t is all very pretty
to read about. how that clothes can
be done thus and so. and The dirt
falls right out Of its own accord: ii
looks very easy to see in print: son
wash-days get up at o'clock and do
this and that. and by 10 the clothes
will be all out Of the way" etc: O.
yes: it is far nicer to read about than
to do. Now there is one very easy
way to gain the two coveted days.
and save all the worry and work and
,disagreeahilities of wash-day. Put
out your wash.
80; dear" cxclaim choro,ls Of
VOICES, "we could never afford 1t. !"
Now l speak from experience when |
said it costs less in actual cash to have
all the clothes laundried away from
home than it does to hire a woman
two days or day and a half to do it
in the house. And it is an undis-
puted fact that many housckeepers
could get along nicely without any
servant if the wash was put out, and
the expense would he much less. do
not mean at q regular laundry, where
the prices are eNorbitant and where
the clothing is soon destroyed. There
are hundreds of women who do wash
ing, not because they love the work,
but because tits the only way in which
they can earn a living, and there arc
hundreds more who would do it i.
they could get it to do. Now these
women will take a family wash TO
so much a week. l know humble
who pay from ST to $3.50 week TO
their washing and ironing, whethe
the number of pieces be many or few
/ could cite instances where tn,
number of pieces varies from 100 t.
half as many again, and it is all don
for the same $3.50 week, with soa]
and starch in addition. Now thcs
same families used to employ a wo
man two days at S1.25 day to do thi
same washing in the house; in addi
ton to this six meals were Furnished
and hot fires kept up, besides all th
other unpleasant followings. The
they tried keeping a servant, whom
they paid 50 or So a week and he
board. OF course the same hot fire
were kept up not only two days bu
nearly every day, and the same dis
pleasing results on wash-day Besides
many times the girl would be no.
est, and then there was trouble
Now the point | want to make is this
it is the duty of every woman to he1
self, her family, and to those VIII
earn their living in this way to hav
her laundry work done out of tn
house.
l know it is sometimes difficult t.
find a woman who will do the wor
as it ought to be done, but is it no
the same with all kinds of work? ID
we not try many times before we fin
a servant that suits US? Are ther
not poor milliners and dressmakers
Are there not botch carpenters an
plumbers, who don't seem to under
stand their business? Indifferent sales
men and women? and so on throug
the whole catalogue of trades and en-
pigments. There are good laur
dresses who would be glad to hav
our family wash, and if we look fo
them we can find them. I hav
often thought if some woman who
obliged to support herself in this wa
would take all the washes she coul