, 1891-02-17
LIVING IN A BIG CITY.
LIGHT HOUSEKEEPING; WHAT 1T
MEANS AND HOW IT IS DONE.

Would BE Good for BAeheIOrs-AIso for
Groups of GIris, n Only They Could Be
Persuaded to Try It
Light housekeeping has become almost a
scandalous term, because of its abuse here
and elsewhere; but, nevertheless, there is a
great deal of such housekeeping in New
York that is eminently respectable. Some
times the partners are man and wife; some
times they are bachelors, and sometimes,
though more rarely perhaps, young women
engaged, as the census says, in "Rainful oc-
cupations"-dressmaking, shop tending.
literary work. or what not. Most families
of this sort breakfast at home and dine at
restaurants Nobody believes, of course,
that dining at restaurants is any cheaper
than dining at home.
In fact, it is vastly dearer, unless the res
tsurants be of the fifteen cents a meal va
riety, But light housekeeping dispenses
with maid servant, hospitality and a good
deal Of rent. 1t is peculiarly well adapted
to those families Of two, in which both hus-
band and wife help to earn a living. As
the wife is out all day, she annot attend to
household duties OF a very exacting char
acter, and as economy is the object the
family cannot employ a maid servant.
CHEAP LIVING.
So two rooms, or at furthest three, are
rented instead OF four, five or six; a gas
stove Is used only for an hour in the morn
ing; the house" is heated by steam, shared
in common with other tenants, and thu
what is lost in the cost OF ~stauran din
ners is saved in rent, fuel and wages. Un-
furnished apartments of two or three rooms
in respectable parts OF the city may be
rented at from s. to sa5 Il month.
II young couple chooses to occupy apart
ments in one Of the great sanitary tene-
ments put up for the respectable poor, the
rent will fall considerably below the smaller
of these figures TIL cost of breakfast Is
a mere trifie, and really poor folk, that are
willing to put up with such an apology for
a home, may live almost as cheaply in the
heart of New York rs in the country. A
clever woman can make even such quarters
as these coy and attractive, and the posi-
bility OF such a mode Of life has fastened
many a marriage.
Bachelors living In this fashion manage
very comfortably, though, of course, at
greater expense, because few men are con-
tent to get their own breakfasts and attend
TO their own apartments. The homeless
habit prevents most bachelor housekeeping
from going beyond the ''lightr stage,
though when once a maid servant becomes
q necessity, 1t Il is cheaper to ave all meals
prepared at home, Few young men, how
ever. are content to forego the glitter and
hum of the cheerful with its
motley company and varied bills of fare.
Better and more wholesome dinners could
be prepared at home for less than half the
money, but the charm OF contact with the
world is lost, and there is always the danger
that the absence of one partner may leave
the other to dine alone.
WHY WOMEN DON'T CLUB.
Women seem to find it difficult to keep
house together. Perhaps they are less
adaptable than men, or perhaps the strain
Of constant contact, from which men may
escape by going out into the world, makes
friction inevitable. At any rate, there are
thousands of women living lonely lives in
boarding houses, when all the comforts
Of a home'' are within their reach II only
they choose to form a housekeeping part
nership. The dreariness of boarding house
life for women Is a thing that men would
not enduro. In some of the poorer but
still respectable boarding houses the par
lor is rented to a physician, so that there Is
no common room where dodgers may re-
ceive visitors
All the ugliness of human life shows IT.
self at such places, yet women Of delicate
sensibilities endure it, because they fancy
that they could not undertake the task OF
housekeeping with other women. 81 don't
know any girl with whom I'd dare try such
an experiment" said an art student, when
this idea was suggested to her. Another
woman, who had established a little home
OF her own, confessed that she was very
we'll pleased that a friend living In like
manner as herself had not taken apart
ments in the same house. For the IS, 50
or IS a week that each OF four women pays
for the dtscomforts of a boarding house all
could have a coy little home in common.
But in this whole city there are probably
only a few score such homes.
Some charitable women in Brooklyn dis
covered that nearly a dozen shop girls were
lodging In one moderate sized room, where
they prepared their breakfasts in the morn
ing and sat at night unless the streets
proved more attractive. Such women earn
from % to 81 a week.
PROJECTED o
They must present a decent outward ap-
pearance; but 1t has been discovered that
In the case Of the poorest the one visible
garment Is almost the only scrap OF cloth
ing they possess. For the most part, these
girls have almost no skill as needlewomen
and little knowledge Of the housekeeping
art, They simply manage TO exist, and
that by constant hard work and rigid, II
not always intelligent, economy. It is a
cherished plan of the Young Women's
Christian Association OF Brooklyn to build
a large lodging house, where these women
may live and carry on a species of light
housekeeping. The price of lodging will
be placed within the reach of the poorest
girls, but each will pay something for the
comforts she receives. At the same time
the associations classes in needlework and
general domestic economy will give the
girls an opportunity to learn the arts neces-
sary 20 the maintaining of Il home. 1t is
said that already the instruction impaired
in the classes OF this association has pro-
NOTED many marriages. Light housekeep-
ing for single women ought also to be pro-
motive of matrimony.
Light housekeeping in New York as
sumes many curious forms. The city is so
large that there IL room for an indulgence
OF all sorts of tastes. There are families
that never meet except at dinner. There
are others chat are together only at break
fast. There are probably very few, rich or
poor, that take three meals per day to-
gether. One anxious woman is the en-.
thusiastic advocate OF cooking In common,
or, more broadly, cooperative housekeep-
ing. All sorts of ingenious devices have
been invented for promoting this idea
New York Star.