The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-07-26
HOUSEHOLD A SCIENCE.
RELATION OF THE HIGHER EDUCA-
TION OF WOMEs TO THE HOME.
How the Subject of Cleanliness I'm the
Form of Sanitation Is Dealt with by
the Woman Who Has Studied Chem
istry-Science and Food.

When it first dawned upon a few pro-
gressive spirits that woman was worth
educating some enemy Of the scheme hit
upon clever ruse for enlisting all man
kind against it. He insinuated that il
woman learned the sciences she might
forget how to cook, and the masculine
half of humanity, face to face with the
horrors Of a dinnerless existence, cried
out with one voice that woman must re-
| main as she was.
1t was unfortunate that in those dark
er ages, when this view prevailed, no
one was found with the prophetic in
stinct to declare that the whole hope Of
domestic science lay in the possibility OF
training intelligent women to take hold
of it in an intelligent way. Had this
| been done, a comfort-loving world, anX-
| ious to live more easily and fare more
| luXuriously would have dotted the land
with cottages for women and have Sc
| cured the success of the new institutions
by a compulsory attendance law so
stringent that evasion Of It would have
| been impossible. 1t was left, however.
for woman herself to demonstrate her
willingness to serve civilization on the
| same old lines she has been following
for centuries, provided only that her
work be placed on the level where il be-
longs, and that she be permitted to do it
under the same conditions that apply to
/ other tasks of equal Importance.
| The rebellion Of the modern woman
| against domestic dudes is not a repudia-
ton Of the duties themselves, but a pro-
test against the methods she is stin ex-
pected to apply to them. Above all she,
/ objects to the illogical position of man,
| who lays great stress upon the necessity
| of a well-ordered home, but who with
i holds from the brain and hand that gov
| erns il the honor due to skilled labor in
whatever field. Is il any wonder that
| woman with high ideals of useful life
/ should prefer the study Of medicine TO
the study Of housewifery? In the for
| mer she spends three years in going
| over the condensed results Of all human
| endeavor in her chosen speciality; in the
other she painfully spends twenty years
| in formulating from her own experience
| the fundamental rules Of a science which
can hardly be said to be in its infancy,
because it is as yet unborn.
There is, however, an embryonic idea
that such a science would be worth
while, and it is a remarkable fact that
the people who are fostering this notion
I with the greatest enthusiasm are the col
| lege-bred women Of America. That the
idea has already taken several practical
and very useful forms is a sufficient
! guarantee Of what it may accomplish
| IN time.
The two great and permanent necessi-
ties Of the home are sanitary perfection
| and wholesome food. That these two
simple requirements involve nearly all
the natural sciences but astronomy is
startling, but undeniable. To be sure.
| generations of women have kept house
/ acceptably without any knowledge Of
| the wonders of the laboratory. but they
/ did it in an age densely unconscious OF
! bacteria and not yet awakened TO nerv-
! BUSINESS on the subject Of sewer gas. The
! task Of keeping the race alive and well
seems to grow more and more complex
/ hopelessly So in fact, unless the en-
deavor is made on scientific principles.
Take the first subject of household
/ sanitation. All houselzeepers worthy the
/ name aspire to cleanliness without stop
/ ping to think that it Is Of three sorts
| traditional, aesthetic and sanitary. 1t
/ may be remarked in passing that the
| last Of these three is the only one that
/ bears any intimate relation to goodness
| Traditional cleanliness was the strong
/ point Of the old-fashioned model house
| keeper She directed her energies TO
| ceaseless scrubbings and scourings, but
was the sworn enemy OF air and SUM-
/ shine. She rejoiced in such abomina-
| tons as feather beds, demonstrated COW
erlids, allOver carpets and similar homes
] for enterprising disease germs, ana she
! cared little about the location Of the
/ well, provided 1t was handy for her per-
sistent but misdirected cleansing opera
| tions. Aesthetic cleanliness, as still
| practiced in nine houses out Of ten. is
] even more needless Of the laws OF
| health. 1t was in difference to its de-
/ mands that plumbers invented wood
cased water pipes, and furniture deal
ers the folding bed and washing cab
met" All it demands is that whatever
| it fancies unsightly shall be covered up
| or put out Of the way.
| Now sanitary cleanliness-it might
| almost be called real cleanliness, in dis
| tinction from these other sOrts-is a
very different matter 1t rests on the
/ two great sciences Of physiology and
/ bacteriology, and IL cannot be success
/ fully secured without at least a rudi-
| mentary knowledge Of the principles on
which it is founded. The old-fashioned
| housekeeper hated dust because IL
1 looked untidy and provoked the adverse
| criticism OF her sex; her granddaughter
hates it because it excites pulmonary
/ diseases, or is likely to contain stray
| germs inimical to health. The practical
| difference lies in the fact that the
/ scientific housewife will make war not
only against the dust i'm sight, but
| against the dust which she merely sus-
| poets Of existing. She has seen though
| the microscope the secrets Of air and
/ water, and her standard for the purity
| of her household surroundings is raised
by her knowledge Of the invisible dangerE
| TO health and comfort.
In the preparation OF food there Is
even more need for the order and exact
ness which scientific methods alone can
secure. The favorite dish of the best
] Of cooks varies widely i'm excellence.
| and underdone or overdone food is so
| common that unless the mischief is ex-
| cessive we hardly ever stop 10 complain
| OF IL. 1--WE have proved" says Mrs.
| Abel Of the New England kitchen.
| "that a kitchen may approach a
| pharmacy ia exactness." And why
/ should il not universally well in this
| single instance Alice NJ. WhitlOck In
/ Kate Fields Washington.
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