New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-14

HER COUSIN DESCRIBES HER SYSTEM

HER COUSIN DESCRIBES HER SYSTEM
Everybody says-and what everybody says must
he true-that my cousin Harriet is notable house
keeper Things always seem to 80 just as they
should and he. cooking Is the delight Of her friends
There is. perhaps. nothing strange In the fact that
her housekeeping should be of high order. even
in these days OF modern degeneration. but the adj
lniration OF her masculine friends and the half
envy Of her female acquaintances rest TO u great
extent upon the additional fact that she is 50 much
of invalid to be unable TO do anything for
herself. not even SO much as the busting OF DIT
Of bric-a-brac the arrangement Of the flowers
upon her table She is rich: indeed. she lives
upon very moderate income in Harlem nat
and her only assistance is found in the unwilling
hands Of the New-York scrvant-the serv-
ant whose ncompetency increases with her
own self-valuation. as expressed by the
monthly wages that she demands; who has
been in the habit of buying all bread. cake
and rolls at the bakers, and whose ordinary
mistress dusts sweeps and works far harder than
the cook and only girl" SO when she is asked to
make ali of the cake and pies 10 put up Jams pre-
serves and pickles, TO bake bread. dust. sweep.
wash and iron. with occasional service as
adys maid thrown in by way Of variety, she
looks upon her tasks in dsgruntlcd asionshment
If not in open rebellion. And yet somehow. Cousin
Harriet gets it all out of her. and she finds the
work actually easier than in many household
where the baker does the baking. the dclicatessen
shops supply the cooked meats and the charwoman
comes in to give jaundiced color to the family
linen
How does she do it? Why. sine matzes the
work. Her hardest task. she says Is TO get these
new recruits to understand that there is no such
thing chance. and that work regularly done Is
quickly accomplished. Her two requirements in a
maid Of all work-for that IS what her single serv-
ant must be-is ability to read and soldier
like obedience to her orders. The latter Is the rock
that splits the family craft most frequently. And
n41 do Ntif fnt
Everything. She gives few. II any, verbal orders
Everything is written a slate that hangs in The
MISUNDERSTANDING from the menu OF one OF her
dainty dinners the simple breakfast of her hus-
band At night, the last thing before retiring she
writes a short memorandum upon the slate. some
thing like this:
7-7:SO:-Oatmeal. chocolate (2). chops stewei po-
tatoes.
Which. being interpreted. means Call us az
o'clock have breakfast at 100. and prepare oat-
meal chocolate for two chops and stewed pota-
toes Thus the girl" has nothing To remember
When she gets up her first look at the slate tells
the whole story. If warm biscuit or rolls are to
be made the fun recipe always accompanies the
orde;-for the girls memory Is apt TO be treach-
erous and. as Cousin Harriet says. cooking IS too
much OF an exact science to leave anything To
chance This Is merely a sample OF the system.
Again. on a sheet of foolscap tackled to the walls
/ OF the kitchen Is schedule OF the Work OF the
week. 1t reads:
MISUNDERSTANDING and IRONING.
ruesday-Clean hall room. finish ironing
WEDNESDAY hail. bathroom. kitchen. girls
room S,r and hed d5eoI sr,.r
Friiay-Clean paror; library and dining-room.
Saturlay-Clean kitchen store closet. china closet
Every room is busted and the floors wiped up
every day the dining-room, kitchen and girls
room being done before breakfast The WINDOWS
Of each room cleaned on is regular cleaning
Baking Is done required.
Thus. without any further instruction from the
mistress whose invalid condition frequently keeps
her IN bed until 10 o'clock. the servant knows what
| Is expected Of her. and goes on with her work with
,ha serene consciousness that when the days
sent" IS accomplished she will not be called upon
to do any tasks. and that the vasares ana
/ whims Of the ordinary housekeeper have no place
in that household.
The rules and regulations are followed with mil
jtary exactness | have known her to have one
servant do the washing on a Monday and hang II
on the roof lines. then pack her goods ana chateI'
and leave the house AT in the afternoon NJ D hrr
successor enters. cooks the dinner. brings down
| the clothes sprinkes them. and on Tuesday does
tho framing as though she had been trained In the
line for months. Each days work must be done
the day appointed. though the heavens should fall
The rules are the laws Of the Modes ana Per
| SLAMS and husband and servant must conform
! thereto.
DO not think however that Cousin Harriors do
nestle craft sails through untroubled waters. The
"girls' are New-YOrk servants, and that should be
description enough. They regard their misiresss
| youth with evident suspicion; they are lonely in
fat they will lie like-w'll, Ike the New-fork
servants that they are; they are naturally prone
10 dirt they regard insOlence as virtue; they are
totally devoid OF sense Of honor. ana to yleii
| an inch is to give them untold ellis of encroach-
| ment. SO they and co. an uneasy shifting
and shftless gang They leave and are discharged,
| one incompetent swiftly following on the footsteps
Of another; and yet with all these changes, Cousin
| Harrlets housekeeping holds IT'S own ana SWINGS
along TO the great comfort Of her husband and the
! admiratio Of her friends.
When her culinary incompetent breaks dishes ana
bunders through ignorance, she has the patience OF
lob. hut there is one that can find no ac-
cepfance in her ears: "O had bad luck wild lie
bread num- to-day; it seems to be heavy loike"
! Then Cousin Harriet rises in her might ana lux
! lev could not be more eloquent in talk on exact
| science.
'Iuck," she says. there is no such thing ms
| luck Cooking IS chemistry If you put 50 much
flour and 50 much yeast ana the same quantity Of
the other ingredients together az you di the last
time and after letting it stand for the same
| length Of time in a room OF the same temperature.
| bake II I'm an oven heated the oven was heated
before you will have the kind Of bread; and II
you vary in any OF these details your bread VIII
| BE- different. There is no luck. it is bad manage
ment you did not do your work as you were told
TO do IT, Now where the difference"
'Indade. mum. Oi did; only Oh thot the
dough waz Il little thin. Oi put in bit more av
| flour"
"There YOU did not do it the same"
The girl Is increduous, but after time comes
! TO believe.
"Does your wine jelly always turn out like that?'
asked one.
always"
"Well. ma'am. don't see how you do it. Mrs.
-- didn't have good luck with hers more than
half the time"
katy. Katy. If you always do the thing the
! same way. youl always get the same results
| her is
| hundred million ways of doing thing wrong and
| only one Of doing IL right. So If you trust To-
| chance you Will find that it is against you and
! that you Will fail"
| Thus she dins Il into their ears. until. at last.
| the feeble and careless intecctS with which they
| seem TO be endowed grasp the subject. and they
| begin to measure. Exact measurements are given
| for everything and when these are followed there
is success, while the slightest variation produces
| denreclaton OF the result that the sharTp-eyed
| kcrn-smelling mistress at once detects. much TO