Omaha daily bee., 1895-10-06

the household accounts accurately and neatly.
She understands taxes. She knows how TO
lease a house and what are her legal response
billties as a tenant. She learns 20 estimate
the cost OF every article to be used and
how best to provide for a given number at a
given price. She Is taught TO be prudent
and economical-o rare American traits!
The saying goes that a French family could
live, and right comfortably and daintily too,
on what an American family throws away.
Great attention Is given also TO detail and
thoroughness. 1t Is not merely a question
Of washing and starching linen, and passing
II under the iron; II Is a question as well oil
stains and their proper treatment, OF soaps
and their merit. 1t Is not merely a question
Of the cost and the freshness Of food, but Of
its %nutritiye qualities too. 1t is a question
Of the sanitation OF a house as well as its tidi-
ness. The result Of all this is that there Is no
finer housewife in the world than the French
housewife. As for French needlework and
French ~dressmaking, every woman knows
that the geographical adjective is the only
adjective necessary to express their superla-
tive excellence.
Italy has the most thoroughly nationalized
system Of Industrial education for women. al
though as a national system 1t embraces but
one branch Of women's work. That is lace
making. that exquisite craft which a few
years ago people were beginning to put into
the category OF lost arts" With patient
care and research her majesty, Queen Mar
| Eneretth, mas succeeded III TeNlNlnB IHe IL
dustry that has always been one of the glories
OF commercial and aesthetic Italy, and she has
established at Burano a school OF which she Is
president, with branches at every place In
the kingdom that has prorduced a character
istic lace. These are directed by the ladies
Of the court, each in her own district. The
result has been of measurable advantage to
the Italian peasant women.
A work analogous to this has been under
taken in Nova Scotia by one Of our own
countrywomen, Mrs. Alexander Graham Bell,
who Is devoting herself to perfecting this
industry among the women of the fishing
communities, and to securing a market for
their productions.
In the British Isles, in the German empire,
in Scandinavia, and especially in Belgium,
where they are usually under government con-
troll, domestic training schools have rapidly
attained unqualified success.
In the United States about all that has been
done in this direction Is OF very recent
growth. There are some fine private enter
prises, OF which the women's department OF
Armour institute is the newest and com
pletest. Wisconsin university Is experiment
ing with a course under the direction Of Mrs.
Helen Campbell, which is commanding gen.
eral interest, and which, II IL proves a sue
cess, as 1t undoubtedly will, and because a
regular part Of the curriculum, will probably
be the most scientific and enlightened effort
of the kind in the country. Wellesley once
undertook something like this, but it was
given up. One wonders why. Many states
and cities have given the system practical
consideration, with conspicuous success In
Massachusetts. New York, New Jersey, Phil
adelphia and Toledo. Various churches
Christian associations and college settlements
have undertaken more or less thorough
schools Of domestic science. The most i'm
portant and general results have beer
achieved in the negro schools and colleges Of
the south. There is hardly one in which
domestic training is not a very notable anc
very beneficial feature. Probably one reason
why we are so far behind Europe in thi:
work is the almost total absence In our coun'
try of converts, which foster and contro
very many of these schools abroad. The ques'
ton of funds is a very serious one in a coun'
try whose newspapers decry "fads in the
public schools and sometimes with goot
reason. Most Of our fourishing schools have
been supported partly or wholly by the state
or the municipality. The state Of New Jer
sey, notably, duplicates any sum under $500
per annum which may be given to found OIL
maintain any manual training school. II
Massachusetts and elsewhere such schools
have been very largely dependent upon in
dividual munifcence. A few have been en-
lowed. Often it has been found that a
school pays it own way; exhibitions are helt
and goods produced by the pupils are sold
these exhibitions are very profitable, and thu
running expenses of the school are reduced
by the fact that no servants need be EN-
ployed and fed. In some cases there is q fe'
for instruction.
There is no reason why Americans. will
their wealth and their enlightenment, should
not be as comfortable at home as the peopl'
Of other nations. There Is no reason why w
should have our sewing done in French con
vents, and import our cooks and parlor maids
There Is no other country In the world wher'
all the housekeeping machinery is so com
plete, and where everything is so designed
to facilitate labor. 1t needs only the ap
pliance of trained intelligence to our ma
chimes to make them produce the very bes
results. A country whose young men ar
becoming the foremost engineers and artisan
in the world ought to give It's girls a chance
What we have already done in this line ha
been most commendable, but sporadic. 1t l
evident that any real progress must be de
pendent upon widespread interest and en-
Geavor. These would be insured by state In
reference.
The advantages to the state Of a genera
manual training system or womens edl'ca
ton would be fourfold: Q) Skilled worker
would be produced who would fill the place
that are now empty. and women would b
able to gain a livelihood by other and bette
means than those that are possible to a vas
number of them now. G) An enor
by poverty and by crime would b
avoided. Expert criminologists have assured
us that II is indeed for idle hands that Satal
finds mischief. l cannot here enter into
discussion of the psychical and neurological
laws involved, but the result of every ex
PEI maui hAAo AA hs'sN 100
the panacea for diseased and perverted minds
90 Housewives should be trained to a prope
understanding of the business which the,
profess to carry on. Woman has been di
yinely appointed to be a home maker. In al
age when the most trivial processes of lif
are being put upon scientific bases 1t Is no
consistent that the most sacred and beauti
full of callings should be left to the hand
of any bungler. Our lives are so dependen
upon such very little things for their sweet
ness and their usefulness! How can one at
tain to serenity of heart and mind when tn
last refuge-home-is made feyerish by con
tinual worry and discord? AS moder
thought grows toward the perception and un
Outstanding OF how mind and body are inter
related and interdependent. we realize tn
necessity for a system of living that will
minimize the awful nervous conditions tina
attack our civilization. The worlds knowl
edge of domestic economy should be synthe
sized and classified and made accessible t
those upon whose loving intelligence the wear,
children of earth are dependent for comfor
and rest. az The relations between EN-
ployer and employe would be put upon
rational business basis. A sense Of dignit!
of labor would be inculcated, and so mos
Of the friction which so wears upon our do
nestle life would be avoided. There is n
logical reason why a housewife should no
receive from a person in her employ tn,
same unfailing and unquestioning servic,
that a merchant receives from his clerk o.
a banker from his cashier. And there is NJ