The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-01-10
The HOUSEHOLD DRUDGE.
She Who Refuses to Avail Herself of Mod
Methods.

The HOUSEHOLD DRUDGE.
She Who Refuses to Avail Herself of Mod
ern Methods.
1t is strange how much the average
good housekeeper is the creature of
routine. and adopts without thought
the customs of those who have gone
before. 1t is indeed gift to be able to
assimilate to ones self the best of new
ideas and re ect the worthless and i'm
practicable. The woman who buys
every patent, who experiments with
every washing powder and decoction of
food that is recommended, is the mod
ern Mrs Toodles, who buys all sorts of
preposterous things because they are
SO handy to have in the house or things
that she does not need because they are
so cheap" That there is still large
body of these housekeepers may be
proved by the absurd makeshifts of
every kind that find remunerative sale
as well as the success of those bargain
counters that are palpable frauds. None
OF these counters are more popular than
the burnt goods sale an alluring bait
which never fails to bring hundreds of
shoppers and persuade them to buy
household linens, bedding or what not
tinged with the smell of smoke. The
same goods may frequently be pur-
chased clean and fresh at the same
price at counter further on. but the
shopper who is bent on bargain SCI
dom looks into the matter further than
to join the crowd and lake for granted
- e has her goods at an astonishing dis
7 count. The bargain counter is seldom
prepared so it will attract the customer
who has an intelligent knowledge of
goods. There is hardly day when he
country house is not invaded by agents
selling the most absurd, impractical BILE
things, which are in no way equal to
the simple, oldfashioned contrivance
which they propose to succeed.
But an abject object is the house
keeper who rejects all modern methods
and drudges on in the laborious old
way. This woman is not capable of
instruction; she is law unto herself;
she absurdly sets the Judgment aside
of scientific experts in commonest mat
ters of natural physics, so far as they
relate to the household. She has
evolved from her own experience, or
received in the course of her domestic
training, different method of arrang-
ing her fire drafts, mixing her bread or
what not, and fair result is obtained
One might as well teach Digger In
dian the correct method as this house
keeper who is intrenched in her belief
Show her that the principal draught of
her stove is sealed up, ten chances to
one she will ignore the matter and go
on toiling to llindle the fire in the old
way. complaining because the stove
| always smokes. 1t is useless to tell
such person that the concensus of ex-
perts declare that from 20 to 6S degrees
is considered to be healthy tempera-
ture for living and sleeping rooms oc-
cupied by persons in health; she will
settle the matter by saying: Il do
not think So" 1t is useless to tell her
that "boiled beef is coarse, unwhole-
some dish in the way it is generally
prepared; she settles the natter by
saying: 81 have always cooked it So -
Until women are intelligently trained
in their youth in domestic matters and
come to regard the problems of house
r sork as matters of exact, not of expert
mental, science, the drudge will exist.
She will refuse to learn after she has
once acquired a method of her own,
but will go laundering through the
world the victim of no end of foolish
catastrophes. 1t is one of those mex
plicable things that educated house
keepers who have not been educated in
domestic matters are often prejudiced
housekeepers who persist in warning
against the common-sense laws of ply
sizes. Some people, regardless of their
education, seem to be incapable of
learning new ways. 1t is not strange
that ignorant servant maids are OBJ
stinate and unreasoning, when women
of superior general intelligence, who
ought to know better, are narrow au1
incapable of adopting the wisest and
best method in their housework. N.