Evening star., 1895-01-12

N<AtN~sG undertaking. 1 went
S@t ExN< into the kitchen the
~ other day, and the
sights. sounds. smells of that internal re-
gjon killed me on the spot. 1 died a news
paper woman to arise reformer. From
this time on you'll find me paving the air
and preaching the emancipation of my
downtrodden sex. But talk about your
emancipation of woman that works
through the intellect by way of the ballot
tox-rot! I tell you, anybody who really
means TO insure ths female nation life, lib
erty and the pursuit Of happiness must
work the revolution through the Kitchen.
by way of mems stomachs. For what doth
II profit a woman if she carry presden-
tial election and her husband have indiges-
tion? Yea, what doth it profit a woman If
she win the whole world and lose her cook :?
oh. this is simply an awful question. tull
Of snags, snakes and hid~ous spec.ers. I've
been lying awake nights with II the past
two weeks. and scurrying around days see
hg what 1 could do about it, 1 have been
10 see Commissioner of Labor Wright to
5nd IL the department OF labor had any
panacea to offer: have been to beg the
Secretary of Agriculture to establish n
bureau of domestic economy. and 1 have
Travelled like census taker from house to
house. asking women 1 knew and women
didn't know, what shall save us from this
bondage of sin and death that Is called
housekeeping?
Daily Experiences.
First. I want to tell you some of the ex-
periences of housekeepers that L have learn
ed. Then 1 want you to know how far tho
government has gone into the study of
housekeeping. Last. il die for 1t, I'm GO
ing to write down my own advanced ideas
about housekeeping. and beg every other
vii adj ha
subject to send them to me, and I'll not
only put them in print. I'll try them on the
dog, IL IL uses up every cur in creation.
When i set out to have an experience
meeting of housekeepers, 1 dropped off
car, where 1 happened to be when the idea
seized me, and rang the bell of the house
! came to first. 1t was handsome house
outside, and within Was somewhat the ele-
gsnce of a first-class cabinet shop, indi-
yidualized bit by a touch that was clear
ly feminine and refined. The woman who
presently entered was the keynote to this
subordinate individuality.
Housekeeping would be a simple task
for me-" she Said IF 1t were possible to
obtain reliable servants. 1 was trained In
orderly ways as child. and my husband
who Is an army officer, is sufficiently the
martinez to insist upon order in his sur
roundings at any cost. He has the order
Of the day written in black and white and
posted in the room of each of the children
we have two-and my own orders are quite
as clear. if not issued in just that FORM
i am to see that the house Is spotless with
out there ever being manifest any of the
confusion attendant upon cleaning up. Ac-
cordingly, as we breakfast at 3, / arise at
Q. to drill the housemafd in properly per-
forming her duties on the parlor floor be-
fore the rest of the family descend. / get
the girl finally so that she Is able TO do
this without my assistance. then just rs /
am ready to take my ease in the morning,
feeling that so much of the machinery is
rur ming smoothly, the girl quits or the
cook has IL spell-a screw falls out some
where, and l have to fit in. This morning
my eook-a man-has used such violent
language to me that L have him locked
down in the basement, and when It's alb
solutely necessary for me 10 go below to
look after something, L carry a revolver
In my pocket. l have the washing done at
home, because my experience Is that 1t
can't be done properly outside. Then II
costs three times as much to put 1t out.
Il do the marketing myself. Our staple
groceries, OF course, we get from the COM
misSary stores. For the rest L market as
my husband likes to eat. 1t Is rather ex-
pensiVe, because he will not have any
thing brought on the table a second time
no matter how may strive by artful cook
cry to conceal the genesis of things Our
friends seem to enjoy visiting us, and
everybody, including my husband, admits
I'm splendid housekeeper But look at
me-"
I was looking right at her and groaning
nwardly TO behold her thin body, her bony
nervously cIasped hands, her face that de-
spite the galvanized society smile 1t wore.
was anything but cheerful, saIlow worn
and worried as IL was.
'How much does it cost US to liver" she
repeated after me. well, aside from NV
nesh and blood and peace of mind that
goes to keep the pot boiling. / reckon our
pay would always be hypothecated a
month or two ahead IL we didn't draw
constantly on my private funds"
Does there occur to you any way out of
The awful mess of housekeeping" / asked.
Yes" was the prompt reply. Suicide or
nunnery. Under existing circumstances
daughter is the only salvation"
Not Living, but BOARDING.
Emerging from this house, I ran across
the wife OF another officer, whom I had not
seen for long time. When 1 asked her
where she IS living now she answered:
Il m not living; I'm boarding." Then when
4 expressed surprise that she had aban-
doned her charming home, she said: I'VE |
hadn't much choice. You know we began |
with two servants. Soon we had to have a |
third. Presently 1t became evident that
everybody. including myself, would be |
worked to death IL we didn't have four
Then every one OF the four declared she |
would have to look for an easier place If |
we didn't get fifth, and then the colonel |
you KNOW ne only swears upon extreme |
provocation-the colonel said he'd be ID
II ne q Keep a boarding house for colored |
people any longer. So we shut IL nm and |
went 10 boarding ourselves" |
AT five succeeding houses that called T |
was told the madam was not at home This
was before IL o'clock In the morning II
was a row of houses, and servants from
three of them had abandoned the work of |
cleaning halls and doorsteps to congre9ate |
on the walk for a visit at one of the other
houses. The maid thrust her head out of |
the basement window. in response to the |
bell. and after laboriously crowding some
thing she was chewing into one side of her
mouth, called out with the other side: |
"Ain't nobody to home"
AT the next house, to which I was ad-
mitted, i encountered a lady with higher
aims than housekeeping. She said that IL
I wanted to know anything about how she
kept house / would have TO see the cook
for Eliza tended to all that. She herself
wrote articles for the papers and did a
great deal of charity work. so that she
really had no time to look after things in
her own house. Yes. she had one baby, but
nanny took entire charge of that. The
child made her nervous. and as for house,
keeping, that made her downright sick !
Eliza did all the marketing, and her hus-
band paid the bills. No. the meals and the
work were not always done to suit her, but
she thought women who cultivated their
intellects could always rise above domestic
difficulties. She did. When the meals
weren't nice, OF course 1t made her husband
4