New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-11-14
HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRIES"
MRS. CAMPBELLS THIRD LECTURE IN
BEHALF OF WORKING WOMEN.

DECORATION DECLARED OF VITAL IMPORTANCE.
BEING THE VERY FOUNDATION OF HOME
LIFE-THE MOST REsTFUL CoLoRs
The third lecture Of Mrs Helen Campbell In the
course she Is giving before the working
Women's Society was delivered yesterday AFTER
at the Amty Building No. 3l2 West FIFTY
fourth-st. Mrs. Campbells subject. as announced
on Household Industries" but the lecture
in two parts. the second and more import
division treating Of Decoration in Its Application
to Home Life and Social Progress"
The lecturer referred briefly TO the erect OF
specialization on body and mind tending In
some ways to cramp in others to broaden oo'h
Woman has felt the ill-effects OF close confinement
to household interests without the development
resulting from accuiat knowledge OF any one SUP
ject. She has been generally obliged TO De
Jane OF all trades that she has become mistress
OF none. Yet the American woman-notaby me
New England woman-has advanced FAR IN some
directions. Notwithstanding these hindrances. III
tellectual aspiration has grown amid sordid cares
and unovey environment
1T is a strange fact said Mrs. Campbell. that
in the advance that marks almost every depart
mcnt of labor. the household cooking and cleaning
have failed TO keep pace. The American Nation Is
the worst-fed on earth. although the renaissance
Of cookery in the cooking gives nope LOT 'e
cu.are. In the kitchen trained Intelligence u 'hc
shining exception. Ignorant imbecihty the I"''
Tea black with tannn. breah White WIN ~
form the staple OF the average workingmans da'iy
luncheon.
..rhere Is announcement In the fact that we are
bep,nning TO realize the necessity for growth IN
this direction as evidenced by the increasing nun"
hor of women who make specialties OF PICKING
preserving baking. In our large cities. TH'"'
This specialization sufficiently and much OF the
sense of helplessness and distraction, now part
of ordinary housekeeping. will disappear. ,o-ope'
alton is advancement In this. as In most o'ner
things
The lecturer then took up the second topic, ana
spoke OF decoration OF vital Importance oei"S'
indeed nj the very foundation OF nome IRE
..The two prime obstacles TO American ue'c'oP-
ment in this direction continued the iec'"reI'
have been utilitarianism and asceticism-one ue'-
flying the so-called practical the other 'eac""s
rigorous denial Of the lust OF the eye VIII" "''
other sensuous qualification. We nave Iate'y so"e
somewhat beyond this. and now are inciined 10
look upon decora ion as an agreeable super""'''
Some day we may grow into the knowledge that
| right decoration Is "A deep necessity
'Decoration means honored. distinguished en-
bellished and Is cognate with decorum or htness'
With this in mind. and following the decoration In
nature there would never be the contradiction OF
function and structural design often seen
The instinct of decoration Is as old as the raco
upon his beloved spear the primitive potter Mt a
early period put lines OF diiieF.nt ,,n
the water jars and cooking utensils the harp",ha,,
woman worked simple designs upon the SKINS una
ned
.'Decora ton Is beautiful II fitting and hrcordah'.
ugly. If unit and discordant Beauty means leace
and rest I'm "A home. Yet how often docs the az
iempt AT decoration result only in grotesque
failure this Notwithstanding the polite fiction that
women-thc hOmc-makcrs- generally aitlsuc
They ought be. Il Is true but. In point OF fact
their ideas OF frequently merely parphriC:
In 1890 for instance they twisted dead kittens ana
other furred animals about their nccks Tor drcorh-
tive warmth And hav" seen Japanese doII
used as a holder for feather dust"r ~ thruStihs
the buster through the skull. the d"cortichtloh
being concealed 10y ribbon. strong ana pur" arr
low and deba-cd art. express social states ana IN
tellcctual conditions. and have reflex inhuence
upon those states and conditions The infant and
growing child Is affected by iis surround ngs The
good bad IN It's home enters into IFS mental
and spiritual growth. IT.,
such silly uninraniug decoration as tho gild'd
dust pan. with pouch for photographs. * sunlci"nt
to drive any sensitive boy away from home. There
Is an absolute connection heta"rn IN" Internal ana
external NE Sw.denborg touches upon this IN
his explanation OF the doctrine OF correspondence
"a applying 10 coors and spiritual conditions
arranged with view to producing a rrstfui ana
soothing effect upon tired nerves. II need not be
expensive wood brown carpet gold brown curh-
ions on the rOomy couch. yellow shades ana lamp
screen Will uncOnsclOusly a feeling OF re-
| pose These the tints Of autumn woods when
nature is about TO rest from her labors
Red Is cheering. Let the aged ana the depressed
| have much Of II In their surroundings.
Woman * an enormous factor I'm IN" develop
rnont OF the Nation and In her cultivation 81 art
| In daily life lies tremendous power What art
| is 10 the home that IL also Is 10 tn" Nation an
absolute moral factor. uplifting and ennoblng Ma
| tional life