Evening star., 1896-01-18

N " taSte graduate SOup,
post graduate fish
balls, or even freshman baking powder bis
cuit--but that is ahead of my story.
The domestic science school of Drexel In
stitute is a representative one Thus. what
1 have here seen and learned of the COM
ing Mary Ann is something on which to
base general hope of the future of our
kitchens.
Candidly, I confess that my two days ex-
perience in domestic science as she is
taught" has left me with the impression
that the new cook is long way from
home, and more than likely to be lost en-
route in a labyrinth Of pedagogics My
reasons for believing this are:
Not for the Home.
Girls who undertake a complete course in
domestic science do so with the intention
of applying their knowledge not in the
home. but in an institution, either as
teacher or as a matron. There Is further
more so little intelligent appreciation of
the possibilities and purposes of domestic
science manifest among women that an
exceedingly limited number are willing to
spend two years in completing a course of
instruction. But three girls Will graduate
at Drexcl this year, and the junior class
numbers only five. This perhaps Is partly
due to the autocratic power exercised by
the director, who rejects any applicant for
admission whom she believes to be unqualf-
fled in any way to become a teacher, the
highest aim Of the school being to produce
teachers.
There is special course for housekeep-
erS, which is, however, confined to theoreti-
cal and practical cookery, and thus affords
o woman no more adequate knowledge OF
the whole subject of domestic science than
studying the multiplication tables alone
makes q mathematician.
Courses for domestic servants have been
devised, but the director has found them
unsuccessful, servants being satisfied with
what they know, and satisfied. moreover.
that If the mistress who pays for their
scientific training doesn't like what they
accomplish, they have only to give no
tice," and some other mistress will be glad
er ough to get them.
A Fad for FashiOnables.
asked Miss Spring. director Of the
school, what she considers the most prom
ising result of her work. She answered.:
1.-THE zeal with which 1t has been taken up
by fashionable women. Anything new
works down in society. Let it once be-
ccme a fad. and it is only matter of time
when 1t will reach the masses"
This raised the gu sstion in my mind
How much of domestic science is a fad.
and when the fad is exhausted, what will
The Two Objects.
The ends to be served by a domestic sci
ence are clearly these:
To reduce the cost of living.
To reduce the burden of woman's work.
This latter is not a sentimental considera-
ton. The volume of woman's work in the
home has positive. If not immediate, eco
nomic value Overworked women tend to
increase the cost of living, not alone through
expense incurred by sickness, but also
through mismanagement of the home un-
dol nh
Of the housewife. Moreover, the burden of
woman's work indirectly conditions the eff
cheney Of labor, in that men born of ex-
hausted mothers are necessarily lacking in
health and vitality.
So far as I have been able to learn al
Drexel, popular education in domestic
science takes cognizaLce only Of the need
| of reducing the cost of living, and this
| not comprehensively. inasmuch as teaching
| how to construct dietary that shall fur.
| nish meal limited the cost Of material to
| say, twenty-five cents. provides only fol
| the assembling of tho raw material. The
cost Of actually producing the meal which
| has Its largest expression in the labor put
| into 1t, gets no consideration, and my OBJ
servation is that domestic science. as she
| is taught, tends to increase rather thar
| diminish the volume Of woman's work.
| Only More Responsibilities.
Means Of prevention against bacteria
| personal assurance gained in the matter o.
food authorizations, the nice steps, exac
measurements, strict methods Of scientif,
coOkery-all this which domestic sclenc,
| prescribes, means for the housewife 81
| many more responsibilities resting upon he
| mind and so many more demands upon he
| energy ard time. In homes where the in
| come would admit this would have tn
| effect of increasing the number Of servants
and thus adding to the expense Of tn
| household. In homes where one pair O
| hands must do everything practical appli
| cation of domestic science as academicaII,
administered is simply impossible.
Not Trained for Housework.
I asked Miss Spring If she thought an
Of her graduates would be able to procee
scientifically, set down in the kitchen of
middle-class home. with all the work O
the household devolving upon her, an
Miss Spring quickly assured me that tn
young women who graduate In domesti
science have no intention of doing house
work-they are too ambitious and they ar
not trained for that.
Now, it occurs to me, that until domes
tic science graduates are trained to d
housework women have little to hope fc
In the kitchen. Unless scientific treatmer
Of domestic problems is to render housewor
attractive to an ambitious woman, the de
ing of this work must remain in the natur
of a favor conferred by one admittedly a
| lhlSIlOI, WiO, dCllIS dS prop on WQlC
the entire household rests, so holds he
superiors at her mercy. Thus education
domestic science that does not directl
bear on the volume of woman's work, NJ
only shoots its benefits over the heads {
middle and lower class homes, but misse
its opportunity in overcoming that hydrs
headed monster that reigns in other home
the servant problem.
Requirements for Admission an
| Graduation.
To be admitted to the domestic scienc
course of Drexel Institute woman is n
quired to have a high school education c
its equivalent. To graduate, she must hav
satisfactorily completed two-years' cours
of study, covering the following subjects:
Junior year-Theoretical and practic.
cookery, household economics. chemistr
: general and qualitative), physics Cheat
biology TYPES of animal ife), human phys
, ology, physical training, observation an
practice in teaching.
Senior year-Theoretical and practic,
i cookery, laundry work, chemistry (quant
tative and organic), the chemistry of food
biology (bacteriology). hygiene and SAINT;
ton, economics general principles ar
those applicable to social questions), hi
! tory and Institutes of education, physics
t training, observation and practice in teacl