The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-01-26
THE SCIENCE OF HOUSEKEEPING
How the Cares and Worries May He Re
duced to . Minimum.

| THE SCIENCE OF HOUSEKEEPING
How the Cares and Worries May He Re-
duced to . Minimum.
! A writer upon home science tells Us
that housekeeping may be made easy
| and that all Of our cares, worries and
perplexities may be reduced to mini
mum by just a little attention to some
| OF the great facts of life.
Housekeeping may be made easy by
reducing it 10 a science" she says, and
we are all alert to know what are the
first steps TO be taken in this most mo-
/ mentous matter.
We look around our kitchen, we who
are of the constituency Of the masses,
| who have incomes of between six and
eighteen hundred dollars a year. We do
wellifwe live where we can have range
with water back and good sewerage.
Most of US cannot boast of anything
better than an ordinary cook ing stove.
! maybe with a tank at the back. Per.
haPs we have to carry every drop Of
water some distance, and then throw
it out of doors or pour IL down very
badly-con struoted drain. We pause
in the midst OF this eternal and never
ceasing pilgrimage. and wonder how
we can apply science to our immediate
situation.
To be sure, we can use all OF the ap-
proved disinfectants and cleaners that
science has so ably pointed out to us;
but thus using means more work, end
we know of no easy way to DO it. It
takes time and pains to keep scientific
ally constructed sinks and drains in
order, much less those that are literally
thrown together, and are at best only
sorry makeshifts.
Whether every drop of water must be
drawn from a well, carried to the house
and put in the kettle to heat, or whether
You can simply turn a faucet and get
all of the hot water you want, makes q
great deal of difference in the steps one
is called upon to take during a single
day.
To be so situated that science is ap-
plcable. is the first thing to be thought
of when scientific methods are sug.
gested.
VIII somebody please to tell US how
and where science comes in when on
washday the tubs must be brought
from the cellar. the water drawn from
the well or cistern and carried in bucket
fuls to be heated, then after using. all
of it must be carried out again and
thrown away? Muscle and nerve are
Eo Grctr II hos ho ~
tolerably good quality in order to stand
she strain. 1t is idle to say that we
should have conveniences. OF course
we know all that, and the want is cry
ing one, but all the same we 60 on year
after year without them and know that
we are likely to keep on doing SO for an
indefinite period.
And very many OF us feel the need OF
care as to the use of fuel. We have to
count the cost of coal and wood, and
must so arrange that we can bake our
bread, pies, cakes and other things by
n half days fire and at the same time
have boiled dinner on the stove or any
thing that tends to utilize the fire.
And a goodly number of us read th.
Ledger and other standard publications
Some Of the others are, or appear to be,
conducted solely for the benefit Of those
women who have every modern appli-
ence. They talk science, forgetting
that preaching science TO q woman
without conveniences is like preaching
the Gospel to the starving. II Is much
better to feed first and preach after
ward.
The woman who dons q white apron
and in a dainty costume steps into her
kitchen and turns On gas jet. tries the
hot water, and fnds everything ali
right, is in an excellent position TO
tackle scientific problems The waste
water vanishes; the garbage can is at
land; the patent cabinet opens wide !
its doors, with every lGbor-savfng &c i
vice at hand, and with thermometer,
scales and measures of all sorts within |
reach, the labor is Egbteled, and the |
results are infinitely mere accurate and |
satisfactory.
But we must know how to apply our |
science, and that Is a task that must |
cover long period of time; and some
women can never learn it. They can
make pie paste that viii melt in your
mouth. biscuits that would delight the
heart of a oooking-school teacher, and !
cake that is comfort TO the soul. Their
bread is faultless, and their regular
meals are relishable to a degree that
cannot fail to please. In fact, they ere
pattern cooks and housekeepers- But
these good women couldn't explain the
simplest problem IN science. and the
sight of chemical sign would upset
them for an entire day. Science is
fine thing in its place, but one must
have the wherewithal to answer TO it's
aemsnds.-N. Y. Ledger.