The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-03-13
SCIENCE Of HOUSEKEEPING


THE SCIENCE or HOUSEKEEPING
How the Cares and Worries May BE Re-
dueea to q 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 a mini
mum by just q little attention to some
Of the great facts Of life.
Housekeeping may be made easy by
reducing it to 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 tho masses,
who have incomes of between ak and
eighteen hundred dollarsayear. We do
wellifwe live where we can have a 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 it down very
badly-constructed drain. We pause
In the midst of this eternal and never
ceasing pilgrimage, and wonder how
we can apply science to u immediate
situation.
To be sure, we can use all of the APP
proved -disinfectants and cleansers that
science has 80 ably pointed out to us;
but thus using means more work, and
we know of no easy way to do it. 1t
takes time and pains to keep scientific
ally constructed sinks and drains in
ordeEmnch n 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 cam simply turn a faucet and get
all of the hot water you want, makes a
| great deal of difference in the steps n
is called upon to take during a single
day.
To be so situated that science is APP
plicable, is the first thing to be thought
OF when scientific methods are sug-
gested.
Will somebody please to tell IS how
and where science comes in when on
washday the tubs must be brought
from the cellar, the water drawn from
the welo on cistern and carried in bucket
fuls to he heated, then after using, all
of It'll must be carried out again and
thrown away? Muscle and nerve are
the first requisites, and these must be of
tolerably good quality in order to stand
the strain. It is idle to say that we
should have conveniences. Of course
we know all that, and the want is a cry-
ing one, but all the a we go on year
after year without them and know that
we are likely to keep on doing so for an
indefinite period. 9EsE6
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
a half days fire and at the same time
have a boiled dinner on the stove or any
thing that tends to utilize the fire.
And a goodly number of us read the
Ledger and other standard publications.
Some of the others are or appear to be,
conducted solely for the benefto Of those
women who have every modern appli-
ance. They talk, science, forgetting
that preaching science to a woman
without conveniences is like preaching
the Gospel to the starving. 1t is much
better to feed first and preach after
ward.
The woman who dons a white apron
and in a dainty costume steps into her
Kitchen and turns on a gas jet, tries the
hot water, and finds everything all
right, is in an excellent POSITION Il
tackle scientific problsmS The waste
water vanishes; the gafbage can is al
Land; the patent cabinet opens wide
its doors, with every ~labor-saving de-
vice at hand, and with thermometer,
scales and measures of all sorts within
reach, the labor is ~lightened, and the
results are infinitely more accurate and
satisfactory. &
But we must know how to apply our
science, and that is a task that must
cover a long period of time; and some
women can never learn it. They can
make pie paste that willamelt in your
mouth, biscuits that would delight the
heart Of a cooking-school teacher, and
cake that is a comfortto the soul. Their
bread is faultless, and their regular
meals are relishable to a degree that
cannot fail to please. In fact, they are
pattern cooks and housekeepers. But
these good women couldn't explain the
simplest problem in science, and the
sight Of a chemical sign would unset
them for an entire day. Science is a
fine thing in its place, but one must
have the wherewithal to answer to it's
demands.-N. Y. Ledger.
Just tho Job for Him.
Are you much of an actor?'