Daily camera., 1898-11-14
CUBAN HOUSEKEEPER
Would Give the American House
wife the Horrors.
H& knowledge of Cooking Il Lin.
tad and She IL Not at Ali
Particular As to
Cleanliness.

The Cuban woman IL nOt dudptdple'
She may not be to blame forit, but the
fault-as we must call it's there all
the same. She is not going to try to
adapte herself to our ways, because
she thinks her ways are the best, and
the only reason she thinks SO Is De-
cause they are sanctioned by antiquity.
In fact, she is rather an unpromlslng
subject to convert.
The way an average Cuban family
lives would give an American house
wife the horrors. Improvident, OF
course, and with such little knowledge
of cookery that it amounts to not more
than a farce. The frying-pan and the
coffee pot are the only two Indispensable
articles in Cuban kitchen. a roast
is an unknown quantity; stew is oc-
casionally ventured upon, and the soup
is rare and diaphanous. But the cot
fee pot is always in evidence, and the
frying pan sizes at every meal.
have often been amused at seeing
Cuban women frying meat. They will
have nothing but the leanest kind, and
the butcher must trim off every par
ticle of fat. In the far south this is not
a very difficult matter, as kline are not
Durdened with that article to any great
extent, but the Cuban woman, to make
sure, prefers a cut from the round 10
any other peortion.
This lean-and generally tough
meat is taken home, and then the lady
who abhors beef fat drops it into pan
containing about half a pound of hog
fat and sizzles it to the consistency OF
a piece of wet sole leather. OF vegeta-
bles their range is confined to yams,
okra, rice, bananas, and one or two
others. I very much fear that our
northern markets would not please the
Cuban woman,
In other matters relating to house
keeping I very much regret to say
tat the Cuban woman is not in line
with our ideas. The broom is occa-
sionally in evidence, but there all at
temps to tidy up stop. Soap and the
scrubbing brush appear to be un-
known quantities. Year in and year
out the floors remain as they were, the
window panes get but an occasional
wipe with bit of paper, and the yard,
if there happens to be one, Is a sight
to behold. Those who have read about
the streets of Santiago must not think
the reports exaggerated. A street
where Cubans live must be cleaned by
the city if at all; the residents would
be buried in filth before they would
make a move to clean up, When the
dirt gets too mountainous they move.
These household habits extend to
the person. a bathtub is unknown to
a Cuban woman of the ordinary sort,
and a daily face wash is almost as
rare. Perjury and face powders are
used as substitutes, and American
women will hardly accept them in that
light.
Now what is to be done with a woman
who is a heather in cookery, is not
clean or tidy in the house or with her
person, and is not in the least inclined
to mend her ways? To the American
mind no amount of coquettish ways,
no soft voice or gliding walk can COM
pensate for these shortcomings. Such
woman needs civilizing. Perhaps we
had better begin now organizing soci-
cites for teaching Cuban women
American ways, We cannot ignore
this new addition to our Sisterhood,
SO we can but hope that our example
will inspire the Cuban woman % lib
crate herself from the thralldom of
old customs and try to keep step with
our higher system of civilization
Effie Wybrant Smith, in Chicago Times.
Herald.