Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-05-28
CLEANING THE HOUSE
LADY OF ALTON DIsCoURsEs UPON
THIS NECESSARY DRUDGERY.
VAR OH WINTERS DUST And DIRT.
spaec>tions TO Homekecpers-hnr
Ola Treasures brought 10 Ihsh'
When the Uousc is "Turned inside
out~-The Pathos of Old Letters.

1Correspondence Of the Dispatch)
ALTON. VA, May 26.-This spring Mar
gerry began her first house-cleaning, ana
She did not begin or end until after the
rainy spcl in May
Experience is our best teacher Time
v.s when the first suggestion Of spring
MAS hcathCd upon the air II was a chal-
laee by many housekeepers for war
Ga winters dust and dirt, those goodly
Games quite overlooking the fact that
..r. swalIow does not make a summer
Vr- we're allowed 10 go out, stoves
taken down. and when, in the midst OF
o.0s cold, Northeastern broke into the
.'mr 1recZc. rheumatism and the COO
i.is DID wound up the programme.
Ne are wiser now, and MarSery anu
t.e other young matrons are gamers ny
g. Iae earliest housekeeping l nave
lead o. was IN the days OF Henry the
Lcttn-though he changed housekeepers
TO often for any systematic airahselheHt
u MS dWeliing-and in these gOod old
times the men went from home, and o.
f.rtines the lady OF the manor with
them while the home was being cleaned.
Iais was called "gOne-a-sWeeten ins' The
term siguined that the master and mis-
treSs were away and the house getting
cleaned swcetly.
Nowadays Margery cleans house and
JIlu Henry fuses.
"Grcat ScoU' j heard him say the
other day, "this house is as clean as a
l.w broom now, you can't make it any
cleaner. DO lot IL alone And l must
mi there was some method in John
T. aI.'s madness, because this particular
l-.. nest had been tenented only since |
..t autumn, when the October bride |
I.t,I n. and everything was fresh and |
iau tGu But the cleaning must be done. |
-t d. SIS not a need, ii is fad, ana each |
t- 4a arbitrary.
'lHl't mother clean house, late or |
t.t!. wind rain, or snow, every spring
NlH would she think If her daughter |
t.-l forget this all-important part OF |
..r home education? 1T must be done,
says the young wife; but I'll
tary 81 up. and you shall not be inccn-
N.,-.i the least Bit
a. ". course. John. convicted. but not
'.,.-.r.. let her have her way. With |
l.I OF her little pOt-black Topsy.
,-. ta hc works aWay-scrubbing, rub
.t ,H ping. distinguishing the hours
away.
zig !. .a nice 10 get It all done without
'.ll.l- JOhnr
u h tIt She had 20 work very hard
t..s with the unusual exercise. the
'e. -..ng into draughts when over
grated and perhaps struggling against
i ia-efe 20 be pretty and entertaining
:" l-e evening instead Of throwing her
.'i Al-d.ols upon q couch and give her
Weary limbs a rest Woman IS such
opposite being Of fact and makc-believe,
" vanity and energy
question often II a husband Is not
eA'l.-s 20 save his wife from overwork,
t a really In ignorance thereof until
collapse comes.
4".Ie are women who, somehow, ma
'-.t orerwork themselves, like those /
who 20 az the top Of their pace
N hey drop. Such women are dread
+" onm1nageable. II is just as hard
-''"in6 with them as II would have
fA reasoning with 10 when she was
s'f over land and sea driven by the
,s OF the neyer-sleeping gadhy.
p..,,u'e-cleaning is largely habit. The
g.'F homekeeper gets IN the way Of
e'4' upheaval twice a year and she /
eo.iN not dispense with Il. or thinks she
- not which Is the same thing /
vt., woman who has revised the idea
~ good results. She gives one room /,
roe,,'Nl1g every week. IL there are seven :
eaeh room gets a thorough |