The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-18

tach It to a steel arm. and drive & through
miles Of white work at lightning speed
| Sixteen years later the blessed home-mis-
sionary was patented In America, and an
other burden. heavy and grievous to be
/ borne, was lifted from our sex. Now, every
| cottage has a sewing machine, with all
| the latest amendments. almost as certain
ly as it has cooking stove and a clothes
wringer.
That larder Is poor indeed that does not
boast a tolerable store of vegetables. fruits
and meats. sealed away from the chances
and changes of summers heat and winters
cold The art of canning has made
weather and seasons matter of indiffer-
ence In the housewives realm The refrig-
orator has brought the choicest of exotic
dainties to her door. with such staples as
meat, poultry, fish and game, slain two
thousand miles away. and perhaps two
months ago. Our kitchens lay every zone
under tribute; our houses are kept at sum-
mer warmth in January by steam; cooled
in July by electric fans; lighted from base
ment to roof by the turn of a screw When
we will TO abolish the dirt, the weight and
the waste OF coal. our cookery is done by
gas. Before the new century is ten years
old we shall substitute electricity for gas
In cooking range, and in the steam
heater for coal. Our carpets are swept by
machines, beaten and cleaned by steam,
renovated, lifted and laid by professional
adopts Our foremothers did their own
clear-starching and washed their laces at
the cost of so much time and trouble that
the possession of the filny treasures was
doubtful good. We send our "starched
things" to the nearest laundry. our laces
to madame who mends as we'll as
sieanses them to look as good as new
DOMESTIC SCIENCE.
Upon the deliverance from bodily drudg-
cry wrought by the multitude OF labor
saving machines and appliances. followed
intelligent ambition to elevate housekeep-
ing into dignifed calling. We have
created domestic science and are develop
ing it with maternal zeal. The cooking
school is as significant a product of the
woman's century as the girls college.
Chairs are established in such colleges
for instruction in the chemistry of foods
and practical training in the preparation
of the raw materials for the service ani
best good of the human race. Our
cestors ate to live, and in a coarse. cum
trous fashion that makes us blush at the
hearing thereof. The gist of hospitality
lay in the proverbial grooming OF tables
upbearing reeking joints and launches;
stacks of vegetables, piles of buildings and
pies. With us, each meal is a gracious
ceremony. The desire of the eye and the
love of the beautiful are consulted in the
commentator of the food to the palate.
Individual appetite is studied by hostess
and householder, who also shows a wise
regard for constitutional idiosyncracies.
In the days that are a hundred years
old, girls were POLITICALLY and popularity
classified with orchids and chameleons.
Eating was, at best, a vulgar necessity
with women; hearty appetite and the
confession of it implied grossness and i'll
breeding. The clear-eyed, clear headed
modern woman, in sweeping away this
prejudice, has arrived at a jus. compre-
hension of the values of foods. and how
to adapt nourishment to age and physical
needs. Children, thanks to domestic
science, are fed with food convenient for
their growth, and the aged have j dietary
carefully adapted to stage of existence
that need not be second childhood because
1T is no longer the prime of maturity.
The marked improvement in the physique
OF American women, which can no longer
be ignored by the most skeptical Of pessi
mists. is usually accounted for by the
freer, more active lives we have led during
the last quarter century. Bicycling and
golf, yachting, boating and camping out"
should come in for their share of credit for
the transformation. More is due TO the
radical change in the family habits and
conditions. The substitution of elastic mat
tresses for feather beds; the even distri-
button of warmth in halls and rooms; san
itary sewerage and thorough ventilation;
the orderly and leisurely sequence of WELL
cooked food in our bills of fare-in short,
obedience to health laws of which our an
cestors were ignorant in theory and in
practice-have actually heightened the av-
erage of mans mortal life, and made tina.
life better worth living.
MARION HARLAND.
Pompton, y. j.