The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-04-25
COOKING SCHOOLS URGED
Mrs. Langhorne Believes They
Would Benefit the C0lOred Race.

An Interesting Paper Read before
the social Science Association OF
Observation-Disclosures in Household
work Obtained Through Training
one of the most interesting papers Fedd
during the recent meeting Of the Aneri-
can Social Science Association, and one
especiaIly appealing to Washington house
wives who are struggling with the col
| ored servant problem, was that OF Mrs.
/ Ora I.anghorne, of Lynchburg. Va Mrs.
Ianghorne is one of the most learned
women in the South and has devoted time
and study to the science of domestic econ
ou1v. Some of the valuable thoughts and
suggestions contained in her paper are
given below:
..I-pon the presiding genius Of the Gull
nary department depends to a great eX-
/ tent the health, peak. and comfort OF our
families The present conditions OF do
mestic service in the Southland are gen
orally very unsatisfactory to both the en-
/ pIoyer and the employed
when d Southerner speaks Of servants
negroes are always understood. Irish,
/ English. German. and Scandinavian
/ maids are as yet unknown fac
tors in our problem. Black Di
nah holds the fort and rules the
roost for as and when she viii halfway
/ do her work and treat us with reasonable
Sivility We are wont to be satisfied, look
! lenicutIy upon her moral delinquencies,
| and greatly prefer her to any Of the for
| eigH tribe.
! In the average Southern community,
/ where n strang should enquire as to the
+ conditions Of household service, the plant
/ of the weary housekeeper would be the
! same: We all employ negroes. but it is
/ rare "a find good and satisfactory serY-
ant The agents from the North and
/ West are offering high wages and taking
away all the weIl-trained, reliable colored
people Those who are left are mostly
/ what are called the new issue'-negroes
who have grown up in freedom. utterly
unframed as cooks. hOusemaids. OF nurses.
! They piu1der US. carrying home with
/ them at night all that they can lay their
/ hands on to feed tTifiing husbands or
| children growing up in idIeness. We wear
| ourselves out in efforts to teach them.
and as soon as they learn enough TO
make them toIerabIe servants they go of
with the agent
J That the better class Of coIored ser
ants should respond TO the seductive
/ voice OF the agent who offers good homes
/ and high wages in distant regi~ rs. for
( which he is willing to advance travelling
/ expenses. is but to say that negroes are
! hannah and like the rest of the world go
/ where they can make the most money
| The faults Of which we complain are
! to a great degree the faults OF the serv-
/ ant class the world over. and not only
! those Of the race once subject TO US and
! from which we still draw our domestics
The best sign for the negroes Of our
/ land is that they are fast separating into
/ classes. a fact to which their white fel-
/ low-citizeus often fail TO attach the i'm
! portauce it deserves
The negro mother of today who goes
/ into service usually finds that she has to
pay house rent, as few employers will
/ tolerate negro children about the kitchen
/ nowadays. while in slavery they were
! considered an inevitable appendagp
/ thereto. Her family must be supplied
with fuel and they as well as herself
must be clothed. The sick must be car
ed FOR. and the fund for all these needs
IS the woman's wages, usually from 81 to
; 3 per week Among negroes Of the lower
/ class. the men do little or nothing to pro-
/ vide for their children, leaving the whole
burden to fall UDon the mother The
| same feeling which leads a white man of
! the upper ten. who has no fancy for work
to seek an heiress in marriage. leads the
| worthless negro TO look out for n wife
[ who cooks for some well-to-do white fam
{ lily. expecting TO live in idleness and be
! fed from the employers Iarder. a news
[ paper writer explained the actual suffer
| ing fOC food that occurred in many fami-
Hes III good circumstances i'll Washington
during the prevalence Of late terrible
bliZZa rd. III this faShion-Such people US
! uaIIy employ TegrO cooks. and as it IS
! well known that the cook will. if possible.
I supply her own family from her employ
] r. L.
/ eraI To buy food IN very small quantities.
just enough to last from day to day. thus
I putting the only available check on the
servants Hence, when for time access
( to the market and the grocer was cut off
/ great discomfort enSued-'
/ The most serious objection to this syS-
TEN OF pilfering, almost universal in
Southern households. is not the harm
done TO the white people, though il is a
I great difficulty in the way of economical
living. 50 necessary among our impOyer-
! isned people The rea! Injury is 30 the
c0lored children. permitted To grow up in
idIeneSSr depending for their needs upon
what they know is taken from others.
! " hcn Things provided, come without the
/ sweet sense Of providing the untaught
I neglected child, accustomed from his era
die Ia theft and deception ali too easily
/ launches out for himself in evil paths The
/ life III the street soon winds up in the
/ Jail, and il is but a short step from the
jail to the penitentiaTy. How often is the
sOrTUwfui story repeated among us of the
loving hearted but unWise mother plum
derIuS her employer to feed her offspring
labOrlng to the extent of her ability 10
keep her son in idlcnesS and when broken
down by age and infirmity seeing him who
should be the support and comfort of her
old age. spending his young manhood be
hind prison bars How bitterly is the les
son brought home TO her that honesty is
the best policy
Under the old regime il was to the IN
forest Of the Shareholder to train his
slaves to the utmost of their capacity A
| docile and receptive race they proved. ac-
| curing 20 wonderful degree the civiIi-
zatIon Of those who held them in bondage,