The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-04
SYSTEM IN THE HOME.

BY Mrs Martin Taft Wentworth.
The woman who is ignorant of house
mold matters seldom makes a creditable
showing as mistress OF an establishment
unless she is Ill position to hire
ato6sekeeper There have been occasion
al ignorant feminine heads of house
holds who had the good fortune to STUN
BILE upon house girls who could be re-
lied upon, like the one engaged with a
!. friend of mine last winter, but they are
rare.
The friend was a business woman,
whose occupation took her from home
each morning, and kept her until the
0llhref hour, late in the afternoon: When
woman of any age between thirty and
FORTY, she said to her: Il have no time
and no inclination to oversee the man
agement of this house. There ale six
goCns and a family of three, myself, my
dog and the cat. We are all fond of
comfort, and find it only in a neat, well
ordered home; SO [ expect that, at all
times. As to methods, / care nothing IN
what way you secure results as long
as YOU do secure them. So please do
not bother me about details
Martha, by the way, is living With her
at the present time, and both seem per-
fectly satisfied with the ar angement.
But Martha is an exceptional house girl,
and can be left to her own devices with
safety. The incompetent need close
watching and dea of instruction.
Even with exceptional girls, dare
knowledge
ance Systematic feminine workers are
rare, but the lack of system in the 90
mestic may be counter-balanced by the
mistress good habits. The routine OF
general homework lends itself readily to
a system which divides the work so that
each day in the week may have its
proper share, and no more. BY this means
the house can be kept in an immaculate
condition. without undue fatigue to the
worker.
/ read recently a communication from
woman who seemed to have founo
satisfaction in changing the established
order of homework. Washday fell on
Tuesday, instead of Monday, and
wednesday was ironing day Monday
was devoted to clearing up the house
and disposing of Sundays clutter. so
she said, and the other days were spent
fn scrubbing and sweephs.
L may be old-fashioned but must con-
TESS to preference for clean beds and
body linen on Sunday / do not believe
amy amount of argument could con-
vince me that Saturday was not the
proper day for changing the beds ano
picking up the soiled clothes of the
household. Cleanliness and goodness
are akin, you know, and l maintain that
they should walk hand in hand on Sum
day. Why, they belong to the rest
which Sunday brings to mind and
body.
There is certain amount of work in
The home that should be done each
night. It will make the mornings tasks
fewer in number The fire can be la q
ready for the match and a large part
of the preparation for breakfast can he
done before retiring. Glass be so
carefully washed after each using that
a session of cleaning is unnecessary and
silver can be treated in the same man.
(. ner. For expensive glassware a wooden
howl is the safest and two are better
than one. In the first can be done the
cleansing in rather warm, soapy water,
and in the second the pieces can be
finsed in cooler. clear water and left to
drain few minutes before the Wiping
process. Careful hadling and a plenti-
Tul supply Of clean wiping towels will
result in safety and beauty for each
dish.
Decanters and water jugs often give
some trouble unless one knows that
they ought to be two-thirds filled with
pretty warm water and pieces of We'll
soaked brown paper left two or three
hours, shaken thoroughly and well rims
ed IN clear, cool water Shot is an ex-
Cell nj cleaner for common glass bottles,
out is rather dangerous for costly glass
In the average home the weekly polish
some task, and one that does not insure
brightness for the entire seven days of
service. In a few beautifully ordered
homes the silver is kept to a certain point
OF polish by means of a simple device
known as plate rag. 1t is generally a
piece of stocking, the top part of discard
ed ones, treated to mixture of new milk
and hartshorn powder Some clever
Drain saw an opportunity to turn the idea
10 money by treating pieces of cotton
siannel and putting them on the market
under variety of names. Plate rubbed
priskly with one of these cloths imme-
diately after being washed and dried
would be kept in state of beautiful pol
ash | have not run across any of them
recently, so perhaps they have had their
day and died the usual death of all fads
good or bad, but the home made article
can be prepared with ease and little ex-
pense One ounce of the powder is dis
solved in pint of milk, the rags are
boiled i'll the mixture for five minutes,
then removed to cold water, wrung out
and dried. Enough of the mixture re-
mains in the cloth to act upon the sur
face of the silver, and the rags will re-
tain their virtue even after they have
become as black as the stove brush.
Every kitchen worker should know
that the handles of knives should not
bt plunged into water, or the blades will
loosen and the handles discolor. The
knives should not leave the hands until
they have been thoroughly dried
Most women scott at the idea that there
IS more than one way to dust a room.
Nevertheless there is the right way which
diSpCses of the dust and a few wrong
ores, which leave the dust to settle
again in five minutes after the task is
settled.
Soft cloths make the only busters worth
having, cheese cloth or any similar ma
terial, which washes easily. The top of
furniture should be the beginning and the
bottom natural stopping place. The
buster should be frequently shaken and
changed when it becomes much soiled
would not give a feather buster room
in my house, fot it was never known to
remove dust permanently-it merely flirts
it from one place to another, and leaves
a Fart of it in the air, to steal into ones
lungs
Careless maids use damp busters, which
While they e1fectually remove the dust
and retain it, bring disaster to the polish
of the furniture.
II is not every housewife who supplies
coverings for the furniture on sweeping
days. and therein shows wisdom These
coverings may be of the coarsest kind
Of unbleachable cotton but they will
Iengthen the days of usefulness of the
furniture by protecting it from dust ac-
cGmulations incidentally they viii
tighten the task of sweeping and busting.
Copyright, 1901, by Walter B. Guild.)