Evening star., 1902-08-16
LUXUR|ES FOR Them
Daily Home Conveniences Are
Necessities Here.
ARE AMERICAS ALONE
RUNNING WATER, ICE, STEAM
HEAT ARE SOME OF THEM.
What the Housewife in This Country
Has to Be Grateful
For.
ARE AMERICAS ALONE
Written for The Evening Star.

4
| Foreign folk with one accord declare
| American women. and especially American
housewives, to be the spoiled favorites OF
fortune. This in face Of the servant prob
lem-wherefore it seems worth while to
| look little into the matter-far enough. at
| least, 10 find ont whether or not the for
| e;gners have reasonable grounds for their
| contention.
cynic has recently set it down as his
| opinion that there were more bath tubs in
| the cities Of New York and Chicago than in
all the British Islands This does not IN
| the least square with the popular concep-
| ton of the Briton never divorced from his
| tub But those who know say il accordS
| Infinitely better with the facts Running
| water hot and cold, is at the service OF an
our city folk. and large and quick-grovy-
| ing molety OF our country ones. What with
| water works, windmills, artesian wells and
| gravity flow precious few new houses need
| lack ii, while among old ones the force
| pump in the corner of the kitchen porch
| robs the clstern Of its weariness Other
| countries likewise have running water but
| the provision is niggard compared 10 our
| own. and where IL is found even much more
| than half the time there is no provision
| Tor heating save by the kettleful
| cognate aggravation of this hot-water
| oenct Is that in many places water can
| rot be heated without making up a speciaI
nre- Ihat is to say. there is no gas stove,
4
winch to make tea. boil eggs or heat a
casual sadiron. The kettle on the hob
which sings and splutters so alluringly
| through the pages Of English novels is un-
| doubtedly picturesque-and more gey al 10
handle and worse to furnish.
Ihen there are the matters OF heating
steam heat, furnaces. hot-water pipes. gas
| logs. gas ranges. and all their kind banish
gust and CRIME, and save back aches. rough
hands and goose flesh not to mention nor.
al frarr
more than delightful as decorative adiuncts
10 house already sufficiently warm hut
FniIplerapIy eiI ourdensome as a dependence
IuIIy doubling. sometimes almost trebling
the work or a hOuse-with the resulr az
keeping IL in family temperate and strons,I,y
! lilgld zones. The German hausfrau. with
her Dig nlghIy decorated porcelain stove Is
In but slightly better case In Russia
where the plain people sleep for the most
part wrapped In sheepskin coats on The
prich or stone floor over the stove with the
eVer-ready samovar bubbIinR on tba ohm,
ney shelf above their heads the problem of
keeping warm is reduced to its lowest
terms Americans would not accept such a
reuuctlon any more than they would accent
the French plan OF half freezing 'n bod 70
save the trouble and expense OF fires. nor
the italian habit Of shivering genrseIIv
around a dlmlnutiYe brazier tull of half
dead Goals.
Awnings for Palaces.
Europe sets awnings upon her paIaces
especially her pleasure palaces. In Amer
lea one finds them everywhere-eyen unon
tenements. That they are not entirely Uni-
versal is due, in large measure to the uni
Nersal vacation habit. As much may be
sald or window and door screens which
par aust and insects and let in the fresh
arr But none OF these adventitious aids TO
summer comfort afford half SO stropg q
contrast as does the use Of ice Here eyery-
oouy, without regard TO age, sex, color or
previous condition, regards Il as a common
a q, h.. a
out IN not weather than bread or clothes
II is far otherwise elsewhere London bars
even which serve iced drinks placard them
as American. Housewives abroad pet
along without IL, or, if very progressive
manage upon the most sDaring supply Tn.
buying is often literally from hand 10
mouth-no more than sufficient for a pres
ent economical consumption Such lavish
extravaganza as buying ice to melt while
keeping other things cool and fresh is un-
heard and unthought Of There is some
thing pitiful in hearing that so near us as
the West Indies the supply Of ice is often
fetched home wrapped in "A single palm leaf
BY way of contrast in New Orleans arti-
nclal Ice is so cheap the levee gangs and
roustabOuts while at work often pelt each
other with bits of it snatched from their
drinking water. And in the harvest fields
of the west and the middle south barrel
of Ice water. constantly replenished,
stands sweating coolness in some conve-
nient shade.
Throughout Great Britain. the country
whose standard of comfort most nearly an
proaches our own, many things which
American laborers eat plentifully are re-
served for the very rich. Peaches. for ex-
ample. Unless imported and tasteless as
well as dear, they a wall fruit only a
little less havorless and dearer still Peach
trees grow well enough, but will fruit only
on a wall or in a glass house. The best of
the fruit fetches shilings a little more
than a dollar. apiece. Ten shillings the
dozen will In a favorable season buy fair
fruit basket. meaning maybe four fine
NOS
ton wool and osier willow, may stand YOU
a guinea. So 1t is easy to understand that
many among even the well-to-dO live and
die without ever tasting really fine peach.
Melons and Corn.
1t is much the same as to melons.
France supplies the bulk OF those grown
outside melon houses and cold frames.
English gardeners have the soil and the
skill. but lack OF sunshine to perfect them
in the open. Private gardeners. Of course,
take pains to supply the tables Of the
great, but only In exceptional localities are
there market possibilities. In the case of
grapes what has been said Of melens and
peaches applies with double force. Still,
the markets are better supplied and at
more reasonable figures. since grapes from
France, Spain, Sicily, even from Califor-
MIA, are brought in and reach the con-
sumner in fairly good condition Green
corn, however. crown Of American sum
mer delights the Briton in the mass knows
not. He has neither the climate the
palate for IL at home, although in America
he takes to II like a native.
OF public and private elevators-lifts
John Bull calls them-America has a hun
dred to one anywhere else. And the bulk
of these-iu hotels shops. tbeaters, rail-
way terminals and apartment houses-exist
for the ease and comfort OF womenkind.
Thus they come clearly within the cate
CORY of her recognized necessities, which
an older but cruder world still accounts
luxuries. Harnessed electricity-for light.
heat cooking. fans and sewing machine
motorists something that can be no more
than mentioned within the limits set this
screed
These are some few of the high lights.
Inevitably there is a shadow-one that
needs must be written in a whisper. Its
name is ingratitude. The ladies, God bless
them, having so much. want more. In
strict Justice, however, that must be set
down against mankind not themselves,
since mankind has spoiled them and made
them believe the world spins around solely
for their pleasure.