Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-05-02
WHEN FRED MANAGED

E% EWEIf 49, 49, HR1
abe said. I've been having such a worry
over housekeeping matters. If Fred would
only leave me alone to managei"
Il know just what it is to have a man in
terfering about the house." responded the
hostess, sympatheticaily. s'Take off your
wrap, dear. You d. look worn out. As
soon as ! get the tea a cup will refresh you
wonderfully. As you say. ii men would only
attend to their business
Everything was all right till Fred read
something somewhere, about keeping house
by a SYSTEM" her guest continued, plain
lively.
The hostess gave a. little groan Of SYM
pathy as she poured tie boiling water or
the tea leaves. written BY someone who
never kept house in her life, / supposed 1t
can't be done"
That's what ! said. But Fred was sure
it could, the same as his business. He be.
gan to complain that the table ! set was no
better than that Of the woman who fed a
family of six upon ten dollars a week. That
| was imposed upon by the tradespeople.
made. to pay extravagant prices for inferior
articles, because ] didn't go to market my
self every morning and 20 on without end
Well, a week ago last Sunday things reached
a climax. You know what a pick me.up af-
fair the supper Of Sunday night is, anyhow
And that Sunday was the cooks afternoon
out, so Of course two men had to drop in
10 tea. Now usually / have a steak or chors
zsomething simple to cook-with potatoes;
thea . salad, fruit, cake, and coffee. don't
know how 1t happened. ] am sure I ordered
a steak. Perhaps | did, and THE butchers
boy forgot to leave II. ANYHOW, when /
went to look, there was nothing in the re-
frigerator but the roast left over from din
ner."
ut just had to happenl' said the host.
ess.
"Of course! The very night I didn't want
1t tol Well. ! didn't like to serve creamed
potatoes with the cold meat, 80 there was
nothing to do but heat the oven and bake
them. OF course it made supper rather late;
but consoled myself with the thought Of a
delicious lobster salad. The cook had left
the lobster all prepared. Ny dear, ] could
have cried when ] discovered that ] was en-
tirely out of oil. Wasn't that just my luek?o
Those things simply will occur. There's
no avoiding them" said the other woman.
FIRED was unkind enough to say after
ward that such things were always occur
ring with me. There's no making a man
understand. You should have heard him
when his friends had gonel 1t was why
don't you make out a menu the beginning
OF each weekg'"
Gust as though a woman can tell what
she wants until she finds out what they
have cheapest and best in the markets, and
what she has left over from the day before"
i~nterposed the other.
Precisely! But Fred's tune was go out
and trot around yourself, and if they haven't
what you want in one place, try another
And he was sure the solution Of all household
problems was the making Of innumerable
lists"
AS well ask him to make lists of his
friends who will drop in to supper" inter
rupted the hostess.
"How smart you are" sighed her friend,
enviously. II wish | had thought to say
something like that to Fred. But I was
foolish and lost my temper. and | told him
that If he thought he could manage things
SO easily he had better try it."
Heavens! ! hope he didn't"
Eyes, he did, my dear, that very night.
And he's been at it over a week.
81 don't wonder YOU are worn into a
shred! | can just imagine"
mo, my dear, you can't-you can't pos
sibly imagine what I've been through. Wait
till / tell you. Fred went to work at once.
He took a magazine with menus in It, and
compiled a set for the week from them. and
made duplicates for the cook. He calculated
how to use the leftovers and everything.
like a grandmother. 1t makes me sick. Then
from his menus he made out a marketinglist
for each day, and duplicates of those for the
cook, too, that she might see that every
thing came, and a list of groceries which he
said he would buy altogether on Monday.
He set up half the night writing those lists.
and the e morning he gave up his half
hour with his paper and went to market
himself. He told me the next evening. with
an air of pride, that he had consulted the
market quotations before starting and dis
covered that my butcher was charging me
two cents a pound too much for meat, and
had confronted him with the fact and made
him reduce. The next day he had discovered
that a store further down the street than
the one at which | deal had much better
fruits and vegetables than we had been
getting. Well, | didn't say a word. / sat
at table and took note Of the menus. There
was always more than / provided and deli
cacies shouldn't have thought of attempt
ing"
"H'h! Wait till he looks over the bills"
chuekled the other woman.
That's it. He never even thought of the
bills. And the way | worry over them!
He asked the cook to keep them for him
till the end of the week. SO while he sat at
table and every now and then remarked
how smoothly his plan was working, how
much better and more varied the menus
were, etc, | thought of those bills rapidly
accommodating in the dresser drawer and was
comforted. Well. my dear, he went to work
at the bills last night, and this morning he
was waiting for me at the breakfast table
in triumph. Would you believe i'll They
amounted to two whole dollars less than my
bills for the week beforel l don't know
what am going to do. He's worse than ever.
SAYS that if | would only keep lists and
and" Her voice broke and she slipped
forth handkerchief.
The lips of the other woman frightened
with sympathetic Indignation. That's SO
like a mani" she said. Gust because his
plan happened to work oncel Men are SO
exasperating!'-N Y. Times.
She Had Her wish.
A little girl who had noticed on variors