The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1903-05-07
A SUCCESSFUL HoUsEKEEPER.
she Must Have n Thorough KnowI-
edge Of Every Detail and
he Manager.

-
he a Manager.
One OF the most important duties Of
wife is to make a home and maintain
home life. All the complicated duties
of domestic economy, all the sanitary
conditions of the home, all its culinary
arrangements. the execution of all its
plans for comfort and peace are large
ly dependent on her. Housekeeping is
growing more and more complicated
every year, says the Prairie Farmer
Home Magazine. Fifty years ago
housekeeping was a very simple affair,
when microbes or bacteria were un-
known and when men and women ate
and drank and dressed as It pleased
them, and not as science prescribed.
The house was furnished in those times
for comfort; now too often 1t is fur
nished first for show and then for COM
fort. The halls used to be halls; but
now they are practically rooms. The
different departments of the home
have not only increased in number,
but the simplicity in furnishing has
also disappeared. We have advanced
in our domestic machinery. True, but
have we really improved?
The competent housekeeper Of the
present day must know how to do the
work Of the cook, the laundress, the
waitress, the dressmaker, the nurse,
and be family bookkeeper. She must
be something Of a chemist as well as
cook. She must know something Of
the nutritive value of different kinds
Of foods. She must understand that
impure water, bad drainage and dirt
are probably the greatest causes of i'll
health. The well regulated home Of
to-day is harder to take care of than
the same kind OF home 60 years ago.
Everything was on a simpler scale;
things that were regarded as luxuries
then are now considered necessities
Science and mechanical skill have
made many things in keeping house
easier, but they have also been the
means Of introducing such variety that
care has been increased in far greater
proportion than labor has been light
ened. The simpler the style of the
home the less the strain; the more
elaborate we make il the greater Is the
care, no difference how many labor
saving devices We may have to aid us.
Some one must superintend, and super
intendence IS often as wearing as ac-
tual work
The spirit of order must reign in a
home, and no one can bring it there
but the mistress. If she only begins
early ia her married life the batilewill
not be so hard to win. If she waits un-
til she is overwhelmed with the cares
of family, the undertaking will be
far more difficult; but even then the
case Is not hopeless Begin in some
part Of the house and reduce il to or
der, and then preserveit until you have
complete control. It is such relief
to have certain times set apart for
certain duties and not TO have 10 think
about when you would better do this
or that. Husbands very often reproach
their wives with the want of system.
Perhaps women are peculiarly open to
this reproach. and perhaps they are
not. 1t seems to me to be more mat
ter Of temperament and early training
than Of sex. Some individuals seem
to be born with an instinct of order.
BY the time they have reached man
hood and maidenhood il almost
amounts to a sixth sense. When new
duty appears they instinctiyely find a
place for ii in their plan Of life. A
woman who has this instinct OF order
highly developed has her house and
work well arranged. because it is sim
ply reflection Of her inner self. There
is a place for everything and even il
things do get out of order some times,
1t does not make her nervous, for she
knows where everything belongs and
she can quickly bring order out of con-
fusion when she has the opportunity.
Order is not the birthTight Of either
sex. In spite of their airs of superior
ity men are often very careless and
unsystematic. We MI know the chaotic
state to which a household is soon re
duced If the wife is away from home
for some time and leaves her liege lord
in charge The same state Of chaos
no doubt would exist if the wife took
charge Of her husbands business.