The sun., 1903-05-24

"nlcn mi NJ Do tne resuiu OF soIne RltcheNi
leak.
'Of course, am not referr ng to the
pernicious system Of the book at the corner
grocery, with whic the servant is allowe d
to make purchases promiscuously several
times cay. until matters are 20 mixed that
it is impossible to tell what is ou ht or
why it is bought. The housewife must
! ma ket herself That il absolutely neces-
whatever she may rave TO neglect, she
must not allow a careless maid or perhaps
child. to do her purchasing. The habit of
running out to buy things in all amounts
as they are needed is one OF the greatest
foes to domestic economy. -,
-Once a week list Of necessarics should
be made out The supply should be for
at least a week, and with inexperienced
housekeepers II is wise not to lay in larger
supply, as it sometimes encoura es ex-
and egetables should be bought fresh
But it is just on this point that most of
the arguments as to cheap living must
come to an unsettled ending. One careless
buyer and manager will provide her family
all the year round. paying large amount
each week for the table, as these are the
two most expensive ordinary focGs.
Another more careful manager, by arrang-
ing her bills Of fare for a week in advance.
can provide excellent food for less than half
the money.
This is the mysterious item that makes
Jones's living cost him forty hundred
wear. while Brown lives better on twenty
five hundred. On this point the young house,
several OF the up-to-date cook-books
Then. also, the modern cooking. school is
far more practical than the old-time estab-
lishment, and women are taught the science
OF the home rather than the making OF fancy
dishes, as formerly.
sAs for that misguided person who be-
came famous early in THE Sun controversy
by his eloquent outburst on the subject OF
his inability TO live decently on 81 500 year.
although he confessed that his wife wore
cast-of clothing given her by her relatives,
saw at once that the secret Of his trouble
! with funds was bad housekeeping. The
continued illness Of his children, the ex-
penses Of trained nurses and the necessity
OF keeping two servants oil told the story
OF incompetent management on the pert
Of the wife, whom he described as patient
women whose husbands incomes were
limited managed to take care OF their sick
children themselves long before treired
nurses became as plenty as they are Et
present And some mothers also manage
to take their little ones out for walk when
they happen to have servant in the kltchen
to get the dinner.
sWomen must learn home mana cement
il they are to bring up their families OH
small income. Some women not only sue
ceed in managing their husbands incomes
and homes, but also turn improvident
men into PHOSPHORUS merchants through
their advice and good example IN the
management OF money:
a serious mistake is the mixing up OF
a wife's personal allowance with the house
hold money Either one side or the other
Ia sure TO suffer In this case. Then the
rule as TO the handling Of money should
be decided by the ability OF the wife to
manage with It.
Most women can manage with money
much better than men; but they cannot
all do 40, and some women will give their
interest to dress and let other departments
Of the home suffer In consequence.
IF wife Is 40 incompetent that she
cannot manage a small household. and
II she will not take interest enough in the
subject to learn to do 40. 1t would he 'dle
to advocate that money should still be
without results.
at Ia far better in such cases to give
wife her pocket money allowance and to
have the rest of the buying done on Dill
basis, where extravaganza can at once be
detected and cured.
Il am aware that some people engulf
themselves pec,iniarily the moment they
start an account anywhere, but there is
no reason why intelligent persons should
do So The cash-payment plan has its
adyanta Res, 1t is true, but II has its faults
also. Il IA certain that the exact weekly
and monthly expenditures Of home can
be determined better with itemized nc
counts than on the oash-payment basis.