The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-10-23
Serious Effects Of Fall House
cleaning on Ovcr-Fastidious
Housewives Why Women
Fade Earlier Than Mcn-Gct-
ting Good Help BY Bringing
y Up Orphan Girls.
BY Margaret E. sangster..

= $50 weeks. All the beautiful fall
SS4S6A weather, tho best OF the year
~ '-'''----- for being out OF doors, has been
spent by her in a campaign OF securing.
scrubblng carpet-bcatlng and painting,
until the house shines like a Jewellers
window and every nook and corner Is
S Immaculate. Far be 1t from me to adj
vocnte careless housekeeping. but there
arc limits. When Jenny started In to
set her house in order for the winter,
she looked fairly plump and her cheeks
had n pretty pink color OF their own.
After several weeks OF hafd ss!dfpfgery
and anxious supervision. fretting over the
men who came late, and stshe GIep who
work to please her, Jenny looks dif-
fcrcnt being. She Is sallow. thin, at
tenuatcd, and frown seems to have
settled pernra nentiy on her smooth fore.
head. Jenny used TO be 80 prettyH'
Her friends say this, and add How she
has gone OFT since she married!
In common with American matrons. my
friend Jenny seldom has help that may
be considered efficient or responsible IN
her kitchen. Maids arrive and depart.
blue.cyed Swedes. dark-haired slavs.
rosy-tinted green horns" from Ireland,
and soft-voiced colorcd girls from the
South, all about equally trying and In
adequate. Trained servants at very
high wages are TO be had by the mis-
trcss who can afford to pay them-some-
times. Even Madane Millionaire has her
troubles In this line. ana money does
not always bring the perfect cook, the
neat housclnaid and the obliging waitress
4 Of ones dreams.
IS But Jenny is not rich, Her husband IS
doing well In business and the home has
every comfort.
One good all-round maid would meet
q Jcnnys need. but that desirable person.
age Is not to DO had. There are shops
women who formerly went into domestic
service and the comparative tndcpcn-
dencc OF the factory appears to them an
Offset TO the greater case of work In a
home. Besides. though 1t Is wholly with
out excuse. there is stigma attaching
counter feels herself socially many re-
moves from the girl over the wash-tub
and the ironing board. The girl at the
loom would not exchange places with the
girl who takes care Of little children IN q
nursery. 3s5
Women are borne down with continual
toll In their homes because in our COM
plex modern life and IN American at
nlosphcric conditions they cannot secure
the right kind OF assistance. II, like
Jenny. they have very high ideal OF
what their housekeeping should be, they
simply nut into 1t their own lives, their
flesh and blood and nerve and sinew.
and toll, until they drop with nervous ex-
haustion or some day slip into the grave.
The drudgcry OF overfastidlous house
Keeping Is something a man very sell
dom comprehends. II he did. he woul j
demonstrate to greater effect. E{
A husband goes to his office In the
morning. leaving behind him home SO
sweet 30 pure, SO peaceful. that the
yision OF It abides with MIN. and Is an
Inspiration to his efforts the entire day.
& He works hard enough during business
hours. Life is strenuous for the man
who would hold his own In tho fierce
competitions OF the twentieth century.
But when he turns the key in his desk
and leaves the scene OF his labors he goes
home again to a hearth swept and gag
nished, to q bright fire, good supper.
cozy and sheltered spot. which delights
him with It's tranquil beauty uiid &un-
disturbed order. 54
Nine out of ten men honestly suppose
that their wives have a very easy time.
indeed, and though they do not say SO,
they fancy that a home Keeps Itself.
Why do men grow handsomerf as they
grow older, while women grow palmer
Why should woman age faster than
man? Why should j ohm remain comely
and gain poise and dignity as the years
advance. while Jenny loses her bloom.
q her delicate face criss-crosses with q net
work OF fine wrinkles. and her golden
hair dulls Into faded brown? Ri
The answer Is obvious. Jenny works
too steadily over n multitude Of things
that do not pay because, though finished
to-day, they are, somehow. sure to need
doing agan tomorrow The bread and
pies and cakes she bakes are presently
eaten to the last crumb. The dustless
chambers gather dust again. Vanity OF
H.. H.
visible ink across the housekeeping OF
the most notable women In the land,
and 1t takes but twenty-four hours and q
shaft of sunlight to bring 1t out, SO that
he who runs may read.
Now, where is the remedy? There is a
4 remedy. And 1t is not In being slnttcrn-
il " ana living contentedly In dirt. Though,
some OF US are hypcr-sensitive about
dirt and ought to remember that mo Their
earth is a friend. that dust we are and
unto dust we Will one day return, vet
the majority have common sense and
know perfectly well the value OF a happy
medium. e
We must learn to discriminate between
essentials and nonessentials In the home
administration. Autumnal cleaning Is
requisite. and, as to the cellar and the
garnet and the closets and pantres. It
cannot be too scrupnlously done. But we
Ueeu not nave u CSCluue4 OF IN dVuluNCIe
In the whole house. Every room does
not need to be swept every week. AS for
washing windows SO often as Jenny does
IL is the most utter folly, rs the autumn
storms dash rain and the auttilnpDl gales
blow dust on them an hour "a flEr.s. they
are made to shine like assprIsm. =. - iF
or course, they must be clean enough tc
look through without opacity, "a visitor
~ In a happy go-lucky house oHce remarked
Oh the brightness of the morning. Yes
innocently observed u child, ''lnother
washed the windows yesterday" 8 Ell
8 Our grundmothers had a way. out OF
household difficulties worth our adoption,
They often took a little Girl to bring up,
finding her In an orphan asylum, or bor-
rowing her for some years from q fam
fly where there We're many mouths 10
feed, ana few dollars to do 1t with,
They gave this child schooling, clothes.
4 religious teaching, and thorough training
5l In the several departments OF housework.
She WAS treated as one of tho family.