The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-07

center of the room stood in the space occu-
pied by the dishwasher The soiled dishes
are now placed on the table and drain at
the right of the sink, brushed of crumbs
and grease at the sink, and then placed In
the dishwasher. When taken out dry they
are carried to the china cupboard shown.
When the table was removed from the
space now occupied by the dishwasher IT
was placed for the moment in the center of
the kitchen. This was a lucky incident,
for it did not take long TO prove to both
the housekeepsr and 10 Mollie that this was
the most economical and convenient place
for IL. When cooking is being done il is so
near to both range and sink that much time
and many steps are saved. When standing
at the range one has only to turn around TO
reach anything the table.
This saving of steps was conducive to
thought The calculation was made that
every time a trip from the table to the
kitchen safe was avoided ten steps were
saved. In this safe were kept the cooking
utensils in daily use and, as well, salt.
pepper spices. etc, which are used in cook
ing every meal Only a cook has any idea
how many trips are made for such utensils
and to put them away after they are
washed. and it is only the occasional cook
who is thoughtful enough to give the mat
ter definite attention Women have not vet
learned the value of small savings in time
and strength. Nothing is so prodigally
Wasteful as a wOman'S use, misuse, of
her forces in doing homework.
In order to save these steps a carpenter
was called in, who put pine casing around
the legs of the table, and then placed two
shelves within On the lower shelf were
kept the enameled kitchen utensils in daily
use. on the upper one were the crooks and
bowls, spoons and knives, salt and spices.
Such tables can be purchased now in any
furniture store, but all this was seven years
ago. Mollie said that this one change saved
her about half an hour day. When the
gas stove was in use in summer she turned
the table about and moved it close to this
stove.
When so much had been taken from the
sugar, coffee rice and other cereals which
had been kept on the shelves in the pantry
at the left of the pastry table. 1t needs no
demonstration that the distance from the
sink or range to the safe is less than to
these shelves. Thus another slight saving
was made Savings, no matter how slight,
were not despised in this careful scheme of
kitchen work.
Next to the icebox new shelves were
placed to the height of an ordinary table.
on these shelves were placed several bins
removable for cleaning-in which were kept
a weeks supply of apples, potatoes and
other vegetables. Even where large sup
plies are kept in the cellar, ii requires many
steps to bring them up for each meal The
top of these shelves were so arranged that,
on occasion, ii could be made double its or
binary width by pulling out a sliding shelf,
as shown by the dotted line This space is
convenient when placing food in the refrig
ever, in serving. much table space is needed.
Another shelf of this kind in the china
closet can be drawn out between the upper
and the lower sections.
The window in this china room is four
feet from the floor. Outside, on level with
the sill, is the space marked Cooler.
This is a shelf eighteen by twenty-four
inches, inclosed first by fly screening and
then by lowered Stats, which admit light,
but exclude sun and rain. Here can be
placed food which it is desirable TO cool
= efficient
ter, when the housekeeper has no Ice.
There she sometimes places a weeks supply
of meat, butter or other supplies which re-
quire cold, while in summer many fresh
vegetables and fruits, which 1t is not de-
sirable TO place in the refrigerator, find
lodging here
on one side of the range is a clotheschute.
which carries soiled linen from bathroom
and kitchen to the laundry below On the
other side is the flue. Our housekeeper has
placed against this flue at the height of six
feet a box 1Sx2fx6 inches, in which were
two shelves perforated, as were the top
and bottom, by anger holes. In this she
keeps scrub and stove brushes and rags.
They are always near when wanted, always
dry and free from odor, and always out or
sight
This is in the MAN. what was done to
save work through changes in the kitchen
itself. There was other saving through pro-
cesses and labor-SaVing utensils which can
not be told here. The changes in the
kitchen were slight and inexpensive, but at
the end of seven years they have lost none
of their value. The expenditure will hold
good during the lifetime OF the house The
housekeeper calculates that they have
saved from fifteen TO eighteen hours every
week of this time. She says: THE solu-
ton of the problem of house service lies, in
the main, i'm the saving of every possible
step, in the most careful consideration of
small details The broad lines of success
full housekeeping were laid out long ago by
our grandmothers To this generation is
presented the question of labor-saving in
small matters"