Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-10-16
HOUSEHOLD.
THRIFTY FRENCH WOMEN.

Laurence Sterne said long time
ago, 'sThey do these things better I'D
France" "As regards economy this
is certainly the case" says an Ameri-
can woman now sojourning in that
beautiful country. "And thank Heav-
en-" she adds, "the New World in all
its length that I have travelled, from
Maine to Cape Horn, from the Allan
tic to the Pacific, knows no such close
ness. And the country is rich. There
is more wealth in the area that would
have to be multiplied by seventeen
large as the United States than in
any other land in the world. One
sees almost no abject poverty, and
none at all outside the cities. Here,
in the region made famous by the
Huguenots, one can drive miles and
miles through lanes bordered by
fields rich in all sorts of farm produce,
where, but for the peasants in wood
en- shoes and blue blouses, one could
almost imagine ones self in our fruit
full West. But the management OF
the living in the picturesque stone
houses that belong to these farms is
vastly different from that of the lavish
West. 1t is the thrift of the house
wife that has made France so rich
this, and the national inclination to
avarice. A penny saved is more than
a penny earned. The French believe
that money is time, rather than that
time is money.
A curious phase of French economy
is the annual washday. To French
thrift this wholesale way of getting
the washing done is cheaper than TO
keep a laundress the year round.
French economy also considers it just
as we'll for the health and much better
for the purse to change the beds only
once in three or four weeks, both
sheets at once, for no such thing as
shifting the top sheet to the bottom is
known. This is because a French
Top Sheet-it needs to be capitalized,
for it is a very grand affairs too
decorative to be used. as an under
one. 1t is embroidered, if very fine,
to the depth of foot or more, or it
has a deep hemstitched border across
one end and half down both sides,
with three inch initials adjoining the
centre. This decorated half of the
upper sheet is turned back over the
bed as a sham sheet is used in Amer
lea, although it is entirely hidden
during the day by the coverlet,
which is of cretonne or silk or stuff
that matches the curtains of bed and
window snd the coverings of the
walls. These coIored coverIets hide
a multitude Of sins, therefore, since
after once using even the much
trimmed top sheet looks crum pied
while after il has been three weeks on
the bed it is even more in need of
being hidden.
CAT the end of my first week in a
chateau, where the splendor of fur
nishinge, the manners and customs
delighted my soul, I looked for a
freshening of those washable appoint
ments of my room that one is accus-
toned to at home. But no such
freshening took place. The soiled
towels [ threw aside were neatly
folded and put back on the rack.
paid no attention to this and reck-
lessly used the four 'serviettes' that
found in my washstand, not knowing
they were expected to last me az
many weeks.
"The preparations fer the annua
wash were worth seeing.
"You think that washday in Amer
lea is busy time, do you? You were
never more mistaken. What are five
or six sheets for household to twice
that many dozen?<
"There were the garments of the
fan lily, mostly linen, everything tina
had been worn in the last twelve
months. Many things had become
, miIdewed, nearly everything was
dreadful color, muddy or yellow. Al
American l8undress would have haC
the heartache over them, and at the
way the washerwoman slapped an(
beat the m on the stones Of the pool
threatening rotten threads with shor
+: life. But for weeks before the day o
la lessive all the women of the house
: hold were mending, mendipg from
; morning till night, preparing tb'
; garments to endure the strain of heiI|
cleansed. Thin places were daFpe'
so beautifully they made the whole
stuff look ashamed of it's baroness
Many things that Americans wouit
: consider fl only for the rag bag were
Worked upon for days.