Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1905-10-19

BIZ MARY ANNABLE FANroN.
l can imagine nothing more as
tonishing to the average American
housewife than the sight of an old
Holland town ola Saturday afternoon
with every woman who takes care
Of her own house or helps in the
care OF fanother's house out-of-doors
scrubbing- -scrubbing the stones In
the houses, the old wooden blinds,
the stones steps, the tiles in the
narrow streets, the very steps lead.
ing TO the canals.
Then out on the tiled Streets
haautifnl old blue and white tiles,
fine enough for tea table-are the
boys scrubbing their brass and cop
per milk jars and the brass trim
mings on the milk wagons, and last
the stout intelligent dogs that draw
the carts are taken down to the can.
ais TO have their faces washed, with
soap too, il you please.
Surely the tyrant of Holland, and
Germany too for that matter, is the
scrubbing brush. The stone stairs
and the floors in q German house
are scrubbed every night, and fre.
quently the garden has a stone court
and that must be cleaned and so
must the chairs and tables out in
the garden.
In Holland town, of q Sunday
morning one is reminded of that
funny little poem by Hildred
Howells, that tells how a conscien-
tious Dutch house-frau scrubbed
the faces of her family of boys and
girls until all their features were
worn off, and only fiat circles left
for faces.
In America the scrubbing brush,
though much respected, is less of a
tyrant. 1t is appreciated, but it is
not allowed to rule with too iron a
hand. The American house wife
mixes Intelligence with her passion
for cleanness. She likes her house
hygienically clean, and she knows
the most important principles of
sanitation. She realizes by study
and experience that there are ways
of making her d dwelling fresh with
out loosing her own freshness and
beauty. that Nature provides cleans
ing as well as healing forces, that
dirt and dust and dust and microbes
can be obliterated by understanding
these natural agencies as well as by
muscular effort.
1t is always intelligent to do a
troublesome thing in the. simplest
fashion. If nature wants to help
US, it is well to let her in her own
wise simple way. Ii she is willing
to make housework easier and les
sen the despotismof the scurb brush
why not accept Ter help gratefully? I?
Perhaps the simplest of natures
offers to help busy woman is by
furnishing a wholesome inexpensive
cleaning powder which disintegra-
tes soil without exhaustive personal
labor.
l often used is think while in Hol-
land of that different life the woman
might have there il they would sub
stitute borax for brushes, as Ameri-
can women are doing more and
more. 1t would have meant Satur-
day for rest day instead of a day
on steady tremendous exertion.
Fortunately in America we leave
the streets largely to the cleaning
departments, but even indoors the
wise woman lessons her hard mus
cular work by every genuine helm.
Ii half a cup of borax will lllessen her
labor one half, she will not let tradi.
tion stand in the way of time. rest
and enjoyment.
Undoubtedly the American vomon
has the pleasantest life of any wo-
man in this 10th Century, and 1t is
largely because she uses her brain
TO help her mucle, Ibecauss she lets
science come To her aid. and uarnits