The Washington times., 1906-02-18

O THE reader of Common Sense
in the Household her name is not
unfamiliar She has been my
= household oracle for thirty years
and more. She is. therefore. not young,
even by. courtesy. She is not ashamed
ro own 10 seventy. Why should she
hesitate to detail the experiences OF
threescore and ten, when every year Is
marked with p white stoneE
II is OF Mrs Sterling as a practical
housekeeper and homemaker that these
pa pers VIII speak l told her yesterday
that 1 regard her as the too frequently
missing link between Housewifery. Past
and Present She is. today, as she has
beer for fifty years. her own house
keeper
For half a century 1 have never. for
a single day when at home failed to
order with my own lips the three daily
meals to be eaten by my family. she
says with pardonable pride Even
when confined to my bed by illness. l
have summoned the cook 10 my room
and told her what 20 do
It follows. inevitably. that she is ''au
fait-' TO every department of cookery
and all that pertains thereto; further
more. that she is mistress in her own
ment cf it whether servants give warn
ing or whether they will forbear.
Afternoon tea Is daily function With
the blessed woman, and We, her
disciples. have way of dropping IN De
tween 4 and o'clock to lay our troubles
before the true burden-bearer and 20
entreQt her counsel The quality OF the
counsel may have something to do with
our belief that such tea never Tegaies
our senses anywhere else. some DAY
viii coax her into talk upon Tea
and how to make it
But TO our present subject:
Mrs Martin. q Southern woman. VINO
has lately come to our city, was re-
gretting that we cannot lock up gro
ceries as they do In VIrglnia-siVins
out daily supplies each morning
Who pays for them and has the rignt
to say how and when they shall be
used! Here, a cook viii not stay one
KEYS on yez. It's same as sayin as
how daeint. liViB'-our guTreI is a
thafe iV'ry time she gifts chance to
stale -
The minicry is so good that We all
laugh, and the lively malcontent rs en-
couraged to go en-
''ResuIt-we are all partially robbed.
I no more believe that all the Duttef'
sugar, flour. etc. brought into my house
is honestly consumed there, than that
] devour it all myself. what with the
calls for charity at the kitchen dooI
and the reIa tives of cook, chambermaid
and waitress, TO whom a pound of tea.
coffee. or sugar is a rale mercy, the
toll is continual. IL not, grievous.@
when not dishonest they are waste
full said another. And third
'fWastafuIness Is dishonesty when one
handles another's property"
The tea-pouring is over. and Mrs.
Sterling is slipping thoughtfully the last
cup served. We are silently expectaut
of a solution of the problem. When she
puts on what Mrs. Martin calls her
charitable-reminiscent look We know
that help is not far Off.
Thirty years aSo"-is the promising
heginning-"when | was forty years old
and had been keeping my own house
for twenty years, and supposed myself
tolerahly proficient in ways and means
my cook was one Margaret DAILY; in
dustrious. respectful. and willing to
work, or TO 0blige. She never 'gadded,
she was sober, pleasant OF temper and
manner. model maid, you will say,
and that would think, not twice. but
many times, before ] exchanged her for
any ether. Yet, / had about made Up
my mind TO make the change Margaret
had a drunken brOther-in-law. and his
wife. her sister, had six children ana
a chronic whine. Margaret, as I knew.
divided her lawful wages with her.
Whether or not she contributed of my
abundance to relieve the necessities OF
her suffering fiesh-and-blood. l could
not say Certain il was that the said