The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-07-10
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| ham - i a34~eH IT, thtt maus road
- WiIi - surprised II aHi haA much
| he knows about the art If making
| iofns hpp.e8tke. mons her GHa4N
| popular books may he .utianel
| Pembroke. ~ Humble ~Roniauce.
| Giles Corey. jerome THE Jane
ans" ana THE Portion ot Labor
The conditions II tha problem are
| cry simple. the solution af cauT~ not
- simple solutions never are. other
] wise no problem. StilI. the solution.
| " II solution. may seem evident
enough. and al the trouble consist ia
he extreme Inconvenience" NOT ta
say impossibility. II putting H. u a
.raetical application. II T. perfectly
taSv to SAY that two and two make
-four fully - understand thai I've AMI
sNo make four. Ut there may he con-
iitioHs under which it is We'll nigh
impossible Il make the four. Per
maps the factors viii not combine nj
al or not without an explosion.
often with the servant problem it
may be quite widen what the dtiil-
nlty is. at least generally speaking =
thoughtful and discriminating woman
who has tried houSek ecptng herself, ol
made an intelligent study of its re-
q~uirementS, soon reached the conclu-
sion thai the simplest and most primi-
tive household tasks require brains
and no smaIl allowance ii them. In
s3dlIIA Sftt il@GgA cts tEftl ~ dt{AF hl'
more necessary iii the kitchen than
p-2ySical strength.
a stupid servant cannot even sweep
| 4 room skillfully. she Will inevitably
scatter the dust and lint that comes As
mystcriously As the wind in the new
testament aud as d~eiiaatly. where l.
listeth. all over the furniture and
walls, instead of into the yagu" out
of-door limbo Of dust. whence Ii prob
ably returns. but that canuot lac
helped: it makes the task Of SerNitude
perennial. 1t is essential at all events
that il be banished thither, but no uu-
skilled, braiuiess servant ran effect
that.
You can teach her to the best II
| your ability. You can say; "Now.
Abigail. YOU must take this and cover
that. YOU mus dust first. YOU must
sweep so and SO" 1t Will all be fruit
less unless Abigail has a receptive and
Intelligent order Of mind, and usually
she will not have it. If she does pos
| scss tina order Of mind she viii b. 1T
a typewriter machine or 4 sewing ma
chine. or in a school house or a mil
liners or photographers parlor. IN
stead Of your kitchen She may be
| prinked and pert behind a counter. In
| any case, wherever else they may be,
the brains are not III your kitchen an
less YOU nave fortunately struck the
exception to prove the rule. II
Abigail had possessed brains she
would at once have proceeded To at
tempt something which she could not
do half as we'll as she might have
done your housework and if n had
only 50 viewed it, without half the
glory.
A good domestic is such a rare
avis that she ought to ave a prestige
like any other rare thing, but she has
it not. and one cannot blame her, but
society. for her wrong estimate Of the
deSirability of domestic service. NO
body. that is. nobody in this country,
and especially the American born, Is
is a rule going into your kitchen to
work if she has mental ability. The
mental ability presupposcs ambition
and the ambition in this country
means to an Abigail a position In
which the doors Of a certain class
shall not be closed to her on account
Of her calling.
Everybody with wit las an emula-
tive eye and a ready foot for the next
step above him in social caste. As a
rule all others have either been crush
ed by circumstance into passiveness
or they are really too dull to compre-
bend that they are not all which they
might reasonably desire and have not
the most desirable position. They
arc too stupid to be ambitious and
stay where their conditions Of life
AAANf - $3.50 N'-A-9 A8A
leaves too inert to be stirred
by any gust Of wind. with neither mo-
ton Of their own capability of re-
ceiving motion from others.
These are they TO whom YOU pay
s12, $14 or more a month for walk
ing the aimless. hopeless treadmill If
your kitchen, to do labor without com
pretending either its object or itself,
like the crudest, machine conceivable
We have advanced i~mmeasurabIy in
our Inventions, our printing presses.
our typewritcrs all our labor-saving
and perfecting machines, but the ser
want still dates back to the days Of
the handloom and the spindle.
Of course ! do not speak Of trained
English and French servants o. Amer
lean servants with i like ~raining Or
Of those employed in situations where
wealth can command q gDodly allow
lance Of ability in his as in othe- di-
rections. Wealth can do almost any
timing.
speak of the usual servant at
usual wages in the families Of modcr-
ate means who nave the seyercst
struggle with the servant problem.
since their own minds and muscles
are involved in its solution.
Inere is felt keenly the lack Of
Draln and gray matter. not Of blind
Willingness and bovine obedience in
the kitchen. That. as before said. is
- - III CT - - 10
the floor dust taketh wings and fieth
70 the picture frames and the ceiling.
why the meat is oyerdone or under-
done, why the dishes are nicked and
the substance wasted. And there IS as
much sense in finding fault nd hIam-
ing as in tuning because one cannot
pIck figs from thistles. The thistles IF
life choke out the figs for the most
part. While there really are fig they
never grow on thistles.
Inc one answer to the question as
10 what shall be done in the case If
inadequate Intelligence in the kitchen
seems to presuppose itself Rraine
there must be in the house or il u,iIl
Idil. II there are none in the kitchen
.ne'e must pc some IN the parlor, and
the motive power must eYtend - 80
Kitchen and supply the need there