New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-01-29
THE MODERN HOME.
Hoo Far 1t Falls Short of the Ideal
Conception.

zone woman in her kitchen consumes for q small
family enough fuel TO cook for whole block OF
families" said Mrs. John J. Schoonhoven last week
at the domestic science department OF Brooklyn
Institute.
Modern Conceptions Of the Home" her
theme, and she traced the development OF the home
from primitive times, in order 10 make clear us
status to-day.
THE primitive home was a workshop said sne'
''snd host Of great world activities OF to-day are
simply DEVELOPMENTS OF the home industries Of the
primitive woman To-day individual effort has
given place 10 organized production The loom ana
spinning wheel Of the home passed easily and
naturally into the great cloth manufacturing in
dustry So 70 e great extent did the manufacture
OF the cloth into clothing especially for men. The
lighting OF our homes from a central plant has be-
come nearly universal and must become more
nearly 50 every year. But for some reason cook
ing laundry work and cleaning and the process OF
heating our houses have remained in the Oldtime
stage dependent upon Individual effort, uncertain
and unframed help. and all the economic waste Of
disorganized and unskilled labor. One woman in
her kitchen consumes enough fuel to cook FOR
block Think what saving there would be from
central heating plant IN one Of our city blocks.
Think the saving OF dust and dirt IN doing away
with individual ash barrels, strung down the street
twice week. Cleaning. that warfare with dust
that has been waged by woman since the dawn OF
time-think OF cleaning done by experts with mod
ern appliances suction tubes and what not.
THE great obstruction 10 the modern, scientific
development OF household industry IS the fixed idea
that the presence Of certain industries within its
walls IS essential TO the preservation Of the home
itself Cooking and cleaning are regarded as the
CHIEF OF these essential industries. Let con-
sider for a moment what Is really essential and
what is non-essential FOR the preservation Of the
home Il the breakfast be sent IN from a central
cooking station, and the members Of the family
assemble the table without the odoTs Of the
Kitchen range or the sight Of the flushed face OF
the cook, be she hired girl CT mother, viii the
home lie be marred. the children less Joyous or
The parents less loving? We need "a face the fact
with clearness that neither the home home
making Is dependent upon the presence Of a group
o. ill-assorted Industries in the house where the
family lives
THE passing Of the oldtime workshop home has
had a marked effect upon the lives of women in
the cities. IN many cases they left with empty
hands 10 follow their own sweet will Woman is
instinctively and first of all a worker She does
very hard whatever she does. Hence We have our
society functions at which women work with
nerve rackng energy, and many other abnormal
growths in our modern city lives, owing the out
pouring Of WOmaI's energy into channels. OF
course. this is not the case in rural communities
where the home is still a workshop. But IL is the
condition IN cities. where large fortunes and over
worked men and idle though abnorually busy wom-
en- are found IN great numbers. So that in all
seriousness, the question is to-day being asked
Where is our American home2 There is an idea
abroad that the home is a thing Of the past or is
fast disappearing. Men are more comfortable I'm
clubs than in homes infected with the servant
pfouIeIn women are seeking public life. they saw.
Much Of this criticism Is false and exaggerated
Because the oldtime workshop home is gone or IS
fast going does not prove that a home built upon
higher ideals and greater possibilities viii not rise
upon its ashes Women have been called from
their spinning and weaving to mathematics and
sciences and the arts The KEYS to the reu1r1a Of
knowledge, which is also the temple Of power
have beeu rY- fr trefr Fg-.7- DE 49,
- - - q" 't'l'. i-ai1S buL ulese hrmly
--1'e, 90 Aol DID inc last analysis lead them away
from the highest realities and possibilities Of homo
life Instead +I,a,, ave ,f.f.- -. 80 ''-0
-e-+f.- - -. go e-'--e '0'''Vii d Ar" con-
-1ptIoA OF the nome
" hat are the essential features Of the r-eyv
ho-1n2 With the ,,eee=-.- 20 - -
home bs+ - - - u 'i-7 o'' WORKSHOP
- '-''' - 'i-'le l@ll Tor woman 10 do2 Shall
she follow the Industries she began ~ Iar frosi5a
into tho v-or1g and ... No..
she v-1-r7 l-. ''''-.'' f''S IT, make
.'1 "'i nome is there mo- outlet for
woman energy and creative instincts ia TIA, ,,a,.
the weary Grind 81 g--. --,g %. seek pleasure IN