Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1907-09-18
THEIR WORK ALSO
PROVED ARDUOUS
Cost Them More Than Boarding
and Rooming in Fine House
and Was Constant Source
of Worry and Hardship
to Them.

summer we kept bachelors hall in a
tent house We don't do it now
we know better-but we tried the ex-
pertinent and failed TO make good
said one of a trio who recently start
ed to board again after three
In the time we kept house we
had more trouble to the square inch
than there is carpet on the floor; we
lived worse and had less leisure time
than ever before and 1t cost US almost
twice as much as it does TO board
and live in comfortable house,
continued the speaker. What start
ed us to try batchingi were the glow
ing tales about camp life which one
Of our number told; this misguides
qouth Dragged of his ability to cook
and boasted of the Joys of solitary
confinement in the heart of nature
and all that. We thought he was
telling the truth; we thought he
could at least boil water without
burning it, or fry an egg, but future
developments showed that he was a
fraud, constructively speaking.
Life i'm Tent House.
I'VE could not go to the mountains
to camp because the trolley has not
all have steady jobs in town, so we
rented a commodious two-room tent
house in the Highlands The place
was furnished for liGht housekeeping
or was supposed to be. We found
before we had been there a week
that IL was necessary to augment the
household equipment by a number of
simple, but essential tools for main
taiing an establishment up to the
rigid requirements of our sense of
common decency. For instance, we
had to buy a broom, a frying pan
the one already there was rusty and
full of nail holes a piece of oil cloth,
sanitary dish pan, a larger coffee
pot, three extra blankets and a few
more useful articles Yet, though we
had strenuous time in getting set
tied, we really enjoyed that first week
the most. We thought then that as
soon as things got to running
smoothly we could settle down to the
enjoyment of a free and easy life,
but things never got to running
smoothly somehow; there were al
ways a dozen unforeseen things COM
ing up which served to keep us per-
petually in metaphorical hot water.
Work Was Arduous.
Though at the outset we pain
stakinsly appOrtiOned the work of
the household, yet the work was new
er accom- plished without a struggle
Tom was supposed to sweep out
every morning because he did not
know the least thing about cooking;
ne would take a notion to perform
this duty occasionally after being
duly reminded of IT several times a
day, but whenever he did feel in the
mood of sweeping, the other two of
US had to vacate or suffocate. We
made 1t a rule to wash the dishes
Immediately after each meal; we
vowed we would hang the blankets
out on the line TO air every day: we
planned to have meals at regular
hours; We set certain hours for 90
Ing to bed and getting up In the
morning, but our regulations were
NOT enforced. on paper our system
looked good, but I'm operation II was
a failure. The trouble was there was
no one in authority; there was no
nead OF the house to engineer the af-
iairs We were all bosses-Tom, Dick
and Harry-three bosses and each
was exceedingly sensitive about TAX
ing orders from another one Of the
principal reasons We started house
keeping was that we would not have
to take orders and so we left undone
Things which We ought TO have done.
Cost of Living.
NOW none of us are earning
pfnceiy salaries at present and II
was the vague idea that we could
i've cheaper Matching than boarding
that aided and abetted US in plung-
ing into the housekeeping expert
ment. Not one of us previously spent
more than eight dollars a week for
board and room, but 'batching' cost
us nearer twelve dollars a week
apiece. This is how 1t happened:
we paid $40 a month rent for
the tent house S2.2O a month for
water and 81 a month for fuel Two
loads of wood lasted US about a
month as I'm the good old summer
time we did not use any for heating
purposes. This makes $142O a
month. The following Is a sample of
one weeks expenses for meat and
groceries: Beef $2.45-we usually
bought a steak for our evening meal
and this cost about 80 cents a throw
ham or bacon for breakfasts. so
cents, three dozen eggs. $1.O5; sugar,
30 cents, coffee, 60 cents; three pack
ages Of predige.ted breakfast food,
40 cents; two pounds Of butter, 70
cents; onions, 10 cents; milk, 70
cents; $50 pounds Of ice, 75 cents,
oil for two lamps 10 cents; house
hold washing. $40; canned goods.
20 cents; cheese, 80 cents; vegetables.
melons, fruit $l5O; bread. $1.O5;
soap and other iucidentals, so cents,
making almost Sl4 for one week.
Besides this each Of US ate lunch at
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