New-York tribune., 1909-02-21

-. .,oo,,ip, on Household Labor in the
Twentieth Century" at Teachers College Frldly al
te-noon I'VE shall have receptacle traVeliIIs @
through the air like the little thing that brings
vour change in the store. and when you press d
button f. will bring bread or deposit soup
plate before each You laugh and yet you are
advanced students of household economies lON
fnd nothing funny IN such an invention III sto'e,
r,+ - rroyozes your mirth think OF II utilized
in the lone. If any mine, factory or store were
run with the loss of time strength and laooI Iouu
in the home il would 20 out Of business
Mrs. Richards then traced very lnteresuhsl4 'i
course Of evens which transferred the WorK OF
women 70 the factory.
.e7be result Of taking industries out Of the home
she said is that nothing has been Ie1t OuI l,i0
drudgery. the dirty. heavy. unsklIled IaooI uH0
Uasbna Of pots and kettles the scrubbing Of hoors
Any woman would feel pride in beautfuI "eo oI
linen. spun and woven by her own hands. IL Il
finished created thing; a thing TO sho" one
friends a thing 10 last for years. ana always DC
q reminder of her skill and industry On the
other and. nobody feel pride In washing loe
of dishes which going to be dirtied again a
the next meal; in scrubbng floor which VIII DC
: tracked UP five minutes later In COOKING d lles1i
which half an hour later will be gone The only
work left to woman in the home is this sort OF
work which is never done which is perpetuaIy re-
curing. in which she never has the feeiiAe oi any
thing permanent accomplished II is pecuIlar' the
erfec+ this kitchen work intelligent, trained
vyonen-college graduates. perhaps or women VINO
had done competent work in the business world
I
fun of pride and zeal One year later they shut
the kitchen door as tightly possible and summed
all discussion OF its problems The things seemed
simply horrible to them. They kept IT out OF their
thoughts much possible
Now this condition is steadily growing worse
instead of better. When man began TO make the
cloth he still left the making Of the cloth into
garments-an equally great branch or manufacture
in the home. But that is steadily leaving the
home also. Women are charged to make the clothes
for their families Who would wear them II they
did? What would wear clothes made by MS
wife? The little boy Will wear them as long as
he is home but when he gets into school at the
age OF six it IS all over. The little ready made
boys 3eer at the home made boy. and be comes
home crying and won't wear the trousers mother
made any longer.
Moreover we getting We won't wear the
clothes we have made ourselves A great many OF
us would not be seen in a shlrtwaist q our own
making Il is good enough but II lacks the toucn
OF the garment made by professionals. II Isn't the
thing There are subtle differences that distin-
Guish IT, More and more the generation IS refus-
ing 10 wear clothes made by amateurs. AID de-
rnandIrg those made BY professionals We estab-
llsh classes 20 teach girls to make their own
clothes and try bamboozle them into think
ing that It is better 70 stay at home and make
their own clothes than 20 go out and earn the
money 20 pay for making them But We cannot
fool them The girl says 10 herself Why should
wear these clumsy things? III earn money and
pay for some nice ones Which IS her right, and
exactly what The does. 4 successful business
woman never makes her own clothes any more than
man does. She only makes her clothes II her
pay is so small that she cannot buy them. and must
take time that should be given to rest or recrea-
ZION 10 clothe herself.
Now, it is a curious fact that the very men who
have taken our old occupations out Of the home
and VA wouldn't any clothes we could pos
sbIy make for them. say that women ought not 20
20 out into the world that they ought to stay in
the home why should all the ethical speakers
blame us for letting our occupations go2 How
could We help il? II anybody IS to blame isn't Il
the man who took these occupations to make
money out OF them much the woman who
,et them goo He has accustomed people 10 the shop
stamp and nobody is satisfied without the
shop stamp.
I'VE are trying to give the houseworle done in
the home a shop stamp-that is. make the home
keepers professionaIs-by establishing costly courses
in domestic science But cannot accomplish the
change solely by the education OF the worker We
must change the home as we'll You cannot apply
the new IDEAS in the old-fashioned house.
THE old-fashioned house had many large rooms.
with many cupboards and cubbyholes, dark places
under the caves the attic-an infinitely difficult
place to keep clean. This large, rambling old house
often had steps TO go up and down between the
rooms the sink far from the stove; the kitchen
table further st; Il had few conveniences or de
vices to save time strength; II was generally Ill
ventilated and iii heated
.rTfa home of the future VIII be a neat. COM
pact place. containing no more room than can ba
adequately kept up in good shape We demand the
them we have got 10 sacrifice unnecessary space.
This home will be ventilated in some way so that
we will not need TO open windows II Is the win
dow open for ventilation, which admits the dust
and coal smuts which create eternal cleaning.
There will be apparatus which will wash and sft
every particle Of air admitted the house that
1t is an pure and clean. and this air Will be either
warmed or cooled TO the exact degree desirable.
There will be difficulty in cooling the
house Of the future in summer than in heating it
in winter. This house Of the future will be fitted
throu zhout with electric contrivances. We shall
cook and warm ourselves with electricity
+hinklnglv as we now light the house with il. All
the work. also will be done by little electric ma /
chimes worked by the pressure Of finger. The .
hous9 will be cleaned by little cleaner, cheap
enough for every family in ordinary circumstances
to have.
got 10 demand it. A great many OF these tnven-
tfors exist to-day. But the call for them Is sd
slight that 1t doesn't pay 10 put them on the mar
ket There is in women a deep seated fear or
ANYTHING new We have got 70 get rid of that type
of woman before we have the modern. up-to- :
dato twentieth century home. My hope is in the
rising generation. ! don't hope much Of the old .
housovgIves They were trained To be afraid Il
every thing new.
women must also be trained to understand ma (
chinery and run 1t. 1t is nonsense TO say that
women can't run machines. afraid OF them.
Ever,, wear they run more and more automobiles; .
run them alone: run them long distances, and have
neither accidents nor troubles. II woman can +
run an automobile she her nOusework by
machinery.
IF men want us to stay in the hcme they have
got to bring the inventions which fill the outside
world to-day into the house and teach US how
utilize them there. The manufa acturers have thus
far sought simply 10 produce something that will
amuse women and inclte their desire to buy-a
new hat or hatpn. ornament. Millions Of dol
Il