The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-15
WHAT MOTHERS NEED
 MOST TO PRESERVE BEAUTY
By MRS. J. II. REID

few days ago a young man placed in his mothers lap a beautiful story he had clipped from the paper, of moth CTS duties to home. Dwelling mostly upon the necessity of her care of her personal appearance at all times. espe- cially that needed to hold the love ol the husband in the home. "The story
 was a very wise one" said the reader, but only one side of the question was
 handled. and I only wish I could ex- press myself from 6 mothers stand point" We read the story over and over again and being a mother we are going to tell some If the duties which the men must perform to keep up the mothers interest in looking pretty.
 Some years ago young man who had lost a mother who always did everything best for him, remembered the special merits of her white cake and on his Fist birthday he wanted one made by her recipe He used to see her make 1t and he would tell just how it was done. When the time came for the specific directions he could only re- call she took some flour. some eggs. whites only. some sugar and some but ter and stirred them well together, and then cooked, the best cake he ever ate"
 And no doubt she did, but just the component parts he did not know. Just so it is with home making. It takes some work, some thinking. some schem- ing, much interest and good spirit to make if.
 Mother has the responsibility of handling the family details and this means more than crimping the hair and powdering the face or tying a pretty bow. And has she the proper services for best filling these duties? You may give her needle, and thread, biscuit boards and meal bloeks-you may give her all the material or you may not, and she is the artist who must operate the best she can, but do you give her the most important home making ma chine-appreciation of her every effort? Every mother wants to be good home maker, and all of us need encourage ment This encouragement and appre- citation keeps one feeling young and just so long as that feeling lasts per- sonal appearance will be cared for at home as well as away.
 Any woman with good spirit and in- terest in a cheerful home knows that neatness is an important item, whether neglected in the parlor in the kitchen or in the personal attire, that neglect mars the effect even to the most casual observer and disturbs the comfort of the family. But We must not let glance cause the discord One must know the opportunities mother has had for making the perfect life. Household work is not done in a minute. One man can scatter enough cigar ashes in an evening to keep a woman sweeping all day, and when these manifold du ties are attended to, probably without help, she is often too tired to think of the traces of care that are left on her unpowdered face When woman knows she Is tired and worn she does not want to see herself in the glass, and she can only ask the good men folks to think of pretty is as pretty does"
 I know one woman who received u telegraph one day that some of her husbands friends would arrive for a visit on an evening train. This wo- man had something of Micawber in her makeup; she had furnished the up- stairs complete, placing all of her rugs and curtains in the bedroom apartments, turn up' by which she could make the down stairs new. When the message of her expected guests came she began to make the best of what she had and literally moved the upstairs down, had everything in splendid order on time. But the hydrantS in the front yard had been left dripping. The good husband saw that--the offense. but when he en- tered he never saw what really had been done. And thus many of our sins of omissions really do give more un- happiness than those we commit. Thus we call attention to the little things in life making the beautiful There is one word not recorded in Webster, but manufactured to suit the times "whyn't," and that one word has brought more wrinkles in the faces of women than anything else. It ex presses such a lot of disapproval. And while it does behooye her to look her best she soon begins to believe that it ,L.t ...Ia Q -Lc lcas ,at