Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1913-05-24

SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL MAN.
AGES HOME


The term Little, Mother" has
never been more forcibly interpreted
in actual life than in the following
description, published in Pictorial
Review for June:
when ! was a little more than six
teen years old and still In high
school, Mother passed away, leaving
to me the responsibility Of looking
after family Of fodr-Father. sis
ter, brother and myself. My prev
ious experience had been confined to
occasionally assisting at odd times
in the household.
A few weeks trial seemed to- prove
that the work was beyond my
strength and ability. Defeat meant
the breaking up of the home and the
scattering of the famiyl. l knew
that lack Of intelligent management
and experience was the fault; yet
l did not wish to give up until l had
made final effort. believed that
Z each member OF the family would
cooperate and a system be evolved
there might still be chance.
The other members of the family
agreed with me. They also agreed
that economy in labor YVES more ne
cessary than in finances and advis-
ed that | procure any device that
might tighten the work Of housekeep-
ing. Therefore at different times
a,ld. by different ecoapnes. ] procur-
cd an electric washer with power
wringer. a vacuum cleaner, an cleo
trio iron, kitchen cabinet and q
fireless cooker, as well as number
of smaller utensils for use in the
kitchen. The fact that our family
circle is still complete shows the
wisdom of these purchases; for by
the aid OF these labor savers and q
system devised after long expert
ment have not only succeeded in
keeping the home up to Its former
standard, but am able to do so in
less than half the time, with less
physical effort and with considerable
saving OF money. have even done
more Of the work than had ever been
done at home before; for do all
the washing, ironing and houseclean-
ing formerly done by hired help.
/ have found by experience that it
is the monotony Of certain kinds Of
work that Tags rather than the ac-
tual amount OF work done. So in
stead Of laboring steadily for four
or five hours at my ironing, | find
it easier to give it one hour each
day for three or four days. / have
regular hour for this, and it comes
as natural to iron at that hour as to
wash the dishes daily.
Breakfast is at $50, the men get
ting to their work at 1880. They
look after the furnace and other
chores. My sister Jagged 14) does
the chamber work and washes the
breakfast and dinner dishes. This
is her share of the housework. On
Monday, / start the washing while
she does her work. While the first
boilerful is boiling, prepare the
meat and vegetables for the evening
meal. Anything requiring long cook
ing is at once put into the fireless.
Otherwise it is prepared and set
aside to put in the cooker after
lunch. BY ten o'clock the washing
is on the line, with no real work
except the handling. The bedroom
work aisl out of the way, the dinner
Isl provided for in the cooker and
still have two hours before lunch
for the regular work.
Each member Of the family being
responsible for his own individual ef-
fects, have little picking up to do.
Dinner is at six O'Clock, and as 1t
is mostly prepared in the fireless,
| have only hot biscuit or dessert to
make for it. This is real pleasure.
During the rest of the week iron
from seven to eight and from eight
to half past l use the vacuum clean
er. This leaves the rest OF the morn
ing for the regular cleaning OF
pantries, closets, washing windows.
cleaning the bathroom and the var
ious household tasks. Each after
noon is thus left free for sewing,
rest Or pleasure.
. have found that with this system
of having scheduled time for ev-
erything and as many labor saving
devices as possible It has been pos
sible for even . young girl to fill
all the requirements OF q large home.
It has taken the drudgery out OF the
WORK ond NADIA n n1aaSureo-