Evening star., 1914-07-26


from the man who has never
4 set foot inside his own kitchen
and woudn I know a frying nan
from a double hoiIer to the man who
supervises the smallest detail OF his wife's
household activities
Somehow there is something about
man who is totally innocent of tho work
ings of the house that appeals 10 the
feminine heart-a woman feels HAMMER
when a man is entirely dependent upon
her for the management of domestic af
fairs just as she is dependent upon him
Tor the management of his business
problems. 1t is even pleasure TO her
to feel that he couldn't find a teaspoon
in the dining room if you sent him for
one without minutest directions. and TO
feel further that he maintains a perfect
ignorance about the prices of household
necessities.
Still there are times when the man
who knows a few things about house.
work and the man who is not unwilling
to pitch in and help take the load from
the shoulders of the overworked house,
wife is heaven-sent blessing And, in
q
ing. if he is able TO do much of his work
at home. why should he not help man.
age the house? II is a work as impor-
tant and dignified as any that he can do
Men of letters have probably always
been more at horne in assisting with the
management of the house than men OF
business or men of the professions AT
least. SO We gather from their hiogra-
How
wife used to pile the dishes in the kitch
en- at night and wash them early the
next morning. and in his letters he dis
courses on food and babies as one who
knows them intimately. And Hawthorne
is only one. There are many other men
OF letters who have found time in their
work, to help with the management Of
their houses and with the actual house
work
In spite OF the fact that Hawthorne
washed dishes with apparent liking. the
wise housewife will do we'll, in calling
on the men of the family for help or in
accepting their proffered aid. to assign
the more masculine tasks to them
Why shouldn't husky young man
beat rugs. stoke the fires. clean the
porches and do other household tasks If
there are not enough servants to do this
work? Surely all sorts of heavy and
mechanical work lie in their sphere, and
an hour or so spent with a rug beater
will benefit arm muscles as much as the
same length of time spent with a golf
club. Perhaps it will not be productive
of the same sort of exhlaration. but IL
ought to be productive of a very satis-
factory sort of feeling that duty per-
formed brings.
A few days after he brought his young
bride to her new home a clergyman, who
married rather late in life. went forth
to do the marketing. He had never been
marketing before: the housekeeper that
had cared for him had taken charge Of
that. So he said to the grocer:
II should like a small portion of pota-
toes. a small portion of tomatoes, a small
portion of eggs and a small portion Of
butter"
Well pleased with himself, he went home
to tell his young wife that the marketing
for that day was attended TO. And when
she heard of the way he had done the
ordering she was much amused.
Probably the pleasure that the man in
experienced in housework affords women
is akin to the pleasure that the woman
who thinks that business is as puzzling
as Greek, who overdraws her banking ac-
count and who thinks there are real
bears on Wall street affords to men.