The Washington herald., 1914-02-09
WOMAN And THE HOME
: .Asssa b. suLA cHAHDLHn nAHA
WHO'S WHO AMONG
COURAGEOUS WOMEN
Miss Mary Mar Takes in Boarders
and Does Her Own Housework
n>.~:.. L. T...I RI:.l-
~ MARY B. MULLETT.
tCowright 1Hl)

~ S@1s~ 4ss n. Ss<sSs -
Copyright la4)
Mary Mari ought to have q pedestal. A
visit TO her In as good as a dose Of medi-
cine. Better. in fact, because It ID 10
much pleasanter to take; and also. be-
cause. instead Of merely helping ones
body II braces up ones courage and
cheerfulness.
Mary Mari is totally blind She In all
alone In the world. And aside from her
own efforts she has no visible means of
support. No means that are visible even
TO people who. unlike herself. have two
good eyes to see with. To most Of US such a
situation would be hopeless. We should
go to an asylum as fast as we could. We
should sit arornd with folded hands. Ia
menting our sad fate and inviting every
body that came along to lament with us.
But Mary MARI Is different She has
little home in a model nat building in
New York. And there she supports her
self-by taking boarders! She does every
bit of the Homework herself. including
cooking. washing. and ironing. And II
one IL to accept the verdict Of the board
ers, who certainly ought to know. she
does It mighty well.
Twenty years ago Mary Mari. decided
that instead Of cooking in other peoples
houses she would have her own home and
cook there. So she rented a little fiat.
furnished IL on the installment plan, and
took a few working girls as boarders.
Her eyes had already begun to fail. but
that did not daunt her. She determined
that blindness should not find her unpre-
pared.
One eye was removed in the hope Of
saving the other, but the hope was vain.
She grew steadily worse. When the doc
tor told her she would soon be totally
ID b. 49,
she says. ito get ready to be blind" She
would tie a bandsge over her one remain
ing eye and practice going about the
house that way, preparing meals, wash
ing. and ironing.
She still had a little vision left. But
there came an afternoon when, having
gone to church with still a little giimmer
OF sight. she came out after the service
to ind herself in darkness. She did not
cry out or make a fuss even then. She
moved along slowly with the rest OF the
people until they drifted away from her.
Even then she tried to go on by herself
And when some friends saw from their
windows that she was in trouble and
came running down to ask in alarm what
was the matter. her only reply was:
Il can't find the housed That's ALL
When you ask her how she manages
to cook she says:
Well, j use a gas stove; so, Of course.
/ can light II and regulate ii quite easily.
As for knowing when things are done, I
don't believe ] have to depend on my
senses as much as other people do. OF
course, ! can test a cake with a straw.
and / can shake a pan of biscuits to see
whether they are baked on the bottom.
And when IL comes to roast beef or chick
en-. tell by touch whether IL is crisped
on the outside and how rare IL is. i test
pies by putting a knife into the center
when all my boarders were girls did
all their washing and ironing, Inf addition
to my own I do even cotton dresses and
waists I do my own window curtains.
and ! wash my own windows. I used to
feel my way out onto the ledge and do
the outside. But the janitress of the
building begged me not to. So now I
climb onto a table and reach out from
there. ! make the beds and take care
Of the rooms, too. But even then. have
a good deal of time on my hands and, as
l can't read or sew, I make rama bas-
kets. It's a better life than sitting idle
in an institution. isn't it?''