The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-24
fk" oRETHoUGHT, not hind thought, is necessary to De | good housekeeper; i'll other

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 | good housekeeper, in otner words, efficiency; one must pc
 eral and not private.
 This, in a nutshell is the wlsooii' which falls from the lips of Mrs. korer. perhaps the most widely known anu splendidly equipped authority in the world today on the subject of cuilrais matters.
 Mrs. Rorer's fame is known from one end of the 1andsto the other aproau as well as at home her supreme art is acknowledged; just the name f'ole without any prefixes. without any lh- troduction, spells unqualified perlec- ton in her particular line.
 Mrs Rorer is a very remarkaple woman: such vital woman is rarely seen. she is of medium height, and built unon lines not exactly commandlng- that is rather a harsh word-oul heN- ertheless, she exudes w1sdoh ss ii- pathy, and sincerity. that are more potent arguments for her widely khowh culinary methods than any mere Iacts could be-
 Mrs. Rorer looks to be about oo years of age; she laughed when saio this. and assured me that she was much older; in fact she owned to nav ;ne q son now in his forty seventh wear: she remarked just here relative to young-old people, that she and pr. Harvey N. Wiley, now 7S, and who 'oohs 45. were bitter friends" (the eXpres-
 .I him as great man in many ways also MT. Clubb. the president or the Vegetarian Society of Philadelphia, who is S3, and still active, and she at tributed the youth of all three to the fact that they had done things Tn other words. lived-and not mercy waited
 Mrs. Rorer's keen eyes are worthy of close attention; from beneath heavy eyebrows and profusion of white halr, they shine out with a sympathy that IS at once kindly as well as wise.
 Mrs Rorer has an agreeable, resonant voice, quite adaptable for speaking to large audiences, and for the most part if takes on a rising infection when she is deeply interested and then becomes clear head tone, which would delight the elocutionst or singer; but neither or these ever had a chance to claim her attention, for chemistry was her aInol- tion in her early days; to be cneHnst- perhaps the only woman chemlst she would have been, too, at that tune, III 'iie city in which she lived-Philadelphla
 Ut all came about, this profession of mine or vocation, or what you Will, said Mrs. Rorer, "by the fact that my mother being left an invalid and, like many mothers after the war, with prac- tically no means, what there was oelng entailed to me q had this changed by ole hn been a pauper) necessitated work for me Chemistry appealed to me. My father was manufacturing chemist and worked at this for a time. Later rel ative of mine-a most attractive, charm ing woman, came to me one day ana said she had subscribed to membership in the Century Club Cooking school. which was about to be established in Philadelphia, and which she wanted to give me.
 q was quite overcome by the sugges- tion; I knew nothing about cooking. Mrs. Rorer went on to say, 'and l really didn't want to accept the memoershlp. I shall never forget the first day went to the cooking school. dainty, lovely young grl with the softest, pink est hands was drawing a chicken; nearly died; it made me so sick l could scarcely live; but I joined the class, nevertheless. The teacher was French woman, beautifully educated, and most interesting person. I stayed on at the school for year and saw in that time the tremendous possibilities in the art of cooking; I saw also that my knowl- edge of chemistry was going to serve me we'll in my new vocation. To make long story short at the end of the year Mrs. DevereuX, the teacher of the school took up new branch of work and the posi- ton of principal of the school was of I ba the difference between a frying pan and saucepan when it came to being at the head of a school and delivering lec- lures, but my friends insisted that did. and so I accepted I remained with the New Century school for a short time and then went with the Philadelphia School of Domestic Science, and remained there for 34 years
 ''This is my first visit to the south in 20 years-although I am a southern wom- an,'' Mrs. Rorer said 'I am perfectly amazed at the progress and the improve ment in every line of activity. Although I am of English and Dutch ancestry, and seven generations of my family were born in the little house at Germantown. Pa, where we lived for so long, I still love to claim the south as my own-Virginia-my native state."
 What in your opinion is the position southern women occupy as housekeepers in comparison to our sisters of the north and east, who are more noted for their thrift and thoroughness than we are?" I asked.
 T always begin my first lecture by saying to my hearers" Mrs. Rorer said that it is very beautiful sem timent to follow in our fathers foot steps and make cakes like mother used to make; but. let it stop with the beau tiful sentiment. If we didn't we'd never progress; we'd never get any fur ther; our children must not stop and be contented with what we are doing; every generation means a progression. That answers your question; the south ern women of today impress me with an activity that is big and powerful, reaching above and beyond after big ger, better things; in the old days per