The Washington times., 1916-10-24

w yE celebrate ironing Day. That
Nn/ 10. Tuesday. the day after
" wash day, at which time
every respectable housekeeper
pursues the elusive wrinkle.
There are so many delightful avenues
through which to approach with q
tribute to ironing day that one Is ut
loss as to how to begin. or course, we
VIII admit that ironing day Is not all
smoothness: that sometimes, Just as the
honeymoon win paii, the starch will
stick, the irons burn the clothes, or a
peculiar and stubborn clamminess will
manifest itself on the part OF the irons
themselves. That Is only natural. And
goodness knows there's nothing more
natural than ironing. Unless IL is, wish
ms that all clothes could be made out
We mean one OF those nice cold days,
when the clothes are Just right and Il
Is q pleasure to stanc over the ironing
board and the gas burns steadily.
r." ''
Then. indeed, does ironing far surpass
washing as pastime. For first, last,
and always, let " he. repenBered that
ironing rarely or never Is heard more
than block away. Whereas. the fact
that one In doing the family wash is
communicable yea even to the mythical
policeman on his solitary beat, three
blocks-aTaS
Few men know how active the irons
In their own homes. can be. There's
many man who thinks he Is a good
husband. when as a matter of fact his
wife merely has excellent irons. E.
80
They are an ever present help in time
OF trouble. They can be used for missiles,
In preserving the family plate, hot
water bags. hammers. and weights. They
are Ideal for cracking nuts, and make
excellent playthings for the children.
When not in use irons sit .modestiy In
some dark corner. patient and unob-
strusNe. They are hard to hurt, but
when they do resent a familiarity, the
one at fault will remember 1t for long
time. .a
The ironing board is the corallary TO
the irons. or vice versa. They are the
Damon and Pythias OF Che kitchen. But
so different Whereas the iron Is al
ways quite nude so to speak. the mod
est ironing board is always shielded
from the public gaze by modest cloak
Of flannel and linen. Come to think OF
1t. this would sound wonderful in verse
form, but it's too late now. We have
started In prose Funny thing, though
how easy II Is to say elaborate and un-
conventional things in verse form. Words
and phrases that anyone would excuse
In rhyme look positively bold in plain
prose.
Now II We were writing this in verse
we could say very cleverly something
like this:
Deceitfui?
The sturdy irons so frank and fat
Now, they are always bare.
The ironing board Is always dressed
Pray. what's the trouble there?
But IL We should come right out IN
prose and insinuate that the ironing
board was ashamed of-well we cant
even begin to say IL IN prose! But you'll
have to admit that the poetry Is neat.
Going back to ironing In the rough, as
II were. just stop and think. No one
ever heard OF girl leaving home on ac-
count OF the ironing; But many's the
change boarding places IL the wash
were not done out,
And men readers-here Ia a test: Never
vet was there a good ironer who WASH,
4 neat. careful efficient person. Water
,her iron. and then decide The woman
who can't iron isn't trustworthy, She
10 apt to mix the baby's food with one
hand. and read the Career of Rather
inc Brush with the other. She Will b'
careless, thouglTtless and inefficient
me OF those sweep II right under thu
bed kind.
There's lots to be said IN favor o.
ironing day. In winter, of course. II
winter. THE CONDUCTOR.