Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-06-28
Must Help In
Our Food Supply
Servants Are Careless, Says
Prominent New York Woman,
and Should Be Taught to
Economic In the Kitchen.

tween many willing housewife and
/, the accomplishment of her desire is
| that Chinese wall of indifference-th
servant Stacker"
This was said By Miss Alice Hill
Chittenden of New York In the course
of talk in which she hauled over the
| Goals that portion oe her sex which in
this time of crisis is 'nOisily pursuing
useless activities that are favored with
the limelight rather than quietly at
tending to those unillumined things
that they can do"
Help has long been a most vex-
atious family problem" said Miss Chit
tenden. During recent years it has
assumed the proportions of a public
problem, greatly influencing that gen.
eral but regrettable tendency of fam
lilies to migrate from private houses to
apartments and apartment hotels.
I'm that general development of eff
cheney which has swept over the in
dustrial world the American servant
has remained untouched. In fact, as
the Industrial world has advanced in
efficiency the servant has retrograded.
The old family servant that existed
when women felt that their paramount
duty was the management of their
homes is thing of the past. General
ly speaking. the hired household work
er of today is a marvel of incompe-
tence, wastefulness, Indifference, abso-
lutely unamenabie to discipline.
while the men, who make the mon
ey, have devoted themselves to scien-
tific organization for the elimination
of waste, the women, who are large
factors in the spending Of money, have
been utterly neglectful of this con-
stantly widening hole in the family
purse.
Several years ago l attended the
biennial session Of the General Fedora
tion of Womens Clubs in Cincinnati
They had a program that lasted ten
days, program that brought up-for
q paper and discussion-every ques-
ton under the sun-pOlitics, economics,
literature, music, art, science-every
question to which they could contrib
ute little or nothing, every question but
the one great question which they had
right in their homes and to which, by
discussion and organization, they could
contribute much. During that entire
ten days program not word was said
on the servant problem.
'4They discussed at much length all
the complex problems Of government
which they fatuously call public house
keeping urging their tried abilities as
housekeepers, but of this acute prob
lem in their actual housekeeping not a
word These feminine readjusters of
the universe talk much of regulating
the condition of women In trade
There is much organized activity to
fix the hours and wages Of shopgirls,
mattresses and for oil other women
wage earners-except the servant
The Most Wasteful Glass.
Because servants form a class, the
only class in civilized life, that does not
feel the rise in the cost of living, its
board always being provided; because
its pocket nerve is never touched by
the price Of food and because it has
been for so many years unrestrained
by proper discipline it has become
the most wastefUl class in the world
in the use of food-purchased with
some one elSe's money.
IF a mistress attempts to enforce
economy in her kitchen the servant
plainly shows that she does not think
her worthy of respect; that she is in
ferior to some o.her mistress who per-
United a prodigal use of materials. L
tie mistress attempts TO direct how
much cream, butter, how many egg
should be used for this. that or the
other thing the servant viii relate
what some other mistress allowed
The attitude assumed is, This is all
right for you, but of course you don't
understand the obtruded implication
being that you are in an inferior class
in the appalling crisis that the ma
t;cn is now facing many Of the wom-
ems organizations are following their
habit of milling about in useless activ-
tiles. There is much vocalizatiCn, but
Little gain to the country. The activi-
ties that are most in vogue are those
that have military favor. But moth
ing is popular with this class if it has
not mannish flavor. This awful war
emergency has been seized upon to
show that woman can play a mans
part and that therefore the program
Of femiDism should at once be ush-
cred in.
Cant the women get together in
an organization aimed at the control of
the servant, which means the solution
Of the problem? Mr.. Hoover has warn
ed the country of the grave need Of
food conservation if we are to feed our
selves and our hungry allies AS wom-
en- are the ultimate food handlers, he
believes that they may play deciding
part in the war. 1t is his idea to ask
every woman who presides over q