The patriot. (Glenmora, La.) 1918-1955, 1919-07-11

fashioned home in a dwelling. with servants and
home cooking is still an American ideal. But the
increasing lack of servants, especially of cooks
makes the od-fashoned home burden to people
of moderate means and to women who want to
do something besides keep house. 1t is fast coming
to the time when only two
!: : !.
classes keep house with n a WI
any satisfaction: the very II II mn
RICH who can hire profession III II ~
al servants at high wages; IS\IN e
the poor, who do without X IN ~
servants. The moderately &~~T y
weli-todO woman must 2L~S
choose between housework Xxx
and all other activities. She A.
cannot get servants. because -$N
we have servant class in
this country. Working wom- NBSIi
en- will not do domestic work VII
when they get other &It
work, even though the other VIII
work pays less. -&H
These conditions have
raised widespread interest 7r=
in the proposition of COM
munity cooking. Notwithstanding the high
prices of food and the scarcity of cooks,
the American people like good things to eat just
as well as ever. The question is where can these
good things be had? large proportion of TWEEN
tieth century married women cannot cook accept
ably and would not cook If they could. modern
city woman who can cook can hardly be blamed
for unwillingness to spend all her time in home
work 1t is age of ineficiency in restaurant
cooking as in most other things and menu prices
even higher in proportion than material
prices.
Iva Lowther Peters, Phi D.. of The woman's divi-
sion of the council of national defense, made in
1913 complete survey of the various cooperative
and community food enterprises of this country.
1t was then believed that if the war continued COM
munity kitchens would have to be established in
orr larger cities to save food and fuel.
England was already running great many of
them with encouraging results, and Doctor Peters
not only studied these but undertook a thorough
investigation of the cooperative movement from
the time 1t was born in the eighteenth century.
AS it happened, the signing of the armistice
just In time to make the survey useless TO the
United States food administration, but it is going
TO be Of great assistance TO those individual Amer
leans who are thinking of cooperating with other
individual Americans in bringing down the price of
eating.
An object lesson is community kitchen that
was opened in 1907 In Carthage, Mo. 1t was To-
Gated in a private residence and the various fam-
lies of the neghborhood to 1t for their meals
Each family furnished its table, chairs. Dishes
linen silver, thus maintaining its own tastes and
standards. To provide the original equipment for
the kitchen assessment of IS per adult and $3.50
per child was made. In the beginning there were
80 members including 10 or II children For the
urSl tnfee months the price OF meals was % Tor an
adult and $1.50 for child per week After the
third month several families stopped coming
When the number decreased tc so the price OF
board was advanced to $3.50 per week. AS the
Kitchens patronage decreased and the cost of food
increased the price of board kept advancing until
finally In 1911, four years after its opening the
kitchen went quietly out Of existence
Most of the community cooking enterprises sur
veyed by Doctor Peters for the council of national
defense tell practically the same story--a brief
popularity brief decline then extinction.
But the community cooking enterprises tell one
other story and 1t is this:
The only community cooking enterprises showing
unmistakable signs Of success are those where the
central kitchen delivers the cooked meals to the
homes These kitchens are now being established
III several cities.
Chicago and many of its suburban cities have
their attention on Evanston. Ill, just now. Evans
ton is a few miles north of Chicago on Lake Mich
igan It has about 10000 people. 1t is city of
homes Many Of the men do business in Chicago.
Evanston is called the City of Churches is the
seat Of Northwestern university and is what may
be called high-class American small city.
Yes Evanston is a city of homes. There are
streets Of dwellings and comparatively few flats
are in evidence. There are trees and lawns. The
houses look us If they had kitclens-good big,
r0oiny. old-fashoned kitchens where things were
cooked-.pscs like mother used to make and
sloughnuts to compare even with those Of the Sal
walton Army.
But the imagination that sets you TO shifting in
the hope of catching deIectable cdors from these
kitchens Ia these od-fashioned
homes Is delusion and snare. The Kitchens are
rhere but they are as idle as painted ship on il
-ninted ocean. Cause why--there are no cooks
EishFe was time not long ngo. when an occa.
f*=,al cook could be enticed out TO Evanston and
sacred into cooking. But even that time il
Hsi6n Is going to have community kltch-
M beginning That's why Chicago
M "a ing hsr with Interest.