Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-10-07
WOMEN DOING FULL SHARE
Mrs. Calvin Coolidge Praises Her
Sex
Discusses High Living Costs-Dcc,,rcs
In Interview Tint Present Jy,wb
Prices Cnn he reduced uy
Votes


Mrs. Coolidge sat in a. day coach on
a SLOW local train between Boston and
northampton and talked about her hus-
pand her children tho high cost of
living and the domestic problem. The
conductor and the brakeman stopped
as they went through the car to talk
To her. She had made friends with them
IN hcr frequent journeys back and forth
to keep in touch with her children in
s'hool in Northampton. and her husband
~ his duties in the state capitol. She
knitted diligently as she talked. During
those trips she knts all the winter stock
'nps ana sweaters for her two boys. John,
aged fourteen. and Gavin. twelve.
Too many people are afraid Of work -
she thinks is the fundamental reason for
the high cost of living and the much dis
cussed domestic problem. But so far as
the high cost of living is concerned she
believes that the matter now is entirely
in the hands Of the voters
\ think the only thing the women of
the country can do now" she said with
we quiet conviction Of ono who has
thought 1t all out. ''is to vote for the men
whom they think will make the right laws
and sec that they are enforced. They
nave done all they can in the home
think the reason there Is 80 much sugar
on hand now is because people are doing
without it in their homes. I think the
reason wooden mills here in New Eng and
are closing down or running half time
is that women ar" wearing their old
clothes rather han pay the exorbitant
prices fol new ones.
American women have done and still
are doing. their fun share. They have
sacrificed and saved and substituted and
made over But that isn't enough
They'll have TO vote the high cost Of
living down
Here. in New England. where II is
n little hard for Ms to give M pie" she
laughed at the tradition that has become
Joke, we have learned TO use all kinds
OF cheaper substitutes for butter and lard.
and In my own household we have cX-
perimented with different fruit combina-
tons to find something we like and that
will take the least sugar. Apples must
be tart to make good pies but we have
found that biueberries take less sugar
and the combination of apples and blue
berries. half and half. is delicious, re-
quires less sweetenng than apples and
has more character than the blueberries
alone
The domestic problem which is closing
homes all over the country and increa sing
the hotel population is something of
which Mrs. Coolidge thinks she has no
personal. practical knowledge. She never
keeps but one maid and she never has
been without one. In the fifteen years
of her married life she has had only two.
The first one she inherited with the
furnished house into which she and Mr..
Coolidge moved when they were married.
and took with hor when she moved. The
second came when the first left to go and
live with her sister.
There must be reason for their stay
ing. II was suggested to Mrs Coolidge.
and she thought possibly there were
several. She thought the type Of maid
had something to do with il. Hers both
have been American women old enough
to have a sense Of responsibility to their
work and intelligent enough to respond
to reasonable courteous treatment.
"A good many women who keep only
one maid have trouble in their house,
holds because both mistress and maid,
but chiefly the mistress, are afraid Of
work. woman expects one maid to
do the cooking and scrubhing and every
thing else and still he dressed UP in black
dress with white cap and apron. ready 20
answer tho door bell any minute. It
isn't humanity possible. always answer
sos. In the first place there is no one
else and in tho second ] like to greet my
friends at the door myself. II seems
friendly and cordial. ] make my own
beds too. and do part Of the dustinc and
sometimes a little of tho sweeping
Mrs. Coolidge is Of medium height, with
brown hair, hazel eyes that hold a good
deal of merrimont, and Il very quick sense
Of humor At home she and her children
have a little orchestra Mrs Coolidge
Calvin after considerable discussion, in
which hc favored bass drum. comprom
ised on a mathematician. They play
hymns and war songs usually--the hymns
thoy learn in the Congregational Church
and Sunday school of Northampton. They
avoid difficult and unfamiliar music. be-
cause the object of the orchestra Is en-
trely rccreatlonal and not educational.
That is a part of Mrs. Coolidces edu-
cational polcy-that children should work
when they work and play when they play,
and keep the two separate. That was
schools of Northampton when they were
five years old. She doesn't believe in a
"Cumouf,aged education"
Every morning. when she is in North
ampton. Mrs. Coolidge takes her Bos-
neighbor next door il going. Mrs. COOL
I idgc goes with her in the ear, other
wise she walks She has no domestic
policy. She buys, she says, what the
family need and can afford"
COAST LINE VARIATIONS