Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-08-05
SAVE STEPS FOR WOMEN
Department of Agriculture Tack
ling Difficult and Important Job
Extension Workers Agree That House,
w1fe's Working Day Can he Cut
Down TO Eight Hours by Plan
ming and Organization
fRY Frederic ]. Haskin)

led by the States Relations Service of
the Department of Agriculture. The
woman who makes only one unnecessary
trip a day-say a journey outdoors to
wood box that might be close at hand
takes probably 100 steps. That means
$500 unnecessary steps in year, or
more than six miles. OF course. every
body wastes more energy than that.
These figures merely show how it counts
up.
Year after year. women. especially
those on farms. go on mechanically, us
ing badly arranged kitchens. cooking /
with crude utensies. carrying heavy |
tubs and buckets. 1t is taken for grant ,
ed that ira ctors or anything to advance |
the real business interests of the estab- ;
lishment should be purchased. But we |
still scarcely realize that a half hour a |
day saved by the cook is just as much !
matter of dollars and cents as the |
same time saved by paid employee.
While the laboring man Is demanding |
six-hour day and a flve-day week, the |
average country housewife puts In a |
13-hour day in the summer and 10-hour |
day in the winter, and Sunday is almost |
as strenuous as any other day for her. |
Practically all Of her t3-hour day is spent |
in actual labor-some of it in managing |
two or three Jobs at once |
FEW EVER HAVE VACATION
A survey of typical farming countries
of 30 northern and western States showed
that AS rule the women not only cook, !
but do the sewing, churning. washing,
and cleaning, and some help with the
live stock and in the fields as we'll Only
IL per cent reported that they ever take
a vacation. With such an intensive
domestic program the rule in the coun-
try. and with more housewives doing
their own work in the city. il is easy to
see how tremendously important it is for
women to save steps.
The extension workers of the Depart
ment of Agriculture figure that the house,
wife should try to cut down her work
ing day, with eight hours as goal.
This would leave eight hours for her to
read. visit and spend with her husband
and children. The eight-hour day. 1t is
explained. can be approached by saving
every unnecessary step. 1t means plan
ming and organization
One way in which women are prodigal
of their energies is that they stand too
much. When the cook stands before 2
work table it is apparently slight effort
| to walk across the floor a dozen times to
get a knife or some ingredient. But if a
! high stool is kept by the table. she soon
becomes accustomed to sitting while she
mixes dish. and at the same time she
finds it advisable to collect things before
sitting down, because it really is an effort
to get up for them.
Even ironing can be managed from
stool of the proper height. And in con-
nection with ironing the extension agent
suggests that a special laundry room is
a great convenience and step saver. 1t
should be as cool as possible. The board
should be kept in a definite place, prefer
ably hinged to the wall Then it does
not have to be limited for or carried
around.
In their travels around the country the
agents find that the old proverb. "a
place for everything. and everything in
it's place" is more quoted than practiced.
a great many housekeepers have their
kitchens fitted out with single set of
shelves where everything used in their
cooking is dumped, with more or less
pretense at order
, NEARLY ALL MANAGE BADLY
| An improvement on this system is to
! have separate shelves for cooking equip
ment. ingredients and cleaning materials
Still more energy is saved for a better
use If the different shelves are near the
place where their contents are used. Thus
a shelf close to the stove would hold
things needed III the process of cooking
such as seasoning, flour, fat, salt and
pepper shakers. The government investi
!, gators find that not one woman in a
thousand keeps more than set OF
salt and pepper shakers in her kitchen
Whenever possible shelves should be
high enough so that STOPPING is unneces
sary. This is most desirable as regard:
shelves where heavy equipment is kept
This does not exactly save steps, but i
helps in conserving energy. for ever!
: time she stoops the housekeeper has Il
n life the weight of the upper part of he
body on coming up. This is excellen
exercise in moderation. but most womel
get quite enough of it without thei
). equipment making it apart of the kitch
, en- routine.
v A really potent step-saving device 1
j. the wheel tray, called the tea wagol
s when company is present. This rollinl
@ tray can, If economy demands 1t, b
! made at home out of some wood and
set of coasters. The idea is that instea
of making innumerable trips into TIL
dining room to set the table or bring Il
y the dinner. you load up the tray an
= move everything at once. This is posi-
> bic because the tray top when lifted re
. veals a container for the family plates
= and there is drawer below that fo
l. the silver. A shelf below that. and tn
{ top. are used to hold the food.
u The tray again comes into use whe
~ the meal is cleared away The extensio
l. agents say they have often seen wome
wipe one or two dishes and then wal
20 feet to put them away. and come bac
to do two more and SO on throughor
In the dishwashng for a family.
A rolling tray has only two limitation!
It is not needed in very small apar
at ment. and it cannot be used where thel
a are steps between the dining room an
n. kitchen. But this is the one place in tn
Or house where it is most important ths
to steps should not be. The Department {
ly Agriculture feels so strongly on this ma
It. tor that it suggests that where stor
Sc have to he mounted in transporting foe
IN they should, II possible. he removed
w Is admitted that this is not always pra
~ ticable. though in many cases the expens
re would be well worth the result. Not on
n do stairs draw on the energies of II
us housewife but in such a position the
e. are unusually dangerous. A surprising
es large number of people are killed or il
al iured yearly by falls on stairways. al
on where steaminG hot food and glass a.
by carried the danger of misstep is II
ng creased.
ne LARGE KITCHEN A MISTAKE
or Ono interesting fact brought out by Il
ad States. Relation Service is that 1t finds
he great many kitchens that are too larl
as for efficiency. 1t is hard for the CT
he dweller to realize that there Is such
be thing as a kitchen into which his who
,r- small flat could be neatly packed. Emo
he nous kitchens were regularly built VIII
,st help was plentiful and number of pc
IL L.. a. y