The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-07-30
Frederic Haslkin's Letter
Saving Steps for Women.

Washington. D. c, July H.
Teaching women to save stsps ie
one Of the most dimcuit and I'M
portant Jobs being tackled BY the
states relations service Of the de-
psrtment Of agriculture. The
woman who makes only one I'M
necessary trip . day-say . journey
outdoors to . wood box that might
be close It hAnd-takes probably
100 steps. That means $500 un-
necessary 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, especial
" those on farms, 60 ON mechani-
cally using badly arranged kitchens.
cooking with crude utensils, carry-
ing heavy tubs and buckets. It II
taken for granted that tractors or
anything to advance the real busi-
ness interests Of the establishment
should be purchased. But We still
scarcely realize that . half hour .
day saved BY the cook 10 Just -
much q matter of dollars and cents
AZ the same time saved by . paid
employe.
While the laboring man 10 de-
mandlin1 n 6.hour dAv and 4 6-day
week, the average country house
wife puts In . 13-hour day in the
summer and . 10-hour day in the
| winter, and Sunday IL almost -
strenuous as any other day for her.
Practically all Of her 13-hour day ID
spent in actual labor-some OF II
in managing two or three Jobs at
once.
Few Ever Have Vacation.
A survey Of typical farming coun-
ties Of IS northern and western
states showed that rs q rule the
women not only cook, but do the
sewing, churning, washing and
cleaning, and some help with the
livestock and in the fields as we'll
Only - per cent reported that they
ever take . vacation. With such
an intensive domestic program the
rule in the country, and with more
housewives doing their own worl
in the city, it is easy to see how
Tremendously, important 1t is FOL
women to save steps.
Tshn >~<nnn{nv vpnrknpe ~ <hn ID
partment OF agriculture figure tina
the housewife should try to Gu
| down her working day. with eigh
hours as . goal. This would leav'
eight hours for her to read, visi
and spend with her husband ami
children. The S-hour day, 1t is ex
planned, can be approached by say
ing every unnecessary step. l
means planning and organization.
One way in which women ar
prodigal of their energies il tina
they stand too much. When tn
cook stands before q work tabl
1t is apparently . slight effort 4
walk across the floor q dozen time
to get a knife or some ingredient
But If . high stool is kept by tn
table, she soon becomes accustom
ed to sitting while she mixes dish
and at the same time she finds
advisable to collect things befor
sitting down, because it really is q
effort to get up for them.
Even ironing can be manage
from q stool Of the proper height
And in connection with ironing tn
] extension agent suggests that spe
cial laundry room is . great con
venience and step saver. 1t shout
, be as cool as possible. The boar
should be kept in . definite place
preferably hinged to the wall. The
It does not have to be hunted fo
or carried around.
> In their travels around the coun
> try the agents find that the oil
!. proverb, "A place for everythin
and everything in its place" is NOR
quoted than practiced. A gres
many housekeepers have the
kitchens fitted out with single 81
of shelves where everything use
. in their cooking is dumped, Wit
|, more or less pretense at order.
=, Nearly All Manage BADLY.
An improvement on this syste1
. is to have separate shelves fc
: cooking equipment, ingredients, IN
cleaning materials. Still more ell
ergy is saved for q better use
: the different shelves are near Il
. place where their contents al
\ used. Thus . shelf close to Il
stove would hold things needed /
the process OF cooking, such {
seasoning, flour, fat, salt and ne,
per shakers. The government il
vestigators find that not one woms
In thousand keeps more than OF
set Of salt and pepper shakers
her kitchen.