The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-08
w oman Never
 WiH.Becone 1 d.ler
By WINNIFRED H. COOLEY


 ss advertisement on a Brooklyn
 bakery, Eff your wife can't cook. Eat here, Iand keep her as a pet !"
 Times have changed to such an ex- tent that our grandsires would rise in their graves if they could see that "ad." Fancy the good old-fashioned housewife, especially on farm, aris- ing at 4 or 5 in the morning, and break ing the ice to wash, or thawing out the pump with hot water, often build- ing the fires or splitting kindling. Pic ture her, at her innumerable tasks from break of day to set of the sun, and then regard her in the candle or kero- sene lamp light, after the Il children have been fed and put to bed, mending and alarming until her poor red fingers ache.
 Then consider that today a com mercial firm camucoolly suggest that q man take his meals in a restaurant and keep his wife as,a pet!
 We are happya that the first druds cry and physical strain for women ar" over. We sigh as we see the early New England graveyards filled with women who died in first youth, and three wives to a man all to frequently, show ing how they were killed off, one by one, by the stress of the primitive tasks. But oh! the humiliation of be- ing kept as pet"
 Idle wives ares numerous in modern times, especially in big cities. Every body nowadays knows how the bless ings of the labor-saving inventions have frightened household work, and the congested conditions and expense of rent have tended to make the homes smaller and smaller, until two rooms and bath and kitchenette is the rule, not the exception. No one can stem the tide of circumstance, and preaching about domestic virtues never will force women back over a red-hot kitchen stove after the age of electric grills has come in. There is no virtue in setting back the clock and trying to be old fashioned. Drudgery in itself is not divine.
 If wives are idle, because light labors are all that are necessary, the fault is not with the frightened household condi- tions, but with the character of the wife, who has not learned to find new employment. When huge patches of bread and cakes and pies are no longer needed, and her work basket reveals only a few socks to darn, surely she can employ her time in beautifying the small apartment, in using efficiency methods, and studying dietetics.
 Dyspepsia is not old-fashioned; 1t still rages The use of our stOmachs as human garbage-pails into which we dump all sorts of horrible chemical compounds, because we know nothing of food combinations, or values, still IS prevalent. Although newspapers and magazines and popular textbooks on foods and dietetics and economies and balanced rations are offered millions of women, most of them continue to eat and let their families eat, in the ignorant way that hastens on disease.
 It Is often true that good bakery prodaees better and cheaper bread than the individual women make, but there still remain many problems of proper menus and wise buying and arrange ment. The old proberb said, What man eats, that he IS," and every ounce we consume is converted into bone and fat, muscle and blood. If we had more imagination, we would long to select a material that would chemically be converted into rich red blood and fair, firm white flesh. But we eat with lSSS WlSuOm anu duSlSAAVuoAeSS enoh animals.
 This is peculiarly woman's problem, even when her actual housework is light. Even if the family often dimes at restaurants, the selection of the right combinations and qualities of food is essential to health. Also, as most women are mothers, the actual life and health and development of the next generation are in their care. This physical task, involving wisdom and understanding, is but one duty, but it is vital.
 Z Surely, modern women, in demand ing opportunities and rights, also are eager to accept new responsibilities in place of the old ones, and are never willing to be useless appendages, bits of bric-a-brac, luxuries for which men must slave, mere kept pets!
 A Brand New Bag
 A smart little bag of brown silk has smal rosebuds woven in the silk. The ion is comnosed of A cluster of roses