Year: 1879

length. But we wish to- "


together, and especiallNA


a necessary resultant on =


tenn combined. N


Perhaps there is no on, X


which housekeepers differ MOI


the efficiency displayed by t.


shown by the amount of wOrl y


done in the course of q week O Y


or a year, and the condition al


of their households while work


on. Some women will keep goi,


morning till night, and almosO


night till morning, and yet hay


little to show for their industry.


ers will seem to be at leisure


part of the time, and yet no ira


neglect appear at any point in


households; while still others :


though not seeming to be very bt


amaze you with the amount OF We


they turn off. There is another clai


too, who are forever behind and fore


er Sin the suds," and yet who seem


be doing the best they can to "catch
up" with their work. The differences
in the women are doubtless born in
them and to degree ineradicable, but
it is possible for us all to improve and
develop into something better, and that,
we take it, is the object of discipline
and the grand object of life.


GA place for every thing and every
thing in its place." "a time for every
thing and every thing in its time.''
"Once well done is twice done''-these
are the three golden maxims of the good
housekeeper, and when she can impress
these on her household, so that every
person-adult, child, and servant-un-
der her supervision observes them, then
her domestic affairs run smoothly. The
very momentum of the machine carries
it safely over rough and dangerous
places, as house-cleaning time, sickness,
moving, and the like.


Those unaccustomed to regular houri
think them hardship, but the person
no matter what his endowments o.
mind or body,who does not come undei
regular drill and into harness, will haVi
little to show at the end of fourscore fol
his having lived. Every name on th'
roll of illustrious achievement OF AM
sort is there because its owner countei
not ease or pleasure or self-indulgenc
dear unto him, but made himself sub
ject to toll and discipline and the law q.
labor that he might conquer succeA
1t isn't easy to have breakfast at
tain minute every morning, but on =
and punctuality of that mea
the success of the day largely depends-''
There may be a'cnUiUe 70 the order in
which work may be done, but that Or
der once settled upon should be invar-
liable. AS breakfast is the one point of
the day to work from, so washing day
is the one point of the week to work
from, and each housekeeper must be
in these matters by her
own judgment in the premises. AS q
means of acquiring efficiency in doing
work it may be well for one who is am
bilious in that direction to contrast her
method of doing work when she is in no
hurry to get through with it and when
she is under high pressure and is COM
PEELED to work at the top of her speed.
In the latter case she won't wash dish
twice and thrice over when once will
make it clean; every stroke OF her
broom will tell she will make one er-
rand to the cellar accomplish half a doz-
en- ends instead of going there half a
dozen times; and she will be no more
weary working at the top of her speed
than tagging by the wayside. There is
q great amount of hOuse-work that may
be done with extreme rapidity as well
as if done with extreme slowness. And
as q general rule the women whose in
tellect is quickened by constant contact
with other minds in books or in people,
whose intellectual tastes and aspirations
are vivid and keen and high, will do
her housework quicker and better than
the mere plodding domestic drudge who
has no thought above the toll her mus
cles are engaged in. The perfect cook
is chemist, q Psychologist, nay, a
psychologist to a degree, and knows
something of the relations between food
and the soul. The incest housekeeper
knows all about ventilation and disin-
fectants and those occult causes OF dis
ease that make many dwelling-houses
that seem well kept nests Of typhoid fe-
yer and scrofula and consumption. This
kind of knowledge she will get, if she
gets it at all, from books or association
with those who make and read books.


The efficient housekeeper avails her
self of all the helps within her reach.
She does not take steps Or perform tasks
that one of her children or servants can
do as well. 1t is a wicked waste OF
time and strength for woman who can
do noble work to permit herself to ex-
pend her powers upon what less in
telligent person could perform with
equal merit. And yet there is IN the
abstract no such thing as menial work.
Whatsoever thy hand fndeth to do,
do it with thy might" and the required