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|_Method._|_Hours._| _Minutes._

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Asparagus | boiled | ... | 20-30

Beans, lima | boiled | ... | 45-60

Beans, string | boiled | ... | 45-60

Beef | roasted | ... | 12 per lb.

Beefsteak | broiled | ... | 6-10

Beef, corned | boiled | ... | 20 per lb.

Beets, young | boiled | ... | 45-60

Beets, old | boiled | 3-4 | ...

Bread, wheat | baked | ... | 40-60

Bread, corn | baked | ... | 40-45

Bread, brown | steamed | 3-0 | ...

Cabbage | boiled | ... | 15-35

Cauliflower | boiled | ... | 20-35

Cake, sponge | baked | ... | 45-60

Cake, plain | baked | ... | 30-40

Cake, fruit | baked | 2-3 | ...

Cake, layer | baked | ... | 10-15

Carrots | boiled | ... | 35-45

Chicken | roasted | ... | 20 per lb.

Chicken | broiled | ... | 20

Chicken | boiled | ... | 15-20 per lb.

Celery | boiled | ... | 20-30

Chops | broiled | ... | 6-10

Cookies | baked | ... | 10-15

Corn | boiled | ... | 12-20

Custard | baked | ... | 15-20

Duck | roasted | 1-0 | ...

Dumpling, apple | boiled | 1-0 | ...

Eggs, soft | boiled | ... | 3

Eggs, hard | boiled | ... | 15-20

Eggs | fried | ... | 5

Fish, boiled or | baked | ... | 10-15 per lb.

Fish | fried | ... | 10-20

Gingerbread | baked | ... | 20-30

Ham | boiled | ... | 25 per lb.

Hominy | boiled | 1-0 | ...

Lamb | roasted | ... | 15-20 per lb.

Mutton, boiled or | roasted | ... | 15-20 per lb.

Macaroni | boiled | ... | 20-30

Muffins | baked | ... | 15-30

Mushrooms | broiled | ... | 12

Mushrooms | stewed | ... | 20

Onions | boiled | ... | 45-60

Oysters, broiled or | fried | ... | 3-5

Oyster plant | boiled | ... | 45-60

Oatmeal | boiled | 1-0 | ...

Parsnips | boiled | ... | 30-45

Pork | roasted | ... | 30 per lb.

Pork | broiled | ... | 20

Potatoes | boiled | ... | 25-30

Potatoes | baked | ... | 45

Peas | boiled | ... | 20-30

Rice | boiled | ... | 20-40

Sausage | fried | ... | 10-15

Spinach | boiled | ... | 30-45

Squash | boiled | ... | 25-35

Tomatoes | stewed | 1-0 | ...

Turkey, boiled or | roasted | ... | 20 per lb.

Turnips | boiled | ... | 45

Veal | roasted | ... | 20 per lb.

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WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

I

3 teaspoonfuls, dry = 1 tablespoonful.

4 teaspoonfuls, liquid = 1 tablespoonful.

4 tablespoonfuls, liquid = 1 wineglassful = ½ gill.

2 wineglassfuls, liquid = 1 gill = ½ cup.

16 tablespoonfuls, liquid = 2 gills = 1 cup.

12 rounded tablespoonfuls, dry = 1 cup.

½ pint, liquid = 1 cup.

4 wineglasses = 1 cup.

¼ lb. of flour = 1 cup.

½ lb. granulated sugar = 1 cup.

½ lb. butter, solid = 1 cup.

4 gills = 1 pint.

2 cups = 1 pint.

2 pints = 1 quart.

4 quarts = 1 gallon.

II

1 tablespoonful, heaped, granulated sugar = 1 ounce.

1 tablespoonful, rounded, butter = 1 ounce.

1 tablespoonful, liquid = ½ ounce.

1 tablespoonful, rounded, flour = ½ ounce.

1 tablespoonful, rounded, coffee = ½ ounce.

1 tablespoonful, rounded, powdered sugar = ½ ounce.

16 ounces = 1 pound.

4 cups of flour = 1 pound = 1 quart.

2 cups butter, solid = 1 pound.

2 cups granulated sugar = 1 pound.

2½ cups powdered sugar = 1 pound.

2 cups or 1 pint water or milk = 1 pound.

1 pint chopped meat, solid = 1 pound.

10 eggs = 1 pound.

XIII

WASHING AND IRONING

THE day when we wear paper clothes and rarely wear them twice has not

yet come. Meanwhile washing and ironing must be done, either in the

home or elsewhere. Even when this work has been banished to a laundry

or a house on a back street, it is yet desirable to have some knowledge

of its processes, that when something goes wrong we may be able to tell

what the trouble is.

The laundry, like the kitchen, should be light coloured, cleanly,

orderly and furnished only with articles needed for the work. I was

taken in to see a laundry not long ago which had pale green walls and

two sunny windows. It contained appliances for the work, a substantial

laundress and a highly coloured picture of the _Madonna_. There was

also a cricket, not the kind you sit on, but the kind that chirps.

1. APPLIANCES

As the appliances for washing and ironing are many, and some of them

for uses not entirely obvious, a list with a few comments on each item

may be useful.

_Tubs._--Two are needed, three are more convenient. When the washing

is finished, the tubs should be scrubbed, rinsed and dried before

the covers are closed. Portable wooden tubs also need scrubbing and

rinsing, but must not be allowed to get very dry. If they are kept in a

warm, dry place, put a little clean water into each one. When allowed

to dry, the staves shrink and the tubs leak. That tubs are called

portable does not mean they should be carried. About one woman in a

dozen is really able to carry a tub with water in it. It is not the

weight but the attitude in which one is compelled to lift it that makes

the trouble. If there is no one to help to carry the tub, empty it by

the pailful; it takes less time than being laid up with a strain.

_A washboard._--Washboards are made of corrugated glass or metal and

wood. They should be rinsed when the rubbing is finished and kept dry

when not in use. Before putting the board into the tub, see that it has

no rough or sharp places which may tear clothes or hands.

_A washboiler and a washstick._--Keep the boiler scrupulously dry when

not in use. A speck of rust the size of a pinhead can make serious

trouble. The stick is a fairly long, smooth, clean one with which to

move and lift scalding hot clothes.

_A wringer._--Rinse and dry it carefully before putting it away. At

some other time than in the midst of washing, it is well to study out

the contrivance which regulates the width of the opening between the

rollers, that one may be able to change it easily and quickly for the

wringing of thick or thin articles. The opening should be narrow enough

to make turning the handle quite active exercise, but wide enough to

prevent any wrenching or dragging of wringer or clothes.

_A clothesline._--A length of clean rope which can be put up and

taken down each time it is needed is probably the most satisfactory

clothes line. Permanent lines of twisted wire are good, if one may

have permanent lines. These must be wiped with a damp cloth before the

clothes are hung out. This rule also holds good for any line which is

left out in the weather, but rope lines should not be left out if it

can be avoided, for they soon become blackened and sodden. When buying

a clothesline, see that it is not too thick nor too thin for average

clothespins.

_Clothespins._--These must be kept clean, either by frequently getting

new ones, or by scrubbing the old ones, and also by keeping them, when

not in use, in a covered box or basket.

_Clothes poles._--These are sticks eight or ten feet long, and notched

deeply in one end. When the line sags between its supports with the

weight of the clothes, it is raised with one of the poles. The notch

holds the line and the other end rests on the ground.

_A clothes basket._--This article is used for carrying clothes from

place to place. If it is used only for purposes connected with washing

and ironing it will remain for a longer time fit for those purposes.

_A laundry stove._--This stove is not necessary when the washing and

ironing are done in the kitchen, yet it is more convenient to have one

if the size of the kitchen permits. Set on its top, the wash-boiler is

at a convenient height; irons heat more evenly upon it, and are not in

danger of being splashed from the cooking.

_An ironing board._--This appliance is frequently wider at one end

than at the other, because the width of the larger end is convenient

to iron on, and the narrowness of the other end is easily put through

the top of a skirt or other garment which is slipped over the board

for ironing. The board is first padded with several thicknesses of

blanket or felt stretched smooth; a clean, white cotton cloth is then

stretched over it and sewed or tacked very neatly along one edge and at

the ends. All the coverings must be stretched and fastened very tightly

to prevent wrinkles which would mark the clothes. The padding keeps

the edges of the board from cutting through or marking the clothes, it

furnishes a smooth, elastic surface for the sliding movement of the

iron, and it makes it possible to iron embroidery, lace or tucks in

relief, by pressing them into the padding with the iron.

Some boards are made with folding legs which are a convenience if

substantial and well braced. Besides a large board, it is well to have

a small bosom board; they are not merely for shirts but are convenient

also for ironing small articles at other times than on a regular

ironing day. A sleeve board is likewise a helpful addition to the

laundry fittings.

_Irons._--To do a family ironing at least six irons are needed. Do not

keep them on a stove with fire in it except when they are in use. They

are spoiled by being constantly heated and cooled, and they get dirty.

Water is not good for them. If they are splashed or smoked they must

be washed, but it is better not to wash them regularly. Cooling a very

hot iron by immersing it in a pail of water is bad for the iron, and is

a careless practice besides; it is rectifying a neglect with a violent

remedy.

If irons are rough or troublesome about sticking, scrape and wipe them

clean, then rub their bottoms and sides with a piece of beeswax tied in

a cloth. In the country, rub them on a sandy place in the garden path.

I am told that it is good--and pleasant--to rub them on pine-needles.

When irons are put away, turn the bottoms up. If they are put away for

a long time, it is well to give them a thin coating of beeswax.

If you have ever seen any one test an iron with a wet finger to see if

it is hot, you will only need the courage to try to be able to do it.

Wet your finger in your mouth and strike quickly and lightly on the

bottom of the iron; if it--_spits_, to put it elegantly, the iron is

right for average ironing. Rub it on a paper or a cloth and judge from

the effect whether it is clean and of the right temperature for the

work you are doing.

_Iron holders._--It is well to have two or three of these articles.

Those made of asbestos covered with bed ticking are excellent. Even

when irons have a detachable handle, an iron holder will be needed

for a holder rests and spares the hand. They are sometimes made with a

little pocket into which the ends of the fingers can be thrust; it is a

good arrangement, for finger-ends have to be so near the iron that they

sometimes get scorched.

_An iron stand._--A stand is necessary to rest the iron on when the

laundress needs both hands to arrange the article she is ironing. If

one is hard put to it for a substitute, a horse-shoe, or a piece of

fire-brick will serve, the latter is especially good because it holds

heat.

_A clothes horse._--The more closely it folds up and the more rungs it

has when unfolded, the better the clothes horse. Its chief use is to

provide a place close at hand where newly ironed articles may be hung.

Such a place is necessary because the articles are still a trifle damp

and because one does not wish to walk any great distance to dispose of

each piece.

_Wax, cloths and paper._--The use of these articles has already been

mentioned. Pieces of wax can be bought already covered and attached to

a convenient little handle. Cloths and paper come from the housewife's

store of useful things.

_Soap._--From the thousands of kinds of soap one can only make a choice

by means of personal experiment, or by accepting the recommendation of

some one who has already experimented. The kind preferred once settled

upon, it is best to buy enough at a time to last several months and to

keep it exposed to the air, for unless soap dries a little before it is

used, it wastes.

Many preparations are sold to whiten clothes and make washing easy. To

use them is a risk, and I have yet to see one which produced even as

good temporary results as intelligent washing done with good soap and

followed by thorough rinsing.

_Starch._--Starch--the raw material--should be protected from dust in

a closed box or jar and not exposed to strong light, as this in time

makes it slightly yellow. It is on this account that starch boxes are

frequently lined with dark blue paper.

Cold starch is merely starch dissolved in cold water. The proportion

is a tablespoonful of starch to a pint of water. Stir until it seems

dissolved, but stir again before dipping each article as it settles

quickly. This starch is used just before ironing. Articles starched

with it should be squeezed out well and folded in a dry cloth for ten

or fifteen minutes, then ironed.

To make boiled starch, moisten three tablespoonfuls of starch with

cold water. Stir and press out the lumps until it is smooth as cream.

Then begin to stir it fast and pour on quickly a quart of boiling

water. Allow it to boil about twenty minutes. Toward the end of the

time put in a piece of spermaceti as big as a walnut and stir until

it is mixed with the starch. Substitutes for this are a bit of lard

or a bit of butter. When clothes come home smelling of kerosene, it

usually indicates that the laundress has used a dash of that oil as a

substitute for spermaceti. If candles are used in the home, it is well

to save the ends for the starch. Wax or oil added to starch makes it

smooth and keeps it from sticking to the irons.

_Bluing._--The purpose of bluing is to give white clothes a bluish

tinge instead of the yellowish tinge they are apt to acquire.

Substances for the purpose can be bought in several forms and are

used greatly diluted. Two or three squeezes of a bluing ball, or a

teaspoonful of liquid bluing is often a sufficient quantity for a tub

of water. Bluing must be thoroughly stirred into water. If this is not

done before clothes are put in, they will be streaked. Some people put

a few drops of bluing in starch.

2. THE PROCESS

Where soiled clothes are to be kept during the interval between wash

days is often a difficult question. A closet in the laundry made

especially for the purpose is one solution; a hamper set in some

ventilated but secluded spot in the house is another. It is unfortunate

that often the bathroom is the only refuge for a clothes hamper.

Articles like bed linen, which are only changed once a week should

be changed as near the wash day as possible, but I do not think this

matter so important that the change of linen should be made on Sunday.

The first step in the process of washing is to sort the clothes,

separating white, coloured, woollen and silk articles. The white

division always, sometimes the others, must be divided again into

articles which have been put to personal uses, such as garments, bed

linen and towels, and those which have not, as table linen, and dish

towels.

Notice in sorting the clothes whether anything is stained, and if so,

put it aside to be especially cared for. It is often impossible to

remove stains after they have been soaped.

Some people soak clothes over night; some put them to soak the first

thing in the morning; some do not soak them at all. In any case, only

white cotton or linen articles may be either soaked or boiled. Clothes

are put for soaking into a tub of water, each article crushed together,

not folded. They may be soaped or not, as one pleases. Linen which has

not been put to personal uses should be laid in a separate receptacle,

or else not soaked.

When the time has come to begin the washing let the water out of the

tub in which the clothes are soaking, then cover them with clean, hot

suds. Put in the wash board with its legs firmly planted against the

side of the tub opposite to you. Soap and rub each article inside

and out, and little or much, according to need. Attend especially to

seams, hems and very soiled places. As the articles are washed, put

each through the wringer, folding it with buttons in and narrow enough

to go easily between the uprights of the wringer. Put them then either

directly into the boiler, or into a basket which can be carried over

to the boiler when the other pieces are ready. If some piece is still

soiled after the rubbing, soap the soiled places again before putting

it into the boiler.

As soon as these articles of personal use are in the boiler, begin to

wash the other white clothes in clean suds. Rub and wring them and put

them into a tub of rinse water. By the time these are finished, the

clothes can be turned out of the boiler into the tub just emptied, and

the white things in the rinse tub put into the boiler for their boiling.

Rinse the boiled clothes, preferably twice, then prepare the bluing,

put unstarched articles through it and lay them in the basket for

hanging out. Articles to be starched must be left in the second rinse

water until the starch is ready, because no clothes may safely lie in

bluing. After being washed, rinsed, or blued, clothes must be well

wrung, otherwise they will be a means of passing soapy water from one

tub to another and will never be thoroughly rinsed.

Intervals must be found between some of these performances for hanging

out unstarched articles and for making the starch for the others.

When the first boilerful of clothes are hung out or waiting to be

blued, empty the second boilerful into the tub. Rinse as the others

and when they are ready, blue and starch these and all that have been

waiting. Put articles, or parts of articles, which are to be very

stiff in the starch first. See that they are well wrung and shaken out

beforehand and well squeezed out afterward. Dilute the starch a little

for the pieces which are to be less stiff. If napery is to be slightly

stiffened, put it into a tub with clean water and two or three large

spoonfuls of the starch.

When the white clothes have been hung out, wash the coloured things in

clean suds. They are neither soaked, boiled, nor blued, and they should

not lie in the wash or rinse water. Wash, rinse twice, and hang out

at once in a shady place unless they must first be starched. A little

starch of original thickness should be saved for the coloured clothes

if any of them must be very stiff. Dark cambrics are better stiffened

with gum-arabic dissolved in water, for they are apt to be streaked

by starch. Stockings, unless woollen, are washed with the coloured

articles. Colour can sometimes be set in wash material by soaking it in

salt and water.

Woollens are neither soaked, boiled, blued nor starched, nor should

they ever be put into water in which any thing else has been washed or

rinsed. The wash water and the rinse water for them should be of the

same temperature and should feel neither warm nor cold to the hand.

Wash them in suds made with good, white soap, and wash the white ones

first. Shake them well before hanging them on the line and shake them

every now and then while they are there. Do not rub woollen articles

with soap, nor wring them with your hands or a wringer, nor hang them

in hot sunshine or close to a fire. Knitted articles must not be

ironed, but flannels, after they have dried, may be pressed with a very

moderately heated iron.

Silk clothes should be washed and rinsed in tepid water and ironed with

a good iron while they are still wet.

It will be found convenient to hang clothes of the same kind together

on the lines. One of the reasons for this is that when they are taken

down they are already sorted for sprinkling. Sprinkling is done the

night before the ironing day, or early in the morning of that day. If

the weather is very warm, or there is no cool place in which to keep

the dampened clothes, it is better to sprinkle them in the morning, as

during the night they may turn sour.

Spread a clean dish towel or cloth on a table, lay the pieces on it

one on top of the other and sprinkle water over each with your hand or

a clean whisk. In winter it is well to use warm water for this. Fold

large pieces into a manageable size. Do not put white and coloured

clothes together, nor yet starched and unstarched articles.

When all the pieces of one kind are sprinkled, or enough of several

kinds for a roll, roll them tightly, turning in the sides as one does

the paper round a package. Thin pieces require less sprinkling than

thick ones, and folded pieces need sprinkling on both sides, but

directions of this kind are of little avail, for only experiment can

show you how wet to make each piece. If clothes are not well dampened

they cannot be made smooth with the iron, yet they must not be so wet

that they cool the irons and require an exceptional amount of pressing.

As the rolls are made, lay them in the clothes basket. When they are

all finished put a cover over them, lest the outermost pieces dry

before the time comes for them to be ironed.

Time and strength are wasted in attempts to use cool irons, therefore

allow them time to get thoroughly heated before you begin to iron. Set

up the board in a place where it will not be in a draught, as this

quickly cools the irons. Place the iron-stand at the right-hand end of

the board, and with it a paper, a cloth and a piece of beeswax. Under

the board spread a clean cloth, that when long pieces are being ironed

they may rest on the cloth instead of on the floor.

The order in which ironing is done is a matter of preference. Some

women say, do the heaviest and most difficult pieces first. Others

prefer to alternate the hard and easy ones. Women who do their

housework without assistance usually make a roll of little unimportant

things which they iron in the intervals of getting luncheon or of other

necessary work.

Large articles like tablecloths and sheets are folded down the

middle and first ironed on one side, then on the other. They must

be folded evenly and perfectly straight. Things like pillow cases,

which cannot be slipped over the board, are also ironed double and on

both sides. Fine pieces, such as tablecloths and shirtwaists, should

be ironed until entirely dry. On the contrary, the pieces known as

flat-work--sheets, towels, etc.--may be ironed, carefully folded, and

allowed to dry on the clothes horse.

The object of ironing is to make things smooth and the shape they are

intended to be. By keeping this in mind, and taking pains to accomplish

it, one can soon teach oneself to iron acceptably.

3. SPECIAL WASHING

The time and care required for washing some articles is so much more

than can well be given them in the regular wash, that it is better

not to attempt to do them on the wash day. Such articles are blankets,

curtains, embroideries, lace, chamois gloves or any very delicate

fabrics.

_Blankets_ are successfully washed by the method given previously for

woollens, though the water used may be warm if preferred. In that case,

the rinsing water must be equally warm. In washing both wool and silk

it is very necessary not to change their temperature.

If _curtains_ are torn or stained, they must be mended, and must have

the stains removed before they are washed. Put them in good, hot suds

and do not rub them or wring them, or lift them heavy with water, but

instead, pat them and knead them gently with your hands for a good

while, then press as much water out of them as possible and throw them

into rinse water. Rinse again and again until they do not discolour

clean water.

Bluing and starch are absorbed by lace and delicate fabrics to an

unusual degree, therefore if you wish to use either for curtains, use

very small quantities.

When the washing is finished, put the curtains on stretchers. Set

white curtains in the sun to dry, others in the shade. An expedient

which may be employed if stretchers are not obtainable, is to pin the

curtains to the carpet in a room which need not be used for two days.

Cover the carpet with sheets, then stretch the curtains into shape and

pin them down tightly. This is a troublesome method, but it produces

better results than ironing. If curtains are washed and ironed in the

way ordinary articles are done, care must be taken not to stretch them

out of shape when they are hung on the clothesline. Hang them with the

length of the curtain running in the same direction as the length of

the line.

The following is a good receipt for washing curtains:

Into a pail of boiling water put one-half cup of kerosene, two

tablespoonfuls of pearline. Stir for fifteen minutes. Put in the

curtains, let them stand twenty minutes. Rinse twice in lukewarm water

without rubbing or wringing. Rinse once in cold water. Blue, and starch

and put on a stretcher.

Wash _embroideries_ in lukewarm suds made with white soap. Do not soap

or wring them. Press and move them about with careful hands and only

leave them in the water as long as is necessary. Rinse thoroughly and

iron on the wrong side while still wet. Spread several thicknesses of

flannel or thick folds of cotton cloth over the ironing board, this

padding will bring the embroidery out in high relief. These directions

apply to either silk or cotton embroidery with the exception that the

latter, if white, may be soaked or hung in the sun without injury.

If there is the slightest need, _lace_ should be mended before it is

washed. Precious old lace should also be basted on strips of muslin

with a very fine needle and thread.

Soak lace for a half-hour in lukewarm suds made with very good white

soap, then press it and pat it and lift it up and down in the suds

until you think it is clean. Press the water out of it between your

hands, and rinse it several times. Then, if it is basted on pieces of

muslin, clip the threads on the back of the pieces and with the utmost

care separate lace and muslin. Pin the former out on a pillow, using

small pins and exercising much patience. Every little point must be

fastened down, and pins woven into the straight edges in the direction

in which the edges run. Lay the pillow in the sun and do not remove the

lace until the next day.

If lace is to be ironed, pad the board beforehand in the way

recommended for embroidery. Use a very moderate iron for the lace must

slowly and gently be pressed into its original shape.

Everybody who has read "Cranford" remembers with delight that lace may

be whitened by soaking it in milk. It may also be made tan-colour by

dipping it in coffee or tea. The latter is better because it leaves no

odour. A weak solution of gum arabic will stiffen lace when stiffness

is desired. Starch is not usually satisfactory.

Water in which fine fabrics are washed must either be soft by nature,

or must be made soft with borax.

_Chamois gloves_ can be washed successfully with cold water and good

soap. Some people recommend putting a few drops of sweet oil into

the water. Wash them until they are clean, soaping and squeezing and

rubbing them. Rinse them once. Squeeze them out hard and then gently

stretch and press each glove into the shape and size it was when it was

new. Hang them up to dry, but not in the sun, or near a heater, or in a

place where you may forget them. For at least three or four times while

they are drying, they should be again gently rubbed and stretched. Upon

the care with which this is done, depend the softness and shape of the

gloves. When they are almost entirely dry, put them on your hands, then

take them off and again gently stretch them into shape.

Things which may not be washed in water are sometimes cleaned with

naphtha or with some kindred fluid. I hardly think this should be done

unless one can do it out of doors. It is extremely dangerous work, not

only to oneself but to the lives and property of other people.

At least try other methods before such washing is resorted to. More

things can be washed in soap and water, if they are washed cleverly,

than is generally realized. Articles of delicate colour and texture

can often be dry-cleaned with potato flour, powdered French chalk, or

powdered magnesia. Rub the flour or powder gently into the fabric, and

allow it to remain there several hours. Then shake it out and repeat

the process. It is also a good method to put the article to be cleaned

into a box, powder it all over with one of these substances and then

shut it up for two or three days. Several times each day shake the box

well.

Light coloured articles, which may not be wet, such as walls,

furniture, rugs, fur, curtains and worsted shawls, may sometimes be

improved by rubbing flour and corn meal into them and then shaking and

brushing it out again. I am told that white fur can be made clean if it

is rubbed with plaster of Paris, shaken, and then rubbed with a damp

cloth. I cannot vouch for plaster of Paris, but I can for corn meal and

flour, for with it I once successfully cleaned a white kitten.

4. ALLEVIATIONS

Housewives make various arrangements by which the family wash may be

done with less expenditure of time and strength on the part of the

household than it usually requires. Some have a woman in to do this

work; some have the clothes washed out of the house and sent home rough

dried for ironing; others send the flat pieces to a laundry and have

the others done at home; others yet send the elaborate pieces out and

do the flat wash in the house. A somewhat different sort of compromise

can be made if the woman of the house realizes that light washing is

pleasant, skilful work. She can considerably lessen bills for washing

and ironing if she will herself do the handkerchiefs, napkins, doilies,

stockings, and other small pieces.

5. EMERGENCIES

A word or two may well be said in regard to a few of the commonest

difficulties that arise in this work.

A rainy or violently windy day is probably the most frequent

emergency. If one has an attic or a cellar, temporary lines can be put

up in either or both; if one has not, there may be room for a line or

two in the kitchen and the clothes horse must help out. If there is no

place where clothes can be hung in the house, either put the washing

off, or get all the white clothes to the stage of the second rinsing,

then put them into the tubs with clean water and leave them till the

storm is over. The coloured things must wait, the woollens also, unless

there are so few that they can be washed and hung up in a bedroom, or

some equally unusual place.

There is not much that can be done when the wash water is muddy. Fill

as many receptacles with it as possible, the night before the washing

day and in the morning pour the water off, disturbing the settlings as

little as possible. Its muddy colour will remain unchanged, but it will

contain less actual mud.

If one makes the mistake of getting clothes too blue, it will save

time eventually to rinse and dry them again. For several washings are

sometimes not sufficient to remove colour which has been ironed in.

In freezing weather, it is a good plan to have a short length of line

on which small pieces can be pinned in the house. Line and clothes may

then be carried out and put up at the same time, and can be brought in

together when the pieces are dry.

Clothes frozen to the lines are easily torn unless they are carefully

removed. Therefore wrap up well before going out to do this work, that

you may not be in a hurry. Also put on heavy gloves or mittens and

crush the frozen corners of the clothes hard in your hand before trying

to detach them from the line.

A scorch will sometimes disappear if it is sponged gently with a wet

cloth. To hang the scorched garment in strong sunshine is also a good

remedy. Dip a serious scorch in soapsuds or borax and water before

hanging it in the sun, if, however, the texture of the material is

injured, the misfortune can only be remedied with a darn or a patch.

Sometimes starch will stick and coat the irons. In such a case, it is

an assistance to sponge the starched pieces all over lightly with cold

water and a clean cloth, and to scrape the irons thoroughly and rub

them with beeswax. If, after this, the starch is still unmanageable,

rinse the clothes in clear water, and if they are then too limp stiffen

them with cold starch. This really takes no more time and strength than

struggling to iron sticky clothes; it also prevents garments from

being torn, which is an invariable part of the vexation and anxiety

occasioned by starch which sticks.

A sentence containing two words like vexation and anxiety may not be

allowed to end a chapter. I will put here, instead, that well-worn

reproach of housework, that it is ephemeral--work done merely to meet

passing necessities. For this reproach is a great source of contentment

in the work. Most thankfully I can remind myself that things over which

I could cry with weariness to-night will not exist to-morrow; most

thankfully I realize that this day's work is only one of hundreds like

it, and in all those days, even I can learn to do the work acceptably.

XIV

HOUSE CLEANING

JOKES about house cleaning have somewhat decreased in number, which

makes one hopeful that the miseries of house cleaning have also

decreased. Certainly there has been an earnest effort on the part of

many housekeepers to make the performance an inconspicuous piece of

work instead of an orgy.

House cleaning is of two classes: that which is done when the house is

continuously occupied, and that which is done when a house is opened or

closed after a season of absence or of occupation.

For either class, a careful preparation removes half the difficulties

and for both ample time should be allowed.

One should especially beware while house cleaning of what Bishop Hall

calls the "lust of finishing." Try to clean only as much each day

as can be put back into habitable order by the time the men of the

household come home. One room a day is all a woman unaided should try

to do. Mankind are pleased to make jokes about house cleaning and

glad am I that they can take it that way, for really it is a trial

of character to come home tired and hungry and find the house cold,

the rooms in disorder and a picnic supper spread in the kitchen by an

overwrought wife.

Preparation for either class of house cleaning includes, for one thing,

a decision as to what renewals and repairs are to be made. Painting,

papering, floor renovation, carpet and wall cleaning, upholstering and

whitewashing are all matters to be decided before the cleaning begins,

that they may not conflict, and that those which make dirt and litter

may be done before the actual cleaning of the rooms.

Another sort of preparation is the cleaning of cupboards, closets,

desks, bureau drawers, book-cases--everything which can be tightly

closed or covered. A little time devoted to this work every day for

several weeks helps to make brief the period of necessary disorder.

A day or two before a room is cleaned, ornaments and pictures can be

taken down, cleaned and put away until their places are ready for

them again. One must of course be careful not to remove comforts or

conveniences.

House cleaning is merely an especially thorough and complete periodical

cleaning, such as has been described in Chapter Six, to which are

added certain works of renovation and the packing and unpacking of

possessions which are used only during a part of the year.

_Renovations._--Renovations which are made by professionals merely

require of the housekeeper that she appoint a time for the workers to

come, that she see that they do come and that they do their work well.

It may happen, however, that the housewife wishes or is compelled to

make some renovations herself, and though there is no way to find out

how to do the work except by doing it, yet a few suggestions may help.

_Whitewashing._--The cleaning of the cellar usually involves

whitewashing. Perhaps you think anybody can whitewash. Truly, anybody

can, but often it's himself he whitewashes instead of the cellar.

The amount of lime which can be bought in most places for ten cents

will make four or five pails of whitewash. A friend of mine said, when

I asked her how much lime she bought for whitewashing her cellar, "Oh,

two lumps about as big as my head." When I asked, "Head with puffs or

without?" She changed it to, "about half a bucketful."

A firkin or a large pail which does not leak and which can be devoted

to the purpose is needed for slacking the lime. Put in the lumps, then

pour half a pail of water on them, carefully because you do not want to

splash your surroundings with lime nor burn yourself. Do not be alarmed

at the commotion you thus unwittingly create; when the lime has thumped

and hissed and gurgled a few minutes, put on another half-pailful of

water. When the lime gets more quiet, add water enough to fill the keg,

and stir until it is smooth, then cover to keep out dust and leave it

until it is cool.

When you look at it again it will probably be smooth and thick like

sour cream. If there is water on the top stir it in. Then dip out some

of the lime into a pail and dilute it with water until it is like good

milk. Stir it thoroughly.

Surfaces which are to be whitewashed should be well brushed to remove

dust and loose flakes of old whitewash. Apply whitewash with a broad

brush and do not put it on very thick. It will look gray and unpleasant

until dry.

The whitewasher should prepare herself carefully for the work. Lime

is injurious to clothes, shoes and skin. Wear old shoes and clothes

which can be washed, and protect your head and hands. Professional

whitewashers usually appear in hats or sunbonnets; it is not a badge

of their profession, but a means of protecting their eyes when they

whitewash above their heads. Protection for hands is even more

necessary, a day's work without protection means hands too sore to use

for anything. One might think that rubber gloves would be perfect for

this purpose, but in a few hours the lime eats through the rubber. Old

rags which one can tie round one's hands and replace with others when

they get wet are I believe the most effectual protection.

Lime once slacked can be kept from one whitewashing to another and from

year to year merely by keeping it always wet. It should also be kept

covered, for dust discolours it.

_Painting._--Surfaces which are to be painted should first be made

clean, dry and smooth. Sweep and wipe walls and ceilings, scrub

woodwork with soap and water, remove stains and grease spots, sandpaper

rough places and fill dints, cracks and scratches: those in the walls

with plaster of Paris, those in the woodwork with putty. When woodwork

receives two coats of paint, the putty should be applied after the

first coat has dried.

Surfaces which have not before been painted always require two coats

of paint. The first must be thoroughly dry before another is applied.

Amateurs succeed better if they use already mixed paints, rather

than those of their own mixing. If after it has been long and well

stirred paint is thicker than light cream, it should be thinned with

turpentine. Because in thick paint the places where the strokes of

the brush began and ended are apt to show; likewise, because thickly

painted surfaces are easily scarred.

Paint with long, light strokes; it is a motion like waving a flag, not

like scrubbing.

For wide surfaces, like walls or ceilings, use a fairly wide brush to

save time; for narrow places like door and window casings use a small

brush. Soak new brushes in water, and keep all brushes in water during

intervals when they are not in use. A brush which has dried with paint

in it will soften if it is soaked in turpentine.

_Floors and Carpets._--Methods for refinishing hardwood floors were

given in Chapter Six.

The directions for beating rugs given in the same chapter apply equally

to the cleaning of carpets.

_Papering._--It is not always safe to copy professionals in the matter

of putting on wall paper. They do many things which the unskilled

cannot. Nevertheless, the first thing to do in this work is to examine

the paper already on the walls. Count the full-length strips, then

count the short strips and calculate how many full-length strips they

amount to.

As a double roll of wall paper is usually 16 yards long, the number of

strips a roll will cut can be found by dividing 16 yards by the length

of one strip. The length of a strip is obtained by measuring the height

of the room from the top of the base-board to the ceiling. Be sure

to divide 16 yards by the length of one strip in _yards_, or else to

divide its equivalent, 48 feet, by the length of one strip in _feet_.

If a room is not already papered the number of full length strips may

be found by measuring the distance round the room, exclusive of the

distance across doors and windows, and dividing it by the width of the

paper. One must then measure spaces too short or too narrow for whole

strips and as before calculate how many full-length strips they amount

to.

When the number of full-length strips required for a room has been

obtained by either of the foregoing methods, the number of _rolls_

required may be obtained by dividing the number of strips needed by

the number of strips a roll will cut. It is always wiser to get one

roll more than the number thus obtained; this allows for the waste in

matching and for strips which may be spoiled in the putting up.

When the old paper has been examined remove it. Brush it over with hot

water and peel it off. Sweep the walls and fill cracks and holes with

plaster of Paris wet with water.

Cut the margin from one side of each roll of paper, from the same side

in every case. Usually the margin is wider on one side than on the

other, which helps one to remember which side to cut. Paper hangers cut

off both margins but it is better not to do this until one has acquired

some skill in paper hanging. As you unroll the paper to trim off the

margin, also roll up again the part which has been trimmed.

On a pasting board or on the floor run out enough paper, face up, from

a trimmed roll to make a full-length strip. Make a fold in the paper

at the length required and cut it with scissors or a sharp knife. Lay

something across the ends to keep the strip from rolling up. Again run

out paper from the roll about the length of the strip but this time

lay it with the trimmed edge on the untrimmed edge of the strip and if

necessary draw it up to make the pattern match. Cut off the few inches

which have to be drawn beyond the strip to make the match, then cut a

strip from the roll the length of the first strip. Continue to do this

again and again until there are as many strips as you need. Then turn

them all face down.

Paste each strip with quick long strokes, using a wide paint brush or

whitewash brush. Fold the lower end lightly toward the middle, far

enough to keep it from touching the floor when you raise the strip by

the upper corners. Place these corners against the wall where they

belong and press the upper part of the strip against the wall, then

brush it lightly downward with a clean brush, unfolding the lower part

when you come to it.

Put up all the full-length strips first, beginning beside a door or a

window frame where you will have a straight edge for a guide. Put the

trimmed edge of the first strip next the woodwork, lap the trimmed

edge of the next strip over the margin of the first, and so on. If the

distance between the last strip put up and the corner of the room is

not sufficient for the width of the strip, either leave that space and

put the next strip on the next wall with the trimmed edge close in the

corner, or else cut the strip lengthwise and put it up with the cut

edges meeting in the corner. When all the full-length strips are up,

cover spaces which are too short or too narrow for a whole strip with

pieces cut for the purpose from the strips left.

A border is put up last and must be done by two or three people, or

else cut into lengths short enough for one to handle.

Good paste is made as follows:--Into an enamelled or new tin saucepan

put four quarts of water and bring it to the boiling point. Mix a cup

of flour with cold water as if for thickening gravy; beat it smooth.

Pour it into the boiling water, stirring all the time until the mixture

is thick as cream and has boiled a little. Remove from the stove, and

if there is any likelihood that the paste will be kept over night, put

into it a piece of alum as big as a walnut. This keeps it from becoming

sour.

_Packing._--Renovations accomplished by amateur effort are more apt to

be associated with house cleaning of the first class, than with that of

the second. Packing, on the contrary, though it has a small necessary

part in the cleaning of a house continuously occupied, is a chief and

important performance in closing a house. In fact, this latter process

is little more than packing up a whole house.

The suggestions concerning packing which follow are intended to be of

use in closing a house but they amply cover the packing away which is

done spring and fall in a house which remains open.

Woollen articles and furs should be packed in receptacles which close

tightly and should have some substance unpleasant to moths packed with

them. It is a wise precaution to line packing boxes or trunks with

brown paper which has been wet with turpentine, or with newspaper, for

both are disliked by moths.

All articles should be thoroughly brushed and shaken before they

are packed. Many people disapprove of hanging them out in the sun

beforehand, as they think this gives the moths a splendid chance to lay

eggs in comfortable, sun-warmed fur and wool.

Things soiled or half-soiled ought not to be packed away. Dirt injures

fabrics and colours and helps to breed creatures. Possessions which are

to remain packed for a long time should not be put away starched. Do

not wrap white articles in white tissue paper, it turns them yellow.

Beware of putting into packing trunks anything which gathers dampness.

It may be romantic to find a dried rose laid away with somebody's ball

dress, but a brown spot on the front breadth is not romantic. Pieces

of camphor should be wrapped in paper and any other substance used

to keep out moths must be sprinkled or laid in with discretion. Black

clothes are rarely injured by such things, but coloured ones may be.

Curtains, hangings, bed coverings and all textile furnishings, whether

woollen or not, should be packed or folded and wrapped when a house

is to be closed as they require protection from light and dust. Sofa

pillows may be put into old pillow slips and left in their places or

packed, whichever is more convenient. Mattresses and bed pillows should

be covered with old sheets or dusting sheets.

Some people have their carpets and large rugs taken up, cleaned and

stored by the cleaners or brought back to the house and left rolled

until needed again. Such rolls should have paper tied over the ends

and should be separated from each other. Sometimes carpets are left on

the floor and covered with crash while the house is closed; the crash

protects them from dust and from being faded. Fabric-covered walls and

upholstered furniture should be covered to protect them from the same

dangers. It is convenient to have a cover for each piece of furniture,

but if several pieces are grouped together they can be covered with one

cloth.

Ornaments, pictures, mirrors and light fixtures should be wrapped in

cloths or paper to keep them from dust, light and flies. Silver and

valuables should be sent away to some reliable place for storage or

locked in a safe. Bright objects such as andirons, brass curtain poles

and candlesticks and their like are better wrapped in brown paper. Rub

the nickel fittings in the bathrooms with the rags which have been used

for polishing floors or furniture. This is good for them at any time.

Books which are to be left in a closed house should be carefully dusted

and shut in cases, or covered with sheets. A piece of gum camphor, or a

few drops of oil of lavender put on the shelves will help to keep away

insects, mould and mustiness.

Leather-bound books need special care about once a year whether the

house is open or closed. Care which agrees well with them is this:

First wipe them thoroughly and affectionately with a flannel cloth;

then dip a small piece of flannel into a mixture of equal parts

paraffine and castor oil, and with it wipe all the leather parts of the

bindings.

In city houses green shades are usually put up in summer and

light-coloured ones in winter. Any shade which is taken down should be

tightly rolled to keep the spring from loosening.

When closing a house in a place where there is much dust, it is well

to lay pieces of paper on the window sills, just far enough over

the outer edge to be held by the window when it is shut. These keep

the dust which sifts in from lying on and discolouring the sills. If

stoves, lengths of pipe and wire screens are put away for a time, it is

well to grease them, unless the place where they are put is absolutely

dry. Melted lard or drippings are good for this purpose, and also

kerosene, though in time this completely evaporates. The nickel parts

of stoves keep in better condition if they are wrapped in paper after

they are greased.

When a kitchen is to be closed for a season, the room and everything in

it must be left clean and dry, otherwise there will be mould, rust and

water-bugs to contend with when the house is opened. Some scouring and

polishing will be saved if bright tin and brass utensils and fittings

are wrapped in paper. The contents of cupboards and drawers should be

grouped on tables and covered with paper or cloths, and no food kept

except stores which are not injured by keeping.

Inflammable liquids such as alcohol, kerosene and turpentine should not

be left in a closed house. Matches should be shut in a tin box or taken

away altogether.

The last thing before a house is closed--gas, electricity and water

must be turned off. After the water is turned off, empty the tanks of

the closets as they may rust if water stands in them several months.

Crude glycerine or some liquid which does not evaporate should be

poured into all traps. In the course of months the water in traps

evaporates and leaves the passageway for gases from the sewer to the

house unobstructed.

On account of this evaporation, the water should be run occasionally

in rooms and bathrooms which are not in regular use, in order that the

traps may be kept full.

Two general rules to be followed in preparing a house to be closed are:

mark all articles which are wrapped up in unrecognizable packages, and,

as far as it is reasonable, leave things in the rooms in which they

belong.

Many people would add to these the rule that household possessions

should be repaired before they are put away. I think, however, that

this rule does not apply to clothing, furs, hangings, upholstery or

any textiles. Such are improved or deteriorated by being packed away,

and one cannot tell beforehand which will happen. Likewise, they are

freshened by being repaired or altered just before they are again used.

It is true, however, that household appliances, and the house itself

should be put in order before the house is closed, for possessions like

plumbing, rain-pipes, woodwork, light fixtures, furnaces, stoves and

shades grow worse the longer they are left out of repair, and sometimes

injure other things.

_Opening a House._--Just before a house is to be opened, light and

water should be turned on, all the contrivances connected with them

examined and needed repairs made. It is better that this part of the

opening should be done a day or two before any one returns to the house

to live.

Dust is the first thing to look after when the house is opened.

Remove as much of it as possible before anything is uncovered. Then

remove covers and put things in their places, beginning with those

most necessary for living. After that rearrange and renew those which

require it as soon as the time and needed assistance for doing so can

be obtained.

Housecleaning of any sort can hardly fail to be a time of turmoil and

weariness for the housekeeper. Her help is to remember that if the

family have good food and comfortable beds and are not scolded or

quarrelled with, they are well enough off to wait several days or even

weeks for curtains, clean windows and slippery floors.

XV

EMERGENCIES

THIS does not pretend to be a chapter, though it is called so for

convenience. It is merely a list of miscellaneous suggestions drawn

from experience, which may be useful to others.

It is in the very nature of emergencies that they cannot be forseen

or prepared for. They are things like those encountered by the

knight-errant as he rode through the unknown forest--things which are

never twice the same and which must be met and dealt with, without

forethought or consideration. And they are most successfully dealt

with in an adventurous spirit, as things to call out one's courage and

address, and put them to the proof.

I know that is a difficult spirit to attain. Mistakes and failures and

the remarks which families feel themselves at liberty to make about

such things are disheartening and painful. "The funny side" is the best

defense always against one's own distress and the thoughtlessness of

other people. I have found that a person who sees the funny side of a

calamity or of a difficulty gives more help in housekeeping than any

one else. Happy the home which contains such a person, thrice happy one

in which that person is its mistress.

A woman who is inclined to take household failures and accidents too

seriously may comfort herself with the thought that what she fails to

do to-day, she will probably succeed in to-morrow; and also with the

reflection that an occasional uncomfortable accident is good for her

family. A few spoonfuls of scorched soup eaten for courtesy's sake is

valuable food. Likewise, household accidents can be used to plant in

the family mind that calamities are to be shared by all. It is not

merely a reproach to the housekeeper that the _family_ maid does not

set the table correctly, or that the _family_ potatoes are burned.

Probably if a husband remarks, "Your gravy is cold," it is just as well

for his wife to reply delightedly, "No colder than _your_ beans."

Not awfully clever perhaps, but better than hurt feelings.

1. COOKING EMERGENCIES

Stale bread or cake can be freshened by plunging it into cold water and

then setting it in the oven for a few minutes. It must be used at once.

Pieces of stale bread may be thoroughly dried in the oven, then

put through the meat chopper and kept in a glass jar for covering

croquettes, fried oysters, etc.

Pieces of meat which in appearance and quantity will not be suitable

for a meal may often be used by arranging some vegetable on the same

dish. The pieces can be warmed in gravy and wreathed with carrots or

peas. Or they can be put through the grinder, packed into a mould lined

with boiled rice and the whole heated. Or they can be chopped, put

into ramakins, covered with potato crust and slightly browned. These

are merely samples of the many ways in which vegetables can be made to

conceal the fact that there is not meat enough for a main dish.

Left-over breakfast food of any of the cooked varieties can be made

into delicate little cakes which will make up for the lack of a

vegetable or do for a luncheon dessert. If there are about two cupfuls

or less, mix with one egg and a saltspoonful of salt. Fry in very hot

grease using about a dessertspoonful of batter for each cake. They

will sputter and be hard to turn, but that merely indicates their good

qualities.

If thickening remains lumpy instead of stirring smooth, strain it

through a fine wire strainer.

Curdled mayonnaise need not be wasted. If a new dressing is begun and

stirred until it begins to thicken, the curdled dressing may then be

stirred in as if it were oil.

Cream tomato soup can be kept from curdling if a bit of soda not larger

than a pea is stirred into the milk. This holds good for any cream soup

or for milk which is to be boiled.

A piece of soda not larger than a pea boiled with vegetables will keep

them green.

Boil this same quantity of soda with old, tough vegetables and they

will soften.

It makes less odour through the house, and makes the vegetables

themselves less strong, if cabbage, cauliflower, onions and some kinds

of beans are drained two or three times while boiling, and covered

again with fresh hot water. It is better not to put a cover over such

things.

If potatoes baked in the meat pan will not brown, they can be browned

in a frying pan on top of the stove.

When water has boiled off vegetables and they are burning, remove the

pot from the stove and turn the contents quickly and lightly into

another pot. Let everything which is inclined to stick, stick. Put hot

water on the vegetables and return them to the stove if they need more

cooking. Put water and a tablespoonful of baking soda into the burnt

pot.

Yolks of eggs, also lemons, will keep longer if laid in cold water.

Pieces of charcoal wrapped in bits of cheese cloth and laid with meat

or tucked inside poultry help to keep either sweet.

If the cook must be a long while absent from the kitchen while fowls

are roasting, strips of bacon pinned across their breasts and legs will

baste the fowls for her.

If the fire is too hot for broiling, or if for any reason the broiler

may not be used, heat the frying pan hot without greasing it. Lay the

meat in the pan first on one side then on the other. The result is much

like broiling, some people even prefer this method.

2. SOME SUBSTITUTES FOR ARTICLES CALLED FOR BY RECEIPTS

_For milk._--Water, or milk and water, may be used in either cake or

bread when receipts say milk with little variation in result except

that bread and cake thus made dry more quickly.

Sour milk may be used in mixtures which require sweet if just enough

soda is put into it to make it sweet, and the baking powder is measured

grudgingly.

Sweet milk may be used when a receipt calls for sour if lemon juice is

stirred into it until the milk thickens.

_For celery in salad._--Use tender cabbage and celery seed. Or use

endive.

_For chicken._--Excellent substitutes for chicken croquettes and

chicken salad can be made of veal or of young pork.

_For cream._--Use milk and double the quantity of butter.

_For butter._--In cake, use half butter, half lard and a pinch of salt.

In cookies, one may risk using three-quarters lard, if the lard is very

good and the available butter very poor. In less delicate cookery lard,

sweet drippings or chicken oil may be used. Before using any of these

substitutes salt them a little.

3. STAINS AND SPOTS

_Fruit and wine stains._--If fruit juice or wine is spilled at table,

cover the spot with salt. The salt lessens the stain, saves the

appearance of the table, and diverts attention from the culprit who did

the spilling.

Boiling water poured through fruit or wine stains will usually remove

them entirely. If it does not, try a weak solution of oxalic acid.

_Coffee and tea._--Pour boiling water through the stains until they

disappear.

_Ink and iron rust._--Cover a spot of either ink or iron rust with

salt wet with lemon juice and lay it in the sun. Repeat until the spot

disappears.

Or, use salts of lemon and sunshine in the same way.

Or, if the material stained is white linen or cotton try chlorinated

soda.

Sometimes ripe tomato will remove ink stains.

Sometimes soaking them in milk will take them out.

Often an ink-eradicator such as is sold to remove writing from paper

will take ink spots out of white material.

_Paint._--Turpentine will remove paint from fabrics, also from glass or

iron.

_Mildew and grass stains._--Try lemon, salt and sun applied as for iron

rust.

Try diluted oxalic acid.

If the material stained is white, try boiling it in buttermilk.

Try alcohol for grass stains.

Or rub them with molasses and then thoroughly wash the fabric.

_Grease spots._--If the article may be washed, try washing it with cold

water and white soap.

Or, moisten it with a strong solution of household ammonia and water,

cover with blotting paper and iron dry.

Or, sponge with a mixture of four parts alcohol to one part salt.

Powdered French chalk will often remove grease spots from silk or

woollen materials.

Tar, carriage grease or machine-oil may usually be removed by rubbing

the material with lard and then thoroughly washing it with soap and

water.

Spots of candle grease will disappear if they are covered with blotting

paper or coarse fibred brown paper and ironed with a hot iron.

_Kerosene._--Kerosene spilled on books, rugs or furniture will quickly

disappear if they are held near a hot fire or a gas jet. Not nearer

than your hand can bear. Sometimes if the article is left in strong

sunshine all day, the spots will disappear.

_Blood stains._--Wash first with clear cold water.

If the stain is obstinate wet with kerosene, then wash in warm suds.

_Stained hands._--They are improved by the application of any of the

following: vinegar, lemon juice, pumice, ripe tomatoes or dishwater.

_Note._--Colour taken out by an acid can usually be restored with an

alkali. Colour taken out with an alkali can usually be restored with an

acid.

4. ANNOYING CREATURES

_Ants._--Powdered borax sprinkled on shelves and along baseboards and

door sills will keep ants away.

Ants will not walk over broad, thick chalk lines. Such lines drawn

round boxes and jars some distance above the shelf or floor on which

they stand will protect them from ants.

Ants and other crawling insects may be kept out of a cupboard which

stands on legs, if its legs are set in bowls or cans of water.

To wash cupboards and shelves with a strong solution of alum and water

(1 lb. to 2 qts.) is a protection against any kind of insect.

_Mice._--An excellent defense against mice is a velvet-footed,

self-possessed, Epicurean Philosopher in the shape of a cat.

Traps are good if one may not have a cat.

Seek diligently for holes large enough to admit mice and have them

stopped. If you discover one unexpectedly and have nothing else at

hand, thrust a piece of yellow soap into the hole. I have not yet

found among mice the counterpart of the gentleman who cleaned his teeth

with yellow soap for the sake of self-discipline.

Poison is a poor expedient for ridding the house of mice. Whatever may

be said in the advertisements, poisoned rats and mice frequently die in

the walls or in the cellar and make life miserable in the neighbourhood.

It is with reluctance that I suggest attacks upon mice. I must hasten

to finish them, for a little later in the evening a tiny, palpitating,

silken, gray ball with bright eyes will come and sit on my desk and

eat crumbs. What if he should sit down on this page and see what my

housewifely conscience compels me to write, but not always to act upon!

_Moths._--Gum-camphor, tar-camphor, turpentine, pepper, a large

collection of patent substances, extreme cold and extreme heat are all

objectionable to moths.

Ways of packing articles to protect them from moths have been given in

the chapter on house cleaning.

Careful sweeping and dusting, and frequent airing of clothing and

hangings are excellent and natural preventatives of moths.

_Water-bugs and cockroaches._--Keep places where they congregate dry

and clean. Practically all the well-known roach foods and roach salts

effectually prevent these creatures, but none are effectual in places

which are allowed to be dirty or damp.

_Bedbugs._--If a housewife has ever had the least trouble with these

creatures there is one warning to take to heart and constantly obey:

Watch! Complete extermination is extremely difficult. Sometimes after

two or three years of absence they appear again. Besides there is

always danger that they may be brought into the house from a street car

or a laundry or some such place.

If one finds a few of these creatures, apply creosote, or corrosive

sublimate, or some patent poison to the bed or cracks where they were

found. Apply the poison with a feather or a squirt. Be sure to mark the

bottles containing it with the word "_Poison_" and keep them where they

will not easily be found by others than the housewife.

If one makes the horrifying discovery that a room is really infested

with these creatures, then indeed one must fight hard and unceasingly.

Paint and varnish are a great help in such cases. If the room is

papered, remove the paper, fill every crack first with poison, then

with plaster of Paris. Paint or calcimine the walls instead of papering

them again. Fill every crack in the woodwork with putty, have a

moulding put over the place where the baseboards meet the floor, and

paint or varnish all the woodwork so thick that there are no cracks.

Wash the bed and the furniture in the room and varnish all their

underneath and unfinished parts. Then, every day when the room is put

in order, seek these flat, brown creatures everywhere.

5. BURNS AND STINGS

Keep in the kitchen a few soft, old white rags for wrapping burns,

cuts, bruises and other injuries. Keep also for these hurts a bottle

containing two teaspoonfuls of borax dissolved in one quart of water;

or two ounces boracic acid dissolved in one quart of water. Either of

these mixtures is healing, soothing and antiseptic. Always wrap burns;

air aggravates them. Keep them wet with one of these solutions and the

pain will soon be allayed. Wrap burned fingers separately, or they will

stick together.

An excellent remedy for scalds is always at hand in the kitchen--the

flour dredger. Cover the scalded place thick with flour and keep it

covered.

Stings and bites of insects should be kept wet with ammonia for ten or

fifteen minutes, or covered with baking soda wet with water. Clean mud

from a garden bed or a flowerpot is also excellent for them.

6. SERVING OF MEALS FOR THE SICK

Meals for people who are in bed are an emergency of housekeeping.

In their preparation, economy should not be exercised unless it is

grievously necessary. Sick people are easily annoyed and often have no

appetite; sometimes they have even a disgust for food. The necessity

then is that their food should be the best, the freshest, the most

inviting and the most carefully cooked.

It is also important that food should be really hot or really cold

when it is intended to be. Coffee or tea served in a little pot or in

a covered pitcher rather than in a cup will be hotter and not spilled

over into the saucer. Plates and cups which are to contain hot food

should be heated very hot, they will be cool enough for use by the

time they have been carried upstairs. If the tray must be carried any

distance cover hot food with heated plates and bowls. For butter or ice

cream or any food which must be cold to look or taste agreeable, chill

the plate on which it is to be served and cover it with a chilled bowl

or plate. In hot weather put the butter on a little lettuce leaf, or

lay a tiny piece of ice beside it.

The appearance of an invalid's tray is often the cause of appetite or

of the lack of it. The linen should always be perfectly fresh, the food

in small quantities and daintily arranged. The dishes may well be the

daintiest and prettiest in the house, and should be small enough for

easy use. A flower or a geranium leaf is a pleasant addition to the

tray.

Before bringing a meal to an invalid, go and see that she is

comfortable. If one has not an invalid's table, it is well to put a

pile of books or boxes on each side of the sick person on which the

ends of the tray can rest. It takes strength and nerve to balance

something on one's lap when half lying down.

7. GUESTS

Including guests in the chapter on emergencies is not intended as a

discourtesy. They owe the classification to the fact that they are

sometimes unexpected and always need a little special thought and care,

however simply they are received.

It does not seem to me that the people who make no preparations

whatever for guests are any more in the right than those who make

themselves sick-in-bed getting ready for them.

It is not necessary to sweep the whole house, clean the attic and

whitewash the cellar in preparation for a guest, but it does seem that

a room should be carefully made ready for them and that more space

should be cleared for their possessions than two hooks in the closet

and perhaps a bureau drawer.

Certain things which it is pleasant to have in a guest room are in the

following list:

An empty closet and empty drawers.

Drinking water, at night, because a guest cannot wander round at night

seeking what he needs.

A candle and matches close to the bed, because something may happen to

the lighting arrangements, or the guest may forget where they are.

A wash cloth, a piece of soap, a brush and comb, pins and a whisk

broom, because these things are easily and frequently forgotten by a

traveller.

A wrapper, a pair of bedroom slippers, and a Bible. These three are

especially for transient guests as they are apt to be heavy and large

to carry in a travelling bag.

If the guest-room bed is very daintily covered, it is well to have a

place, other than the bed, where a guest may lie down.

The bed should be opened at night because a stranger often feels a

helpless ignorance of the intricacies of shams and counterpanes and

unaccustomed methods of bed making.

The degree of preparation made for meals offered to guests should be

governed by the occasion. When people are formally invited into your

home for a meal, it is natural that special preparations should be made

for them, and quite right, provided the repast does do not exceed what

you can afford or serve without evident anxiety. Unexpected guests and

guests who stay a few days or more ought to be taken into the regular

life of the family, with only such departures from the usual order as

the use of finer linen, or flowers on the table, or the preparation of

some dish which the guest is known to care for.

There are several small reasons why it is not wise to make a sudden

change in the family ways for the sake of impressing a guest. One is

that some candid member of the family is sure to speak of the change

or betray it by awkwardness; another is that the guest is sure to find

out the alteration by this means or some other; and another is that

"company manners" and "company menus" produce an awful restraint which

even a cordial family and a genial guest cannot break through.

Then there are two large reasons for not trying to impress a guest; it

is artificial and untrue, and it kills natural, simple hospitality. If

entertaining is made a great trouble and expense, many people cannot

do it. And this is a real misfortune because the reception of guests

is a necessary part of family life. It is a pleasure, it brings new

knowledge and new experience, it is an opportunity for kindliness, it

diverts people's minds from themselves and besides, it is a sacred duty.

A good many times I have seen trouble in a family or in a school

completely done away by the coming of an interesting guest. Probably

every one knows instances when a guest has brought a great happiness

or a great blessing. For there is much truth as well as loveliness in

those old tales of angels entertained unawares, of the weary stranger

sheltered who proves to be the king, and of travellers lodged for a

night who departing leave exhaustless gifts.

XVI

SERVANTS

WHATEVER is said within the next few years of the situation known

as "the servant question" must be in the form of a theory or of an

opinion. For the question is still unanswered, the problem unsolved.

There are two things which each woman can do toward solving this

problem; one is to find out all she can about it in general, and the

other is to deal as wisely and calmly as she may with the particular

servant or servants in her care.

One of the most obvious things about the situation is that there is

something very much the matter. Listen for only a few minutes to a

group of women talking about their servants and you will hear a most

disheartening list of complaints. Discount this list somewhat on the

grounds that people are inclined to magnify their troubles, and then

consider how it compares with the complaints made of the "hands" in

a factory or in a mill. There will be many points of likeness and

identity, but in such a comparison one serious difference between the

problem of domestic service and other labour problems cannot fail to

become apparent. This difference is that each domestic servant comes

into individual and personal relation with her employer and lives in

her employer's home, distinctly affecting with her disposition and

behaviour the family life.

One can vividly realize the peculiar troubles which can arise from

this situation by picturing the anxieties and annoyances that the

superintendent of a mill or a factory would suffer if he were suddenly

required to become the head of a lodging house for his employees.

Our situation is not quite so serious in regard to numbers as his would

be, but, none the less, we have constantly to take into our homes women

who differ from ourselves in nationality, class, education, personal

habits, tastes, standards--in fact, in so many things that a daily and

unavoidable relationship is most difficult and irksome.

Nor are the trials of this relationship entirely borne by the mistress.

Is it not a fact to be considered deeply, not to say humbly, that girls

prefer to work in factories and stores for poor wages and to live in

wretched lodging houses, rather than to receive good wages and live

in our homes? What is there in this relationship of domestic service

which the workers on their side so much dislike?

Also, a maid feels the incongruity we have mentioned between the family

in which she lives and herself. A maid-of-all-work, especially, can

hardly fail to be very lonely. The lack of fixed work hours in this

service deprives the maid of personal liberty and of any protection

from unreasonable demands. From morning till night and from night till

morning she is at the mercy of the whims and temper of another woman.

She knows that in this occupation she will be ranked lower socially

than her acquaintances who do not "live out." She knows, also, how

little respect her work commands even from those who are benefited by

it. Even the kindest of us sometimes say, "She looks like a _cook_" or,

"I feel as if I were dressed for the intelligence office." If we speak

like that of an occupation, is it surprising that women wish to avoid

it?

It is not hard to deduce from the complaints made on both sides that

the problem of domestic service is a problem of personal relationship.

Its solution then depends upon the discovery of a possible and wise

relation between mistress and maid, which it will become the general

purpose to establish and preserve.

At least two alternatives lie already before those who would discover

this relationship. One is to recognize and endeavour to perfect the

system of domestic service which has been for centuries in use;

the other is to develop and establish a new system which lies as a

possibility in the minds of many people and has been sporadically

tried. For convenience, I shall name these two and call the first, the

patriarchal system, the second, the business system.

The patriarchal system of domestic service has been in use some time.

It probably began when the first woman brought the first man his

food for love's sake. Then one day she was ill or the baby needed

her and she asked some other woman to take it to him for the sake

of neighbourliness. Then perhaps in a time of dearth it occured to

an impoverished woman to serve another for the sake of food and

clothes--and so it all began.

Up to a very recent time servants were often permanent members of the

household. The phrase "a family servant" and a very few representatives

of the class are still with us. The relation between such servants and

their masters and mistresses was a personal and moral one. At its best,

the servant gave time, work, strength, loyalty and love, for life; the

master and mistress gave food, clothes, shelter, protection, nursing,

affection and a home, for life.

One cannot say how widely this ideal prevailed, but certainly it once

existed in thought and fact as it does not now. Times have changed,

have they not? And changed so quickly that we hardly know just where

we are in regard to servants. Servants on the one side, masters and

mistresses on the other side, have dropped the responsibility out of

their relationship and yet they fondly expect other things to remain

unchanged. One woman complains that her servants are "disrespectful,"

another that they are "ungrateful," another that "they do not care

anything about her." Suppose a servant should suddenly turn and ask

us, "Do you care anything about me? Do you know about my childhood? Do

you know how many brothers and sisters I have, and whether my father

and mother are yet alive? Do you know what things make me glad or gay,

what interests or hopes I have? If I am faithful to you, will you teach

me and help me in my ignorance and my sins, and at last protect my

helpless old age?"

If your cook should suddenly turn on you with these questions--on you,

who own to having fifteen cooks in two months, or even on you who

grieve because servants are not respectful, would not either of you

discharge her at once and say you were "never so insulted in your life?"

And yet if the patriarchal system of domestic service is to work, we

must be able to answer earnestly, "yes," to these questions, and the

servant on her side must make the family life and interests her chief

concern. She must be like "Black Lize" who lies buried at the feet of

her mistress in a northern cemetery, and who told some of her people

that _she_ did not leave "the family" after the war as they had done,

she "stayed, and put up with things."

Or she must be like two Irish saints whom I know, devout women each

consecrated to the service of a family. One hears their feet on the

stairs at five in the morning going out to Church, and again going up

to bed late at night after the last young mistress is undressed and

comfortably at rest. They live here or there as others choose; they go

out or stay in, sleep or stay awake, wait long or hurry madly as other

people wish; they are the chosen companions of the ill, the sad and the

difficult members of the family; they have given up their own family

ties to share the fate of another family; they have no end in life

except to serve.

This patriarchal system asks a good deal of mere human creatures, does

it not? And one cannot say positively what the business system will ask

because it has not been tried, but it seems probable that it would ask

as much only in different ways.

It is time, though, to consider what the requirements of the business

system might be, because many people think that domestic service will

before long undergo some such change as has come over the professions

of teaching and nursing in the last half-century. Any one who will

read the novels of Miss Bronté and of Miss Austen, of Thackeray and

of Dickens with special attention to the governesses and nurses they

contain, is likely to feel surprise, however well he may know the

histories of these professions.

Particularly consider "Shirley" for governesses and "Martin Chuzzlewit"

for nurses and then picture the teachers and nurses of to-day, and

it will not be hard to believe that in fifty years the profession of

domestic service may also be so changed in status that no woman will

feel it a social descent to employ herself therein.

What will the relation between worker and employer be then, and what

will be required of each?

The relation would doubtless be that of a business contract such

as one has with a teacher, a typewriter or a nurse. The employer

could not ask for respect, but for business courtesy; she could not

expect gratitude, but rather skilled service for value received. Her

responsibility for her employee would consist in paying her wages,

in providing her with "sanitary surroundings," in requiring only a

definite number of hours of work from her, and in regarding her with

the same sort of human consideration which is used toward other wage

earners. In all probability these things would be required of the

housekeeper by law, as they are in greater or less degree required

now of employers of labour. Women would have to know more about

housekeeping than many do now, to be able to direct professional

workers. They would have to give up using the word servant and the

manner and feeling which sometimes go with it, or their employee would

probably seek another position.

The employee would not be a member of the household; she would usually

sleep out of the house and come in for work hours, she would not take

her meals with the family any more than she does now but it would be

for the same reason that your husband's superintendent or secretary

does not go out to lunch with him. She would expect the wages which

were customary for her training and work hours. She would not be

expected to have any especial attachment for her employers other than

that arising from the fact that they fulfilled their business contracts

and treated her courteously. She could not expect to have incompetency

ignored, nor to learn her business from those who were paying her the

wages of a skilled worker.

Would you like these requirements any better than those of the

patriarchal system?

These are just two sketches of the possibilities of an old system and

of the probabilities of a new one.

The problem, as you must personally meet it, unsolved, unclassified,

little understood and a good deal discouraging is even now perhaps

getting dinner in the kitchen. Probably the best plan for dealing with

her at present is to use a little of both systems. It is wise to be

very business-like about some things. "Days out," for instance, ought

not to be interfered with except in case of family calamity. If the

maid chooses to spend them at home, they should be as much hers as

if she had gone out. Sanitary surroundings are another thing. I hope

that if I looked into your maids' room I should not see that there was

no light, no heat, a double bed for two maids who are strangers to

each other and the most meagre washing conveniences. It is useless to

say that it is better than their homes, it is not their homes, it is

_your home_. When an inspector goes to see about factory conditions,

he does not say, "It's well enough, it's as good as their homes."

Another thing about which we should be business-like is the matter of

hours. We should be as particular that our maids do not work sixteen

hours as if we had a Trades' Union compelling us to be. A business-like

point-of-view would also preserve us from despising a necessary and

useful occupation. I have mentioned the careless way we speak of it

sometimes, but what I think really matters more, is that some women

would rather put up with lying, stealing, and immorality in a maid

than take the risk of having to do her work. On the maid's "day out,"

likewise, some of us do as little of her work and do it as slightingly

as we can, and she knows it.

But we shall need the patriarchal method in dealing with maids

personally. They are of many nationalities; they are untrained,

untaught; they have different customs, different manners, often

different feelings from ourselves. We shall need much knowledge and

human sympathy to understand them; much patience and quietness to teach

them. We shall have to explain things which are new to them a great

many times and very simply. We shall have to tell them definitely a few

things which we require, and we must keep them and ourselves faithfully

to these requirements. We must not lose our tempers with them because

this lessens our authority, and besides, it is inexcusable to lose

one's temper with a subordinate. We must not expect sympathy from them

in the trouble they give us. We shall not get it any more than we would

get such sympathy from children in school.

It is sometimes a help over a puzzling place to remember that this work

has a resemblance to the work of teaching. There is required of us

the same willingness to wait long for results, the same patience with

ignorance and clumsiness and defectiveness, the same quiet firmness

toward carelessness and insolence.

Many teachers have to begin to teach when they still know very little.

They learn as they work, and so can housekeeper teachers. If the cook

knows more about her work than you do, by all means learn from her and

take her advice often, but do not allow her on this account to rule the

household, or to decide about family arrangements which are not in her

department.

Do you know that letter of Saint Paul's written to his friend Philemon

on behalf of a runaway slave? It is an irresistible letter. Such a

mingling of loving confidence and insistent authority is hardly to be

found elsewhere. And also, with a little thinking, a little putting

together piece by piece, one gets a whole, vivid dramatic story from

this letter.

But its importance to us is that it is a letter written about a

servant, and has more in it than people have yet been able to put into

practice, though they have made a little progress in about nineteen

hundred years.

XVII

MARTHA

I BELIEVE that the chief reason that women find the work of

housekeeping irksome and sometimes intolerable is a reason seldom given

or reckoned with. The objections frequently raised, that women dislike

the work because it ties them at home, because it takes all their time,

because it tires them so that they can do nothing else, are obviously

inadequate.

For why should it not do all these things? Lawyers, doctors and

teachers give all their time and thought to their work; nurses,

companions and secretaries do not have much time to go out; women who

stand behind counters, tend looms or sit at switchboards are often too

tired even for pleasure when the day's work is done. A woman who earns

her part of the family living by making a home cannot expect to be

delivered from toil. Is it likely that she can succeed in a difficult

profession without giving up pleasures and ease for its sake, without

working as hard and as unquestioningly as the men of her family do for

their part of the family support?

Some people say that we regard the profession of housekeeping

unreasonably because women are by nature lazy, frivolous, and not

capable of very much intellectually. Now, though I humbly acknowledge

that these things may have to do with it, yet I believe, as was at

first suggested, that there is a chief reason for the serious distaste

we often feel for the profession. This reason is, that a certain

reticence and effacement, which every one should exercise in regard to

his work, is required of housekeepers in unusual measure.

People who can think and talk of nothing but their own work and

interests are very difficult people; a housekeeper who has this fault

is not only difficult, she is dangerous. For women who make their

housekeeping an idol pretty soon begin to offer it human sacrifice.

I remember hearing, as a child, a woman say of another who was an

immaculate housekeeper: "She swept her sons to the Devil." A puzzling

saying to me then, a terrible one to me now, for it was true. Those

sons were never allowed in the house till they had taken off their

shoes; they were not allowed in the yard because they made a litter.

Naturally, they went to those places which opened to them most

easily--the street, the saloon, the state's prison.

This is an extreme case, but there are countless others, grading from

those as serious as this to those in which homes just miss being

comfortable on account of tiny, gnat-like annoyances. They are cases of

failure in the woman's profession, and, trivial or great, they arise

from the same cause, from the neglect of that thing we don't like about

housekeeping--its unique characteristic--its _effacement_. Our work

as housekeepers is only notable when it is not noticed. It must be

done, delighted in and loved but seldom talked about and always held

subservient to other ends. Housekeeping is the servant, silent and

effaced, of peace, and home-likeness and health and joy, and of all

that we call spiritual in those who form our households.

And therefore, the housekeeper's life is full of little secrets;

secrets of suffering and weariness, secrets of amusement and joy. But

they are secrets which spoil her work if they are told. If one is a

martyr, one must not tell about it. The saints who wore hair shirts did

not cut a hole in the front of their clothes to show them. The woman

who is always telling how much she has to do and how much she "has to

put up with," has not stopped at cutting a hole in her clothes, she

wears her hair shirt on the outside to scratch other people with. Do

you remember Mr. Pip's sister, in "Great Expectations," who constantly

reminded the family that she never took her apron off?

It is natural in this connection to say a word about the care of the

housewife's own health and cheerfulness. Better even than to conceal

weariness and depression is to have none to conceal. Some women are

for years driven and spurred beyond reason by what we please ourselves

with calling conscientiousness or energy, but find at last that it was

undisciplined ambition, or a stupid lack of system, or that we were

blinded to the comfort and pleasure of other people by a determination

to sacrifice ourselves.

A woman who does her housework without assistance should expend some of

her conscientiousness upon getting a rest. Fourteen hours is too long a

work-day for any one. She must get it out of her mind that to rest is

to acknowledge defeat and weakness; far from it--it is such a difficult

thing to do that she will probably have to learn how. Some people find

that it rests them most to lie down and read a pleasant book; others

can, or can teach themselves, to sleep. Others, yet, find that to do

nothing is like slipping the belt off the fly-wheel of an engine,

their minds run the faster for having no work to hold them back. A

remedy for this is just to say one's prayers--not prayers of asking,

but prayers of realization, of companionship.

There is also relief which should be accepted or secured for oneself

as the work is being done. To change one's broom from side to side; to

carry a pail first in one hand then in the other; to straighten one's

body and fill one's lungs now and again when washing or ironing or

sewing; to spare one's hands and feet; to occupy the time spent in long

tasks with pleasant thoughts--all these are things which help us to be

well and glad and to keep the secret that we are sometimes tired and

troubled.

To return now to the other type of housekeeping secrets; it is less

unsafe to share pleasant secrets than painful ones, but often even

these are better kept. Unusual expedients, surprising shifts, the plan

which pops into your head at dinner for using a left-over to-morrow are

all better kept to oneself, or at least kept until the thing is so far

past that only the funny side of it remains. The girl in Miss Austen's

"A Nameless Nobleman," who basted her grandmother's bed-curtains and

valance into a wedding dress and refused to tell where it had come from

had woman wisdom. Her husband appreciated the joke much more when, a

few months later, he saw the same embroidery adorning his bed.

We need to realize the dignity and usefulness of housekeeping; we

must recognize that it is an active, clever employment in which there

is much to learn, much to be found out; we may well regard it as a

profession deserving our strength and time for life--and yet----

We must never be so absorbed in its importance or occupied with its

affairs, that we cannot be quiet, and listen. For it may be that

across many, many years we shall hear a voice saying lovingly and yet

reprovingly: "Martha, Martha----" Perhaps we may need to lie awake

and question ourselves, as I think that other Martha must have done

in the still night at Bethany. Why should earnest, careful service be

unacceptable? Why does a weary guest, who often has hardly the time to

eat bread, care little for a feast? Is there something more required of

a woman than keeping her household warmed and fed, and something less

required than notable success in her own work?

Doubtless that other Martha sobbed herself quiet at last over her

failure and reproof, and then in the quietness remembered that in the

guest chamber her Guest lay at rest.

XVIII

THE INSPIRATION

INSPIRATION cannot be explained or described. I cannot tell you nor can

you tell me what makes the long tasks of housework bearable and its

service sweet. But I can tell you some things which come to me when I

am weary and disheartened.

* * * * *

There is a picture by Murillo, called "The Angels' Kitchen," of angels

with wide wings folded, and star-eyes bent on the daily tasks of

housewives.

* * * * *

There is also Brother Lawrence, who had "a great aversion" to the work

of the kitchen, but "accustomed himself to do everything there for the

love of God," and so found "everything easy during fifteen years."

* * * * *

When Lacordaire was asked why he thought it important to keep his tiny

secluded room in spotless order, he replied, "The Holy Angels always

see it."

* * * * *

The words have been in the ears of the world for centuries, that He

took upon Himself the form of a servant. Has it entered into our

understandings yet, that to be a waitress or a butler or a cook or a

nursemaid or to do the work of them all as a housewife is to take upon

ourselves a divine office and companionship.

* * * * *

But it is just of three women that I oftenest think. One is that

beggar-maid whom King Cophetua made his queen; another is Griselda

whom Lord Walter chose from rags and penury and grievous toil to be

his wife; and the last, the outcast, beheld by the Prophet Ezekiel, of

marred beauty and defiled garments, yet chosen for love's sake to be a

bride adorned and honoured.

Their stories are our stories. We are each one of us both servant and

queen; we are each one of us somewhat unlovely, somewhat unable and yet

exalted. And in the servant's heart is always the radiant secret, "I am

the queen"; and in the queen's heart is always the remembrance, "These

lowly tasks belong to me by right."

Doubtless at last when the tasks are done, comes the fulfilment of

that vision with which this book began, when the Potter's work will be

finished, earth's wheel still, and the clay cup moulded and filled to

refresh the lips of the Master who made it.

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Varied hyphenation was retained.

Page 163, "necesssary" changed to "necessary" (All necessary shaking)

Page 248, "calory" changed to "calorie" (The calorie nevertheless is)

Page 303, "untensils" changed to "utensils" (and the utensils and)

Page 309, the table that begins on page 309 has some items out of

alphabetical order. This was left as printed.

Page 389, "rememberance" changed to "remembrance" (always the

remembrance)