Wanted: a Young Woman to Do Housework | Page 2

in order to make it a success
she must give it her personal attention each day for at least a portion of
her time.
It is a popular impression that the knowledge of good housekeeping,
and of the proper care of children, comes naturally to a woman, who,
though she had no previous training or preparation for these duties,
suddenly finds them thrust upon her. But how many women can really
look back with joy to the first years of their housekeeping? Do they not
remember them more with a feeling of dismay than pleasure? How
many foolish mistakes occurred entailing repentance and discomfort!
And how many heart-burnings were caused, and even tears shed,
because in spite of the best intentions, everything seemed to go wrong?
And why? Simply because of ignorance and inefficiency in the home,
not only of the employee, but of the employer also.
That an employee is ignorant and unskilled in her work is often
excusable, but there is absolutely no excuse for a woman who has time
and money at her command, to be ignorant of domestic science, when
of her own free will she undertakes the responsibilities of
housekeeping.
Nearly all women take interest in the furnishing of their homes, and
give their personal attention to it with the result that as a rule they excel
in household decoration, and often produce marvels of beauty and taste
with the expenditure of relatively small amounts of money.
Marketing is also very generally attended to in person by the housewife,
but she is using the telephone more and more frequently as a substitute
for a personal visit to butcher and grocer, and this is greatly to her
disadvantage. The telephone is a very convenient instrument, especially
in emergency, or for ordering things that do not vary in price. But when
prices depend upon the fluctuations of the market, or when the articles
to be purchased are of a perishable nature, it must be remembered that
the telephone is also a very convenient instrument for the merchant
who is anxious to get rid of his bad stock.

The remaining branches of housekeeping apparently do not interest the
modern housewife. She entrusts them very generally to her employees,
upon whose skill and knowledge she blindly relies. Unfortunately skill
and knowledge are very rare qualities, and if the housewife herself be
ignorant of the proper way of doing the work in her own home, how
can she be fitted to direct those she places in charge of it, or to make a
wise choice when she has to select a new employee? Too often she
engages women and young girls without investigating their references
of character or capability, and when time proves what an imprudent
proceeding she has been party to, she simply attributes the consequent
troubles to causes beyond her control. If the housewife were really
worthy of her name she would be able not only to pick out better
employees, but to insist upon their work being properly done. To-day
she is almost afraid to ask her cook to prepare all the dishes for the
family meals, nor does she always find some one willing to do the
family washing. She is obliged to buy food already cooked from the
caterer or baker, because her so-called "cook" was not accustomed to
bake bread and rolls, or to make pies and cakes, or ice cream, for
previous employers, from whom nevertheless she received an excellent
reference as cook. Of course in cities it is easy to buy food already
cooked or canned and to send all the washing to the laundry, but it
helps to raise the "high cost of living" to alarming proportions, and it
also encourages ignorance in the most important branches of domestic
economy.
In spite of the "rush of modern life," a woman who has a home ought to
be willing to give some part of her time to its daily supervision. Eternal
vigilance is the price of everything worth having. If she gave this she
would not have so many tales of woe to relate about the laziness,
neglectfulness, and stupidity of her cook and housemaids. There is not
a single housewife to-day who has not had many bitter experiences.
One who desires information upon this subject has only to call on the
nearest friend.
To the uninterested person, to the onlooker, the helplessness of the
woman who is at the head of the home, her inability to cope with her
domestic difficulties, is often comic, sometimes pathetic, sometimes

almost tragic. The publications of the day have caricatured the situation
until it has become an outworn jest. The present system of
housekeeping can no longer stand. One of two things must occur.
Either the housewife must adopt business principles in ruling her
household, or she