we did not find it either pleasant or profitable. It is bad every way, and no kindness to the servant. In all that increases the real comfort of those who labor, or tends to make them better and wiser, every housekeeper is bound to be as generous and thoughtful as circumstances will permit. In engaging help, be slow to decide. Seek all the information possible. Be sure of substantial, reliable cie- dentials, as to their worth and honesty ; then, this once settled, let them see that it is the wish of their employer to trust them. Locking up closets where the food is, or putting aside the best part of the food from the first table, is a good recipe for making crafty, dishonest servants. If treated with kindness, courtesy and uniform gentleness, there are not many so rude and so low as not to be more faithful for these tokens of interest in their welfare. We recognize, to the fullest extent, the doubtful, unsatisfactory materials all housekeepers are exposed to have on their hands, if they are compelled to depend in any degree on hired help." But the treatment which we have here recommended is, we believe, the surest way to transform them into useful, competent and honest friends. THE KITCHEN. Few things tend so much to peace and comfort, making all laboring for the family contented and comfortable, as a bright, pleasant, v/ell furnished kitchen. In no other room in the house are sunlight and fresh, pure air so indispensable as in the room where some of the most important work must be done. We have not the least desire to be thought superior, as a general thing; but in building a house, no man, be he architect, biother, son, or 54 THE HOME COOK BOOK. husband, should have the control of planning the kitchen, store closets, or laundry. They are influenced in the con- struction by considerations for the beauty or artistic appearance of the house, as a whole, with little thought and no practical knowledge of what will make work easy and servants happy, or what will most conduce to the neatness of their work or the promptness of its execution. But a woman who understands what it is to do the work, or arrange for others to do it, naturally realizes, as a man cannot, that in building a kitchen, whenever beauty, in the artist's sense of the word, and utility are not compat- ible, utility must be the major, and beauty the minor, consideration. A long, narrow, dark kitchen is an abomination. In some city houses we suppose it cannot be avoided; at least so the architect will affirm. Ranges or cook stoves should not be placed opposite a door or window. A good ventilator is important over the range or cook stove, by which the steam and disagreeable odors from cooking can be carried off without pervading the house. Three large windows are always desirable, and for a very large kitchen four would be better. If the architect refuses so many, endeavor to compromise by having the outside door half glass. If possible, arrange to have the windows wide, with large panes of glass, and reaching down to the floor, so as to give more light. A sink should be on the left hand side of the range, and as near a window as possible, to secure good light.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

we did not find it either pleasant or profitable. It is bad every way, and no kindness to the servant. In all that increases the real comfort of those who labor, or tends to make them better and wiser, every housekeeper is bound to be as generous and thoughtful as circumstances will permit. In engaging help, be slow to decide. Seek all the information possible. Be sure of substantial, reliable credentials, as to their worth and honesty ; then, this once settled, let them see that it is the wish of their employer to trust them. Locking up closets where the food is, or putting aside the best part of the food from the first table, is a good recipe for making crafty, dishonest servants. If treated with kindness, courtesy and uniform gentleness, there are not many so rude and so low as not to be more faithful for these tokens of interest in their welfare. We recognize, to the fullest extent, the doubtful, unsatisfactory materials all housekeepers are exposed to have on their hands, if they are compelled to depend in any degree on hired help." But the treatment which we have here recommended is, we believe, the surest way to transform them into useful, competent and honest friends. THE KITCHEN. Few things tend so much to peace and comfort, making all laboring for the family contented and comfortable, as a bright, pleasant, well furnished kitchen. In no other room in the house are sunlight and fresh, pure air so indispensable as in the room where some of the most important work must be done. We have not the least desire to be thought superior, as a general thing; but in building a house, no man, be he architect, biother, son, or husband, should have the control of planning the kitchen, store closets, or laundry. They are influenced in the construction by considerations for the beauty or artistic appearance of the house, as a whole, with little thought and no practical knowledge of what will make work easy and servants happy, or what will most conduce to the neatness of their work or the promptness of its execution. But a woman who understands what it is to do the work, or arrange for others to do it, naturally realizes, as a man cannot, that in building a kitchen, whenever beauty, in the artist's sense of the word, and utility are not compatible, utility must be the major, and beauty the minor, consideration. A long, narrow, dark kitchen is an abomination. In some city houses we suppose it cannot be avoided; at least so the architect will affirm. Ranges or cook stoves should not be placed opposite a door or window. A good ventilator is important over the range or cook stove, by which the steam and disagreeable odors from cooking can be carried off without pervading the house. Three large windows are always desirable, and for a very large kitchen four would be better. If the architect refuses so many, endeavor to compromise by having the outside door half glass. If possible, arrange to have the windows wide, with large panes of glass, and reaching down to the floor, so as to give more light. A sink should be on the left hand side of the range, and as near a window as possible, to secure good light.

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