light to every nook and cranny. Even with imperfect or
improper food, these two allies are strong enough to carry
the day for health ; and, when the three work in harmony,
the best life is at once assured.
If the house must be on the lowlands, seek a sandy or
gravelly soil; and avoid those built over clay beds, or
even where clay bottom is found under the sand or loam.
In the last case, if drainage is understood, pipes may be
so arranged as to secure against an}^ standing water ; but,
unless this is done, the clammy moisture on walls, and
the chill in every closed room, are sufficient indication
that the conditions for disease are ripe or ripening. The
only course in such case, after seeking proper drainage,
is, first, abundant sunlight, and, second, open fires, which
will act not only as drying agents, but as ventilators and
purifiers. Aim to have at least one open fire in the
house. It is not an extravagance, but an essential, and
economy may better come in at some other place.
Having settled these points as far as possible, — the
question of water-supply and ventilation being left to
another chapter, — it is to be remembered that the house
is not merely a place to be made pleasant for one's friends.
They form only a small portion of the daily life ; and the
first consideration should be : Is it so planned that the
necessary and inevitable work of the day can be accom-
plished with the least expenditure of force? North and
South, the kitchen is often the least- considered room uf
the house ; and, so long as the necessary meals are served
up, the difficulties that may have hedged about such serv-
ing are never counted. At the South it is doubly so, and
necessarily ; old conditions having made much considera-
tion of convenience for servants an unthought-of thing.
THE HOUSE: SITUATION, ETC. 15
With a throng of unemployed women and children, the
question could only be, how to secure some small portion
of work for each one ; and in such case, the greater the
inconveniences, the more chance for such emplo3'ment.
Water could well be half a mile distant, when a dozen
little darkies had nothing to do but form a running line
between house and spring ; and so with wood and kind-
ling and all household necessities.
To-da}^, with the old service done away with once for
all, and with a set of new conditions governing every
form of work, the Southern woman faces difficulties to
which her Northern or Western sister is an utter stranger ;
faces them often with a patience and dignity bej^ond all
praise, but still with a hopelessness of better things, the
necessary fruit of ignorance. Old things are passed
awa}', and the new order is jQi too unfamiliar for rules to
have formulated and settled in any routine of action.
While there is, at the North, more intuitive and inherited
sense of how things should be done, there is on many
points an almost equal ignorance, more especially among
the cultivated classes, who, more than at any period of
woman's history, are at the merc}^ of their servants.
Every science is learned but domestic science. The
schools ignore it ; and, indeed, in the rush toward an
early graduation, there is small room for it.
"She can learn at home," sa}^ the mothers. "She
will take to it when her time comes, just as a duck takes
to water," add the fathers; and the matter is thus dis-
missed as settled.
Page 5
Presented as published in 1881. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
light to every nook and cranny. Even with imperfect or improper food, these two allies are strong enough to carry the day for health ; and, when the three work in harmony, the best life is at once assured.
If the house must be on the lowlands, seek a sandy or gravelly soil; and avoid those built over clay beds, or even where clay bottom is found under the sand or loam. In the last case, if drainage is understood, pipes may be so arranged as to secure against any standing water ; but, unless this is done, the clammy moisture on walls, and the chill in every closed room, are sufficient indication that the conditions for disease are ripe or ripening. The only course in such case, after seeking proper drainage, is, first, abundant sunlight, and, second, open fires, which will act not only as drying agents, but as ventilators and purifiers. Aim to have at least one open fire in the house. It is not an extravagance, but an essential, and economy may better come in at some other place.
Having settled these points as far as possible, — the question of water-supply and ventilation being left to another chapter, — it is to be remembered that the house is not merely a place to be made pleasant for one's friends. They form only a small portion of the daily life ; and the first consideration should be : Is it so planned that the necessary and inevitable work of the day can be accomplished with the least expenditure of force? North and South, the kitchen is often the least- considered room of the house ; and, so long as the necessary meals are served up, the difficulties that may have hedged about such serving are never counted. At the South it is doubly so, and necessarily ; old conditions having made much consideration of convenience for servants an unthought-of thing.
With a throng of unemployed women and children, the question could only be, how to secure some small portion of work for each one ; and in such case, the greater the inconveniences, the more chance for such employment. Water could well be half a mile distant, when a dozen little darkies had nothing to do but form a running line between house and spring ; and so with wood and kindling and all household necessities.
To-day, with the old service done away with once for all, and with a set of new conditions governing every form of work, the Southern woman faces difficulties to which her Northern or Western sister is an utter stranger ; faces them often with a patience and dignity beyond all praise, but still with a hopelessness of better things, the necessary fruit of ignorance. Old things are passed away, and the new order is jot too unfamiliar for rules to have formulated and settled in any routine of action. While there is, at the North, more intuitive and inherited sense of how things should be done, there is on many points an almost equal ignorance, more especially among the cultivated classes, who, more than at any period of woman's history, are at the mercy of their servants. Every science is learned but domestic science. The schools ignore it ; and, indeed, in the rush toward an early graduation, there is small room for it.
"She can learn at home," say the mothers. "She will take to it when her time comes, just as a duck takes to water," add the fathers; and the matter is thus dismissed as settled.