Employers are largely responsible for the incompetence
of those in domestic service, for it every woman employ-
ing help were properly fitted to direct them every home
would become a training school to raise the efficiency of
the workers therein. But as long as the mistress feels
housework is degrading and beneath her attention, so
long must we expect indifference and incompetency in
domestics.
SYSTEM IN HOUSEWORK.
Is system necessary to the efficient running of a home ?
It is ; for much more can be accomplished in a given time
and with less fatigue and nerve strain, than without
system.
Why is it better to have the housework carefully
planned, so that it is evenly divided over different days?
Because it prevents days of strenuous cleaning and over-
exertion during an entire day, without rest.
What harm will that do? While all the muscles need
work, or exercise of some kind, to keep them strong and
healthy, exercise or work tears down the cells of which
the muscles are made. These broken down tissues enter
Efficiency in Home Making 43
the blood, poisoning it, but it is purified as it passes
through the lungs, where these waste products are thrown
out into the air by the breath, excreted through the kid-
neys, or destroyed in the liver. During a normal amount
of working time, these waste cells are eliminated or de-
stroyed by the body, but during long periods of exertion
they accumulate faster than they are expelled ; then the
body becomes fatigued or literally and actually "pois-
oned."
How can this be prevented? By resting occasionally
for three or four minutes, taking deep long breaths, and
relaxing perfectly.
Does it require more effort to work when one is tired?
It does ; so the body becomes more poisoned doing the
same amount of work than when rested.
Does it take a longer period of rest for the body to
expel these poisons when over- fatigued than when slight-
ly tired? It does, very much. That is why long hours in
industry are so injurious to the workers. Overtime for
shop girls during the Christmas season, and for factory
workers during rush periods require a long rest time,
perhaps months, for them to recuperate from this exces-
sive poisoning.
Why are late hours even when spent in social amuse-
ments, with lack of sleep, injurious to those who are con-
stantly employed during the day ? The body cannot elim-
inate all the poisons, and build up the tissues again, before
the beginning of the next working day, for the body re-
cuperates more quickly during sleep.
Is the same true of girls in school? It is; for faithful
school work acts on the brain, and plenty of sleep is nec-
essary to keep it in good working order.
What bearing has nourishing, properly cooked food on
fatigue? The body needs it to build up the torn down
tissues ; these cannot be built up without proper food.
The young wage-earner, or school girl who makes her
lunch off pickles, pie, candy, and coffee or tea, will cer-
tainly injure her health and reduce her efficiency.
II
EFFICIE \i\ in I [OME M \ki\(;
Page 22
Presented as published in 1915. 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
Employers are largely responsible for the incompetence of those in domestic service, for if every woman employing help were properly fitted to direct them every home would become a training school to raise the efficiency of the workers therein. But as long as the mistress feels housework is degrading and beneath her attention, so long must we expect indifference and incompetency in domestics.
SYSTEM IN HOUSEWORK.
Is system necessary to the efficient running of a home ? It is ; for much more can be accomplished in a given time and with less fatigue and nerve strain, than without system.
Why is it better to have the housework carefully planned, so that it is evenly divided over different days? Because it prevents days of strenuous cleaning and overexertion during an entire day, without rest.
What harm will that do? While all the muscles need work, or exercise of some kind, to keep them strong and healthy, exercise or work tears down the cells of which the muscles are made. These broken down tissues enter
Efficiency in Home Making 43
the blood, poisoning it, but it is purified as it passes through the lungs, where these waste products are thrown out into the air by the breath, excreted through the kidneys, or destroyed in the liver. During a normal amount of working time, these waste cells are eliminated or destroyed by the body, but during long periods of exertion they accumulate faster than they are expelled ; then the body becomes fatigued or literally and actually "poisoned."
How can this be prevented? By resting occasionally for three or four minutes, taking deep long breaths, and relaxing perfectly.
Does it require more effort to work when one is tired? It does ; so the body becomes more poisoned doing the same amount of work than when rested.
Does it take a longer period of rest for the body to expel these poisons when over- fatigued than when slightly tired? It does, very much. That is why long hours in industry are so injurious to the workers. Overtime for shop girls during the Christmas season, and for factory workers during rush periods require a long rest time, perhaps months, for them to recuperate from this excessive poisoning.
Why are late hours even when spent in social amusements, with lack of sleep, injurious to those who are constantly employed during the day ? The body cannot eliminate all the poisons, and build up the tissues again, before the beginning of the next working day, for the body recuperates more quickly during sleep.
Is the same true of girls in school? It is; for faithful school work acts on the brain, and plenty of sleep is necessary to keep it in good working order.
What bearing has nourishing, properly cooked food on fatigue? The body needs it to build up the torn down tissues ; these cannot be built up without proper food. The young wage-earner, or school girl who makes her lunch off pickles, pie, candy, and coffee or tea, will certainly injure her health and reduce her efficiency.
EFFICIE \i\ in I [OME M \ki\(;