Efficiency in home-making and first-aid to good cooking

Efficiency in Home Making 47 Friday. Vacuum clean rugs, one hour and forty-five minutes; scrub up bath-room floor, wipe off tiling, and china of seat. Saturday. Brush out ovens of stove, clean tray under burners and pipes ; wash our refrigerator, cleaning pipe thoroughly with brush, and scald it down ; scald butter pail, also bread box ; wipe off soiled places on wall or on cupboards, wipe out kitchen drawers if needed ; mop up floor. Wash floor dust mop. Once a month go over underside of rugs with vacuum cleaner, and floor under them with dust mop. Once a month go over top of door and window ledges and pic- ture moldings with long lambs' wool duster. Once in two weeks dust framework of bed springs rest on, and dust backs of bureaus. How long did it take to do properly the work listed here under every day work? A test was made by the mistress of the apartment. Without hurrying she did all the work listed here under every day work in two hours. She also noted the time it took her maid to do it four different mornings, which was a little less than two hours. The maid was unconscious she was being timed. This did not include doing the maid's room. Of course, if the rooms had been cluttered with furniture it would have taken longer to put them in order and dust all the useless furniture and ornaments. The rooms had about ten pieces of furniture each ; the halls hardly any. It would also have taken longer had there been more in the family, or had muffins or hot bread been made for breakfast. The breakfasts consisted of fruit, cereal, toast; perhaps bacon, and coffee. Also had the apart- ment rooms not been arranged compactly with no long halls to traverse ; if the beds, instead of being so placed that one could go around them, had had to be moved out to make. A plan which worked well in a house of about four- teen rooms, besides baths, and lavatories, and seven halls. There were three grown persons in the family; some company; but not much entertaining. There were two 48 Efficiency in Home Making maids ; and the coachman cleaned the walks and rugs, and took care of heater; coal for the kitchen and laundry fires. EVERY DAY WORK FOR HOUSEMAID. Put own room to air ; arrange shades in rooms on first floor ; open front door and windows to air first floor ; dust ledges of front door and screen door, and sills of windows opening on front porch; polish knobs of front door and screen door when needed to keep them bright; wipe up tiling in vestibule. Dust dining room carefully going over floor around rug with floor mop, dusting all the furniture. Change water on cut flowers, removing wilted ones; set table, properly placing butter, glasses of water and fruit just before announcing breakfast. Serve breakfast, and after eating her own, wash and put away dishes from dining room. Put bedrooms in order, empty- ing any waste water, and seeing that all bedroom china is properly scalded and free from odor. Beds properly made, floors gone over with dust mop, and rooms dusted. Wash out basins in lavatory and bath, and the tops of the stationary stands; also bath tub. Wipe down front stairs, lower front hall, parlor, and library floors, and dust them. Attend to guest rooms in same way when in use, and keep her own room in good order.