| OCR Text |
Show Home Administration I LOXG past is the day when the household house-hold administration, might bo conducted con-ducted on a haphazard basis. To-day the woman who holds the reins of government govern-ment of the domestic circle finds herself getting nearer and nearer to tho medieval days when the chatelaine of the castle meant far more than the carrier of the keys. For, strange as it may stem, the housekeeper house-keeper of to-day is not so far removed from tho woman of that fur period, whose life was so narrow and so circumscribed in many ways, and on whom there yet devolved many and arduous duties. Home Administration. The woman who docs not ndmiulster the affairs of the home to-day with consideration considera-tion of the period in which she lives, aud of the effect of her methods not only on her own household but ou the lives of those about her, is placing herself not only in tho class with the feminine para-Kite, para-Kite, but is, all unwittingly, proclaiming herself one of that army of slackers. The army, luckily, is growing less daily, as it is being brought home to the American peoplo that warfare in the trenches and on the high seas is not the only way to serve one's country. It is a pity that so few American women have been really trained in the keeping of household accounts. Tho women of Franco and of England have hud instilled into them for many generations the need of this training if they are to meet the obligations obli-gations of their high station. Tho women of this country have been used to delegating much of tho conduct of their households to servants, or else have beon so engaged In doing the work of the homo themselves that they have , uken small notice of the importance of keeping household accounts of any kind. Yet thoro is no way in which the family income may so easily be depleted as by a haphazard manner of housekeeping. Every woman who is at the head of a household, whothcr her own or iu the capacity of housokceper to another, should not only keep a record of every cxpendi- jH tare, but should study the markets, be grounded in the scientific value of foods jH aud be culinary expert enough to know when those foods arc prepared in such a jH way as to get from each pound of food jH aud of fuel its greatest value. No longer may the women of America jH go light hcartedly on their way, leaving the administration of their homes to paid help, for it is no longer n matter of per-sonal per-sonal preference as to keeping house or leaving it to some one else. America needs more than anything else just now tbnt the women of this country bo imbued with IH a deep and abiding realization of their duty In conserving the products of the laud that must feed not only the people of this country, but our men abroad, and help to nourish the armies of the Allies. Not easily may one make a pound of food do what two pounds once did, for the sake of the nation. But this can be doue, und is being done by many women in the 1 United States. jH "Where the homo has been allowed to take care of itself, or left much to ser-vants, ser-vants, it is not an easy tiling to conduct the 'household according to the present standards of living, when to waste Is' con-sidered con-sidered a disgrace, and to spend a dollar more than necessary a real, if unintcn-tionnl, unintcn-tionnl, evidence of disloyalty. The magazines and newspapers of the country aro doing their part in educating women to a real appreciation of duty to their government in the matter' of "food IH control, nnd for those who need other as-slstance as-slstance In the matter of food values and scientific application to homo living the government in "Washington will gladly IH furnish all information desired. Start nn Account Book. The woman who cooks her own meals fl and cares fur her own household cconomi- fl cally and proficiently is doing her part quite as effectively as the woman who Is able to leave these details to a housekeep-or housekeep-or or a maid, while she takes her place tvith the Bed Cross workers or the other fl organizations which are rendering such IH effective aid to the United States .govern- Get out your old arithmetic and practise addition. Start an account book 'to-day. Study food values, use tried recipes, and by giving your family nourishing food at a minimum cost do your part in this great world war. |
