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Housewives at Home and Abroad
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Vwl I the trials of housekeeping are be-
vuuiiui V UIRU1IUIU lUfth uivi m
few yean of arduoua labor they
arc telied with nervous procura
tion and many other nervous diseases
to which we Americans are especially heir.
To on traveling abroad It Is Interesting
to compare the responsibilities of the for
eign housewife and her American sisters. '
While In Dresden I met a woman who
gave ma much Information concerning this
question as It appears in Germany. One
day she showed me through her home, ar
tistic In Us simplicity. The house was full
of sunshine and fragrant .odors given off
by potted plants. The place bespoke ,ease
rather than beauty. There were plenty of.
comfortable chairs to be found; attractive -prints
and etching were everywhere on
the walls, and the library was well stocked
with books. After she . had shown me
through I remarked that she must have
many servants, to keep so large a place In
order. She answered: ' "I suppose, my
homo would appear a great deal more at
tractive than It does If I kept more serv
ants. You see, I only have a cook, cham
bermaid and a woman to help with the
washing aud Ironing two days out of the
week."
I told her that the majority of our
women with large households kept many
servants.
"But," she replica, "your women have
o many more Interests than we. We hive
no clabs and classes that demand our time.
Take my own case. I cannot read all day
and the greater number of my calls sre
made with my husband; so ray mornings
are spent assisting In the house. Besides
making up the bedrcoms, I keep the sit
ting room and my husband's library, la
order and do the week's mending. My af
ternoons are given to reading and an oc
casional call or 'Kaffee Klatsch.' Besides,
most of the men In Germany oome home
at noon, so we have dinner at 11 and a
cold supper In the evening. Our husbands
lay much stress on their food, and M the
meals are not cooked properly it is wo and
not the cooks that are held responsible.
Though a woman does not always do her
own cooking, it Is taken for granted that
she will superintend her kitchen. Wo do
all our own marketing and rarely order
anything over the telephone." She continued:"-"Perhaps
you have not been In
our country long enough to appreciate the
Situation, but a housewife's pos'tlon in this
countr Is so difforent from what it is In
America. ' The German woman is not ex
pected to attain social position tor her hus
band nor austaln it. - Her function Is to
plesse him. look, after her home and bring
up the children.' - -
Surprised at what she was saying. I
asked if none of her friends belonged to
clubs and classes. '
4 "I am not astonished," she answered,
"that from your liberal American point of
"'view these things appear strange. But
they will not If you remember that with
us woman Is considered the homemsker
and the men look upon themselves as the
proper ones to consider social and philos
ophical questions. My husband, who Is a
lawyer, Is far more liberal In his views
than most of the men of our acquaintance;
for instance, he leuds me all the modern
books as soon as he finishes with them,
snd I keep up my French and English
through the' reading of foreign literature.
Still, If I took any lessons in the foreign
languagea and belonged to clubs he would
thiuk It ridiculous, for with us women are
expected to get their education before they
are married. The average German woman
does not cater to the mode; her millinery
and dressmaking does not take so much
of her time as that of other women. ' Our
way of entertaining is equally simple; it
Is only the wealthiest of our people- who
give elaborate receptions and grand balls.
We think we are doing our duty if we are
devoted wives and kind, mothers; but to be
leaders of any kind is considered quite out
of our sphere. And, wilh It all, many of
us often long for the freedom given to your
women."
But the women of the well to do classes
have easy lives compared with the peasant
women and wives of mechanics. One day
while walking along a country road I came
across a dog and a middle aged woman
; hitched to a cart. I stopped and asked her
If her load was not too heavy. She. said
that carrying her vegetables to market was
not the hardest of her work. She had
seven little children at home to cook' for
and to keep clean. When she got through
with the children snd the house she went
out and helped her husband In the field.
One day while In Paris I was speaking
to a French woman and during our conver
sation ahe remarked that It was strsnge
her countrywomen bad the name of being
frivolous. She was sure that they had not
the game. Certainly there was a small
class of women that led butterfly exist
ence, but there Is no country where the
average woman Is busier with her family,
however small it may be.
The French woman Is probably the best
housekeeper In tho world. She is devoted
to her home and to her family. Her
household is exceptionally clean and at
tractive, though she manages i do It with
few servants. If she does not assist in
' the' kitchen, she superintends It; she sees
that the table cloths and napkins are snow
white and that the table is set with taste.
She . Is equally particular about her own
appearance and that of her children. And
Just because the average Frenchman takes
things pretty much tor granted she does
not receive the credit due her.
Though the average household of tho
well-to-do English woman is larger than
the small chateau of. the French or tho
apartments of the German, she has mere
servants to assist her. Besides, the Eng
lishman does not lay so much stress on
the mall details of his household. Tho
English are exceedingly simple and un-
affected in their homes: They desire com
fort more than luxury. .Still, In the family
the husband is considered the head of tho
-.household. - He limits, tho weekly expense
and no improvement is made In the house
hold without his being consulted first. If
. expenses are to be cut he will not deprlvo
himself of his clgsrs nor his clubs, rather
It Is his wife who Is expected to get alon?
, wilh one servant less. "An EnglUh woman
will live on a leg of mutton served hot on
Sunday and warmed up In different style
during the week, so that her husband can
frequent his club,. enjoy oysters and part
ridge. Notwithstanding that the English
are hearty eaters, they live simply. Tho
household is managed wilh great economy,
dinner In the evening being the only elab
orate meal of the day.
After I had visited many foreign women
In their homes I came to the conclusion
that it was not housekeeping, whatever
else it Is, that gives nervous prostration
to many of our American women. Delia
Austrian la Chicago Tribune.
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