{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2901", "width": "1789", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "mm", "height": "2754", "width": "1578", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "c\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0V\\no\\n,-\u00e2\u0082\u00ac5Ji^\\n.0 3.\\n^/sV^ .r^^^-^^vN\\nC\\nc\\nw", "height": "2754", "width": "1578", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2754", "width": "1406", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2754", "width": "1406", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2772", "width": "1499", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "The Domestic Blunders\\nof Women", "height": "2772", "width": "1499", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2790", "width": "1603", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "The\\nDomestic Blunders\\nof Women\\nBY\\nA MERE MAN\\nWITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS\\nBy Y0RICK\\nNEW YORK\\nFUNK WAGNALLS COMPANY\\nLAFAYETTE PLACE\\nigoo", "height": "2790", "width": "1603", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "TWO COPIES RKCEIVEO.\\nlibrary of C0Bgra\u00c2\u00ab\u00c2\u00ab^\\nCopyright 1900 ^fflacj af tjiy\\nMAR 9 -1900\\nFunk Wagnalls C\u00c2\u00bb\u00c2\u00a5gm}fr of Ci pyplg{,\u00c2\u00ab%\\no\\n^y^\\n-^.-V-\\n55865", "height": "2790", "width": "1603", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "CONTENTS\\nPAGE\\nINTRODUCTION vii\\nCHAP.\\nI. THINGS IN GENERAL I\\nII. PURCHASING HOUSEHOLD REQUISITES 9\\nIIL women s IGNORANCE OF THE VALUE\\nOF MONEY 23\\nIV. THE MANAGEMENT OF SERVANTS 34\\nV. THE MISTAKES OF THE MISSUS 48\\nVI. THE HIGHLY RESPECTABLE PERSON 61\\nVIL THE DOMESTIC INFERNO -74\\nVIIL THE BOTTOMLESS PIT 84\\nIX. CUPBOARD SKELETONS .92\\nX. THE MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN 100\\nXL THE HOUSE DIRTY II8\\nXII. THE HOUSE HIDEOUS I30\\nXIII. THE BEST REMEDY FOR ALL BLUNDERS I42\\nCORRESPONDENCE I5I", "height": "2790", "width": "1603", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2790", "width": "1603", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION\\nA Mere Man s bold and unsparing attack\\non woman s stronghold in the home, made\\noriginally in a serial form, provoked at once,\\nas must have been expected, a general upris-\\ning of the sex in strenuous defense of their\\nposition and capacities.\\nSome few ranged themselves as his allies;\\nbut the greater number pelted him with ar-\\nrow-flights of winged words, not always\\nfeathered with discretion, not ever pointed\\nwith keen logic, but, beyond question, shot\\nwith shrewd purpose and determined aim.\\nMen also joined in the melee, and, no\\ndoubt, on both sides some shafts hit their\\nmark. Now that the time has come to take\\na calm view of this field of onset and resist-\\nance, it is but fair, in recounting A Mere\\nMan s sweeping charges, to let those who\\nhave assisted or withstood him speak also for\\nthemselves, even if they are content to con-\\nvii", "height": "2790", "width": "1603", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "viii Introduction\\ndemn him and his views in the spirit of Lu-\\ncetta in the Two Gentlemen of Verona:\\nI have no other but a woman s reason.\\nI think him so because I think him so.\\nOur readers will therefore find at the end\\nof this book a selection of letters, assenting\\nor protesting, solemn or sarcastic, grave or\\ngay, that admirably illustrate the interest al-\\nready taken by the public in the alleged\\nBlunders of Women, as set forth by A\\nMere Man.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "THE DOMESTIC BLUNDERS\\nOF WOMEN\\nCHAPTER I\\nTHINGS IN GENERAL\\nHERE would seem to be only\\ntwo ways to write of women\\neither to call them angels,\\nwith the poets, or to abuse\\nthem as the short-legged race,\\nwith Shopenhauer, or the\\nslum woman and the cow woman,\\nwith Sarah Grand. I have no desire to imi-\\ntate any of these authorities.\\nMy mission is one of sheer pity. I mar-\\nried my wife because I loved her. I have\\nworked hard all my life because I loved her,\\nand now I am writing this series of papers\\nbecause I love my daughters who are grow-\\ning up. I look back on my many years of", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "2 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nhard work, during which I have earned a\\ngood income, and I ask myself, as a business\\nman should what have I got for it? My\\nbanking account shows me that, though my\\nincome has year by year increased, I have no\\nmore worldly riches than when I started.\\nMy check-book proves I have spent less\\nmoney on myself than I did as a bachelor.\\nAgain, I ask myself What has become of\\nit? The answer is very plain. It has not\\ngone in luxuries. Dollar by dollar, dime by\\ndime, it has been expended on rent, taxes,\\nservants, schooling, and tradesmen s books\\n\u00e2\u0080\u0094with a capital T and a capital B.\\nThis is not very satisfactory, but I hope I\\nam too good a business-man not to ask my-\\nself Has it been well invested If I have, so\\nfar, only been sinking money, what am I go-\\ning to get out of it In other words, What\\nare my assets, and what are they worth\\nMy assets are my wife and my daughters.\\nIf I do not put a fictitious value on the good-\\nwill of love, I have to admit that my wife is\\nnot an improving property that is to say,\\nshe is not likely now to become more valu-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "Things in General 3\\nable to me than she has been in my home life.\\nMy daughters I must set down as a mere\\nspeculation. They may or may not turn out\\nwell.\\nEvery man has two branches of business.\\nHis profession or employment commonly\\ncalled his office and his house. My\\noffice, as I have said, has improved. I am\\nforced to admit my house has not.\\nmanage my office. My partner manages\\nmy house. In every young business there\\nare bound to be extravagances. But greater\\nperfection in the quality of goods and econ-\\nomy should come with experience in man-\\nagement, and in time the house should at\\nleast show a profit on paper. When I ask\\nmyself, in my hard, business-man way Is\\nthe house branch of my business better", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "4 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nmanaged? I am bound to admit, in spite\\nof all the affection I have for my partner,\\nthat it is not. Not only is there no more\\nsaving, but there is no more comfort; indeed,\\nthere is less saving, and less comfort.\\nThe next thing to consider is Am I any\\nworse off than other business men In fair-\\nness to my partner, I am bound to admit that\\nI am not. My friends all admit that whereas\\ntheir offices bring in more money every\\nyear, their houses become every year a\\ngreater drain, and that they seem to get less\\nand less comfort out of them, despite the fact\\nthat therr partners have now got several as-\\nsistants in the shape of growing-up daugh-\\nters.\\nA character in Adam Bede, if I remem-\\nber right, tells that incomparable housekeep-\\ner, Mrs. Poyser, that he believes most func-\\ntions of life could be much better managed\\nby men than women. I must say, when I\\ncome to sit down and think about it, the con-\\nviction is forced upon me that he was right.\\nI do not know any detail of domestic life that\\nI, or any man of my acquaintance, could not", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "Things in General 5\\nmanage better than women do, but I am open\\nto conviction of the contrary, if any woman\\nis brave enough to come forward and refute\\nme with proof. I do not expect or desire\\nthat women should compete with men in the\\nbusiness and work of the world; at the same\\ntime, I would not attempt to deny them the\\nright, so long as they can prove their capac-\\nity. This is the very thing they are not\\nable to do. There should be nothing simpler\\nin the world than to manage a house, a few\\nservants, and a few children on a regular\\nincome. As regards the cooking and ser-\\nvants, men manage restaurants and clubs; as\\nregards children, men manage schools. Yet,\\nwhere is the house, governed by a woman\\nwith nothing else in the wide world to do,\\nwhich is as comfortably and as profitably\\nmanaged as these institutions are?\\nThe reasons for all this I have been to\\nsome trouble to discover, a!nd I propose\\nto take each knotty point separately, and\\nnot only show why women fail in the\\nsimplest details of administration, but to\\nprove that any man who could give his", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "6 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ntime to the subject would manage a house,\\na few servants, and a few children to much\\ngreater advantage than any woman.\\nIt would scarcely be worth while doing\\nthis, but for the fact that women may benefit\\nmaterially by my instruction. I confess I am\\nthinking more of my own wife and daugh-\\nters than of any benevolent intentions of im-\\nproving women in general. It may be said\\nthis might, with advantage, be done in the\\nprivacy of my own home. A moment s\\nthought will prove the impossibility of any\\nsuch method. A woman always regards her\\nmanagement of a house as perfect. At any\\nrate, she never permits any father, husband,\\nbrother, or son to interfere. Even to offer\\nany advice is always to be met with the\\nstereotyped answer\\nOh you men, you think you can man-\\nage anything, simply because you can find\\nfault with matters of the difficulties of which\\nyou have not the remotest idea. The house\\nis woman s vocation, though we know that\\nold maid s children and bachelor s wives are", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "Things in General 7\\nperfect; and if you were to interfere, I\\nshould have all the servants leaving.\\nThis, and much more equally profitless\\nand impractical assertion, every man has\\nheard many and many a time. No women\\nwill not listen to reason or brook interfer-\\nence. By carefully watching their habits,\\nhowever, I have noticed that they will read\\nand believe anything that appears in print.\\nI have surreptitiously studied the papers\\nwhich they read for Advice to Housekeep-\\ners. I can easily understand, after reading\\nthem, why women fail absolutely in their\\nduties. It is a case of the blind leading the", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "8 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nblind. The papers I refer to are entirely\\nwritten by women, and women who obvious-\\nly have no houses or husbands or families to\\nlook after, or they would not be writing\\nnewspaper articles. The writers of this\\nadvice, which is so carefully perused,\\nseem to regard the duties of women from\\nno more serious point of view than how to\\nmake soup out of potato skins and a chop\\nbone; how to trim a hat; how to mend\\ngloves, and how to furnish a house out of old\\norange or cigar boxes, a few yards of cheap\\nyellow gauze, and a bunch of dyed pampas\\ngrass all of which is mess.\\nIt strikes me that the really serious criti-\\ncism and counsel which I am prepared to\\ngive to women generally, and to my own\\nfamily in particular, would have a good\\nchance of being brought into the family\\ncircle by men in my own state, and of being\\nread and taken to heart by wives and daugh-\\nters as sadly in need of advice as mine are.\\nHence this book.\\nCT", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER II\\nPURCHASING HOUSEHOLD REQUISITES\\nJfc nl wir Y contention is, that any\\nm\\\\\\\\ man could manage his\\nI^HP U house better than his\\n^^V^J jl wife, his mother, his\\n^^B sister or his daughters,\\n^^^1 or a combination of\\n^^^^k any of them. Good!\\n^^^^H Now to the proof. I\\nwant to give women\\nevery chance, so I will\\ntake their own standard of men. Every\\nwoman, at some time or other, has said that\\nthe way to a man s heart is down his throat.\\nThis is a polite way of saying that men are\\ngourmets, if not gourmands. I don t believe\\nit, but there may be something in it. Anyway,\\nI accept it for the moment, and it stands to\\nreason that as most men work all their days\\n9", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "lO The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nfrom the time they are boys till they are old\\nmen, and seldom get any more out of it than\\na cart-horse, merely harness, food, and a bed\\nat night, they have a right to expect that\\ntheir stable should be comfortable, their\\nbran-mash fit to eat, and their rest undis-\\nturbed. It must be accepted that nearly all\\nwe earn is spent on our homes and the luxury\\nof our women folk. What do we get out of\\nit?\\nAll that we ask are comfort and clothes\\nand food. Not a very exacting ambition,\\nsurely. The question is, do we get it? Let\\nus see.\\nThe proudest boast of a mother is that her\\ndaughter is a thoroughly well-brought-up\\ngirl. This may mean she is able to cut out\\nher own clothes, trim her own hats, order\\na pound of candles, pay her bills with her\\nparent s money, speak French indifferently,\\nand, if put to it, cook a chop or boil a po-\\ntato. To cook a chop well is not very easy\\nto women but let us suppose that a woman\\ncan cook a chop really well. That is, from\\nthe woman s point of view, the very highest", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "Purchasing Household Requisites 1 1\\npoint of perfection she can reach, and having\\ncooked a chop well, she is supposed to be\\nabsolutely proficient in all branches of her\\nbusiness.\\nThis chop is, like the rib from which she\\nsprang, the root of all evil. A woman al-\\nways begins a thing from the wrong end.\\nThe chop is typical. A woman never thinks\\nthat the cooking is absolutely the last stage\\nof the chop, and that she has not the most\\nelementary knowledge of any other stage.\\nA woman to whom this remark was made\\nwould say that she knows how to buy the\\nchop. That is precisely what I want to get at.\\nDoes any woman know how to buy a chop?\\nthat is to say, has she the very remotest\\nidea how to buy the best chop for the least\\namount of money What is the procedure\\nA woman wants a chop, because a chop is the\\nfirst thing she thinks of. She goes round to\\nthe butcher, and in nine cases out of ten tells\\nhim to send her round some nice chops. Just\\nimagine even a woman buying a hat on such\\na principle\\nIn the tenth case, the exceptional woman", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "12 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nasks the butcher if he has any nice chops.\\nHe says yes, of course. She asks to see\\nthem, and possibly says they look too thin,\\nor too fat. In such cases, the butcher says\\nthey won t look too thin or too fat when they\\nare cooked, and with this assurance they are\\nordered. If the husband finds fault with the\\nchops being all fat or all bone, she says they\\nwere the best chops the butcher had as\\nthough that was any reason for buying them\\nand shelters herself further by saying the\\nservant must have spoilt them in the cooking.\\nAn inexperienced husband who asked how\\nmuch he had to pay for the advantage of\\neating fat or looking at bone would, in nine\\ncases out of ten, be told that the book had\\nnot come in yet. In the tenth case, he would\\nbe told that Silversides, the butcher, always\\ncharged fourteen cents per pound for chops,\\nand further cross-examining would elicit the\\nfact that no allowance was made for bone or\\nfat. No wonder that butchers make for-\\ntunes. They have only women to deal with,\\nand there isn t a woman living who knows\\nv/hat beef or mutton costs per pound on the", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "Purchasing Household Requisites 13\\nfield, and what is a fair middleman s or a\\nbutcher s profit. It is just the same with fish,\\npoultry, vegetables, groceries, bread, or any\\nof the other requisites of household food.\\nTAey have only women to deal with.\\nThe shopkeeper makes any price he likes, and\\nno woman ever knows what she ought to\\npay, or thinks of acquiring knowledge to en-\\nable her to make a bargain.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "14 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nAnd here comes in one of the most extra-\\nordinary features of the so-called economical\\nwoman. She will willingly pay the butcher\\nfor tons of bone and fat in the year, but if\\nyou ask why you can t have a cauliflower to\\nmake a half dollar s worth of tough beef\\npalatable, you will be told cauliflowers are\\nfar too dear. Imagining they are at least\\nfive dollars a piece, you ask how much they\\nare charging for cauliflowers You are told\\neighteen cents. Thunderstruck, you ask\\nhow much they usually cost, and you are told\\nseventeen cents and that no woman who re-\\nspects herself would dream of paying the ex-\\ntra cent. Just imagine a woman buying a\\nhat, and saying hat-pins to keep it on her\\nhead were too dear.\\nThe fact of the matter is, women have not\\nthe least idea of the value of anything least\\nof all, money. In the first years of their\\nmarried life, or management of a house, they\\ntell you (afterwards) they were robbed.\\nWomen s idea of being robbed consists in\\ntrades-people not conspiring to look after the\\ninterest of people who do not know their", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "Purchasing Household Requisites 15\\nbusiness, but are prepared to accept any-\\nthing, rather than have the trouble of learn-\\ning and looking after their own business, and\\ngetting the best value for the least amount\\nof money.\\nIn the succeeding years they have picked\\nup a superficial knowledge of what they\\nthink are the normal prices, and these they\\nstick to with a pertinacity that, while provid-\\ning you with joints which are far too large,\\nand are half-wasted, denies you a cauliflower\\nor a carrot because they are a cent too dear.\\nIt is the same with fish. A woman will pro-\\nvide you with three times too much mack-\\nerel, costing perhaps forty-five cents, but will\\ndeny you a pound of salmon because its price\\nis eighteen cents.\\nWomen, I have said, have no idea of the\\nvalue of anything least of all, money. I\\nshall have further occasion to demonstrate\\nthis, so I may now say they have no idea of\\nbusiness. Let me show them how men go\\nabout the conducting of the other branch of\\ntheir business, namely, the office. I have\\nsaid that when a woman knows how to cook", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "1 6 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\na chop, she considers she is a perfectly quali-\\nfied partner for a man of business. This is\\nas false a deduction as that a man who can\\nlay a brick is a qualified architect or builder.\\nLet me take an example. I would take\\nmy own business, only that it would be\\nargued that it was exceptional, and that I\\nwas a specialist, and taking an unfair ad-\\nvantage. Of course, all properly conducted\\nbusinesses are the same, so I will take my\\npublisher s business, so that he, who is my\\npartner in this book, can the better judge of\\nthe truth of my general statements, tho I\\nmay err in detail.\\nYou, sir, are a magazine proprietor and a\\npublisher of books, and I assume that before\\nyou undertook to publish this book you made\\nsomething like the following calculations.\\nYou, no doubt, settled that a certain class of\\npaper was necessary to print it on, and hav-\\ning sent for a papermaker you asked for his\\nlowest estimate for that class of goods, tell-\\ning him yours would be a large order, and\\nthat you would pay on delivery, or in three\\nmonths, or in some way most convenient to", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "Purchasing Household Requisites 1 7\\nyou both. Having got it, I presume you got\\nother estimates, and took the most advan-\\ntageous. The same method, I have no\\ndoubt, you followed with the printers. Hav-\\ning got your papermaker and your printer,\\nno doubt you set down the rent of your office,\\nthe salaries of clerks and the amounts you\\nhave to pay me, and, to make a long story\\nshort, estimated the cost against the possible\\nrevenue from sales. If the first few numbers\\nof one of your enterprises did not answer\\nyour expectations, I presume you would set\\nabout making alterations, cutting down ex-\\npenses in one direction, and extending them\\nin another, till you began to see a profit on\\nyour investment, and possibly established a\\nsinking fund.\\nThere is no use in proving this too far, be-\\ncause it is what every man does, and every\\nman who has the pluck has tried to explain\\nit to his wife, and he can do so again by\\ngiving her this book, if she is disposed to\\nlearn and apply it to her own case.\\nEvery woman, when she marries, enters\\nupon a new business, which at once produces", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "1 8 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\na regular income of some kind. It is useless\\nto argue that it does not, because, in that\\ncase, a woman simply proves her further\\nunbusinesslike ability by embarking from\\npurely sentimental reasons in a wild-cat\\nspeculation, no better than gambling on the\\nturf or the Stock Exchange. Now, how has\\nshe been prepared for this venture? Has\\nshe studied her subjects thoroughly, so as to\\navoid being what she calls robbed by\\ntradesmen, and has she studied how to cater\\nfor the public to which she appeals for sup-\\nport, namely, her husband\\nDoes she go to a butcher, for example, and\\nask for his estimate, and when she has got it,\\nsay:\\nI intend to spend so much a week; I in-\\ntend to deal with you for a year or more if\\nyou give satisfaction; and I pay every week.\\nI know that all these things are considera-\\ntions to you, and that, as a business man,\\nsteady custom and ready money are an ad-\\nvantage to you. Under these circumstances,\\nwhat will you take off your prices, or what\\ndiscount will you allow me?", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "Purchasing Household Requisites 19\\nIs there any man living who can tell me\\nsuch a thing could not be done\\nIs there any woman living who can tell\\nme she has done it\\nIf so, I shall be glad to hear it, and I think\\nmost women will be as surprised as I shall\\nbe. Every middle-class house in a large city\\nburns from fifteen to thirty tons of coal a\\nyear. Is there any woman with a small\\ncellar, who has written to the secretary of a\\ncoal company and offered to send her check\\nfor twenty tons of coal, provided he will\\ndeliver it as required? Independent of\\nstrikes, this would save any fairly large\\nhouse about fifteen dollars a year. Women\\nsuffer under the delusion that their custom is\\ntoo small to make any difference to trades-\\nmen, and they hate and fear nothing more\\nthan to change their trades-people. To ex-\\nplain the folly of this, I will relate an inci-\\ndent in my own family life.\\nSome years ago we moved into a pictur-\\nesque, but not very thriving, suburb. It has\\nalways been my custom to have a fresh roll\\nfor my breakfast, the rest of the house", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "20 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\npreferring toast or bread one day old. One\\nwas ordered from the best baker in the\\ndistrict. Morning after morning it arrived\\nlate, and, on my insisting on it being de-\\nlivered in time, it was fetched by one of our\\nservants without my knowledge. One day\\nshe forgot, and I discovered the foolish\\nmethod of pandering to the caprices of the\\nbaker. I insisted that a letter of complaint\\nshould be written, and the account closed.\\nMy wife begged. I was firm. She wept and\\npleaded that the baker was the only one in\\nthe district who could make bread fit to eat.\\nI said I didn t care; I would punish him.\\nMy family scoffed, said the baker was richer\\nthan we were, and cared nothing about our\\nsmall account. I said we would see. The\\nletter was written. The account closed.\\nThat evening the baker s man waylaid me,\\nand begged for my custom, promising punc-\\ntuality. I stood to my guns. The next\\nmorning the baker called personally, and\\napologized, and said, as a business man, I\\nwas right, but he hoped I would give him\\nanother trial. I said I would think about it.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "Purchasing Household Requisites 21\\nHis wife interviewed my wife, and his\\ndaughter interviewed my daughters. I had\\ntaught them all a lesson, and so I consented\\nI said I would think about it.\\nto renew my custom in a month. From that\\nday, till we left, the baker s man altered his\\nround, and my rolls were never late. Our", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "22 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nbread book came to about fifty cents a week,\\nbut the baker was a good business man, and\\ngood business men cannot afford, tho they\\nmay be richer than their customers, to\\nthrow away any business bringing in twenty-\\nsix dollars a year. If women would only, as\\na body, learn this elementary lesson in do-\\nmestic economy, they would very much\\nlighten their lives, and the lives of everyone\\nwho is near and dear to them.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER III\\nwomen s ignorance of the value of\\nMONEY\\nTRUST that some of\\nmy readers will send\\nme some account of\\nthe heated arguments\\nwhich have resulted\\nfrom my words being\\ndiscussed, for there\\nnever was a man yet who has not had it\\nall out with his wife hundreds and hun-\\ndreds of times. Every woman, however,\\nbelieves that her husband is the only unrea-\\nsonable person in the world. One point in\\nmy writing and publishing this book is to\\nshow that the scandalous mismanagement of\\nwomen is a general grievance.\\nIn the last chapter I spoke of the absolute\\nincapacity of women to do their marketing\\n23", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "24 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\non anything like commercial and economical\\nlines. I think I proved conclusively, to the\\nminds of all men at least, that any business\\nrun on the same lines as a home is con-\\nducted, would result not only In bankruptcy,\\nbut in the manager being censured by the\\ncourts for hazardous speculation and reckless\\nextravagance.\\nI intend now to review the financial capa-\\nbilities of the feminine gender. I have\\nshown that women have no idea how to\\nspend money. I shall now show they have\\nno capabilities for saving money. This is\\nthe root of the whole evil, but it has many\\ndevelopments, as I shall show. The woman\\nwho asks her husband for house-keeping\\nmoney simply obtains money under false\\npretences, for there is such a thing as crim-\\ninal negligence.\\nIs it in the experience of any man that,\\nhaving given five dollars to his wife, he has\\never seen an equivalent value for it? In the\\nfirst place, is it ever possible to get a proper\\nestimate for the things which are to be\\nbought? A woman says she wants some", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "Ignorance of the Value of Money 25\\nmoney. You ask her, how much She says,\\nshe can t tell exactly. Supposing you ask\\nher to make out a list, and supposing you\\nget it. Ask her how much it will all cost.\\nShe has not the least idea. Ask her how\\nmuch each item costs. She cannot tell you.\\nAnxious to get to your business, you say,\\nHow much about will they be? She says,\\nabout $8.75 and adds, It may be a little\\nunder, and it may be a little over. In des-\\npair, you give her ten dollars.\\nIntent on getting her into business habits,\\nwhen you return, you ask her for the change,\\nor perhaps you wait till she wants some\\nmore money. In the first instance, she says\\nshe remembered when she was out that she\\nowed a little bill, and thought she had better\\npay it, or that the saucepans wanted renew-\\ning oh, those saucepans or she saw some\\nvery cheap window-blind muslin, or stock-\\nings for the children oh, those children\\nBut did you ever see those saucepans, or\\nthose stockings I never did.\\nIn the second instance, she says, the\\nthings came to a little more than she an-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "26 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nticipated. If you have kept, or can recall, the\\nlist, and try to get the price of each article\\nout of her, she will get as far as accounting\\nfor $8.25 or $8.75, but farther than that she\\ncannot remember. If you really want to get\\nto the bottom of the whole business, you\\nshould say, You must have lost the\\nchange. An accusation of losing money a\\nwoman always resents, with The idea of\\nsuch a thing She next recollects that she\\nbought herself a pair of gloves. If you sug-\\ngest she bought gloves a week ago, or that\\nshe has her dress allowance, she says, Of\\ncourse, if you want me to walk about with-\\nout gloves, you should say so. As your\\nsaying so would mean a row, you suggest\\nthat one dollar could not be better spent than\\non gloves, and you mark off your dollar like\\nthe iron cable in the English Admiralty re-\\nport Eaten by rats.\\nBut supposing your wife asks for five dol-\\nlars, and, it not being convenient to give her\\nmore than $2.50, you again ask her for a list\\nof the things which are required for the\\nhouse. If you get it, you will find that more", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "Ignorance of the Value of Money 2^\\nthan half the items are not pressing, and so\\nyou give her $2.50, and tell her she must\\nmake it go as far as she can. The next day\\nshe asks you for the other $2.50. To make a\\nlong story short, you will find that she has\\nbought all the things which were not\\nhave lought enough Soap to stock the White House,\\npressing, and that she has left unpurchased\\nall the things that were. Among the former\\nare half a dozen boxes of S soap, and\\nwhen you emphasize half a dozen, she says,\\nWe cannot have the house without a bit\\nof soap. Oh that S soap They give a\\ncoupon with each box, and for so many cou-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "28 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\npons they give the children a set of brown-\\npaper toys. I live in a $400 a year house,\\nand I have bought enough saucepans what\\nis the attraction about saucepans? and\\nS soap to stock the White House.\\nIt might be going a little too far to say\\nwomen are absolutely dishonest about mon-\\ney; but it is not going a bit too far to say that\\nthey have no idea how hard it is to earn, that\\nthey have no idea of its value, that they can-\\nnot save it, that they have not the remotest\\nnotion how to spend it properly, and that,\\ntherefore, they should not be entrusted with\\neither its saving or its spending.\\nThe real fact is, girls are not brought up\\neither to have or to do without money.\\nThey cannot estimate the value of anything\\nnot even their own clothes. They cannot\\nkeep accounts of money, and are really as\\nmuch afraid of it as they are of a loaded\\npistol. It seems like a mere paradox to say\\nwomen are afraid of money, but their acts\\nsuggest this, for their natural inclination\\nseems to be to empty their purses, and a\\nwoman is never so happy as when she is", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "Ignorance of the Value of Money 29\\nspending money, not necessarily on articles\\nshe wants, or even on herself. She will buy\\nanything, lend or give away any sum, as\\nlong as she can get rid of money. There are\\nwomen who would not run into debt for\\nworlds, who would not part with any of their\\npossessions, but who will get anything for\\nthemselves, or give anything away to their\\nacquaintances, so long as they can get rid of\\nactual money which they have in their\\npockets; and nothing is so common as to\\nhear a woman say I thought I might as\\nwell buy so-and-so, as I had the money in my\\npocket.\\nWomen are divided into two classes: the\\nwoman who never pays for necessaries, and\\nthe woman who never buys anything unless\\nshe can pay cash. From the financier s point\\nof view, one system is as bad as the other.\\nWomen not only dissipate men s money, but\\nthey destroy their credit. I am talking, of\\ncourse, of middle-class women, who marry\\nmiddle-class men, who earn their living from\\nweek to week, month to month, or year to\\nyear. Every man of business is a man of", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "30 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ncredit. Tho, perhaps, only having $500 in\\nhis bank, his bills for $5,000 running over\\nthree, six, nine, and twelve months, are read-\\nily accepted and handed on as cash. In\\nFrance, this system prevails even in the\\nhome. Owing to the fantastic finance of\\nwomen, no such thing exists here, and the re-\\nsult is, a man has to keep money for weekly\\nbooks, which would be much better em-\\nployed in his business. The result is long\\ncredit and ruinous prices with shopkeepers,\\nor a constant drain of ready money to the\\ndetriment of credit. Women will not un-\\nderstand this. I will explain.\\nWhen I was a bachelor, I seldom or never", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "Ignorance of the Value of Money 3\\npaid cash. If I wanted clothes, or even wine\\nor cigars, I sent out and ordered them.\\nWhen the bill came in, I always paid some-\\nthing on account. The result was, my\\ncredit was excellent; that is to say, my\\ntradesmen always trusted me, and said of\\nme, He always pays and, besides this, I\\nwas never without money in my pocket, and\\nif I were a bit short, nobody was frightened.\\nSince then I have married. My wife has al-\\nways insisted on paying her weekly bills\\nregularly on Saturday. She said it was\\nher way. She considered it disreputable\\nto run bills, and said that if she sent a check\\non account, people would think we could not\\npay, and would not trust us, and, worse than\\nall, would talk. So far, it has not mat-\\ntered. But, supposing I suddenly wanted all\\nthe money I could lay hands on for a busi-\\nness speculation. Do you suppose for one\\nmoment that my wife s twenty years of pay-\\ning the bills weekly would give us a\\nfortnight s credit for a box of matches, or\\nthat our tradesmen would accept such a new\\ndeparture as a small check on account? I", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "32 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nsay emphatically, No, Having been paid\\nweekly, they would immediately suspect that\\nI was broke, and, as sure as my name is\\nwhat it is, I should receive a dozen or so\\nDistrict Court summonses.\\nThanks, therefore, to my wife s system of\\nmaintaining our good name, we are not\\nworth three months credit, and my name\\nmight just as well as not have made a weekly\\nappearance in the Commercial reports. The\\nresult is, that, whereas my ofEce has the\\nreputation of being good for hundreds, my\\nhouse, which is managed by my partner, is\\nnot good for a fifty-dollar note. A further\\nresult is, that if I did not keep fifty dollars a\\nmonth out of my business, I might find I\\ncould not get a bit to eat, and would be the\\ntalk of an entire suburb.\\nIt must be clear, therefore, that, since this\\nabsurd system of paying ready money,\\nand getting no discount, pervades the entire\\nranks of the middle-class, women are not\\nonly conniving at the robbery of their hus-\\nbands, but are ruining their credit. I have\\nalready shown that no woman ever gets", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "Ignorance of the Value of Money 33\\na discount for ready money. It may be said\\nthat they do not know that they could. It\\nwould require very little common sense for\\nthem to find it out. They must know they\\ndo know that their cooks get it on every-\\nthing that goes into the kitchen, and that\\ntheir nurses get it for the very milk that goes\\ninto their nurseries. If they only looked at\\ntheir dressmaker s bills, they would see A\\ndiscount of 5 per cent, allowed for cash,\\nstated in red letters. Yet it is to people who\\ncannot put two and two together, who can\\nnot keep money, who do not know how to\\nspend money, who keep no record of what\\nthey receive, and have no knowledge of what\\nanything should, or has, cost, to whom we\\nentrust the finances of our homes. Are we\\nnot bigger fools, and more to blame, than\\nthey are", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER IV\\nTHE MANAGEMENT OF SERVANTS\\nY one idea in this\\nbook is to be\\nstrictly fair to\\nwomen, and not,\\nas so many other\\nwriters have done,\\nto attack them\\nunfairly on sub-\\njects of vanity,\\ndress, extravag-\\nance, or any of\\nthe other well-\\nworn topics. To\\nhave followed in the lines of my prede-\\ncessors would, to my mind, have been\\nto prove my own weakness, for we can-\\nnot change a woman s nature any more\\nthan we can man s and, therefore, to at-\\n34", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "The Management of Servants 35\\ntack women because they are fickle or\\nvain-glorious seems to me as absurd as\\nto attempt to prove that man is not the\\nsuperior animal because he is, by instinct,\\nfond of cakes and ale. Really, I do not want\\nto attack at all, because it is as natural to me\\nto be fond of women as it is for children to\\nbe fond of toys. My real idea is to give wom-\\nen an opportunity for defense, and to prove\\ntheir strength. It is for this reason that I\\nattack them where they elect to be considered\\nstrongest, namely, in their homes. The cry\\nof late years is that women are as good as\\nmen, that they have been persecuted and kept\\nunder for years, and that, therefore, they\\nshould not be expected, in the first years of\\ntheir emancipation, to be up to competing\\nwith men as bread-winners. That is quite\\nreasonable, and, therefore, I do not gird at\\ntheir mismanagement of the political and\\ncommercial sides of life.\\nBut the management of the house they\\nhave always had, and, as I have said, there\\nthey fail sadly either to provide comfort, or\\nto spend money in the proper way.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "36 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nI have, so far, shown that the discomforts\\nand extravagances of home are largely due\\nto woman s incapacity to buy in the best\\nmarkets, and their inability to handle money\\nto the best advantage. I am bound to admit\\nTke serpen f on the hearth.\\nthat another great factor in home discomfort\\nis the servants. Nearly all controversies hint\\nat servants being the difficulty, and, needless\\nto say, if I knew my subject at all, I was\\nbound to face the servant question. I will", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "The Management of Servants 37\\nface it, but I fear that, so far from the cause\\nof woman benefiting by the inquiry, I shall\\nhereby prove my allegations against women\\nmore conclusively than I have so far done.\\nWoman s mission is to always put the\\nblame on someone else. Eve began it. She\\nput the blame on the serpent, and her\\ndaughters have ever since blamed the serpent\\non the hearth the servant. Do not run\\naway with any idea that I am going, for\\nmere love of paradox, to champion servants.\\nA French writer has said, So many serv-\\nants, so many spies, and, in my mind,\\nservants are many things worse than spies.\\nBut let servants be, as they are, woman s ex-\\ncuse for everything that goes wrong, just as\\nservants put everything on the cat. I accept\\nthe gage. For the purposes of argument, we\\nwill admit that servants are at the bottom of\\nall the evils of home life. Now let us inquire\\ninto that. The first question to ask the\\nwoman in the box, who is giving evidence\\nfor the defense, is\\nWho engages the servants\\nThe answer is I do. The witness, be it", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "38 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nunderstood, is speaking on behalf of women\\ngenerally. The next question is\\nWho directs the servants\\nWho engages the servants\\nThe answer is the same, I do. Pursu-\\ning this line, I ask the mistress\\nFrom whom do your servants learn their\\nbusiness?", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "The Management of Servants 39\\nFrom me\\nAnd anything they don t know, I may\\ntake it, is due to the fact that former mis-\\ntresses have not taught, or have failed to\\nteach, them\\nThat is so.\\nYou have heard the expression, Like\\nmaster, like man, have you not?\\nI have!\\nHave husbands nothing to do with\\nteaching servants their business\\nCertainly not!\\nWhat is the proportion of women-serv-\\nants in a house where two men-servants are\\nkept?\\nFive or six.\\nAnd when the servants are all of one\\nsex, to which sex do they belong?\\nGenerally to the female sex.\\nThen the proportion of women-servants\\nover men-servants is very large\\nIt is.\\nThen, if the entire education, engaging,\\npaying, managing and discharging of ser-\\nvants is carried on by women, and if the pro-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "40 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nportion of women over men-servants is very-\\nlarge, the entire blame for the unsatisfactory\\nstate of the servant question must be due to\\nwomen?\\nThe witness does not answer, and, on be-\\ning pressed, bursts into tears, and finally\\nsays:\\nIt is all the fault of the men\\nI have put this point in the shape of a dia-\\nlogue, because it is, perhaps, a little shorter\\nand easier to understand. It all amounts to\\nthe old saying Qui facit per alium, facit\\nper se!\\nMen, as a rule, have nothing to do with\\nservants, the larger proportion of servants\\nare women, and, therefore, the faults of ser-\\nvants is only another proof that women are\\nincapable of managing another very large\\nsection of a necessity which should go to\\nmake comfort and economy in the home.\\nBut perhaps it is not fair to judge entirely by\\nmajorities. Let us look at the exception,\\nwhich again proves the rule. Bachelors keep\\ntheir servants, men or women, for years, and,", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "The Management of Servants 4 1\\nwith a few exceptions, always speak of them\\nas treasures. Why is this\\nAsk any servant who applies to you for a\\nsituation why he or she left his or her last\\nplace. The almost invariable answer is I\\ncould not get on with the mistress. Ask\\nwhy any gentleman s gentleman, or my\\nlady s maid, left his or her other place, and\\nIn one of her tantrums.\\nthe answers are always, The missus, the\\nmissus, the missus. As a rule, when a ser-\\nvant gives notice, and is asked by his master\\nwhy he wishes to leave, the answer is I\\ncan t satisfy my mistress, sir, or I can t\\nget on with the cook. Servants very\\nseldom complain that they cannot get on", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "42 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nwith the master. It is always the\\nmissus. Again I ask why is this\\nThe most unsatisfactory and sulky female\\nservant will always smile and do anything\\ncheerfully for her master, or the young gen-\\ntlemen of the house, and when she is in one\\nof her tantrums, it is, in nine cases out of ten,\\nbecause she cannot get on with the missus,\\nor the young ladies, or the other female ser-\\nvants for the complaint of servants is al-\\nways against what they call She. She\\nis the terror of the servant of either sex,\\nand where there is dissension downstairs,\\nthe female servant is always at the bottom of\\nit. Does not all this show that mistresses\\ncannot manage servants, and that female\\nservants cannot manage one another?\\nThe servants of a house cost as much, as a\\nrule, as the rent and taxes, and yet they\\nnever give satisfaction, and are never satis-\\nfied. Why is this I could easily find fifty\\nreasons to account for it. The mistress who\\noverworks, the mistress who underworks,\\nthe mistress who is unkind, the mistress who\\nis too kind, the mistress who is too strict, the", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "The Management of Servants 43\\nmistress who is not strict enough, the mis-\\ntress who makes favorites, etc., etc., would\\nall prove fruitful subjects to enlarge upon,\\nwere they not too obvious. The remarkable\\nthing about the whole question is, that\\nTAe mispress who is overkifid.\\nthe money will secure you everything on\\nthe earth, no amount of wages will induce\\nservants, as a rule, to stop long in a place. It\\nis a mistake to imagine that servants are in-\\ndependent and love to roam. As a matter\\nof fact, they are terrified to leave, because", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "44 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nthey never know what character a spiteful\\nmistress may give them, and one bad char-\\nacter means the street. It is the haunting\\nfear of this which makes them, if possible,\\ngive notice, before they receive it, for this\\nis their only protection. Is it natural to sup-\\npose that any friendless, and homeless, and\\nmoneyless creature willingly leaves a good\\nroof, good food, and good wages, to run the\\nchance of meeting a worse mistress? The\\nthing is absurd, for the motto of servants is\\nthe not very lofty one of Gervaise\\nTo have enough to eat and drink, to\\nwork all their lives, to die in their beds, and\\nbe buried decently.\\nWhen I was a little fellow, I heard a ser-\\nvant say that the fate of a servant was\\nTo work while you are young, to beg\\nwhen you are old, and to go to the devil\\nwhen you die.\\nI have never forgotten it.\\nThere is very much to be said on the sub-\\nject of mistresses and servants very much\\nmore than I have either space or patience for,\\nand there would be very little use in saying", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "The Management of Servants 45\\nit if I had, as it seems all very obvious when\\nyou come to think of it, which women appar-\\nently never do. But this fact remains. We\\nare as much indebted to servants for the\\ncomforts of home life as we are to our wives\\nand daughters. The only difference between\\nthe two classes is that some of us are allowed\\nto try and manage our wives and daughters,\\nand some of us succeed, but none of us are\\never allowed to interfere with the ser-\\nvants all wives and daughters mismanage\\nthem, to our sore discomfort and their own;\\nanother thing is that we can get rid of our\\nservants, but not of our wives and daughters,\\nwho, I candidly believe, are really the most\\nto blame, tho, poor souls, I do believe most\\nof them try.\\nThe fact remains however, that women\\narrogate to themselves the management of\\nservants, and prove their incapacity for the\\ntask by the deplorable state of the servant\\nmarket. Men manage shop-girls, waitresses,\\nfactory girls, and all sorts of women engaged\\nin their businesses; but men cannot stop at\\nhome to manage servants, and if they could,", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "4^ The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nthey could not prevent their wives and\\ndaughters from interfering. The question\\nis What is to be done so that we may live\\nin peace when our day s work is done?\\nIt looks like an im,passe, but it is not.\\nThe larger proportion of servants are\\nwomen, therefore it is women we have to\\ndeal with. The real remedy is to promptly\\nsack all your women-servants, and engage\\nmen only. Men-servants will cook, make\\nbeds, sweep, and wait at table. Why should\\nthey not do so for families? They do it in\\nhotels, especially in France, in restaurants,\\nand in the army. Women apparently can-\\nnot, or will not, learn, and women appear to\\nbe unable to teach them. Men can teach\\nthemselves to cook in a very short time, and\\nall the rest is child s play. Yes, the solution\\nof the servant question is to get rid of your\\nwomen-servants, engage men, and make\\nthem entirely answerable to yourselves.\\nMen-servants will cost a little more, but one\\nman can do two women s work. Chinamen\\nmake capital servants; so do Hindoos. Why\\nnot Europeans or Americans? Ask any", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "The Management of Servants 47\\nAnglo-Indian or his wife what is the one\\ncause of discord in the otherwise happy\\nhome, surrounded and served by men, and\\nyou will be told that there never was any\\ntrouble, except with the ayah. If you ask\\nthem what is an ayah, they will tell you an\\nayah is the one woman-servant in an Indian\\nhouse, and that she is not an angel.\\nWhy not a European or an American.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER V\\nIt will be in the minds of all my readers that\\nI opened up the question of Servants and\\nMistresses by showing that, whatever faults\\nservants have, women are responsible for\\nthem. That, I admit, was an impeachment\\nof The Missus. I admitted, however,\\nthat servants were far from blameless. I\\nshall endeavor to develop this side of the\\nquestion, and point out some further faults\\nof the servant system, and suggest some\\nremedies.\\nI showed that servants are what their mis-\\ntresses make them. Let us see why mistresses\\nmake bad servants. To do this, we must\\nget back to the purely business side of life.\\nHere women are again at fault. In every\\nbusiness in the world which is managed by\\nmen, and where novices are employed, they\\nare taken as apprentices and are taught their\\n.48", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "The Mistakes of The Missus 49\\ntrade. It is owing to the lax way in which\\nwomen do their work that all servants are\\nmore or less amateurs, in the sense that they\\nare incompetent, or, at least, not qualified.\\nI do not suppose that there is a single ser-\\nvant in your employ, fair reader, who could\\ntell you how she acquired the rudiments, to\\nsay nothing of the iinesse, of her trade. If\\nshe comes to you as a cook, you will find\\nthat, in nine cases out of ten, she commenced\\nas a kitchen-maid, and has only picked up\\ncooking, as Pope says the apothecaries learn\\nmedicine, from making up prescriptions, and\\nby experimenting on her unfortunate em-\\nployers. It is just the same with maids and\\nhousemaids and housekeepers and the gen-\\nerality of nurses. Nobody but a woman\\nwould set about earning a living in such a\\nway, and nobody but a woman would ever\\ngive her a chance. In this, as in most other\\nthings, you see the unsuitability of women\\nto manage the little corners of the world\\nwhich they are pleased to call their own do-\\nmain. How is it possible for mistresses\\nwho have never learnt to manage a house or", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "50 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nto distribute money to the greatest advan-\\ntage, and servants who have never really\\nlearned their duties, to get on together or to\\ncater for the comforts of man\\nThe result is, almost invariably, the dis-\\naster which follows the blind leading, or\\ndriving, the blind. It may be said that I am\\nnot quite fair in judging mistresses entirely\\nfrom the point of view of professional men.\\nLet me, therefore, take another example,\\nwhich is rather of the accidental order of\\nprofession, and has to do with the lighter\\nside of life. Take a man whom fortune, or\\nmisfortune, makes a theatrical manager. To\\nbe successful he must acquire a knowledge\\nof many things. He has to learn something\\nof literature, something of music, something\\nof painting, something of dresses, something\\nof carpentry, mechanics, finance, acting, and\\nmany other things, and not only learn them\\nin a general way, but must know exactly\\nhow much every little item costs, the price of\\ncanvas, nails, wood, glue, needles, silk, print-\\ning, etc., etc. That all managers know all\\nthese things I am not prepared to admit, but", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "The Mistakes of The Missus 5 1\\nit is quite dear that the man who does not\\nknow them invariably fails in the long run,\\neven though he is prepared to employ people\\nwho do. I mention this because many\\nThe blind leading the blind.\\nwomen attribute the success of masters, not\\nto their business ability, but to their ability to\\nemploy good servants.\\nThis is only an illustration. Let us get\\nback to the subject itself. Why do women", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "52 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nfail as employers of labor? First, be-\\ncause they do not know; secondly, because\\nthey are too lazy to learn. Women have suc-\\nceeded, of course, but only where they are\\nthrown on their own resources. As long as\\nWhy do women fail.\\nmen are content to become, so to speak,\\nmerely backers, that is to say, people who\\nprovide money to keep up a fad which they\\ncall Home, so long will women let things\\ndrift along without taking the trouble to\\nmake Home a good investment. By this", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "The Mistakes of The Missus 53\\nI am forced to explain that I do not mean a\\ngood investment from the point of absolutely-\\nincreasing the revenue, but a good invest-\\nment from the same point of view that a\\ngrouse-moor, or a piece of good fishing, may\\nbe a good investment, namely, something\\nthat provides a certain amount of pleasure\\nand relaxation. You may pay $400 for a\\nbilliard table, and never make anything out\\nof it. But if it is a good billiard table you\\nmay get a large amount of amusement out\\nof it, and so regard it as a very good invest-\\nment.\\nThe absolute chaotic state of the servant\\nquestion is due to generations of women who\\nhave let things slide. The sooner they re-\\nturn to first principles the better. What are\\nthese principles? Go and see how your\\nfather, your brother, or your husband man-\\nages his business. You will find that it is on\\nprecisely the same principles that men have\\nmanaged their business for generations.\\nWhy is domestic service the only profession\\nor trade in the world which is overstocked\\nand detested Simply because it is the only", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "54 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\none over which women preside, and the only-\\none which is villainously mismanaged, to the\\ndisadvantage of the mistress and the servant\\nalike. The cause for this is not far to seek.\\nDomestic service is the only labor in the\\nworld where the duties and obligations of the\\nemployee and employer are not definitely\\ndefined. The result is constant friction.\\nThere is but one remedy. There should\\nbe the written or printed agreement, which\\nexists in all other paths of business, between\\nthe mistress and the servant. I suppose that\\nthe first thing I shall be told is that no ser-\\nvant would sign such an agreement. With\\nall respect, I join issue with this statement.\\nIf the agreement were not entirely one-sided,\\nevery servant in the world would be only too\\nready to sign it and abide by it. This is\\nproved by the fact that, wherever a union of\\nmen or women is formed, the first demand is\\nfor definite rules and a definite agreement.\\nAn agreement, if properly drawn up, would\\nbe for mutual protection. It would shield the\\nservant from being imposed upon, and from\\nbeing thrown out at the mere whim of a", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "The Mistakes of The Missus 55\\nmistress in the tantrums. It would secure\\nfor the mistress that the work of her house\\nwas properly done, and protection from the\\nneglect and destruction of her property. The\\npresent lax system breeds nothing but mis-\\ntrust rather than confidence. This, as every-\\none must agree, is the root of dissension. As\\nmatters are at present managed, no servant\\nknows exactly what her work is, and she\\nnever has any idea that good conduct and\\nfaithful service will result in any reward but\\nthe kick-out when she is getting to that age\\nwhen it is not very easy to find a place.\\nIf I were managing a house, and about to\\nengage servants, I would require each per-\\nson whom I employed to sign an agreement.\\nIn this document, of which the servant\\nshould have a counterpart, signed by myself,\\nit would be set forth that, in the case of, say, a\\nhouse-maid, she should properly clean, every\\nday between the hours of so-and-so, certain\\nrooms which would be allotted to her, and\\nfor which she would be responsible, and per-\\nform such other work as was reasonable and\\nwas agreed upon. I should also furnish", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "5^ The Domestic Blunders of Women\\neach servant with an inventory of such prop-\\nerty as was in her charge, and when any\\narticle was broken or missing I should re-\\nquire her to report the matter at once, and, if\\nthe amount of damage was over and above a\\ncertain percentage of fair wear and tear, I\\nshould possess the right to deduct so much\\nSupposing that your cook got tipsy.\\nfrom her wages. On my side, I should\\npledge myself to employ, and pay her a cer-\\ntain wage for a certain time, the said wage\\nto increase after certain dates if still in my\\nemploy. I should further insist on my right\\nto mark her character with such offenses as", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "The Mistakes of The Missus 57\\nshe might be guilty of from time to time, but\\nwhich should be considered as atoned for\\nafter a certain period of good conduct, and\\nI would pledge myself to substitute for that\\nagreement a character which would cor-\\nrespond with the marking of the agreement\\nat such time as she left my service. For in-\\nstance, supposing that a cook got typsy. If\\nshe were a good servant, I should be inclined\\nto look over the matter the first time, but I\\nshould insist on marking the agreement.\\nThis she would naturally agree to, as it\\nwould be to her interest to live down her of-\\nfense by remaining sober for a year, at which\\ntime her sin would be considered as purged,\\nand, if she chose to leave then, I should be\\nbound to give her a character saying she had\\nbeen in my service a year, that she was a\\ngood cook, and was clean, economical, hon-\\nest and habitually sober.\\nBesides this, I should take stock every six\\nmonths. This is usual in all businesses, and\\nit is eminently desirable in the management\\nof a house. Every mistress knows that when\\nanything is missing it is said to have been", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "5^ The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nbroken a long time ago, and, unless some\\nservant has left, it is impossible to discover\\nwho was the delinquent, more especially as\\nnobody is responsible. Another thing which\\nThere is nothing in the kitchen.\\nis in the experience of all housewives is that\\nthere is such a thing as wilful destruction, or\\nwhat appears to be remarkably like it. The\\nknowledge of this only comes when you en-\\ngage a new servant. The morning after her\\narrival she invariably reports, if she is a", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "The Mistakes of The Missus 59\\ncook, that there is nothing in the kitchen,\\nand pots and pans, and everything apper-\\ntaining to kitchen utensils, have to be re-\\nplaced. If it is a housemaid, she demon-\\nstrates that there are no brushes, that the\\nhandle of the dust-pan is broken, that all the\\nblacking is used up, and the dusters are a\\nmass of holes. If it is a parlor-maid, there\\nare no cups, tumblers, or glass-cloths, and\\nshe says she finds all the table-cloths and\\nnapkins are in a very bad way. Whenever\\nthis happens, the mistress always says the\\nlast servant has stolen the things. How\\ntrue this may be I do not know, but the\\nknowledge comes too late. I have often\\nheard my wife declare that the wilful damage\\nin our house comes to quite $ioo a year,\\nand many of her friends aver that this is a\\nvery small average.\\nI do not depart from my original state-\\nment that the real fault of all the discomfort\\nand extravagance of Home life is due to\\nthe Missus, but I hope I have shown that\\nmy eyes are quite open to the servant s share\\nin it. Servants, however, I think, cannot be", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "6o The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nexpected to take much pride where they have\\nno responsibihty, and no reward for looking\\nafter interests which are not their own. A\\nsystem which exists in no other branch of\\nlife, and which is eminently unsatisfactory\\nwhere it flourishes, must be in need of some\\nremedy. I make the suggestion modestly,\\nbut I am deeply interested in its reception,\\nand I trust mistresses and servants alike will\\ngive it consideration. That things are in a\\nyery bad state nobody can deny. The ques-\\ntion is, can we arrive at a solution?", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER VI\\nTHE HIGHLY RESPECTABLE PERSON\\nHILE these\\nchapters\\nwere ap-\\npearing in\\nserial form\\nI received a large number of letters, some of\\nwhich will be found in this book. Among\\nthese is one which I feel I must mention, as it\\nhas made me pause and consider carefully\\nwhether I should continue this series, or\\ndrop the whole subject, and let the world\\ncontinue in the same haphazard way that\\nwomen have reduced it to. The letter runs\\nas follows\\nI wish when you wrote that article about\\nwomen that you (sic), someone, had stran-\\n6i", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "62 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ngled you; you have made my life a burden to\\nme (through my husband), what with your\\nharness and your bran-mash, etc., and your\\nmutton chops, and so on. There are no\\nwords in the English language bad enough\\nthat I could throw at you; please close your\\nseries at once, as they won t do good at all,\\nand are only making strife in once peaceful\\nhomes.\\nThis is signed An Angry Wife, and I\\nspare my readers the P. S. It would be\\neasy to sneer at this blotted and illiterate\\nletter; but I am not so hard-hearted as some\\nof my readers may imagine, and I can see\\nthat this badly-written letter is stained with\\ntears. There is even a pathos for me in the\\nvulgarity of the postscript, and I am deeply\\nsorry if any words of mine have led some\\nfoolish man to apply them too near home for\\nhis own and his wife s comfort. My mission\\nis not to make discord, but to preach peace.\\nI want to show women where they fail, so\\nthat they may mend their manners, and, if\\nthey will only take heed, and their husbands", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "The Highly Respectable Person 63\\nwill only be a little patient with them, though\\nthere may be little storms, I am sure the\\nsunshine will succeed.\\nWith these few words, and in this hope, I\\ncontinue, and I take for my subject women s\\nidea of a good servant, or, at least, their idea\\nSAe will not die.\\nof a servant they ought to put up with. She\\nis common to all homes, and I am sure all\\nmy readers will recognize her under the title\\nof Such a highly respectable person\\nWas it Sidney Smith or was it Charles\\nLamb? ^who said there were three sexes\\nmen, women, and parsons It is I who say", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "64 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nthat the highly respectable person is a\\ndistinct breed of biped, which Hobb would\\nhave gloried in. She is common to all na-\\ntions. She is a cross between a chameleon\\nand Proteus. She is sometimes English,\\nsometimes Scotch, sometimes Irish, and\\nsometimes American; but she is not human,\\nfor she has no vices, and she apparently was\\nnever born, for nobody ever knew the\\nhighly respectable person when she was\\nyoung. She came from where it would not\\nbe polite to say) into the world when she was\\nmiddle-aged, and, like H. S. Leigh s famous\\nparrot,\\nShe d look beautiful if stuffed.\\nAnd knows it, but she will not die.\\nAs I have said, the highly respectable\\nperson is possessed of all the virtues.\\nAmong these, she is very willing. If she\\nis employed as nurse, and the cook gets tem-\\nporarily indisposed, she does not mind going\\ninto the kitchen, and doing her best, and you\\ncan always rely upon having a dinner served\\nan hour late, which is either half or three\\ntimes too much cooked. She cheerfully", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "The Highly Respectable Person 6$\\nwashes up such of the dishes and plates as\\nshe has not broken, and cleans those knives\\nthat scalding water has left handles on. At\\nthe end of her week s reign in the lower\\nregions, you discover that the boiler is\\nburned through, and the sink is stopped up.\\nIf she comes to you as cook, when you are\\nshort-handed, she does not mind doing her\\nbest upstairs; she never forgets to mend any\\nchina which comes apart in her hand, and\\nyou can always tell, by the smell and the\\nstains, that she has not forgotten to fill the\\nlamps.\\nShe is a very tidy person. She always\\ncarefully puts away anything you want, and\\nyou see, by the way your papers are turned\\nover, that your desk has been thoroughly\\ndusted round the edges. And she is handy\\nwithal. If the chair is broken, you will not\\nfind it out at once, as she will make it hold\\ntogether till you sit down ^by tying it\\nwith string, or driving a tenpenny nail\\nthrough the back, which is so brittle and\\nold that it splits. If she has any washing\\nto do, she makes no fuss about it. She waits", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "66 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ntill you are out, and does it in the bath-room,\\nand when the waste won t act, and the\\nplumber comes and pulls up half the floor,\\nand the force-pipe smothers the ceiling with\\nsemi-decayed soap and dirt, you can satisfy\\nyourself that the mischief was as much due\\nto the fluff and hair which somebody put in\\nthe bath as the fact that the highly respect-\\nable person forgot that hot water will melt\\na bar of soap in time if allowed to stand.\\nBut this is only indoors. If a slate is\\nblown off the house, the highly respectable\\nperson will clamber up through the trap-\\ndoor, and march about without fear of slip-\\nping with her thick boots on the roof, and\\nwhen she comes down you will know ex-\\nactly how many slates are broken. If you\\nsend her to the butcher s, you may be sure\\nshe will pick the meat she thinks is best for\\nyou, and if you happen not to like it as much\\nas usual, you will at least know that she did\\nher best in your interests, by finding that she\\nhas saved you a quarter. If her mistress\\nwants a certain kind of stuff, and sends her\\nfor it, she will never come back empty-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "The Highly Respectable Person 67\\nhanded. If the storekeeper has not the right\\nmaterial or color, she will bring back the\\nnext best thing to it, and if you are so partic-\\nular as to object to mixing satin and silk, or\\npink and magenta, why, the shopkeeper will\\ngenerally allow you to take it out in\\nsomething he has got, and you don t want,\\nsay, in six dozen of glass cloths, or some-\\nthing useful, which are sure to come in\\nhandy in a year or two.\\nBut what the highly respectable person\\nis most careful of, is Master s things.\\nShe always knows where his socks can be\\nbought cheaper than he can buy them for\\nhimself, and she has endless suggestions as\\nto what to do with his clothes, or ties and\\nscarfs, which he so foolishly treasures\\nabove much newer fashions and colors\\nwhich can be picked up at sales.\\nIt is needless to say that such a clever, use-\\nful person, who is so careful of the interests\\nof her master and mistress, is not adored by\\nthe other servants. They of course, not be-\\ning highly respectable persons, have to be\\ncarefully watched. Their letters have to be", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "68 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ncarefully scrutinized, and, if possible, read.\\nTheir conversations at the kitchen door with\\nthe milkman, or baker, and at the hall door\\nwith the postman, are duly noted; their man-\\nAt the door with the milkman noted.\\nner of addressing one another, and any words\\nwhich they may drop have a terrible signifi-\\ncance when reported at appropriate moments,\\nand, that they are very foolish persons, is", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "The Highly Respectable Person 6g\\nproved by their objecting to be interfered\\nwith on every point, and by allowing them-\\nselves to be exasperated into telling the\\nhighly respectable person to mind her own\\nbusiness. That such a state of open revolt\\nshould be allowed to continue is, of course,\\nimpossible. Having awakened to the fact\\nthat the highly respectable person is\\ntrusted and honored in the eyes of her\\nnominal mistress, the rest of the servants,\\nfearing a month s notice and a bad character,\\ntake the unfair advantage of protecting\\nthemselves, and give warning. It is thus\\nthat the highly respectable person pre-\\nvents her master and mistress from being\\nserved by bad servants, for everyone must\\nadmit that it is much better not to be served\\nat all, than by bad servants.\\nBut the greatest of all the qualities of\\nthe highly respectable person is the fact\\nthat she is a dragon of virtue. She has no\\nfollowers that anybody ever saw or heard of.\\nNobody calls and asks to see her; she re-\\nceives no letters that are not in an unmistak-\\nable feminine hand; nobody hangs about the", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "70 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ngate and whistles, and nobody has ever been\\nseen to raise his hat to her, look after her, or\\npass her the time of day, in going by. Per-\\nhaps, however, an even greater quality is\\nthat she wants no Sundays or week-days out,\\nexcept to go to church, and, altho she is\\nstrictly religious, she sets her duty above all\\nthings, and never demands her right when\\nshe thinks it would be in any way incon-\\nvenient to her mistress.\\nHer mission in life is to stick to her mis-\\ntress as long as her mistress will stick to her.\\nTo do this thoroughly, she has to read her\\nmistress s letters, and woe betide the mistress\\nwho, not being all that she might be, at-\\ntempts to part with the highly respectable\\nperson, for the highly respectable per-\\nson is as solicitous of the welfare of her\\nmistress as she is of her fellow-servants. To\\nattain this end, she is careful to keep her mis-\\ntress up to her mark. In the present deplor-\\nable state to which generations of women\\nhave brought the Servant Market, the mis-\\ntress is bound, if not to shut her eyes, at any\\nrate, not to look too closely for faults. But", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "The Highly Respectable Person Jl\\nthis laxity does not suit the highly respect-\\nable person. Her motto is, Whom the\\nLord loveth He chasteneth, and the high-\\nly respectable person has aggregated to\\nShe has to read her mistress s letters.\\nherself the role of social blister. She tells\\nher mistress all she does not wish to know,\\nbut, knowing, must notice. She instructs\\nher when the sieves were not scalded, when", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "J 2 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nthe pots are not cleaned, when the bread-pan\\nhas been allowed to grow over-full, where\\nhalf a pound of butter has been put away and\\nforgotten, and she leads her round the house\\nto point out where the dusting has been\\nscamped, and turns up the rugs and carpets\\nwhere yesterday s dust has been hastily hid-\\nden. In this way she fans her mistress into\\nperpetual warfare with her servants, and\\nposes, with virtuous pride, as a highly re-\\nspectable person is entitled to pose, as be-\\ning careful of the welfare and rectitude of\\nher fellow-creatures.\\nMen, who are unreasonable, and know\\nnothing of what is good for them, as op-\\nposed to the luxury of peace and quiet, are\\nno respecters of servants who are highly\\nrespectable, and act as firebrands. They\\nadvocate the casting out of the one highly\\nrespectable person, and the keeping of the\\nmajority, who are merely human beings,\\nwho have followers, and who want to go\\nout regularly, as they are entitled to do, and\\nthey care little how servants behave when\\nthey are away from home. These are the", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "The Highly Respectable Person 73\\nlines upon which men conduct their business-\\nes, and this is possibly why their managers,\\ntheir clerks, and other employees remain for\\nyears in their service and work together in\\nharmony. Women are always crying out\\nagainst their servants. Does any lady or\\ngentleman want a highly respectable per-\\nson with all the above advantages I\\nknow one, at least, whom I shall be only too\\npleased to recommend to any master or mis-\\ntress who has not experienced such a luxury,\\nand I promise to ask no questions. If my\\nreaders know of any more, I shall be glad if\\nthey will write. Don t all speak at once.\\nDon^t all speak at once.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER VII\\nTHE DOMESTIC INFERNO\\nS the nursery upstairs\\nis generally admitted\\nto be the heaven of our\\nhomes, so the kitchen\\nably takes up the posi-\\ntion of\u00e2\u0080\u0094 the other\\nplace. It is there that\\nall the mischief of the\\nhouse is hatched, and\\nI must say I think the\\nmistress of the house is\\nlargely responsible for\\nits sins. On the few\\noccasions when a man\\nvisits it (for instance, when he comes back\\nlate, and finds the servants have forgotten\\nto lay any bread, or the fire has gone out,\\nand some sticks are wanted), he is, as a rule,\\nabsolutely appalled at its dirt and disorder.\\n74", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "The Domestic Inferno 75\\nIt is true that the stove may be bright, and\\nthat the dresser may look very clean with its\\nrows of plates, but if he has to look deeper,\\nwhat a perfect rag-and-bone shop the whole\\nplace is! Only let him peep into the cup-\\nboards, only let him open the drawer of the\\nkitchen table, or the dresser, and he will be\\nperfectly horrified to find that his wife allows\\nsuch a mass of heterogeneous matter to be\\ncollected. I will spare my readers a picture\\nof it let them go and see for themselves.\\nThere is only one question I should like to\\nhave answered, and that is Why is it that\\nthe drawers in a dresser never have any\\nhandles? I am not merely trying to pro-\\nvide the followers of Vilon with a refrain\\nfor a ballade. I ask in the interest of our\\nbest knives, our forks, and skewers, that\\nbreak and twist themselves out of all shape\\nin their efforts to open the drawers of\\ndressers.\\nI do not think I am overstating it\\nwhen I say that if wives would only keep\\nhandles on the drawers of their dresser, they\\nwould save their husbands fifty dollars a", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "76 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nyear, which, during twenty years of married\\nlife, amounts to $1000.\\nThis brings me to the appalling misuse\\nwhich all the articles in the kitchen are put\\nto. Every trade has its list of necessary\\ntools, and everyone knows that there is not\\na mechanic in the world who requires to be\\nso fully supplied with plant as a cook, and\\nthat there is no skilled workman who puts it\\nto such bad use. With a trowel and a mor-\\ntar-board, a bricklayer will build a house\\nindeed, several houses; with a few chisels\\nand a hammer, a stonemason will decorate\\nthe side of a cathedral, and perhaps the car-\\npenter is the only skilled laborer who re-\\nquires anything like so much plant as a cook.\\nShe is never happy, and always ready with a\\nstring of excuses, till she is provided with a\\nwhole houseful of things, which she declares\\nare absolutely essential to the cooking of ex-\\nceedingly plain fare.\\nShe must have rows of saucepans, rang-\\ning from the very biggest to the very small-\\nest, and everything else in proportion, and\\nas soon as she is provided with them, her", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "The Domestic Inferno 77\\nfancy settles upon particular saucepans and\\npans, which she keeps in constant use till\\nthey are destroyed. Every man knows that\\nfive pairs of boots or five suits of clothes will\\nlast longer by being worn alternately than\\nby being hacked out separately; but the mis-\\ntress never insists upon this system being ap-\\nplied to kitchen utensils. No cook will be\\nrrri\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2VI\\nhappy till she is provided with a meat\\nchopper and a meat saw, but when she has\\ngot them, she prefers to use the best carvers.\\nWhoever heard of a carpenter turning\\nscrews with his chisel, or using his pincers\\nto drive nails with\\nThis will probably send my strong-minded\\nreaders into hysterics, but can they deny that\\ncooks persistently use one spot in a sieve till\\nthey have rubbed a hole in it, and that gener-\\nally a cook will devote the first thing which\\ncomes to her hand to a use for which it was", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "78 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nnever intended, and that this system leads\\nto great damage? If they do, I should like\\nto ask them to account for the number of\\nknives which are broken, and to ask them if\\nthey ever in their lives saw a knife broken by\\nproper use in the dining-room It stands to\\nreason, first, that I cannot go through the\\nmisuses which every article in the kitchen is\\nput to such should not be necessary, and is\\ncertainly impossible in the space which I\\nmean this book to occupy; and secondly,\\nthat as A Mere Man, away all day at my\\nbusiness, I could not possibly be expected\\nto know; but most sensible women must\\nadmit, if they think over it carefully, that\\nthe annual renewals of a kitchen are out of\\nall proportion.\\nThis being so, how should it be dealt\\nwith Well, most men of business set aside\\na certain amount of their incomes for what\\nwe call, on our balance-sheets, depreciation\\nof plant. I wonder how many women there\\nare who make any such provision in their\\nown particular business. Home? I wonder\\nif there is one single one who is long-headed", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "The Domestic Inferno 79\\nenough to have ever thought of such a thing,\\nand I wonder how many there are who have\\never dreamed of a yearly or half-yearly\\nstock-taking\\nDo you know, my fair readers, that yours\\nis the only business in the world which is not\\nconducted on these principles, and do you\\nknow that yours are the only servants in the\\nworld who object to be charged with de-\\nficiencies over and above a certain reasonable\\namount Do you know that where servants\\nare employed in similar pursuits by men I\\nrefer more particularly now to waiters and\\nbarmaids, etc. that there is such a thing\\nas a breakage fund, to which all subscribe\\nwillingly, and that any surplus is devoted to\\nthe benefit of all concerned? Now, do you\\nnot think it would be well if you established\\nsuch a system? Do you not think it would\\nmake your servants more careful, and you\\nmuch richer? I am sure you do, and, this\\nbeing so, I counsel all housekeepers to put it\\nin practice.\\nBut I must get on to even a more impor-\\ntant subject of waste than this. There is.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "8o The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nperhaps no more serious expense in a house-\\nhold than coal. It behoves you to be most\\ncareful of its consumption. To do you jus-\\ntice, in many ways you are. You will regu-\\nlate exactly the amount of coal you use\\nupstairs. You put off having fires for your\\nown comfort as long as you can, and you\\neconomize by persuading your family to\\nmake one fire do for as many as possible.\\nThis shows you are not blind to the ter-\\nrible expense of coal. But I fear me that,\\nwhile you are sparing at one end, you are\\nspending at the other.\\nBut there are ways to save coal; that is to\\nsay, there is a way to prevent it being wasted.\\nIn most middle-class houses, the kitchen has\\nto provide breakfast, middle-day dinner or\\nluncheon, a cup of tea at five o clock, and\\ndinner. To do this, it is necessary, ac-\\ncording to the cook, to keep up a roaring\\nfurnace, that would roast an ox or melt\\nenough iron to make a good-sized gun, from\\nhalf-past six in the morning to close on ten\\no clock at night fifteen and a-half hours.\\nThere is no good in going into any elaborate", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "The Domestic Inferno 8 1\\nexplanations as to how to avoid this.\\nEverybody knows as well as I do but no\\nLook at your bill for coal.\\nwoman takes the trouble to see that the cook\\nreally slacks down her fire. Of course.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "82 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\neverybody will jump to the front, and say\\nshe and every other mistress does see to the\\nkitchen fire, but equally, of course, they do\\nnothing of the kind. If you don t believe\\nme, take down your own file, and look at\\nyour own year s bill for coal. As a matter of\\nfact, your cook ought not to burn more coal\\nin winter than in summer. As a rule, she\\nburns three times as much. Some cooks are\\nclever enough to hide this by making up the\\nsurplus from the better coal. Nothing, how-\\never, alters the fact that the real practical\\ncooking of a house in which I do not in-\\nclude making a cup of tea does not begin\\ntill near mid-day and is over by 6 130 at\\nlatest. In other words a really good fire is\\nrequired for about four hours, yet the\\nsparks fly upwards for some sixteen hours.\\nI expect that I shall have plenty of people\\nwriting to say they have tried gas, and found\\nit was no saving at all, as they burned just as\\nmuch coal as ever. With these persons I\\nquite agree. In fact, I will go further; I\\nIt is a growing custom to have for breakfast a\\ncup of cofifee and rolls.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "The Domestic Inferno \u00c2\u00a93\\nshould not be surprised to find that it proved\\ninfinitely more expensive, because, of course,\\nif you still keep a fire burning from 6.30\\na. m, to 10 p. m., and gas besides, there is\\nnot much chance for economy to come in.\\nThere is much more to be said about\\nwomen s sins in the direction of the kitchen,\\nbut they belong more particularly to the\\nlarder, and I will treat of them under that\\nhead. There is no good in taking too many\\nthings together.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER VIII\\nTHE BOTTOMLESS PIT.\\nINCE writing my last\\nchapter, and thinking out\\nmy present one, I went\\nup to our Free Library,\\nand got out the Slang\\nDictionary. I was\\nanxious to find out why\\nthe abode of thieves is called a Thieves\\nKitchen. I could not discover any reference\\nto it, and I have not been able to make out\\nwhat led to the Infernal regions being placed\\nby popular assent under our feet. The ap-\\npropriateness of the superstition seems to\\nhave been too obvious for anyone to bother\\ninquiring into.\\nThe basement has as many departments as\\nDante s Inferno. We have looked into the\\nkitchen and the coal hole, and found them\\npretty bad. But there is one place where the\\n84", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "The Bottomless Pit 85\\nmistress of a house wastes less time and more\\nmoney than in either. It is a popular delu-\\nsion that every woman regularly visits her\\nlarder. In a large country-house, where it\\nis roomy and light, she does in the summer,\\nbecause it is cooler than the kitchen. But a\\ncomparatively small number of middle-class\\nwomen live in large country-houses, and, as\\na rule, in towns and small houses, the larder\\nis a dark cupboard under the stairs, and a\\nhousekeeper generally has to take the cook s\\nword for its contents. But, however all this\\nmay be, even all those who visit it regularly,\\nand take a candle with them, do so at entirely\\nthe wrong time, as I mean to show later on.\\nThe upstairs meals, as a rule, consist of\\nbreakfast, lunch, and dinner, where there is\\na late dinner. I do not know how many\\nwomen are aware of the fact, but I am sure\\nnot one man in a thousand knows that his\\nservants have just double that number of\\nmeals. The very first thing which every ser-\\nvant in the world does ^long before you are\\ncalled is to make herself tea. This is fol-\\nlowed by the necessary breakfast, and", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "86 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nscarcely has the mistress left her kitchen,\\nafter giving her orders, than every servant\\nlays aside his or her work, and proceeds to\\npartake of a meal which takes its name from\\nthe hour at which it is held. Elevens, for\\nsuch it is called, consists of a hurried snack,\\nat which the domestic locusts devour all they\\ncan lay hands on. Under ordinary circum-\\nstances, it would not be necessary to say that\\na meal could not take place unless there was\\nsomething to eat. This however, does not\\nseem to have struck the women of the last\\neighteen hundred and ninety-eight years.\\nElevens are not calculated for by mis-\\ntresses, but they are provided for by the chief\\nbrigand the cook. How is this done so\\nthat the mistress will not miss the food?\\nSimply by abstracting it from the larder be-\\nfore the mistress makes her inspection.\\nMost of the wasteful over-eating and pil-\\nfering of servants is due to giving the cook\\ndiscretion as to what the domestics shall\\nhave for their supper. Everything in the\\nway of food that disappears is accounted for\\nby saying, The servants .had it for their", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "The Bottomless Pit By\\nsupper, and there is no going behind it. I\\nadmit this evil is a very difficult one to cope\\nwith, and I will state the other side. Where\\nthe rigid law of bread and cheese for the ser-\\nvants supper exists, great expense and waste\\nensue. Servants like nothing better than to\\neat themselves as nearly sick as possible, and\\nthe servant who eats a quarter of a pound of\\ncheese and a half a loaf of bread, every\\nnight, to say nothing of ends of butter, costs\\nsomething, I can tell you, more especially as\\nyou get no credit for the pieces of steak, odd\\ncutlets, ends of pudding, and scraps gener-\\nally, which become the cook s perquisites,\\nand when she cannot dispose of them in this\\nway are allowed to go bad, or deliberately\\nthrown upon the kitchen fire and burned.\\nThe generally-disorganized state to which\\nthe kitchen and larder have been allowed to\\ncome is so appalling that one hardly knows\\nwhat to tackle first.\\nIn a business managed by men, say a\\nshoemaker s, if a servant were caught sys-\\ntematically carrying out ends of leather,\\nwax, hemp, nails, etc., he would be handed", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "88 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nover to a policeman, and would get six\\nmonths hard labor; but, owing to the ab-\\nsolutely unbusiness-like way in which wom-\\nen manage their servants, the cook claims\\nperquisites as her right, and disposes of\\nbuckets full of good food for cash, the butler\\nbags the bottles, etc., the housemaid the\\ncandle-ends, medicine bottles, soap, etc., and\\nshe and the lady s maid, like the butler and\\nfootman, divide the clothes. I cannot spare\\nthe space to more than hint at the wholesale\\nrobbery which goes on under the very eyes of\\nwomen, who, all the time, are expected, and\\nprofess to be, looking after the comfort and\\neconomy of men. It is a hard word to use,\\nbut most women simply connive at the rob-\\nbery of servants, and if the real facts ever\\ndawn upon them, they console their con-\\nsciences by saying, Oh well, anything for a\\nquiet life Apart from the upstairs pecu-\\nlations, is there a woman living who does not\\nknow for there is no excuse for her not\\nknowing that the weekly scrub regu-\\nlarly carries off a mysterious bundle which\\nshe did not bring in, and that she is simply", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "The Bottomless Pit 89\\na go-between for the thieves without and the\\nthieves within?\\nTo dismiss this painful subject, as I have\\nsaid, the evils arising from the servants\\nsupper are very difficult to solve. Of two\\nevils, however choose the lesser. It is better\\neconomy to let the servants steal and eat the\\ngood food than that the ends of fish, poultry,\\nand game, should be thrown upon the kitchen\\nfire; but, whatever you do, on no account\\never permit the existence of what is called\\nthe swill pail. Once you allow such an\\ninstitution, you set up for yourself a yawn-\\ning abyss, which devours everything which\\nthe cook can steal from the servants and\\nyourselves. The swill pail is the direct\\nproduct of the false economy of daily\\nmarketing. If you market daily, the result is\\nodd quantities of everything, all of which\\ngo into the swill pail and, as a matter of\\nfact, there is nowhere else to put them, for\\nit seems difficult to persuade Anglo Saxon\\nwomen to persist on the setting up of a stock-\\npot, which is an institution in every French\\nestablishment. There ought not to be a", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "90 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nsingle house, or flat, however humble, where\\nyou ought not to be able to get, at five\\nminutes notice, a fine bowl of soup without\\nexpending one sixpence on gravy, beef, or\\nvegetables. Into this should go every scrap\\nof meat, fat, fowl, and all your spare gravy,\\nyour odd carrots, and half onions. Soup in\\nthis country is looked upon by women as an\\nexpensive luxury, instead of which it should\\nbe a staple dish in every humble home of the\\nlower classes. But I have so much to say\\nthat I am drifting away again.\\nIt is a popular fallacy amongst women\\nthat they must buy their vegetables fresh,\\nand fresh every day, and this is their argu-\\nment against purchasing large quantities,\\nwhich would very much save their pockets.\\nAs a matter of fact, three-quarters of the\\nvegetables used in a middle-class house are\\nnot, and do not, require to be fresh. Take\\nfor example, potatoes, turnips, carrots, on-\\nions, beetroots, celery for soup, leeks, cab-\\nbages and cauliflowers, etc., etc. You are\\nnot foolish enough, I hope, to suppose that\\nyour greengrocer digs, pulls, or cuts these", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "The Bottomless Pit 9 1\\nevery day for your special edifications. If\\nyou do, think so no longer, and amend your\\nways. Even the last two, cabbages and cauli-\\nflowers, keep four or five days, and preserve\\nwhatever freshness they require much better\\nin your cool, clean you see, I am giving you\\nall credit larder than in a stuffy green-\\ngrocer s shop.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER IX\\nCUPBOARD SKELETONS\\nIN my last chapter I was about\\nto condemn the butcher to\\nbe, as his trade demands,\\nhung, drawn, and four-\\nquartered, but I thought it\\nbest to start again fresh. The\\nbutcher, owing to his trade, is looked upon\\nas a sanguinary scoundrel of the worst order.\\nI never knew but one butcher at all intimate-\\nly, and he was in a big way of business in\\nthe wholesale trade, but he told me this was\\nthe popular belief. He was very much down\\non authors who referred disrespectfully to\\nbutchers. He took this very much to heart,\\nand went on to demonstrate to me that all\\nthe great men of the world had been, or had\\nsprung from, butchers, even Shakespeare,\\nand that he was perhaps the worst. I am\\nsure nothing else would have made him read\\n92", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "Cupboard Skeletons 93\\nShakespeare, which, by the way, he knew\\nvery well, as far as the quotations about\\nbutchers went, at any rate. But there is an\\nold superstition in favor of a man who\\nbreaks his rope being allowed to go free and\\nrepent, or hang himself, if he is anxious to\\ndie suddenly. I have no more space to spend\\non the butcher, and so to the next man in the\\ntumbril.\\nThis is the baker. I suppose it is on ac-\\ncount of his white cap and apron, and the\\ngeneral flouriness of his appearance, that the\\nbaker is universally regarded as a bluff,\\nhonest fellow. He isn t He is a thief also\\nand he grows fat on his flour-bags, and rich\\non his rascalities. The baker is the direct\\nproduct of the lax way in which women man-\\nage their business. He not only adulterates\\nhis bread with every deleterious matter he\\ncan lay his hands upon, but he has estab-\\nlished it as a recognized custom of his trade\\nagainst which the law has no powers\\nthat he is allowed to receive full money for\\nshort weight. The law says you shall have\\nfull weight if you demand it, but if you don t", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "94 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nspecially stipulate that you require your five\\ncent loaf or your penny roll to be worth half\\nthe money you pay for it, you must not ex-\\npect it, nor complain.\\nBut how many women, except those of the\\nvery poor class, do this Not one in a thous-\\nand. In spite of this already heavy tax on\\nyour pockets, there is scarcely any article ol\\nhousehold use which is so wasted as bread.\\nI do not deny that bread is a thing for which\\nan absolutely fixed order cannot always be\\ngiven. When you are expecting people,\\nyou have to provide for them; some days an\\nextra quantity is used in cooking, as, for in-\\nstance, in crumbs, toast, puddings, etc. But,\\nover and above this, there is far too great a\\nmargin whch goes to waste. Every bread", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "Cupboard Skeletons 95\\npan in the land is half- full of crusts and ends\\nof loaves, which are allowed to go to waste.\\nThey are allowed to get hard and are\\nthrown, unless given, away. In this matter\\nyour most honest servant has no compunc-\\ntion. She, who will not steal a penny or let\\nanyone else do so, will cheerfully give away\\npounds of meat and bread to every beggar\\nwho comes to the kitchen door, even if there\\nwere ten a day. This is not charity, for\\neveryone knows, or ought to know, that beg-\\ngars do not want bread, and only throw it\\nover the first paling, or into the first garden\\nthey come across. It you don t believe me,\\nhave them watched, and see for yourself.\\nIt may be agreed that the robberies of the\\nbaker cannot be laid at the door of the mis-\\ntress. There is something in this, but, like\\nmost general statements my own included\\nit is not quite, that is to say, entirely, true.\\nThe mistress is responsible for all that goes\\nwrong, and the baker, as well as the\\nbutcher, is an incentive to the nefarious prac-\\ntice of perquisites. Every mistress who\\nkeeps her senses on the alert must know that", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "96 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nher baker s and her butcher s books contain\\nitems which never see the inside of her house,\\nand that the cook calmly passes eight-pound\\njoints to be charged as ten, and neglects to\\nchange loaves, so that she may receive her\\nmiserable commission, which is a direct in-\\ncentive to robbery, for which tradesmen\\nshould get long terms of hard labor.\\nOught to get terms of hard labor.\\nThis brings me to an almost more import-\\nant factor in the pilfering line. I refer to the\\ngrocer s book. I have already inveighed\\nagainst the weekly book. Such private ar-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "Cupboard Skeletons 97\\nguments as I have had have not altered my\\nviews, and I will tell you why. Where a\\nweekly book is kept that is to say, where a\\nweekly order is given the cook always, de-\\nsignedly or otherwise, forgets something,\\ngenerally a great many things, and, at the\\nend of the week, you find these had to be\\nfetched in a hurry, and your book is bigger\\nthan you expected. Another reason for ex-\\ntravagance is that, where a weekly order is\\ngiven, the items in the store cupboard are\\nfew, and, as a result, the mistress does not\\nkeep it locked or give out the things as they\\nare wanted. The result is that the cook\\nmakes a point of using up or wasting every-\\nthing that it contains, and the mistress only\\nthinks, when she sees the empty cupboard,\\nhow clever and economical she is not to have\\nordered too much. Take my advice, and\\ntake it quickly. At once institute a monthly\\norder, see that everything is delivered, check\\nit over as it is put in the store, and put the\\nkey in your pocket. This will save you a\\ngreat deal of trouble, and a great deal of\\nmoney, and you will find your table is better", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "9^ The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nfurnished, and that you are living better for\\nvery much less money.\\nYou may well ask, how can this be? In\\nthe first place, you can buy large quantities\\ncheaper than you can small quantities. Sec-\\nondly, your order being a larger and more\\nimportant matter, you will do it more care-\\nfully, and will write it down. Thirdly, you\\nmay be induced to keep the list for reference,\\nand you will see that what you have ordered\\nis delivered, and that you get the benefit of\\nwhat is over. You have no idea what a\\ndifference it will make till you try it. Your\\nkindling wood, jam, raisins, rice, sugar, etc.,\\nmay remain much the same after a few\\nmonths, but you will find you will save on\\nhundreds of boxes of matches which were\\nthrown on the fire and that you always\\nhave in hand plenty of dessert, anchovies,\\nsardines, spices, and all the etceteras which\\ncost so much, and disappear so quickly, but\\nwhich have to be in a house not so much for\\ndaily use as when required for an emergency.\\nI am always coming back, like a maker\\nof ballades, to the same refrain. In all busi-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "Cupboard Skeletons 99\\nnesses managed by men, no order is given\\nor accepted without a written check. If you\\nwant really to manage your house on any-\\nthing like business principles, to save money,\\nand have a good time, go round to a small\\nlocal printer, and get him to make up for you\\nthey will only cost you about three dollars\\nten books, containing one hundred forms\\neach, which you should fill up (as in italics)\\nwhenever you give an order, something like\\nthe following:\\n1900\\nTo\\nKindly supply to\\n148 York avenue,\\nWesterleigh Heights.\\nNO CHARGE WILL BE RE-\\nCOGNIZED UNLESS A\\nSIGNED ORDER CAN BE\\nPRODUCED.\\nMarch ist, igoo.\\nTo f. Spriggins.\\nKindly supply to\\n148 York avenue,\\nWesterleigh Heights\\n5 lbs. Best Candles,\\n6 lbs. Brown Sugar,\\n8 Bars Primrose Soap.\\n3 tins Blacking, etc.\\n(Signed)", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER X\\nTHE MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN\\nAM now going to\\noffer some criti-\\ncisms which I\\nknow will be re-\\nsented far more\\nthan anything I\\nhave so far writ-\\nten, and my only\\nhope is that what I\\nsay will do some good.\\nI have shown that the whole system is\\nwrong, that all the accepted ideas of manage-\\nment are grotesque, and that women have no\\nidea how to save, or to spend, money, and\\nthat, therefore, they should not be entrusted\\nwith it. Having done this, and it having\\nbeen admitted I have proved my case, let me\\nhope women will profit by my advice, and\\nmend their ways. But the management of", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "The Management of Children lOl\\nchildren is a more serious business, and,\\nthough I am sorry to say it, I am convinced\\nthat women are more ignorant of the man-\\nagement of their nurseries than of any other\\nparts of their houses. Perhaps some statis-\\ntically-incHned correspondent will kindly\\ngive us a statement of the annual mortality\\nof children. Personally, I do not know it,\\nbut I believe it to be enormous, so enormous\\nindeed as to be out of all proportion to any\\nother death-rate known. Large as it may\\nbe proved to be, it will not surprise me half as\\nmuch as that it is not twice as large, for I\\nknow of no children who do not surprise me\\nwhen they survive the treatment which they\\nreceive from their fond but foolish mothers,\\nand the servants to whose care they are left.\\nIs there any married woman living who\\ncan put her hand upon her heart and truth-\\nfully say that, when her first baby was born,\\nshe had the very slightest idea as to what\\nought to be done with it Women have not\\nthe most elementary ideas as to how to take\\ncare of themselves. If this were a medical\\nbook, I could show that there is hardly a girl", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "I02 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nliving who, between the age of fifteen and\\nher marriage, does not court her own death\\nmany times a year. But this is not a medical\\nbook and I will content myself by saying\\nthat most wives owe any health they may\\nhave to the persistent interference of their\\nhusbands. I am no advocate of what is\\nwrongly called rational costume. This\\nmeans, generally, giving up skirts, and non-\\nsense of that kind. Neither am I going to\\nrun my head against the stone wall of cor-\\nsets. Personally, I not only like girls to\\nwear stays, but I believe they are a great sup-\\nport to women; but this does not mean that\\nI advocate tight-lacing any more than I do\\ntight boots. But is there any sane person\\nwho will argue that half a yard of cambric\\nis a rational costume on a cold winter s day\\nI do not wish to pursue this subject further\\nthan to point out that it is to women, who\\nhave such extraordinary ideas of clothing\\nthemselves, that the costuming of children is\\nleft.\\nThere are three things, I take it, which\\nare material to the health of young children,", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "The Management of Children 103\\nnamely, warmth, air and exercise, and food.\\nI do not think that there is one of them which\\nwomen understand; but let us take them one\\nat a time. I shall never forget being told by\\nmy wife, with tears, what a terrible thing it\\nwas that her first baby had got cold, and that\\nthat meant having a cold all the winter. This\\nhad been told to her by the nurse, for the\\nnurse said the same thing when I went up-\\nstairs. I found the poor child crawling about\\nthe floor in a costume which is best described\\nby saying that it was that of a premiere dan-\\nsense, only more scanty. From the waist\\ndownwards the child had nothing on but\\nskirts a few inches long, and a pair of short\\ncotton socks. I soon sent out for some yards\\nof flannel, built the fire half-way up the chim-\\nney, kept the child in bed on hot drinks, and\\nwithin a few days despite what was called\\nsuch a terribly weakening treatment\\nthe child was quite well.\\nDespite the marvelous way in which\\nbaby shook off the cold as the cure was\\ncalled ^the women fought hard to restore\\nthe inhuman garments from which I had", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "104 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nrescued it. I insisted on the poor little legs\\nbeing kept swathed in flannel, and although\\nI was told it was most terribly weakening,\\nand was given every other mad reason for\\nsacrificing the child to the convenience of the\\nnurse, the baby remained so till he went\\ninto knickerbockers and long stockings, and\\nto-day he is pretty sturdy on his pins in a\\nfootball scrimmage. Now, don t let every\\nwoman write and say that children are not\\nkept half-naked from the time they are six\\nmonths old for such is not the. truth. They\\nare; and that such a practice exists is noth-\\ning short of criminal negligence.\\nI don t mean to say that women mean to\\nbe cruel. I don t think they do. They simply\\ndon t think what they are doing and allowing\\nto be done. If you suggested taking the\\nbaby out without its cap, to say nothing of\\nstripping it to the waist, they would think\\nyou mad; but it never occurs to them that\\nthe exposure of the pit of the stomach to the\\nwinds of heaven is five times as dangerous.\\nIf these facts are true, and I shall be sur-\\nprised if they can be combated, how can", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "The Management of Children 105\\nwomen contend that they manage children\\nbetter than men would How can they con-\\ntend that they have the very slightest idea of\\nhow to manage children at all\\nBut I do not wish to be too dogmatic. The\\nabsurd custom of stripping children half-\\nnaked, and being surprised and crying floods\\nof tears when they die, must surely have\\nsome champions who can give some reason\\nfor what seems to most lay minds sheer cru-\\nelty or mere ignorance. If there be such, let\\nthem now speak up, to my undoing.\\nEverything a woman knows, or is sup-\\nposed to know, she credits the rest of the\\nworld with being entirely ignorant of. This\\nis my point. Why should women be the\\nonly persons who are believed to be able to\\ntake care of children As a matter of fact,\\na woman, left to herself, generally nearly\\nkills her child, and then rushes off to fetch\\nthe doctor a man, mind you to get her out\\nof the awful mess which she has got herself\\ninto. I know I shall be attacked for even\\ndaring to touch upon the subject of children.\\nThe butcher, the baker, and the candlestick", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "I06 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nmaker, perhaps but children What can a\\nman know of children I can imagine every\\nsecond woman in the land saying this. But\\nthe point we have to consider is What do\\nwomen know of children?\\nNow, it must be admitted that women\\nhave the entire management of children.\\nWhat is the result The plague of London\\nhardly equaled the present infant mortality\\nof London or New York. Why is this?\\nWhy do more children die every year than\\ncalves or lambs, or kittens, or puppies, or\\nanything else? I don t say there is no rea-\\nson. I want you to tell me, and prove to me,\\nif you can, that it is for any other reason in\\nthe world except because they are managed\\nby women. That s what I want to believe if\\nI can, but, frankly, I don t believe it. I don t\\nbelieve women have the very slightest idea\\nhow children should be taken care of. As I\\nhave said, all they want is proper food, rea-\\nsonable clothing, and proper air and exercise.\\nGiven these things, they ought to as surely\\ngrow as seed that gets proper moisture and\\nsunlight. As a rule, children are fairly", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "The Management of Children 1 07\\nhealthy, when they are born. If they were\\nnot, they would never survive the fearful\\ntrials of their birth. Subjected to the same\\ntreatment which children receive, all the\\nkittens and puppies which are born would\\nnever open their eyes.\\nMost children survive being weaned.\\nAfter that most of them are poisoned by their\\nmothers and their nurses. What is the first\\nmotive to look for What are women most\\nfond of? Of all things, sweets. Women\\nsimply love sweets, and, in their usual irra-\\ntional way, they give children sweets. I\\nhave said give their children sweets.\\nWhy, they simply stuff them with sweets!\\nThere is nothing they do not give them\\nsweets with. They sweeten their bottles,\\nthey sweeten their bread, they give them\\nsweets when they are good, they give them\\nsweets when they are naughty! Indeed, I\\ndo not know when it is they do not give them\\nsweets. I remember asking one of my own\\nchildren what she had had for dinner. The\\nprompt answer was Pudding I was at", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "lo8 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nfirst surprised at the apparent stupidity of an\\notherwise sharp child, and I said\\nYes, you had pudding after dinner, but\\nwhat did you have for dinner?\\nOh you mean the beginning?\\nThere you have it better than any grown\\nperson could put it. The child had simply\\nbeen taught that pudding which is simply\\nan excuse for sugar was dinner. The rest\\nof her food was regarded as a sort of useless\\npreliminary. The result is that most chil-\\ndren die of sweets. Sweets simply ruin a\\nhealthy appetite, and are to children what\\ndrinking is to men.\\nNext to their mothers, the chief murderers\\nof children are their nurses. Nothing is so\\npernicious as the custom of nursery meals.\\nIt simply means that as the nurse and the\\nchildren have, more or less, to eat the same\\nmeals, the nurse takes jolly good care the\\nchildren have what she likes, rather than\\nwhat is good for them. If she dislikes fish,\\nfor instance, she says the children cannot eat\\nfish. The mother not knowing, and the chil-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "The Management of Children 1 09\\ndren saying what they are told to say, they\\nnever have fish. It is the same with suet\\npudding or eggs, rice puddings, and all the\\nrest of it. There is no good in saying this\\nis not true, because it is human nature,\\nand you can t go behind that. Then again,\\nnurses love to feed children on what they\\nthemselves like. In their ignorant way, they\\nthink this is kind, and they are always feed-\\ning even the youngest children on meat. Far\\ntoo much meat is given to children. They\\ncannot digest it, more especially when their\\nstomachs are destroyed by sweets and sips of\\nbeer and wine, and every other mess which\\nwomen are never content unless baby has a\\ntaste of. As a rule, the diet of children\\nwould kill most men and women. From\\nmorning to night they are stuffed with food.\\nBesides their regular meals, which are too\\nbig for their appetites, and not sufficiently\\nfrequent, they munch biscuits and cake and\\nbread and butter, with layers of sugar or\\njam, from the time they get up till the time\\nthey go to bed, with the result that they have\\nto be regularly physicked. Such violent", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "no The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nremedies would kill a horse, and, indeed, it is\\nakin to the system by which light-weight\\njockeys are killed.\\nWomen think they can feed children by\\ninstinct. That s how they kill them. They\\nalso imagine that all children have the same\\ndigestions, and the result is, you find a whole\\nnursery-full of children all eating the same\\nfood, and all subjected to the same treatment.\\nCould anything be more mad Does it not\\nstand to reason that if some grown-up peo-\\nple, whose digestions have survived the treat-\\nment of their youth, cannot eat the same\\nfood as other people, children require dieting\\ntoo?\\nSome of the women I have spoken to on\\nthis subject have denied most things that\\nothers have admitted. They have said that\\nmen cannot manage their businesses, that\\nmen cannot manage their money, that men\\ncannot manage their servants, and of all\\nthings, that they cannot manage women. It\\nis only reasonable, therefore, to suppose that\\nit will be denied that men can manage\\nchildren. One thing is perfectly certain, and", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "The Management of Children i n\\nthat is, that women do not. But I will ask\\nthose who will want to scratch my eyes out\\nhow they account for the fact that men do\\nmanage children, and manage them very well\\nmore especially girls, A complete list\\nof the large institutions managed by men\\nwould be impossible, but surely I may cite\\nsuch large schools as Smith s College and\\nVassar, which are not only managed, but\\nmagnificently managed, by men, many, if\\nnot most, of whom are bachelors, strange\\nas it may seem.\\nI have already demonstrated that women\\nhave no idea how to properly dress children,\\nand that their method of feeding them is\\nsomething worse than foolish. If any other\\nreason were wanted to prove that women\\ncannot manage children, it could very easily\\nbe found. Children, everyone must admit,\\nare mere creatures of impulse. The old pro-\\nverb says, Bend the twig as you would\\nhave it grow, and surely it must be ac-\\nknowledged that children are, as a rule,\\nabominably behaved. That each has a natu-\\nral instinct peculiar to itself must also be ad-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "112 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nmitted, but that children are naturally bad\\nI do not at all think. None of their other\\ninclinations are in any way developed; there-\\nfore, why should it be imagined that they are\\ninherently naughty? As a matter of fact,\\nthey are not. They are largely imitative, of\\ncourse, and if they saw good manners going\\non about them, they would as instinctively\\nimitate good behavior as they would bad.\\nEverybody who has studied the question\\nknows that they presume enormously, if they\\nare allowed to do so; but, in the first place,\\nif they did not see bad manners, and, in the\\nsecond place, were checked in a timely fash-\\nion, they would give pleasure to everyone.\\nIt is quite the exception to find a child who\\nis at all bearable. Their fathers and their\\nmothers put up with them, of course; but\\nwhere is the child who is at all fit to be\\nbrought down to see company, and who can\\nbehave at all decently in the presence of\\nstrangers It may be natural to a child to\\nresent a toy being taken from him, but it is\\nnot natural that a child should fling himself\\ndown on the hearthrug in paroxysms of rage", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "The Management of Children 113\\non every available occasion. Children, as a\\nrule, howl for everything; it is natural to\\nthem to cry when they are hurt, of course,\\nbut it is not natural that they should kick and\\nplunge and bellow the whole house down be-\\nChildren howl for everything.\\ncause they are not allowed to break some-\\nthing of value. If they are taught that is\\nto say, allowed to believe that they will get\\nanything they want by crying for it, of\\ncourse they will cry but if they are taught\\nthat the one certain way of not getting any-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "114 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nthing is to cry for it, then crying is the very\\nlast thing they will resort to, for they are\\njust as clever as monkeys. But women do\\nnot teach them this. As soon as the child\\ncries for anything, a woman will give it to\\nhim sooner than go through the ordeal of\\nhearing him cry. A child crying is a pain-\\nful sight, and the very best way to go about\\nstopping it is to show him that crying will\\ndo him no good.\\nA great deal of the bad manners of chil-\\ndren is due to their mothers, but not directly\\nso. The people who spoil them most are\\nthe servants, and here, I think, the child has\\nvery just reason to complain of the treat-\\nment he receives. If you keep your children\\nall day and all night, week in and week out,\\nyear after year, in the company of low-bred,\\nvulgar, and disinterested persons like ser-\\nvants, how can you expect that your children\\nwill grow up and behave themselves like lit-\\ntle gentlemen and ladies, and that they will\\nbe fit to come down to the drawing-room or\\nthe dining-room, or to behave themselves\\nlike Christians It is not reasonable. Chil-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "The Management of Children 1 1 5\\ndren ought to spend a very considerable por-\\ntion of every day in the drawing-room with\\ntheir mother, and should mix with her\\nguests, and be taught to move about and not\\ntouch things, and not make themselves a\\nnuisance to anyone. It is just as easy to\\nteach a child to behave well as to behave\\nbadly. Of course, you must show the\\nstronger will; but once you have established\\nthat, you can do anything with a child, and,\\nbelieve me, it is the kindest thing to do. It\\nmust be distinctly understood, however, that\\nI am no advocate for slapping or beating\\nchildren in any way. It is absolutely un-\\nnecessary. The most unruly child will sub-\\nmit to a stronger will which prescribes slight\\npunishments and sees them carried out. But\\nif you once give way to a child, or go back\\non your word, you are making a rod for your\\nown back, and your children, instead of be-\\ncoming a comfort, grow up to be nothing\\nshort of little devils.\\nOn the other hand, I do not at all main-\\ntain that you should never strike a child.\\nThere are some children who require it.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "1 16 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nThey are very, very few, but there are some,\\nas there are exceptions to everything. But\\nthere is one thing you should never do ^you\\nshould never slap a child or correct him with\\nyour hand. There are two evils which re-\\nsult from this. The first is that no man or\\nwoman at all recognizes how strong his or\\nher hand is when brought into contact with\\nthe tiny frame of a child. You may hurt\\nchildren very seriously, and much more than\\nyou ever know. The second reason for not\\ncorrecting a child with your hand is that you\\nmay not hurt him at all, and this is just as\\nbad as the other in fact, rather worse.\\nThere is only one way in which you should\\nbeat a child. You must go out into your gar-\\nden, and get the very smallest switch which\\nyou can find, and when the unruly young\\ngentleman s clothes are taken off him, you\\nshould give him two or three, or four or five\\nsharp cuts where, as the French say, Le\\ndos change le nom. If you do this properly,\\nyou certainly will not permanently injure the\\nchild, and there is a very great chance that\\nyou may never have to repeat an operation", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "The Management of Children 1 1 7\\nwhich hurts you more than it does the child.\\nBut here again we have a proof of the abso-\\nlute incapacity of a woman to manage chil-\\ndren. A wife will contend with her husband\\nthat only women can manage children, but in\\nthe end she goes to her husband, and tells\\nhim that he must administer the corporal\\npunishment, because she cannot bear to do it.\\nThis is not only bad for the child, but is\\ngrossly unfair to the man. It is a great shame\\nthat a father should be held up to a child as a\\nbogey.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER XI\\nTHE HOUSE DIRTY\\nWILL not confuse you,\\ndear ladies, by telling you\\nwho it was who defined\\ndirt as matter out\\nof place. It will be\\nenough for your bird-\\nlike brains if you can re-\\nmember the phrase, for\\none and all you dwell\\ncontentedly in dirt. If I\\nwere to leave this phrase\\nunexplained, every single\\none of you would misinterpret it to mean\\nI thought you were not addicted to clean\\nlinen and the bath, or that your minds\\nare debased by the witnessing of sights\\nor the perusal of books in which pure\\nwomen may not look. I have my own\\nii8", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "The House Dirty 1 19\\nideas as to whether women, as a class,\\nare better than men, but I am not ar-\\nguing that point, now, and so do not, as is\\ntoo often your way, let us confuse the prem-\\nises by going off into side issues. I hope you\\nunderstand distinctly that when I say you\\ndwell contentedly in dirt, I confine my re-\\nmarks within the limits of the definition that\\ndirt is matter out of place.\\nIn another chapter I have shown you that\\nyour basements are the real dust-holes of\\nyour houses. I think I have disposed of\\nthe contention of many that all the faults laid\\nat your kitchen-doors are not the fault of\\nyour favorite bugbear, the servants, but that\\nyou are directly responsible for both servants\\nand their faults.\\nIt is now my intention to carry the in-\\ndictment further by taking it into every nook\\nand corner, and not only into every nook\\nand corner, but into every open place and\\nevery closed space in what you love to call a\\nwoman s domain. I do not think even the\\nstrongest-minded and the most pugnacious\\nof you will deny the partiality which your", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "1 20 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nservants women servants, mind you have\\nfor sweeping dust and fluff into corners, un-\\nder carpets, mats, and rugs, of disposing of\\nburnt matches in fireplaces, of emptying dust-\\npans into baths, and sinks, and other places,\\nand of leaving their brushes and brooms,\\ntheir dusters, etc., etc., all over the house in\\ncorners, under sofas, under (and even on)\\nchairs, bureaus, on the stairs and landings,\\nbalanced on banisters and indeed anywhere\\nthey can temporarily dispose of them to the\\nentire disfigurement of the house when you\\ncome down in the morning.*\\nThis putting away of things in places\\nhandy-like is a most deplorable system,\\nbut I cannot bring myself to blame the ser-\\nvants, for in it I see but a development of\\nevery woman s methods of what she is\\npleased to call tidying up or making the\\nplace straight.\\nThe clean and tidy little Japanese have\\npractically no furniture at all in their houses.\\nWhat they have is brought out when it is\\nrequired for use, and when it has served its\\nturn it is folded up and put away in its proper", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "The House Dirty 121\\nplace. This is also their habit with decora-\\ntions. When a guest is expected the walls\\nare hung with pictures, when tea is served\\ntrays and stools are brought in, and you find\\nthe house decorated with bronzes, ivories,\\nand flowers. If a guest were unexpectedly to\\nreturn half an hour after his departure, he\\nwould find that the pictures had been rolled\\nup and put away, and, indeed, that the gaily-\\ndecorated room was perfectly bare.\\nNow, I do not go so far as to say that you\\nshould strictly follow out these methods of\\nthose clean and tidy little people, though\\nthey are all instinctively imbued with perfect\\ntaste and are the greatest decorative artists\\nthe world has ever known. But I do say\\nthat you might go a long way in imitating\\nthem with great advantage to art and clean-\\nliness. I am very fond of good furniture,\\nmyself, as shall be demonstrated hereafter;\\nbut if a man of sense and taste were to go\\nround his house and note and price all the\\nhideous and superfluous articles that a wom-\\nan strews round a house, he would be simply\\nhorrified. We have all a great deal too much", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "122 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nfurniture, even when it is of the very best,\\nand our walls are over-crowded with every-\\nthing which can be stood against them or\\nA bonfire in the back-yard\\nhung upon them. To turn your walls into\\nthe semblance of a bric-a-brac shop or an ex-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "The House Dirty 1 23\\nhibition of pictures is in the worst of taste,\\nand to make your rooms into a sort of furni-\\nture warehouse, is to make your home un-\\ncomfortable at the expense of art. But when\\nthe pictures, vases, clocks, chandeliers, can-\\ndlesticks, and other so-called chimney orna-\\nments, are of the most crude manufacture\\nand in the most detestable taste, a husband\\nwho respects himself and his wife ought to\\nsend away his family to the seaside, and go\\nout and pawn all the china and glass, and\\nParian marble figures he can lay hands on,\\nand lose the ticket and all memory of where\\nhe has disposed of them. He then should\\nbuy a box of matches, and having gone all\\nover the house, and gathered together all the\\nantimacassars, mats, bulrushes, art muslin,\\nbamboo work, carved Swiss brackets, reed\\ncurtains, Birmingham Japanese fans and\\nother eyesores and dust traps he can lay\\nhands on, he should make a bonfire in his\\nback-yard. Foolish men, who repeat the\\nnonsense they hear, are in the habit of say-\\ning, It is easy to discern a feminine hand\\nabout a room. It is and if I had my way", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "1 24 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nno woman should have a hand in such mis-\\nchief as is found for idle hands to do.\\nWomen suffer from the delusion that they\\nare neat by nature, and that it is their mis-\\nsion in life to tidy up, Their way of in-\\ndulging this itch is to stuff things away\\nanywhere out of sight. On these lines the\\nmagpie and the monkey are their masters.\\nThe real secret of tidiness is to leave things\\nwhere they can be found by the persons who\\nrequire them, and not to hide them away in\\nblotters and presses and drawers; not to go\\ninto a man s study and to put all his papers\\nindiscriminately into packages, or a receipted\\nbill into an envelope which he is sure to de-\\nstroy.\\nIn a woman s eye every business paper is\\nan unsightly object, which she considers it\\nher duty to dispose of, and though she may\\nhear the man who owns it cursing about the\\nhouse, she never has the grace of the jack-\\ndaw of Rheims to come forward and say\\nwhat she has done with it. Indeed, she\\nwill deny with indignant innocence and tears\\nthat she ever touched his papers, and when,", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "The House Dirty 125\\nif haply it is discovered, he looks reproach-\\nful or smiles, she simply says, Oh is that\\nwhat you are looking for? my dear, you\\nshould not leave such things about. Just\\nas if he had no right to the use of a table\\nor the corner of a chimneypiece in his own\\nhouse.\\nNot only are women sublimely unreason-\\nable in such matters, but their taste in the\\nmatter of decoration is most abominable.\\nI have accepted the definition that dirt\\nis matter out of place, and I have shown\\nhow important matters become dirt by being", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "126 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nput by tidying-up hands out of place. I\\nhave hinted at some of the ways a house may\\nbe made dirty and hideous by being filled up\\nwith every form of dust-collecting atrocity\\nwhich can be manufactured. I will now\\nturn my attention to how women can even\\nmisapply nature to this end. Few would\\ndeny that flowers are very beautiful things\\nin their right place. When they are matter\\nout of place, they become, of course, accord-\\ning to our definition, dirt. There are few\\nof women s delusions so firmly footed as that\\nnothing is so pretty about a house as a few\\nflowers. There are not many women who\\ncan resist spending a large proportion of\\ntheir housekeeping money on what they call\\na few fresh flowers, on the pretext that the\\nplace would look so bare without them if any\\none came to tea. Now, in the first place, the\\nflowers are not fresh, and, even if they were,\\nthey have been the close associates of others\\nwhich have probably spent the night under\\nthe bed of a lodging-house, inhaling every\\nkind of dirt and poison it is possible to col-\\nlect. In the second place, as they grow stale,", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "The House Dirty 127\\nthey and the water they are placed in give off\\nevil fumes. Besides, they are entirely out\\nof place stuck on tables which are meant to\\nbe used; and what with the cutting of stalks,\\nthe staining of scissors, and the slopping of\\nwater in the initial stage, and the peril of\\ntheir absurdly long and unstable glasses be-\\ning upset and broken, they are about the\\nmost dangerous and most expensive folly\\nthat women waste their time over.\\nAll that I have written here should go far\\nto prove even to the prejudiced that women\\nare untidy, and that, therefore, they permit\\nor collect dirt about a house. This should be", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "1 2$ The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nenough; but I feel that if I do not draw the\\ncontrast which I have always drawn, the\\nfeminine mind, which it is my mission to\\ncorrect, might reply with their favorite tu\\nquoque ^which freely translated means,\\nyou re another, and illustrates a woman s\\nhabit of arguing that two blacks make one\\nwhite, two wrongs a right.\\nYou, dear ladies, will no doubt say before\\nyou have read any further Oh I like that.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "The House Dirty 129\\nGo into any husband s study and see how un-\\ntidy it is. It is quite true that husband s\\nstudies are not given up to nice tidy art mus-\\nlin, bamboo, bulrushes, imitation bronzes,\\nand German china ornaments. They are\\nfilled with papers. Quite true But papers\\nare not necessarily more untidy than any-\\nthing else, though you think so. What is the\\nreal reason why the papers are lying about?\\nI will tell you. It is because, after years of\\nexperience, no man can trust you or your ser-\\nvants to touch his papers. Turn your eyes\\nround his office next time you are there late.\\nYou will find all his letters are filed care-\\nfully, and his books are put away every night,\\nand that he and his clerks can lay their hands\\non any paper at a moment s notice, while\\nthey know how everything which has gone\\naway has been disposed of. That s what I\\ncall being tidy and being clear-minded.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER XII\\nTHE HOUSE HIDEOUS\\nN the last chapter I in-\\nveighed against the\\nfurniture with which\\nwomen lumber up their\\nhouses, and in my just\\nindignation I went so\\nfar as to suggest that,\\nafter the Japanese\\nfashion, we should\\nhave practically no furniture at all, and,\\nreally, though I meant to modify that state-\\nment in my present essay, I have a good\\nmind to stick to my original plea. It is really\\nextraordinary what slaves women are to cus-\\ntom, and the ordinary man is very much of\\nthe same unthinking way.\\nOne of the most remarkable things in the\\nworld is the custom of keeping a dog the\\n130", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0144.jp2"}, "145": {"fulltext": "The House Hideous 1 3\\nmost absolutely useless creature for he does\\nno work of any kind, and he is not good to\\neat. Yet man, who is supposed to be a think-\\ning animal with his own thoughts to fall\\nback upon, seems not to be able to exist\\nunless he keeps a dog, which he feeds, buys\\na license for, redeems when it is stolen or\\nstrays, and pays continual fines for every\\ntime that it fights another dog, or mangles\\nhis neighbor s child. I suppose that one way\\nand another, considering that many men\\nkeep many dogs, on an average every home\\nin this country pays at least ten dollars a year\\ntowards the support of dogs. The millions\\na year this represents it may amuse my\\nreaders to work out for themselves. The\\nsame applies to cats. I shall never forget\\nseeing a very charming and benevolent lady\\nof my acquaintance cut a plate of meat off\\nher own joint and place it in the square for\\nthe cats to eat, while she stood by and saw\\nthat the hungry children, who could not\\ncatch sparrows or mice, did not steal it.\\nIf I digress, it is but for the purpose of\\nschooling you quietly into accepting the fact", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0145.jp2"}, "146": {"fulltext": "132 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nthat we are slaves to furniture as we are\\nslaves to dogs and cats, for, really, the dog\\nis not nearly so much the friend of man\\nas man is the friend of dog. Of course, the\\nreal fact is that the dog is mentally the supe-\\nrior creature, and, being a philosopher hav-\\ning settled in his own mind that work is all\\nnonsense, that there is no such thing as\\nriches, that all, even the most successful or\\nbrilliant, man ever gets out of the world is\\nenough to eat and a bed to die in the dog,\\nlike the woman, gives himself over to a man,\\ndisplays a certain affection for him, and the\\nvain, foolish fellow works hard, and keeps\\nthe dog in lazy luxury all his life. Men talk", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0146.jp2"}, "147": {"fulltext": "The House Hideous 1 33\\nof hard work as a dog s life. Was there\\never such irony?\\nIf man is the slave of dog, woman is the\\nslave of furniture. If women only knew\\nhow much more graceful ^and the only way\\nis to appeal to their vanity ^they would be\\nreclining on the floor, they would never sit\\nup on chairs or round a table. That this is\\nfundamentally true is proved by the fact that\\nthey are never so happy as at a picnic, where\\nthere are no chairs and tables. I really be-\\nlieve that the craze for putting everything on\\nsomething above the floor ^by which I mean\\ntables, sideboards, etc. ^grew from the cus-\\ntom of sleeping in ugly, cumbersome, and", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0147.jp2"}, "148": {"fulltext": "134 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ndirt-collecting beds instead of on the floor.\\nOf course, the reason why women do not\\nsleep on the floor is because they are afraid\\nof beetles, and mice, and other harmless\\nthings. Woman, therefore, having invented\\nthe bed, invented the table to stand by it,\\nand thus spread the habit of putting every-\\nthing above the level of the floor.\\nWoman s original sin of being afraid of\\nblack beetles and mice costs man more than\\nall the Royalty, armies, navies, pension lists,\\nprisons, poverty, schooling, national debts,\\nand wars of Europe.\\nI am sure I am not putting it too high\\nwhen I say that the average cost of furniture\\nper house is $i,ooo, and if the world would\\nonly agree not to cumber its rooms with beds\\nand tables, sideboards, cabinets and chairs,\\nour ground-rents would be about half what\\nthey are, and the over-crowding of our cities\\nwould come down proportionately.\\nBut as women cannot be persuaded that\\nblack beetles are not poisonous serpents, and\\nthat mice are not man-eating tigers, it may\\nbe well to see how the furniture question,", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0148.jp2"}, "149": {"fulltext": "The House Hideous 1 3 5\\nfrom the financial and hideous point of view,\\ncan be got over. Of course, half the dif-\\nficulty of expense and ugliness would be done\\naway with if all presses, cupboards, side-\\nboards, seats, dressers, etc., which protrude\\ninto the rooms were let into the walls, there-\\nby making charming recesses, and giving an\\nopportunity for graceful arches.\\nBut as most houses are not built that\\nway, some more practical suggestion is\\nneeded. To say that a sideboard, four feet\\nby six, is required to support half a dozen\\ntumblers, which ought to be kept in the\\npantry, and a cabinet of the same proportions\\nis needed to hide a few pieces of music, is\\nabsurd. And so we see that a large propor-\\ntion of our furniture is intended, not for use,\\nbut as ornament.\\nThat most of the furniture which we find\\nin middle-class houses is as bad in design and\\nexecution as it is in its lasting powers will\\nbe generally admitted.\\nNearly every man s experience teaches\\nhim that when his or his friend s furniture is\\nsold, it does not fetch a third of what it", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0149.jp2"}, "150": {"fulltext": "1 3^ The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ncost, and that fine old furniture purchased\\nfrom a dealer fetches a high price. And yet,\\napparently, very few men and women learn\\nthe obvious lesson. Needless to say, the\\ngenerality of men know little or nothing\\nabout the matter. To do them justice they\\nSomething really cheap.\\ngenerally admit as much, the result being\\nthat their wives, who think there is nothing\\nto know, and who like spending money, un-\\ndertake to procure what is wanted.\\nThey follow the same rule as they adopt\\nin purchasing anything else. They go to a\\nshop and ask the price of things which are", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0150.jp2"}, "151": {"fulltext": "The House Hideous 137\\nas ugly as they are bad and expensive, and\\nwith these they fill their houses, and are\\nmoved to tears when they eventually are sold\\nand fetch nothing, as the popular phrase\\nruns.\\nThere are fifty-two weeks in the year, and\\nnot one of these passes that there are not\\nsome forty or fifty sales by auction in a city\\nlike London or New York alone. There is\\nno doubt that a good deal of rubbish is sold\\nat these sales; but I have attended hundreds\\nin my time, and I do not think I am exagger-\\nating when I say I do not remember ever\\nhaving been to a sale at which there was not\\nsomething really good and really cheap. Be-\\nfore making her house hideous forever, of\\ncourse a woman should learn something of\\nfurniture. It is a very easy and a very\\npleasant acquirement, and when once mas-\\ntered, is a never-failing delight to herself\\nand to all her friends, for it always makes\\nconversation, and as long as a woman has\\nsomething to talk about, she is happy; and\\nmen, who like her, think she is very well in-\\nformed.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0151.jp2"}, "152": {"fulltext": "1 38 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nI could very easily write a dissertation on\\nfurniture, china, branzes, and all the bric-a-\\nbrac which goes to make a house pleasant to\\nlive in. Such, however, is not my intention.\\nSuch information is plentiful, and I am quite\\nsure nothing useful is to be learned there-\\nfrom. The best way is to potter about. I\\nremember asking an old second-hand book-\\nseller how he learned his business, and he\\nfrankly admitted that he picked up the great-\\ner portion of his knowledge from his cus-\\ntomers. I have found by experience that this\\nis the real truth. The fact is, nobody knows\\neverything about anything; but any one who\\nknows anything will be only glad of a chance\\nto show his knowledge to an appreciative hs-\\ntener, oddly enough, even if he is not a cus-\\ntomer.\\nI well remember when I commenced buy-\\ning nice things myself. Nobody could have\\nbeen more supremely ignorant than I was.\\nThe reason, too, was an odd one. I had had\\na great reverse of fortune; we were very\\npoor indeed, and the little new house into\\nwhich we moved was almost as bare as the", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0152.jp2"}, "153": {"fulltext": "The House Hideous 1 39\\nwalls of a vault or a chapel. I said I should\\nlike to try and pick up a few nice things\\ncheap, but every one told me that those times\\nhad gone by; that people now know too\\nmuch, and that I would only be sold. I\\ndid try, and I found, as usual, that what\\nevery one said was wrong. Like every one\\nelse who succeeds, I bought my experience\\nin dimes, and made the world pay for it in\\ndollars. The proof of the pudding is not in\\nthe eating, but in the digesting of it. I com-\\nmenced very modestly by buying old Staf-\\nfordshire figures, and of course I have been\\nsold, but I have had my victories, and I\\ncan truthfully say that my collection of\\nbric-a-brac, such as it is and it would fetch\\na few thousands to-morrow has not cost me\\none dollar.\\nBut this is personal. The strange thing is\\nthat women who love to attend sales which\\nare not sales at all in the proper accep-\\ntation of the term, and will willingly buy\\ngoods for $1.49, which the day before they\\ncould have bought for $1.25, will not attend\\nauction rooms and buy really good furniture", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0153.jp2"}, "154": {"fulltext": "140 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nfor a third of the money for which they can\\nbuy bad furniture in a shop.\\nAnother reason for buying furniture when\\nsold at auction is this. As a rule you have\\nThen you offer htm s per cent, on his bargain.\\nonly the dealers to compete with, and it is\\nalways safe to outbid the dealers, who cannot\\nafford, except in exceptional cases where\\nthey have a commission, to buy anything", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0154.jp2"}, "155": {"fulltext": "The House Hideous 1 4 1\\nunless they can see a profit of 50 per cent, on\\nit.\\nAnother tip is, sometimes to let a dealer\\nhave something he is bidding against you\\nfor, and then to offer him 5 per cent, on his\\nbargain. Unless it is a very good thing,\\nwhich he can easily dispose of quickly for a\\nlarge profit, he will generally take your offer,\\nand you may reckon that it has cost you 45\\nper cent, less than if you bought it from the\\ndealer when he had paid the expenses of\\ntaking it away to his shop.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0155.jp2"}, "156": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER XIII\\nTHE BEST REMEDY FOR ALL BLUNDERS\\n^^\u00e2\u0080\u00a2-*0 doubt at the end of every\\nB r i l\\\\Ji chapter my readers have\\nIr l** put down this book with the\\nejaculation All this is\\nvery fine but what does the\\nman want? Or, It is\\nvery easy to find fault; but\\nwhat s the good, unless the\\nauthor is prepared to show\\nus a remedy? I ask for\\nno kinder criticism, and if I only prevail on\\nmy fair readers to adopt my suggestion, I\\nshall be content, for I have been cruel only\\nto be kind to man and woman alike.\\nI commenced by saying the house was\\na branch of the office, and that a wife\\nshould be a partner in the concern. That was\\nmy text, and I will be consistent and stick to\\n142", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0156.jp2"}, "157": {"fulltext": "The Best Remedy for all Blunders 143\\nit. I have far easier found the remedy than\\nthe faults. The remedy is quite simple. A\\nbusiness cannot be carried on unless accounts\\nare kept. There is no good in denying this.\\nIt has been proved over and over again. It\\nis easy to say what s the good of keeping\\naccounts of money that is spent keeping ac-\\ncounts won t put the money back in the\\nbank. That s right in theory, but it does\\nnot work out in practice. Keeping accounts\\nwill put money back in the bank. Dear la-\\ndies, this is business, and you don t under-\\nstand business; but try it for a few years,\\nand, as a reward, leave me half the balance\\nin your wills. My children will die rich if\\nyou do this.\\nYou will not believe me when I say that,\\nno matter how prosperous is the business of\\nyour husband, your father, or your lover,\\nsupposing any one of them were making a\\nprofit of fifty dollars a day, and had done so\\nfor years, if he were to put that money in\\nhis pocket and not keep any accounts he\\nwould be bankrupt in a year. You don t be-\\nlieve it? You say it is only another of my", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0157.jp2"}, "158": {"fulltext": "144 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nparadoxes. Go to your husband, your father,\\nor your lover, and ask What would hap-\\npen to your business if you kept no ac-\\ncounts I should like to lay you a pair of\\ngloves against the usual forfeit that they\\neach say I should be bankrupt in a year/\\nand every woman in England would give me\\na kiss on the same terms.\\nI suppose there are not many of my read-\\ners who will try, and I am sure there are\\nvery few who do try who will keep it up; but\\nif they want to refute all my arguments, and\\nmake this book of no more value, they will\\nexpend a quarter on a simple little account-\\nbook, in which they will enter every penny\\nthey spend, and, most important of all, they\\nwill balance it up every week.\\nHousehold expenditure should be thus\\nregulated on business lines. The husband\\nshould enter into a working arrangement\\nwith his partner, A list of all expenses should\\nbe drawn up, and every week she should pro-\\nduce her book and ask for a check, not only\\nto meet the average weekly expenses, but to", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0158.jp2"}, "159": {"fulltext": "The Best Remedy for all Blunders I45\\ninclude the rent, rates, taxes, wages, clothes,\\nand school bills as they fall due.\\nIt would be impossible in these pages to\\ndraw up a series of tables to fit all incomes\\nand tastes. I have drawn up one, but I am\\nsure some will say that $2.24 is absurdly\\nsmall for the butcher s book, and that two\\ndollars is absurdly large for the fishmon-\\nger; there are people who think they are\\nsaving by having no fish and eating five dol-\\nlars worth of butcher s meat. Some there\\nare, too, who will say one dollar and fifty\\ncents is absurdly little for washing, and\\nothers that it is too much. The explanation\\nis that some wash at home and some do\\nnot. The items and amounts, however, do\\nnot matter at all. Arrange them all accord-\\ning to your own habits and incomes, but ar-\\nrange them on these lines\\nIf your house rent is $400 a year, your\\nweekly rent is $7.65. That is arrived at by\\ndividing $400 by 52, the number of weeks in\\nthe year. You will find it is a fraction un-\\nder, but no husband with any sense will mind", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0159.jp2"}, "160": {"fulltext": "146 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ngiving you the benefit of the fraction. Con-\\ntinue in the same way with every item of ex-\\npenditure, and you will find the result will,\\nbe something like the following\\nRent@$4oo $7.65\\nTaxes, Water, etc 1.54\\nGas 1. 00\\nWages 4.00\\nStationery, Stamps, etc i 50\\nDoctor and Druggist 2. 00\\nCleaning windows and scrubbing. 1.50\\nHardware and Linen i.oo\\n1 child s clothes 1 .00\\nWife s clothes 2.50\\n14 pounds butcher s meat 2.24\\n14 quarts milk, at 8 cents 1. 08\\n24 eggs, at 25 cents a doz 50\\nBaker 75\\nFish 2.00\\nGrocer and vegetable man 5.00\\nWashing 1.50\\nCoal 2.00\\nPetty cash i .00\\n$39-76\\nYou will see from this that, if this fairly\\nrepresents your expenditure, you are living\\nat the rate of about $2,200 a year, for there\\nare yet your husband s clothes, railway fares,\\ntobacco, etc., to be paid for, and only $132.48\\nleft with which to provide them. Still, if you", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0160.jp2"}, "161": {"fulltext": "The Best Remedy for all Blunders 147\\nwould present him every week with a balance\\nsheet such as the following, I feel sure you\\nwould be able to lend him something to go\\non with from time to time\\nMODEL OF BALANCE-SHEET OF WEEK.\\nJanuary 6th.\\nReceived by check $39-76\\nJanuary 6th.\\nButcher s Book 2.24\\nMilk 1.08\\nBaker 75\\nFishmonger and Poulterer 2.00\\nGrocer and vegetable man S .00\\nWashing 1.50\\nPetty cash i .00\\nCoal 2.00\\n$15.57\\nAverage Rent, Taxes, Gas, Wages,\\nStamps, etc.. Stationery, Doctor,\\nChemist, Clothes, Windows, Re-\\npairs, Hardware, and Linen, as\\nagreed per above list $24. 19\\n$39-76\\nHaving paid your household expenses of\\nthe week, amounting to $15.57, you would\\nhave $24.19 in your bank, and your follow-\\ning week s balance-sheet, provided your", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0161.jp2"}, "162": {"fulltext": "148 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nweekly books amounted to as much as last\\nweek, would read as follows\\nJanuary 12th.\\nBalance in Bank $24. 19\\nCheck received 39.76\\n$63.95\\nJanuary 12th.\\nButcher s Book $2.24\\nMilk 1.08\\nBaker 75\\nFishmonger and Poulterer 2.00\\nGrocer and vegetable man 5.00\\nWashing 1.50\\nPetty Cash i .00\\nCoal 2.00\\n$15.57\\nAverage Rent, etc., as agreed 24. 19\\n$39-26\\nBalance at Bank 24. 19\\n$63.95\\nHaving once more paid your household\\nexpenses for the week, your balance at the\\nbank would be $63.95, ^^i^ you would enter\\nit on your next week s balance-sheet, being\\ncareful, of course, to see that the totals on\\neach side balanced as before.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0162.jp2"}, "163": {"fulltext": "The Best Remedy for all Blunders I49\\nThis may look very formidable at first\\nsight, but it is really as simple as A B C; and\\nyour husband would explain it to you, and\\nstraighten it up every week for you. As a\\nmatter of fact, you are sure to spend little\\nsums which you will forget. I won t say that\\ndoesn t matter, but it doesn t matter much.\\nThe main thing is to keep some account, and\\nthe odd pence which you can t remember can\\nalways be put right by adjusting the petty\\ncash. Indeed, that is what the petty cash\\nis for. If you will master this simple rule,\\nyou will have overcome the most serious of\\nall the Domestic Blunders of Women, and\\nhave attained, as I have,\\nTHE END.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0163.jp2"}, "164": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0164.jp2"}, "165": {"fulltext": "CORRESPONDENCE\\ntrn3 _ __^\\n-RUGUAYAN\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0^g^ heart i 1 y en-\\ndorses A Mere Man s\\narguments. You are\\nright, he says, every\\ntime in your articles.\\nI am glad to say that\\nthey don t touch my\\nwife, who is wonderfully free from the mis-\\ntakes you point out tho not as perfect as\\nif she had been regularly trained to housekeep-\\ning as men are trained to business. Now do\\nyou not think that regular training schools\\nshould be started to teach housekeeping and\\ndomestic economy They should be on a very\\nstrict business footing in fact, I think girls\\nmight go out as apprentices to restaurants and\\nhotels. If they did so, then it would be an\\neasier matter to get houses attended to by an\\noutside gang of servants, i. e., meals from the\\nrestaurant at the comer, housemaids and win-\\n151", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0165.jp2"}, "166": {"fulltext": "152 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ndow cleaners in at regular hours, floor scrub-\\nbers, lamp cleaners, boot cleaners, etc., the\\nwhole job undertaken by a responsible firm for\\na single payment. Breakages and theft cov-\\nered also. Girls who had had experience of\\nhotel management would welcome such assist-\\nance.\\nOur experience is that of the Housekeep-\\ner of Twenty Years, that my wife knows too\\nmuch for a bad servant to put up with. Con-\\nsequently we have had perhaps a dozen\\nchanges a year, but as many come back to us\\nagain, and we often keep a good one some\\ntime till they marry it cannot be a bad\\nplace. We have, however, made a discovery,\\nand find we can get a very superior class\\nof servant, and any number of them at lower\\nwages than an ordinary servant, and a far more\\nintelligent class, but I must not give this away.\\nBut the trouble after all is that all the\\nyoung men crowd round a pretty face and a\\nsmart frock, and don t ask for a certificate of\\ncompetency before they marry and therefore\\nthey must abide by the consequences of their\\nunbusinessAike conduct.\\nYou are right, too, about the children. My\\nwife takes jolly good care of hers. We have\\nbeen married ten years and never had the\\nleast disagreement, and she was one of the\\nsmart ones, too.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0166.jp2"}, "167": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 1 53\\nPeggie contributes the following amusing\\ncomment. I take the liberty of sending you\\nthis old Scottish song in connection with the\\nsubject, with which you are dealing:\\nJOHN GRUMLIE\\nJohn Grumlie swore by the light o the moon\\nAnd the green leaves on the tree,\\nThat he could do more work in a day.\\nThan his wife could do in three.\\nHis wife rose up in the morning,\\nWith cares and toils e now,\\nJohn Grumlie, bide at hame^ John,\\nAn I ll gae haud the plough.\\nFirst ye maun dress your children fair.\\nAnd put on them their gear\\nAnd ye maum mind to turn the maut,\\nOr else ye U spoil the beer.\\nAnd ye maun reel the tweel, John,\\nThat I span yesterday,\\nAnd ye maun mind to ca in the hens,\\nOr they^U a lay away.\\nOh, he did dress his children fair,\\nAnd put on them their gear\\nBut he forgot to turn the maut,\\nAnd so he spoiled the beer.\\nHe merrily sang as he reel d the tweel\\nHis wife span yesterday\\nBut he forgot to ca in the hens,\\nAnd the hens a laid away.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0167.jp2"}, "168": {"fulltext": "154 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nThe hawkit crummie let doon nae milk.\\nHe cream nor butter gat;\\nAnd a gaed wrang, and nocht gaed richt,\\nHe danced wi rage and grat.\\nThen up he ran to the head o the knowe,\\nWi mony a wave and shout,\\nShe heard him, as she heard him not,\\nAnd turned her stots about.\\nJohn Grumlie s wife cam hame at e en,\\nAnd lauched as she d gae mad,\\nTo see the house in siccan a plight.\\nAnd John sae glum and sad.\\nQuoth he, I give up my housewife skep,\\nI ll be nae mair gude-wife.\\nIndeed, quo she, I m weel content.\\nYe may keep it the rest o your life.\\nNae mair o that, quo surly John,\\nI ll do as I ve done before,\\nWi that the gude-wife took up a stoot rung\\nAnd John made off to the door.\\nStop, stop, gude-wife, I ll haud my tongue,\\nI ken I m sair to blame.\\nBut henceforth I maun haud the plough,\\nAnd ye maun bide at hame.\\nN. B. is singularly appreciative, and says\\nI almost wrote to you after the inspired ar-\\nticle on the Highly Respectable Person, but\\nthe handle of the dresser drawer has settled\\nit. You may be rather bitter, and at times\\nsomewhat unjustly sweeping in your remarks,", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0168.jp2"}, "169": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 155\\nbut you certainly are the most wonderful man\\nI find it difficult to believe that you are one\\nbut then no woman could write in quite such\\na trenchant style as yours. How do you find\\nout all these little things that have been hid-\\nden deeply in woman s breast all these ages?\\nI should like to know. Do tell me how you\\ndo it it is, most of it, so wonderfully and\\nfearfully true. But I do wish that after stating\\nsome glaring fault you would give us the rem-\\nedy. You simply make us unhappy without\\ncheering us up again. I really feel every\\nweek as if I had had a kind of mental shower-\\nbath. I am not a particularly good house-\\nkeeper myself, but I am young (23), and have\\ntime to improve. I have had a useful kind of\\nhusband, who is a great help to me in my va-\\nrious little difficulties. He is much impressed\\nwith your remarks re butchers and coal bills,\\nand I believe intends to act on them, at any\\nrate with regard to the latter. I am looking\\nforward with the greatest interest to your\\narticle on children. If you can, tell me how\\nto manage a painfully intelligent boy of three,\\nwho treats his mother with affectionate patron-\\nage, but never takes any notice of what she\\nsays.\\nThat is really a great difficulty of mine.\\nHe is perfectly good and obedient to his father,\\nand equally fond of him, but I can t manage\\nhim at all; and the worst of it is the baby,", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0169.jp2"}, "170": {"fulltext": "156 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nanother boy of eighteen months, begins to im-\\nitate him. I suppose boys are more difficult to\\nmanage than girls.\\nA Non-Improving Property begins an in-\\nteresting letter by saying of A Mere Man\\nI cannot feel quite sure whether he is writ-\\ning a skit on domestic management, or whether\\nhe is writing it seriously. If the former, he\\nis, I think, just a little too serious, if the latter,\\ntoo sweeping. It is said a woman has no sense\\nof humor; that being understood, I am going\\nto take A Mere Man seriously.\\nHe certainly states the case correctly as\\nregards the many, but surely he will allow-\\nthere is a very large exception that goes to\\nprove this rule. English and American women\\nlabor under a great disadvantage in their do-\\nmestic arrangements as compared with, say,\\nthe French, and, so far as I know to the con-\\ntrary, many other countries. We, as a rule,\\nare not happy without absolute privacy in\\nhome life, its retail shopping, and consequently\\nhigh prices, its washing days with its prover-\\nbial cold mutton each little house has its own\\nseparate management, or as your Mere Man\\nwould say its mismanagement. It is useless for\\nhim to compare it to his own or other men s\\nbusinesses, the two things can never be parallel", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0170.jp2"}, "171": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 1 5 7\\nunder present circumstances. His affairs are\\nall worked on business lines and on a whole-\\nsale scale, where, as he says, estimates of dif-\\nferent expenses can be obtained in all its\\nbranches. This could be done in households if\\nwe could bring ourselves to live as the French\\ndo; outside their homes chiefly, at cafes, res-\\ntaurants, boarding-houses and hotels, where\\neverything is publicly arranged and catered\\nfor, and all is done on a business and whole-\\nsale system. As it is, with our craving for\\ndomestic privacy, we must put up with its at-\\ntendant evils, with the exception of those com-\\nparatively few who are good managers and\\nlucky in obtaining the cooperation of sensible\\nservants and easy circumstances. And yet,\\nwith all my lack of humor, I still think A\\nMere Man may be writing only a clever skit\\nwith a large amount of truth in it.\\nGrandmother puts her points well As\\na woman of experience, I beg to offer a few\\nobservations. I have always thought and be-\\nlieved, and still do so, that domestic comfort\\nis almost entirely in the hands of the wife;\\nthe husband can do little towards it, al-\\nthough he may observe that there is much\\nto be done or altered. Nor can a husband so\\ncompletely view a household as can his wife.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0171.jp2"}, "172": {"fulltext": "158 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nIf the wife is early, punctual, attends to do-\\nmestic duties, so that the husband and father\\nfinds meals ready and well served, and children\\nand servants under proper control, he will in\\ntime, though perhaps slowly, learn to value\\nand respect his home, and the wife will find in\\nthat her great reward but if she fails in those\\nduties, and she who ought to have been his\\nguiding star is lost behind a cloud of idleness,\\nfrivolity, and perhaps extravagance, the hus-\\nband is adrift, helpless, and finds comfort\\nwhere he can.\\nThe tendency of the last thirty years, to\\ntrain girls for the acquirement of knowledge,\\nscientific, linguistic, mathematical, mechanical,\\nand the utter neglect of domestic training, is\\nbringing forth bitter fruit, and sowing at the\\nsame time the seed of future family misery.\\nI can tell you of two nice girls of fourteen\\nand sixteen, sent to a college daily, to the ne-\\nglect of domestic interest in about three years\\nthe younger was in her grave, overtaxed, both\\nmentally and physically; in about five years\\nthe elder followed her. Neither of those girls\\ncould do needlework or follow any domestic\\npursuit. I can tell you of two more who said\\nto their mothers, Oh take us home we never\\nsee any of you. Those mothers wisely did\\nso. Where can a girl learn domestic duties\\nif not in her own home? In Canada each\\ngirl takes a part in domestic work, and they", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0172.jp2"}, "173": {"fulltext": "Correspondence I59\\nprove good wives. Let mothers keep their\\ndaughters at home, denying them no reasona-\\nble educational advantages.\\nA Mere Woman handles this subject sen-\\nsibly I have read with very much interest,\\namusement, and, I must confess, a little anger,\\nthe letters of A Mere Man. Your corre-\\nspondent is not a new variety of man, by any\\nmeans in fact, he is quite a common or gar-\\nden sort, the man who knows, or thinks\\nhe does. We (apparently superfluous) women\\nmeet him frequently. While strongly protest-\\ning against A Mere Man s unjustly sweep-\\ning condemnation of my sex, I am bound to\\nadmit, as I think will all women who have\\ngiven the matter any thought, that he is justi-\\nfied in much of his complaint; but may a\\nkindly providence preserve us from his rem-\\nedy He may prove in theory his superior fit-\\nness for the duties and responsibilities of\\nhome-keeper, but I venture to say, not in\\npractice.\\nI feel very strongly on this subject, and\\nhave felt sad and indignant many times, as\\nI have seen how very few women compara-\\ntively speaking seemed to realize their re-\\nsponsibilities and immense influence but sure-\\nly it is not because they are unfit and incapa-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0173.jp2"}, "174": {"fulltext": "1 60 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nble of filling their place in the world. The real\\nreason, it seems to me, is because women are\\nnot prepared for it. Every boy is prepared\\nand trained for the business or profession\\nhe is to adopt; his education is conducted\\nwith that end in view, and he usually serves\\nan apprenticeship under a master before he\\nfinally enters upon his career.\\nIn my opinion, the career of wife, mother,\\nand housekeeper is of more importance than\\nany other, and to what business or profession\\nis so little training and preparation given?\\nAt what college or school is a girl taught\\nanything of importance, relating to the care\\nof a home and children, the management and\\nvalue of money? I believe a great deal more\\nis being done than formerly, especially among\\nthe poor, but it is merely a drop in the ocean\\ncompared with what might be done, and tho\\nin many cases the home training is excellent,\\nand, as a rule, a good housewife is the result,\\nit is not so in the majority of cases.\\nThe poor mother has not the time, even\\nif she has the ability, to teach her child house-\\nwifery. As soon as she leaves school she\\ngoes to help to keep another woman s house,\\nwithout training, and disastrous is the result,\\nas we who have to struggle with servants\\nknow; but that eternal grievance would be\\nremedied if only a mistress understood what\\nshe required her servant to do.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0174.jp2"}, "175": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 1 6 1\\nThe average well-to-do and rich woman\\nappears to think it quite unnecessary that her\\ndaughter should have a practical knowledge\\nof nursing, cooking, and household manage-\\nment generally, in order to direct her servants,\\nshould she have a home of her own. I be-\\nlieve woman s place is by the side of man, not\\nbehind, and not in front, as some of my sisters\\nappear to believe, and she should be given\\nevery educational advantage that man has,\\nwhich, with her own special training, will\\nmake her far more fit to perform the duties of\\nwife and mother than her uneducated sister.\\nHow can she manage the money en-\\ntrusted to her with judgment and economy un-\\nless she has been taught the value of it Does\\nevery man become a good business or profes-\\nsional man, and manage his affairs wisely and\\neconomically? What of the failures one too\\noften meets, the men who are the hindmost\\nin the race for life and all it holds It would\\nbe unfair to take such a man and hold him\\nforth as a type of manhood, and say, man is\\nnot fit for the place in the world which he oc-\\ncupies neither is it fair to take an incompetent\\nwoman and treat her as a representative of her\\nsex. I cannot help thinking that A Mere\\nMan s domestic experiences must have been\\nunusually unfortunate, to have given him such\\nan unfair and distorted opinion of woman.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0175.jp2"}, "176": {"fulltext": "1 62 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nE. J. J. writes with common sense: Al-\\ntho agreeing with a great many of *A\\nMere Man s remarks, I cannot help seeing\\nthat in some respects he is rather unreasonable.\\nHow, for instance, can he expect his house-\\nhold expenses to decrease as his family grows\\nup As the children grow older, there is nat-\\nurally an increase in the expenditure; there may\\nno longer be school bills to pay, but there are\\nothers which more than take their place. A\\ngrown-up daughter requires far more amuse-\\nment than a little girl in the schoolroom; she\\ninsists on being taken to all kinds of gaieties,\\nand, greatest expense of all, she persuades\\nher mother to entertain, and dinners, dances,\\nand garden parties are the result.\\nAll women are not good housekeepers, any\\nmore than all men are good men of business\\nbut I feel sure that a house managed by a\\nman would not, as a rule, be a success. Are\\nbachelor establishments usually particularly\\nwell managed? Is not the unfortunate bach-\\nelor more often than not cheated right and left\\nby his laundress and his housekeeper?\\nEven a widower usually has an aunt or a\\nsister to look after his house and children,\\nand if he does try to get along by himself, in\\nnine cases out of ten his children run wild, his\\nservants are careless and idle, and his house\\ndirty and untidy. Of course this miserable\\nstate of affairs also occurs when the wife and", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0176.jp2"}, "177": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 163\\nmother is indolent and imdomesticated but I,\\nfor my part, cannot think of a single case in\\nwhich a man, left with a young family, has,\\nalone and unaided, taken the reins of govern-\\nment into his hands, and produced a comfort-\\nable and well-organized household. A Mere\\nMan says, as regards children, men manage\\nschools. This is true enough, but men do not\\nas a rule manage girls schools neither are lit-\\ntle children sent to school, and, unfortunately,\\nboth girls and babies are to be found in most\\nfamilies. However, I have no doubt the men\\ncould get over this difficulty, and manage their\\nchildren with the greatest ease, but I should\\nbe sorry for the children who were managed\\nat home on the same principles as when at\\nschool.\\nAn Old Dutch gives her opinions thus\\nYour accusations are too numerous and\\nvaried to deal with, but, as a wife and mistress\\nof a house, I should like to say that my husband\\ncould enter his kitchen, late at night, as you\\nsuggest, without finding it the back slum of\\nthe house; neither would the drawers and\\ncupboards be found to contain a heterogeneous\\nmass of things. I have taken up the kitchen\\ngrievance in preference to others, because I\\nconsider that the state of things that exist", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0177.jp2"}, "178": {"fulltext": "164 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nin that department will generally prove what\\nkind of a mistress is at its head. I think surely\\nthere are some of us who have a little respect\\nfor our husband s purse, and also for his com-\\nfort, tho we may not get the credit of it,\\nand I shall look forward, before you close your\\nhighly entertaining delineation of our charac-\\nters, to the hope that you will discover we\\npossess some good qualities as befit man s help-\\nmeet, and that we are not altogether useless\\nlumber on the face of the earth.\\nVashti speaks for her sex as follows I\\npresume you do not object to non-rancorous\\ncriticism, and consequently I am emboldened\\nto take a brief on behalf of my fellow-laborers,\\nand ask that a search-light may be thrown im-\\npartially over the whole question.\\nTo begin with, then, may I ask, with all\\ndeference, if you do not think that men are a\\nlittle to blame for the state of affairs in their\\nhouseholds\\nWould it not be reasonable to expect that\\nwhen a man feels matrimonially inclined he\\nshould look out for use rather than ornament,\\nif he wishes his household to be governed on\\nthe most economic principles? Yet how few\\ndx) this It strikes me very forcibly that dur-\\ning courtship outside attraction goes a long,", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0178.jp2"}, "179": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 165\\nlong- way in front of solid merit. I gather\\nfrom your own papers that your wife was not\\nchosen for her useful abilities. For what,\\nthen? I have no doubt for a pretty face and\\nan engaging manner Well then, sir, I do not\\nthink you ought to blame us for unbusiness-\\nlike ways in our houses, when by your own\\nadmission you choose the head officer of your\\nhousehold for the very qualities you would\\nscout in choosing a clerk, and without one\\nthought as to whether she was capable of filling\\nthe post you offered.\\nPersonally, I do not think it is reasonable\\nto expect men to be entirely practical in a\\nmatter where love real or so-called is an\\nimportant factor but then I do not think they\\nought to upbraid their wives later on for the\\nabsence of qualities they were never asked\\nto possess. I believe one of the first principles\\nof political economy is, that demand creates\\nsupply, a.nd we must hope that when fathers\\nbegin to realize that the young men of the\\nfuture will expect their wives to be trained\\nand proved housekeepers, they will take greater\\ninterest in the proper education of their daugh-\\nters, instead of spending everything on their\\nsons.\\nTo pass on to the question of servants, I\\nmuch admire the theories you advance for\\ntheir management, and think they would be\\nexcellent could they but be put into practice;", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0179.jp2"}, "180": {"fulltext": "1 66 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nbut fear that unless a trades union for mis-\\ntresses were formed it would be impossible to\\nenforce them.\\nIt is illegal in some localities to impose\\nfines on servants, or deduct for breakages from\\ntheir wages, without an agreement, and sup-\\npose I were to try to make my servants sign\\nany such document, I feel sure they would\\nbe wise enough to betake themselves to an-\\nother situation where they could break with\\nimpunity.\\nIf you are serious in your desires for re-\\nform, I wish most earnestly you would act\\nas a reformer and earn the gratitude of all\\nmistresses by starting a trades union of this\\ndescription. I should only be too pleased to\\ngive in my name as one of the first to join,\\nand would bring many friends with me.\\nI must tell you I am one of the few\\nwho keep a stock-pot always going, and have\\nsoup in plenty all the year round, without buy-\\ning any stock meat whatsoever. We also keep\\na pig, and consequently the objectionable swill\\npail but I do not think much goes into it that\\nought not to do so.\\nRegarding coal, it is certainly true we burn\\nmore in winter than in summer, but not to an\\nappalling amount and considering that in\\nsummer we always have cold suppers instead\\nof late dinner, I think the bills are pretty nearly", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0180.jp2"}, "181": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 167\\nas they ought to be. We buy flour and pota-\\ntoes by the sack.\\nIn conclusion, I should like to add that\\naltho I have paid my bills regularly month\\nby month for the eight years I have been\\nmarried, I am positive I have not ruined my\\nhusband s credit, nor do I think it would be\\neasy to do so, and I think in regard to that,\\nyou must have had small trades-people or\\nclerks living in a large town in your mind, as I\\ncannot think that regular payments could at\\nall affect a professional man s credit.\\nA. A. is at once complimentary and self-\\nsatisfied I was delighted to read your ar-\\nticle of this week on the management of chil-\\ndren; your previous papers I have only read\\nwith amusement. They do not apply to us,\\nas my husband would like to tell you but this\\nis a subject that deeply interests me. Every\\nzvord you say is true, no language is strong\\nenough in which to condemn the idiotic way of\\nclothing children, which is considered by every-\\nbody a matter of course; it is marvelous to\\nme that so many survive such treatment; but\\nthe discomfort the poor little things endure\\nmust be cruel. I have one child, a little girl of\\nseven, who has been warmly and decently clad.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0181.jp2"}, "182": {"fulltext": "1 68 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\naccording to your ideas and mine (and no one\\nelse s, it seems to me) from the time she was a\\nfew weeks old, and she has never had an ill-\\nness in her life, and has been entirely free from\\nthe perpetual cold in the head from which most\\nbabies seem to suffer, and which is caused, I\\nam sure, by such management, or rather mis-\\nmanagement, as fills you with indignation.\\nIf you can arouse women to a sense of the\\nproper way in which to bring up a child from\\nits birth to the age of three or four years,\\nyou will accomplish one of the reforms of the\\ncentury. I wish you every success in your cru-\\nsade.\\nA Quiet Critic writes as follows I am\\nmuch interested in The Blunders of Women,\\nbeing a woman who has blundered all her life\\nBut I think, in common justice. Paterfamilias\\nshould go to the root of the matter, which\\nis Human Nature, not Woman Nature. Man\\nselects his mate through passion chiefly, and\\nis naturally in a hurry therefore he does not\\ngive himself time to select wisely. So, most\\nmen marry fools, or did (the old order chang-\\neth perhaps!) and fools breed other fools,\\nand fools bring up their children foolishly,\\nspoil their husbands, or worry them, or let their\\nhusbands ignore them. Ergo ^blame Human", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0182.jp2"}, "183": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 1 69\\nNature in men first, then eliminate it if you\\ncan and women will be wiser.\\nHomo speaks out and says A Mere\\nMan is rather over-reaching himself. At first\\nthere was a large undercurrent of truth in his\\nletters; lately, however, he Seems to me that\\nhe is greatly exaggerating the Blunders,\\nI am a married man and have been so a\\nlong time I never saw my kitchen in the state\\nhe mentions, I have been in the kitchens of\\nmany other houses, and have never seen the\\nmess there either,\\nWith regard to the servant question, it is\\neasy to take the stand he does respecting the\\nmanagement ^but you cannot do with them\\nas you would with your clerks. With clerks\\nthe supply is greater than the demand ^with\\nservants the demand greater than the supply\\nand the result is the servant has the whip\\nhand. Still there is truth in what he says\\na good mistress makes a good servant. My\\nwife has no trouble to speak of with hers, and\\nshe keeps them a long time one great secret\\nbeing, from what I can see always to be\\nfirm, friendly, but never familiar.\\nWell, our mutual friend may be able to\\nmanage his household affairs better than his\\nwife, but I am jolly well sure I could not ^nor", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0183.jp2"}, "184": {"fulltext": "I70 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ncould the bulk of my friends manage theirs\\nas well as their better halves. I am quite cer-\\ntain there is not an atom of waste in any\\nsingle way in this house, and were it not for\\nmy wife I should be a poorer man to-day than\\nI am.\\nOne point has struck me, and it must have\\nstruck others.\\nOf necessity Mere Man has formed his\\noriginal impressions from his own home\\nfor he could not have obtained them from\\noutside sources, since men as a rule are not\\nfond of airing such grievances is he not, then,\\ngiving himself away, and coming to the con-\\nclusion that all homes are as badly managed\\nas his own?\\nOne more point. Economy to a certain\\nextent is all very well, but do you think that\\nevery man wants to run his home upon the\\nsame lines as his business? Is there not\\nenough scheming, sweating, haggling, etc., in\\nthe average man s daily life to satisfy him?\\nTo me it is positive relief to be able to pay, say,\\nmy grocer a halfpenny a pound more for bacon,\\nthan necessary; it doesn t hurt me, and may\\nmean to him just the difference between loss\\nand profit. This everlasting competition is\\nwearing men s lives out in business why force\\nit into private life if not absolutely necessary?", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0184.jp2"}, "185": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 1 7 1\\nIt is the opinion of An Exceptional\\nWoman that A Mere Man would do a\\ngreat deal of good by his letters if women\\ncould only find it in their hearts to be less pre-\\njudiced and a little broader-minded with re-\\ngard to a man s judicious interference in do-\\nmestic matters.\\nIf women, she says, would look at\\nhousekeeping in a more business-like way, I\\nfeel sure that their husbands themselves, and\\ntheir children would benefit greatly thereby. It\\nstands to reason that a successful man of busi-\\nness must know something of what he is about,\\nand that such a man would not interfere in\\nhis wife s domestic arrangements without good\\ncause, so that if the wife of such a man would\\nlisten patiently, without prejudice, she must\\nobtain some advantage from his advice. But,\\nas a rule, women will not listen, or, if they\\ndo so, with their mind made up beforehand that\\nhe knows nothing, and that his advice is, in\\nconsequence, unworthy.\\nBut is this, after all, all a woman s fault? I\\nthink a woman is treated much more unfairly\\nthan a man. In her girlhood she is taught,\\nbesides her ordinary education, which she\\nshares with her brother, to play the piano, to\\ndo a little painting, and drawing, and sew-\\ning, and then she is considered as an accom-\\nplished woman, fit to take the responsibilities", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0185.jp2"}, "186": {"fulltext": "1 72 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nof a wife and housekeeper, the business in life\\nof the majority of women.\\nBut her brother is only allowed one or two\\nof these accomplishments by way of recreation.\\nHe is put in his father s office, he is appren-\\nticed to his business, and taught it thoroughly\\nfrom the first grade upwards. Who would\\never thrust a young man into a post as man-\\nager of a business without his first having had\\na training for it, and expect him to manage\\nit in a proper manner without having any one\\nto show or guide him? But this is what is\\nthrust upon women, and then they are blamed\\nfor their blunders.\\nIf fathers insisted upon their daughters\\nbeing taught properly, and, like their brothers,\\napprenticed in their own particular line of life,\\ntheir husbands and children would feel the ben-\\nefit of their education, and this would tend\\nto enlarge and broaden the minds of the wom-\\nen themselves, which are, without doubt, much\\nbiased and crippled in this respect at present.\\nOld Buffer writes Dear Mere Man,\\nAll praise to you for your outspoken papers.\\nIf anything is required to clinch your re-\\nmarks on the insane short-coating, the fol-\\nlowing figures from the tables of mortality\\nshould do it", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0186.jp2"}, "187": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 1 73\\nLONDON MORTALITY.\\nAge.\\nNumber living.\\nDecrement of\\ndeath in\\nthe next year.\\nBirth\\n10.000\\n3. 191\\n1 year 6.809\\n1-235\\n2\\n5-574\\n538\\n3\\n5-036\\n360\\n4\\n4.676\\n243\\nThus, in the first year, 32 per cent. in the\\nfirst two years, 44 per cent. and the first three\\nyears, 50 per cent, of the children born die,\\nmany of them, no doubt, from the undue ex-\\nposure of their tender Httle bodies.\\nPeg away, my dear sir peg aw^y\\nA Mere Girl writes with considerable abil-\\nity and point. She says Your letters on\\nour domestic blunders have amused, interested,\\nand occasionally made me very angry. I quite\\nagree with you that we girls are badly educated\\nin domestic matters, and have occasionally to\\nbuy our experiences. But it is not altogether\\nour fault. Until eighteen or nineteen we are\\nkept busy passing exams., in order to fit us\\nfor work in case of depreciation of property,\\nand then if there be no mother paterfamil-\\nias deserts his club, and settles down, while his", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0187.jp2"}, "188": {"fulltext": "1 74 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ndaughter is supposed perfectly capable of run-\\nning a house without assistance. I speak from\\npersonal experience.\\nA Friendly Critic says Like many\\nother women readers, I have been following\\nyour course of articles with great interest.\\nThough unwilling to say so, I must admit that\\nyou have put your finger on many sore spots in\\nour domestic life and management. But you\\nappear to me to lay to our door sins for\\nwhich we are not responsible. You say the\\nplague of London hardly equaled the infant\\nmortality of a city like London or New York\\nalone. The same might probably be said of\\nany large city, and as women are the caretakers\\nof the children of these cities, you argue that\\nthey are to blame for the high infant death-\\nrate.\\nIs it not a fact that the large death-rates\\nof all our cities are produced by deaths\\namongst the children of the poor Is it not also\\na fact that amongst the poor the mother of the\\nfamily goes out to daily work of some kind\\nor other, and is in many cases the sole bread-\\nwinner for her family? She may do the best\\nshe can to provide some one to look after her\\nchildren in her absence, but what proper su-\\npervision can there be in such cases?", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0188.jp2"}, "189": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 1 75\\nAgain, are not many deaths directly or\\nindirectly due to starvation Is the unfortunate\\nmother of the family to blame when the\\nearnings, scanty at the best which ought to\\nprovide food for the children are spent in\\ndrink, or when bad times come, and there are\\nno earnings at all? Again, I do not at all\\nagree with you that nearly all children are\\nborn healthy. Very many come into the\\nworld handicapped by hereditary disease.\\nWhen you speak of institutions for girls\\nadmirably managed by men, do you mean to\\nsay that in such institutions there is no female\\nsuperintendent, or that in every detail the\\nworking of that institution is carried on by\\nmen To go back to the subject of infant mor-\\ntality, it would be interesting to find out what\\nproportion the infant death-rate bears to the re-\\nmaining death-rate amongst the classes where\\nthe mother of the family is not compelled by\\nsheer necessity to be wholly or in part the\\nbreadwinner. If you could prove that the in-\\nfant mortality in these classes is out of propor-\\ntion to the entire death-rate of those classes,\\nyou would have done much toward establish-\\ning your case against us.\\nMaterfamilias writes much shrewd com-\\nmon sense, and says, in her frank, outspoken", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0189.jp2"}, "190": {"fulltext": "1 76 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nreply I expected a much more convincing\\nattack, as it is easy to find fault even with the\\nbest regulated households\u00e2\u0080\u0094 or offices and we\\npoor women are far from pretending, for one\\nmoment, that a great deal of what we do could\\nnot be better done. But our mentor, in this\\ninstance, after many preparatory assertions\\nas to what he was going to do, seems to me\\nto have accomplished very little; and I think\\nany unprejudiced person who has read the pa-\\npers would conclude they had been indicted\\nunder the well-known advice, No case, abuse\\nthe plaintiff s attorney\\nIn the first place I maintain that the real\\npoint has been shirked and glossed over by A\\nMere Man in his few opening remarks, and\\nthat a fictitious value has been given to this\\nquestion of household expenses which it does\\nnot deserve, praise not being accorded where\\npraise is due.\\nWe are told he married his wife because\\nhe loved her, he has worked hard for her, and,\\nin comparison with his office, what has he got\\nfor it? what are his assets? Now, it appears\\nto me that an office is run for one thing, and\\nfor one thing only, and that is to make money\\nbut the home is created for a very different\\nreason. It is to provide a companion in his\\njoy and his sorrows, and for the man a loving\\ncompanion, who endeavors to sustain him in\\nhis troubles, and who tends and cares for him", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0190.jp2"}, "191": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 1 7 7\\nin his times of sickness. A mother for his\\nchildren one who will educate them in the\\nway they should walk, teach them to fear God,\\nhonor their father and mother, and become\\ngood and upright men and women.\\nI take it that it is infinitely more necessary\\nthat a woman should be a good wife and\\nmother than that she should be somewhat\\nsharper at reducing expenses than a profes-\\nsional housekeeper. A Mere Man seems to\\npurposely miss these points. He talks of the\\nfictitious value of love; but can love be val-\\nued? I think not.\\nAgain, he refers to his wife as not an im-\\nproving property, which is as heartless as it\\nis unfair, because there is no doubt that she is\\nat least as improving a property as he is\\nhimself. However, having given the proper\\nprominence to women s true vocations, against\\nthe smallest one of superior housekeeping ad-\\nvocated by A Mere Man, I will now go on to\\ndiscuss his assertions, and I think it will be\\neasily proved that a house managed upon the\\nlines he suggests would be worse than one run\\nupon any ordinary plan.\\nHe opens in Chapter II by the assertion\\nthat nearly all we earn is spent on our homes\\nand the luxury of our women folk. The last\\npart of the sentence must be met by a flat de-\\nnial. Does any one, even a mere man, believe\\nwithin his innermost heart that a woman", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0191.jp2"}, "192": {"fulltext": "178 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nspends as much on her luxuries as he does?\\nWhat about those seven dollar a hundred\\ncigars, and that fourteen dollar a dozen port,\\nwhich is carefully kept for his own consump-\\ntion? not to mention those luncheons to busi-\\nness friends, at which champagne and liquors\\nplay such a prominent part.\\nBut we will not press the point let us on\\nto some practical suggestions, Even here,\\nin this paper of proof, they are difficult to\\nfind; but, as far as I can discover, the chief\\none is that a discount should be insisted upon\\nfrom our bakers, butchers, and greengrocers.\\nThe passing remark that a woman does not\\nknow what her beef and mutton cost in the\\nfield is too absurd for serious consideration.\\nDoes a man know what his cigars cost in the\\nleaf, or his wines in the grape? And would\\nit be any good if he did?\\nNew York Woman takes a somewhat logi-\\ncal tone Conscience tells me there is some\\nperhaps much truth in your papers on the\\nDomestic Blunders of Women, but I should\\nlike to draw attention to a point which I think\\nyou, and men generally, overlook. Character\\neven a woman s is to some extent consist-\\nent, and the qualities which men usually ad-\\nmire in a woman are, I think, not those which", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0192.jp2"}, "193": {"fulltext": "Correspondence i79\\nare correlative with business acumen. There\\nare women who can make a bargain with\\ntradespeople or others with the astuteness of a\\nbusiness man; but it is scarcely likely that\\nsuch a one will have the grace, naivete, and\\ngeneral winsomeness which a man really reck-\\nons among the chief charms of woman.\\nIn choosing a wife, a man usually desires\\na womanly woman, and avoids the strong-\\nminded, so-called of the sex. He must be\\nprepared, therefore, to find her wanting in\\nsome of the qualities which he would require in\\na partner of his own sex. At the same time,\\nhe may justly expect her to be a reasoning and\\nreasonable being, and able to enter into his\\nviews on pecuniary and other matters with\\nintelligence.\\nBut the training must commence before\\nmarriage, and it is very desirable that from\\nfirst leaving school, a girl should have an\\nallowance, and be shown, if she does not know,\\nhow to keep a simple cash account. It should\\nbe clearly understood this allowance must not\\nbe exceeded, or it will do harm instead of good.\\nI think her father may well require to see her\\naccount quarterly, for the first year or two\\nat least, to be sure it is being correctly kept.\\nThis forms a basis of accuracy which will be\\nuseful in the larger field of housekeepmg.\\nGiven an average woman, I think it an\\nexcellent plan for the wife to receive a weekly", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0193.jp2"}, "194": {"fulltext": "l8o The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nallowance to cover all expenses connected with\\nhousekeeping, except perhaps coal and ser-\\nvants wages. It saves all bickering between\\nthe two. It should be large enough to cover\\nneedful replenishment of household linen and\\nutensils, which may be done gradually with a\\nlittle management. This plan seems to neces-\\nsitate the payment of ready money, which you\\ndisparage but I think if the stipulated allow-\\nance were adhered to, you would find the meth-\\nod a great saving, even though some interest\\non the money were lost. This, I think, can\\nbe obviated in part, by dealing, as far as pos-\\nsible, at ready money stores, where equal goods\\nare supplied at lower prices.\\nSybil stands up bravely for her sex. First\\nI admit that in a sort of whimsical way\\nA Mere Man has cause for at least some of\\nhis complaints. There are undoubtedly some\\nvery badly-managed homes, and there are many\\nwomen who have no financial capacity at all;\\nbut it is not always or even generally the\\nwomen who cannot keep accounts whose\\nhomes are uncomfortable, nor the mathemati-\\ncal women whose households are ideal. I have\\noften thought that men especially business-\\nmen are apt to carry business principles too\\nfar. Why should a home be burdened with", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0194.jp2"}, "195": {"fulltext": "Correspondence i8i\\nthe sordid consideration of whether every\\ntransaction with every tradesman or every\\nworkman has resulted in the largest possible\\nadvantage to oneself and the smallest to him?\\nThat appears to be the soul of business, but it\\ndoes not seem very ennobling.\\nIn my experience nearly ten years of\\nmarried life I have found that butchers are,\\nin a sense, honest. That is, if I go and choose\\nor order a certain joint I get it I know the\\nprice of each joint and if I order the best\\nI pay for the best. If I do not get the best I\\ncomplain, but seldom have to complain twice.\\nWith regard to beating down a tradesman,\\nI never do that; but I know women who do,\\nand I also know that they gain nothing by it.\\nThe Mere Man, however, gives no weight\\nto the possibility of women s lives containing\\nmore intellectual duties than haggling over\\nchops. If it were not so, it would indeed be\\nasked by womenkind, Is life worth living\\nFor my part, I should consider it absolute\\nwaste of time to call personally at every shop\\neach time the necessary household purchases\\nhad to be made, although my home is buried\\nin the country, where the eternal calling for\\norders is unknown, and considerable fore-\\nthought has to be exercised in order to keep\\nup the household stock of every kind.\\nI think the Mere Man exaggerates the\\ncondescension of man in marrying woman.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0195.jp2"}, "196": {"fulltext": "1 82 The Domestic Blunders df Women\\nAfter all, a man marries of his own free will,\\nand he should have the sense to realize with\\nhis vaunted business capacity that his house-\\nhold expenses will increase and not decrease\\nyear by year. I believe most men vaguely\\nfancy that when they furnish a house say on\\ntheir marriage they have bought all they will\\nrequire in that house for the rest of their nat-\\nural life and then when, in a few years, some\\nmore saucepans have to be invested in, they feel\\ngrieved, and think that some one has been very\\nmuch to blame. Saucepans will not last many\\nyears, however well they are treated, nor will\\nchildren s stockings, alas Many weary\\nmothers can testify to that.\\nMen have their own business worries\\nwhy should they add to them the infinitely\\nmore worrying worries of domestic economy?\\nMost women bear these cheerfully, and over-\\ncome them tactfully, and contrive to have a\\nsmiling welcome for the breadwinner. Could\\na wife not be trusted to spend sufficiently wise-\\nly? If not, does not the mistake lie deeper\\nin the original choice of a wife The Mere\\nMan overlooks altogether the possibility of\\nthe wife s possessing an income of her own;\\nbut perhaps that is beside the question.\\nThe management of servants is, of course,\\na serious undertaking, and nothing but expe-\\nrience teaches one the best course to pursue.\\nDoubtless, there is room for much improve-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0196.jp2"}, "197": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 183\\nment in the training of girls for domestic ser-\\nvice, and the desultory way they pick up the\\nlittle they know is far from an ideal method.\\nA Mere Man says servants are what\\ntheir mistresses make them. To a certain ex-\\ntent they may be, and without doubt a good\\nmistress has a large amount of influence over\\nthem; but, then, as every mistress is different,\\nand every servant an individual, it is useless\\nto generalize on such a topic. The family cir-\\ncle particularly in England is so isolated,\\nthat no rules suitable to a factory or a work-\\nshop can be of any avail. Each household is a\\nlaw to itself.\\nPetruchio takes up the cudgels for his\\nwife I have had a hard enough task to\\nkeep my Katherine s hands off A Mere Man\\nfrom week to week. With the appearance\\nof his onslaught against a mother s manage-\\nment of her children, the pent-up volume of in-\\ndignation has overflowed, quite in her old\\nshrewish style. As she has confiscated my\\nlatch-key and knocked off all sporting papers\\nuntil I reply to A Mere Man s mischievous\\ndoctrines, I am compelled to undertake the\\nduty of scribe. So here goes.\\nKatherine insists that she can not only\\nput hand upon her heart and truthfully say", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0197.jp2"}, "198": {"fulltext": "184 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nthat she knew what to do with our Coris-\\nande when the mite brought joy into this\\nhousehold, but she can continue to keep her\\nhand over that organ without flinching and\\noffer priceless advice to parents in general. I\\ncan certainly confirm my spouse s assertion\\nthat, for some months prior to baby s advent,\\na perfect library of works, of the Advice to\\nMothers order, pervaded our residence.\\nPrepared indeed This anonymous\\ncreature will want to dispute the value of\\ngoose oil in cases of croup next, cries my wife\\nwrathfully. A Mere Man A mere fool, say\\nI a crusty old maid or bachelor to boot.\\nKatherine is especially incensed over A\\nMere Man s monstrous ignorance on the sub-\\nject of short-coating. Every mother worthy of\\nthe name knows that a three-quartered cos-\\ntume intervenes between the long and the short\\nperiods of infantile draping. As for babies\\ngrovelling about in draughts stark-naked, my\\nindignant helpmate considers it a stark-mad\\nidea altogether, only applied to poor little gut-\\nter children whom poverty and stupidity impel\\ntowards premature dissolution. In fact, she\\nthinks A Mere Man s experiences must be\\ngathered from the slums rather than the well-\\nordered, middle-class nursery. Katherine adds\\nthat she will be happy to demonstrate to bona-\\nMe visitors the admirable three-quarter sys-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0198.jp2"}, "199": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 185\\ntern as exemplified on the person of our thriv-\\ninp- Corisande.\\ning Corisande.\\nThese are the views of A Mere Woman\\nAND Mother In answer to A Mere Man\\nI should say his trumpeter is dead. He speaks\\nof women in three classes ^Angels, slum\\nwomen and cow women. I am sure the sex\\nought to be highly edified and grateful. As he\\nknew the different classes of women so well,\\nwhy didn t he choose an angel?\\nPaterfamilias owns that he married for\\nlove. If he didn t trouble himself about a\\nwoman who could manage for him before he\\nwas married, why do so now? If he gives\\nlove and she returns it, what has he to grum-\\nble about If he married without counting the\\ncost, that s his look-out, not his wife s.\\nAgain he says My office has improved.\\nHas he done all the work himself? what about\\nhis helpers? Undoubtedly they are good busi-\\nness men, who work and stay with him for the\\nsake of their wives and families. His poor\\nwife, on the other hand, is worried to death\\nto get willing and conscientious helpers even\\nat a high price, as servants are so scarce. They\\nare generally single women who have no one\\ndepending on them, and so, in many cases, will\\nnot be told how, or what to do, or when to do", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0199.jp2"}, "200": {"fulltext": "1 86 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nit. If they cannot have their own way they\\nwill leave, as they know they can easily get\\nother places. Not so with his subordinates.\\nAgain he says there should be nothing\\nsimpler in the world than to manage a house,\\na few servants, and a few children, but A\\nMere Man has left out the master of the\\nhouse. Granted men manage restaurants so\\nthey oug ht this represents only one branch\\nof woman s work. The poor wife has to see\\nto the supply of provisions for the whole fam-\\nily, arrange for the coolcing, and manage the\\ncook which is the hardest of all.\\nNext, about the children. The woman\\nbears them, rears them, always has them with\\nher except when at school or out with the\\nnurse, whom she can t always trust, and when\\nthey are grown up they give her more anxiety\\nthan when young. What man could shield,\\nguide, and counsel girls like a mother?\\nThe sum and substance of A Mere\\nMan s grumbling seems to be money. It s a\\npity he ever loved a woman, for if he had not\\nhe might have saved his dollars and had suffi-\\ncient income to manage some one else s house-\\nhold.\\nThis is what Len says: Your way of\\nlooking upon home as a branch of your busi-\\nness is original; but to require it to show a", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0200.jp2"}, "201": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 187\\nprofit on paper seems to me sheer nonsense.\\nHowever, taking it in your own way, my opin-\\nion is that if the comforts of home have de-\\ncreased with you, this, to some extent, rejflects\\non yourself you are the head of the firm,\\nso, if you were as wise and clever as you say\\nyou are, your wife and daughters would not be\\nsuch a poor dunderheaded lot as you make\\nthem out to be.\\nWomen are much more careful in spend-\\ning money than you give them credit for. Their\\nmethod of purdhasing when they like and\\nwhere they like is unquestionably a better plan\\nthan what you suggest. For instance, if they\\ntied themselves, as you say, to one butcher,\\nthey would have less choice and as to the\\ndiscount well, every tradesman must have a\\nreasonable profit, and if you do not pay the\\nproper price, he will have to cheat somebody,\\nand the probability is that you will yourself\\nsuffer.\\nNeither do women purchase in such out-\\nof-the-way proportions of the various articles\\nrequired; they plan things out to a much\\ngreater nicety than men could do if they had\\nthe task to perform. It is generally the caprice\\nof the man at the table that makes the articles\\nserved up appear out of proportion.\\nNow, Mr. Mere Man, I begin to think\\nyou are a very queer stick! After advising\\nthat a woman should go to her butcher and get", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0201.jp2"}, "202": {"fulltext": "1 88 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\ndiscount for weekly payments, I find that you\\ncensure her because she will insist on paying\\nweekly. I don t wonder at your house being a\\nbadly-managed one, because, with such an in-\\nconsistent head, nobody would know what to\\nbe at. I believe women do quite right in buying\\ntheir household goods, dresses, etc., for cash;\\nthe credit system is often the cause of the pur-\\nchases exceeding the income, and, therefore,\\nsooner or later bringing trouble.\\nThere may be some little truth in your\\ncharge that women love to spend money, and\\nare unable to account for every shilling they\\nspend; but are men any better iii these re-\\nspects\\nYour manner of doling the cash out to\\nthe woman is rather mean. Where there is a\\ntrue wife she has as much right to the money\\nas the man has, and where she is taken into his\\nconfidence, and the man treats her properly,\\nshe will make a better use of household money\\nthan he could.\\nCommon-sense contributes a running fire\\nof comment I should like to point out\\nsome of the more glaring discrepancies in your\\narticles. To begin with, you do not state the\\nsize of your family. Your wife and daugh-\\nters, evidently no sons, daughters only, shall", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0202.jp2"}, "203": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 189\\nwe say two, three, or ten? It is impossible to\\nconsider the servants question unless we know\\nthe number of the grown-up members of your\\nfamily.\\nAssets, etc., wife not an improving prop-\\nerty. Are you an improving property? is\\nyour temper better than it was etc. Any man\\ncould manage a house, etc., to greater advan-\\ntage than any woman. What is that quotation\\nof some people rushing in where angels fear\\nto tread you might look it up. O glori-\\nous power of self opinion, for none are fools in\\nthy dominion.\\nButchers make no allowance for bone or\\nfat. Do you think for a single moment that\\nany man could induce a monopolist like a\\nbutcher to allow for bone, a butcher s fair\\nprofit There is not such a thing as a fair\\nprofit in the butcher s business, for it is said\\nthat any butcher who sells a beast a week can\\nlive, bring up his family, and drive his gig.\\nI was once behind the scenes running a\\nlarge catering business at a big exhibition in\\nthe provinces; the manager, a capable busi-\\nness-like German, could make no impression on\\nthe butcher, and you should not expect your\\nwife to do so.\\nFish provide three pounds mackerel and\\nwon t provide one pound salmon. The size of\\nyour family being omitted, I can only judge\\nthat your wife prefers that all the family shall", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0203.jp2"}, "204": {"fulltext": "190 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\npartake of fish, while you evidently want that\\npound of salmon for your own and her con-\\nsumption, while the children go without\\nCheck for twenty tons of coal paid for\\nin advance. What an absurd idea A business\\nman would place a contract or open order for\\na given weight to be delivered at such a rate\\nper month at a stated price, and pay for it as\\nhe got it when the blind lead the blind, etc.\\nSave $1.00 a ton indeed; it means simply lock-\\ning up money for a year in advance, and pos-\\nsibly, if the coal merchant dies or levants, los-\\ning your money.\\nHousekeeping money, false pretenses,\\ncriminal negligence. What a nice man you\\nare, what a treat for your neighbors! Think\\nit over, old man, and apologize. Never saw\\nthe saucepans or the stockings. You imply\\nevidently that your wife never bought them,\\nthat it was a mode of thieving. Thank good-\\nness that you have a wife at all, for certainly\\nyou don t deserve one. Buying half the items\\nthat are not pressing, etc. why not say your\\nwife is an absolute fool? it would save\\ntime.\\nPaying cash destroys credit, order\\ngoods, and when bills come in, pay something\\non account, and this man pretends to be in\\nbusiness for himself. Well, somebody in his\\noffice has to take care of him; that is plain\\nenough. He grudges the interest on the money", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0204.jp2"}, "205": {"fulltext": "Correspondence IQI\\npaid in weekly accounts, and would like the\\nmoney in his business, though he recommends\\npaying the coal merchant in advance. Another\\nSolomon, does he not know that by paying\\nweekly, his wife only pays once for goods got\\nShe can remember a week s trivial items,\\nwhile A Mere Fraud (I mean A Mere\\nMan himself, if he adopted his own system,\\nwould be paying for goods received two or\\nthree times over; besides, if he wants to cal-\\nculate how much his housekeeping costs him,\\nit is all plain compare one week with another,\\nas far back as he likes, of the different trades-\\npeople; and he is, moreover, able to sit and\\nrest at home in an evening without everlast-\\ningly hearing that Mr. So-and-So has\\nbrought his bill and is waiting for the money,\\nas would be the case under his foolish plan.\\nLet A Mere Man take up the fact that the\\nwomen he accuses of criminal negligence, false\\npretenses, and stigmatizes (indirectly) as a\\nthief, has more business acumen than he is pos-\\nsessed of.\\nNurses get discount on the milk for the\\nnursery, and the cook for kitichen goods. Evi-\\ndently Mere Man s nurse pays the milkman s\\nbills and the cook pays the butcher A little\\nknowledge is a dangerous thing.\\nWomen s mission is to put the blame on\\nsomeone else; Eve began it. Really, Mr.\\nMere Man, if you must write something, do", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0205.jp2"}, "206": {"fulltext": "192 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nfor goodness sake state facts, for you must\\nknow that man, to his eternal shame, began it.\\nHe put the blame on Eve The woman\\ntempted me and I did eat. Now he was a\\nmere man, I admit, but it was not a manly\\nway of meeting the case. If there had been\\nany society at all, he would have been hounded\\nout of his club, and sent to Coventry for his\\nmeanness if it had been the other way about,\\nwould the woman have split upon the man and\\nblamed it upon him? No. I have always been\\na bit ashamed of Adam but this is a digres-\\nsion.\\nBachelors keep their servants for years\\ntreasures, etc., because Bachelor is out two-\\nthirds of his time, they do as they like, and rob\\nhim left and right as well.\\nSulky female servants will do anything\\nfor the master or the young gentlemen. Oh!\\nblind bat, where is your understanding? Why\\nis this? you say; why indeed? If you cannot\\nreason that out, you can t expect to shine very\\nmuch in your domestic aspirations of a perfect\\nhome-life with a man at the helm.\\nSonny waxes warm and personal. He\\nsays I have read with some interest the let-\\nter of A Mere Man, and it seems to me that\\nhe had better take the advice of a certain gen-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0206.jp2"}, "207": {"fulltext": "Correspondence I93\\ntleman who calls himself a Black Philoso-\\npher, and says, All you married men had\\nbetter go and hang yourselves. He seems to\\nthink the world was made for himself alone,\\nand for the special benefit of his money-grub-\\nbing propensities. In the opening of his letter\\nhe says he married his wife because he loved\\nher. He has worked all his life for the same\\ncause. Does he slander her because he loves\\nher too I am not married myself, but I know\\nhow my mother has managed our house, loved\\nand cared for us all at home, so I must say a\\nword in her defense. Does your correspondent\\nthink, when he sees his family growing up\\naround him, his daughters growing into\\nwomen, that he has lived in vain Does he not\\nthink that they have a mission in life to fill?\\nDoes it not give him some sort of satisfaction\\nto think, I have done all I can for them, I\\ntrust them, they will never be a reproach to\\nme If this is no satisfaction to him it\\nought to be. And then in his old age. Oh that\\nis the time he will find his satisfaction. I shall\\nalways have them round me to comfort me\\nwhen I am old, is a thought that is uttered by\\nthousands of fathers and mothers, and it com-\\nforts them.\\nNo Your correspondent is one of those\\nmiserable mortals who sees nothing in any\\nother light but that of gain. Gain is the motive\\npower of his life; but some day he must pay", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0207.jp2"}, "208": {"fulltext": "194 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nthe debt of nature, and then to what use his\\ngold, for he cannot take it with him He must\\nthink all women are fools, and cannot think\\nfor themselves. They cannot cook, he says.\\nNow, I am in the city, and go day by day to\\none of our big restaurants for my lunch, but\\nnever have I had anything yet like I get cooked\\nat home, and any sensible woman can cook.\\nMen do this, and men do the other but\\ncould a man darn his own socks, sew on his\\nown buttons, and do housework I very much\\ndoubt.\\nA Mere Man had better go to some place\\nfar away from the hands of woman, and live\\nentirely by himself, and see how he gets on.\\nThe world will go on very well without him.\\nThe Cherub tries to hit one nail squarely\\non the head when he says Many people\\nseem to think that there are only two reasons\\nwhy a man marries a woman. First, they put\\nthe mere desire of possession, and secondly,\\nthe getting someone who will manage the\\nhouse. They are both utterly worthless from\\nthe point of view of marriage. Any man with\\na modest income can procure both. But the\\none thing that money will never buy is the\\nsweet companionship and sympathy of an in-\\ntelligent woman whom he loves and who loves", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0208.jp2"}, "209": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 195\\nhim. Any couple of average intelligence can\\nget rid of the perfectly sordid details that seem\\nto form the bulk of the average married exist-\\nence.\\nYou have said, piteously, that your home\\ndoes not pay, and show an improving return,\\nI cannot see that you have put down the main\\nasset at all; if it does not exist, it is indeed a\\nbankrupt concern, and I am sorry for you.\\nMaterfamilias the Second writes with\\nflowing pen and ever-increasing indignation:\\nI can no longer refrain from taking up the\\ncudgels in defense of my sex. I know that\\nmost men imagine that a man could manage\\nthe house much better than his wife. If this\\nis true, why is it not more frequently done?\\nand how does it happen that when a man loses\\nhis wife he does not manage the house himself,\\nbut after, at most, a few months of domestic\\ndiscomfort and mismanagement, invariably\\nmarries again?\\nThis won t do. Is it in the nature of man\\nto let pass unused such an opportunity of dis-\\nplaying his superior powers?\\nSpeaking of clubs and hotels, I have this\\non the authority of men that where an hotel is\\nextra comfortable and successful, you will find\\na woman at the head; but where a man man-\\nages, the waste is often exceptionally great.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0209.jp2"}, "210": {"fulltext": "196 The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nA Mere Man prefaces his second paper\\nwith the statement that a man gets nothing\\nout of his earnings save board and lodging,\\nand these of a very unsatisfactory character,\\nowing to the extravagance and mismanage-\\nment of his wife. Speaking from the experi-\\nence of all my married friends, I take exception\\nto this in to to, and remark, Where is the man\\nwho does not spend more in sundries such as\\ncigars, drinks, billiards, golf, etc. than he al-\\nlows his wife altogether?\\nI pass your correspondent s sarcastic re-\\nmarks on cooking a chop or potato, and will\\ndiscuss the ability to purchase. I wonder how\\nmany butchers could corroborate his state-\\nment, and how many would not rather have the\\nhusband to deal with than the wife? Though\\nI admit my husband is a fairly sensible and\\nreasonable man, I have simply dreaded his visit\\nto the butcher, knowing that my resources\\nwould be taxed, not so much to cook the meat,\\nas to be able to use, without waste, the exces-\\nsive quantity.\\nI am glad A Mere Man got his morning\\nroll at the proper time, and took the trouble to\\nfight for it himself his wife would not grudge\\nhim that privilege. In giving her this assist-\\nance he shows the most pleasing feature of his\\ncharacter, and if he will cultivate this spirit in\\nother matters belonging to the house, he will\\ncease to find so much fault. Most husbands", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0210.jp2"}, "211": {"fulltext": "Correspondence 197\\nresent being asked to give advice upon domes-\\ntic affairs, and generally reply, Please your-\\nself, or Don t bother me. Such is my experi-\\nence.\\nMay I ask if, when man and wife enter the\\nmarried state, they start as equal partners?\\nIf so, why should one give a detailed account\\nof expenditure and not the other? Is it not\\nmost galling to a woman who has left a home\\nof comfort or ease, or possibly given up a\\nprofitable calling (and, believe me, there are\\nmany such), to have to ask for money at all,\\nmuch more to be obliged to account for every\\npenny spent?\\nIt would save much unhappiness if, at the\\nstart of married life, every man would make a\\ndefinite allowance to his wife, according to his\\nmeans, over which she should have entire con-\\ntrol, and be in no way called upon to account\\nfor. Surely no average man would choose for\\nhis wife a woman he could not trust to that\\nextent.\\nA Mere Man must have for his wife a\\nwoman much to be pitied, and if she is so\\neasily and invariably gulled by trades-people,\\nwe may conclude that it is possible for her to\\nhave been deceived by him. Poor woman If\\nall of us could learn to imitate some of man s\\nstrong business habits, and when we go shop-\\nping have the forethought to ask each shop-\\nkeeper to take a drink as a preliminary, we", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0211.jp2"}, "212": {"fulltext": "19^ The Domestic Blunders of Women\\nmight then hope to make successful business\\ntransactions, and if we only knew how to\\nspeculate and lose we might be the objects of\\nsympathy rather than blame.\\nScotch Lassie sends the following apt quo-\\ntation from J. M. Barrie She loved him,\\nbut probably no woman can live with a man\\nfor many years without having an indulgent\\ncontempt for him, and wondering how he is\\nconsidered a good man of business.\\nTHE BN0", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0212.jp2"}, "213": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0213.jp2"}, "214": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0214.jp2"}, "215": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0215.jp2"}, "216": {"fulltext": "MAR p innr", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0216.jp2"}, "217": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0217.jp2"}, "218": {"fulltext": "x J C\u00c2\u00ab\\n-^j^ V\\n^U^\\n0 //,^^s\\nl.C x^^\\n0^\\nX\\n-T^f,^\\n/\u00e2\u0082\u00acS\\n.x\\n,6-", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0218.jp2"}, "219": {"fulltext": "-ft. -ho\\nf\\no -^o.", "height": "2747", "width": "1542", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0219.jp2"}, "220": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2955", "width": "1775", "jp2-path": "domesticblunders00moor_0220.jp2"}}