Women's World

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 73, 27 March 1920, Page 20

Women's World

THE DOMESTIC DINNER.

DuneJin is irraspiii? the of domestic stringency with its accustomed >:<rour. The women of the southern city are nrguing that if the eternal cooking problem ooiil-d be made more co-opera-tic, there would be less aching backs. ]e=* ndki-estion and n drop in the consumption of coal. To this end they Imvn formed a provisional committee. and 15') laelies attended the first, puoke meeting, presided over by Mrs. Leech, who explained that the purpo-o of the meeting was to establish in the- city a scheme for the daily delivery of cooked food, which sonic ' nf them hoped would do much to meet tho shortage of domestic help. The -present movement was the outcome of the Women's Citizen-' .Association, which nt fnvt was thought to ho purely academic, but; which roiMed widespread ' practical interest. The scheme was entirely promoted for t.ie i!ion<WL of household* where there were families of young children. They wished in the .Ir.-f instance Lo help the- mothers, ou chose shoulders now iesfc.l nn almost crushing bunion. 'Life was much more complex than it used to ..e. anil that made the burden al iimos almost unbearable. Trie --heme ■■::i- capable of extension in iiiri.uis directions later on. There would be n.i c.iFr.mptioii of i.mil ou the. prcmi-e*. ~,„■ would l>j bake cakes or scone- i:i e.uiipetition with: caterer*, in Ihe town. No food woullj l.c supplied under . .... pr.ee Xo now; principle wa- involved in the supply of: hot cooked fo'i,l. Another speaker said the idea behind this cooked delivery scheme was economy with efficiency. Speaking of economy.' she referred first 10 the matter of ecu I, and picture.l 50 home- with -50 rntmea and sil mothers ToilitiL' for 5(1 fain lie-. .At a moderate; estimate they would spend C4OO worth <if coal a year in preparing these :50. dinner*. -\j the central kitchen a ton of coal a week or itri c|iiivalent in im< would la l quite sufficient. Then there wos the economy "f labour. Ten shillings a week lor 50 families came to £1,250 a year. .At the central kitchen they would have a staff of live experts as against 50 who ''did their best/ and tho cost of the central staff was estimated at £.750 a year. Mr. Mark Cohen said he regarded his task a-s a serious one in that he had to convince the. meeting that the proposal constituted a tangible and business proposition. He prophesied success for the movement. The company would require an expenditure of £5,000, of which £1,500 represented capital expenditure. The last-] mentioned item comprised alterations to! premises, building a suitable motor van,! and the supply of (160 containers. 53ut as these containers would foe either sold to patrons or be hired out -on the de-ferred-payment system 'it would not be a leourrmg 'item; it would soon repay it-, self. The remaining expenditure totalled (£3,400, of -which £800 was afc-orhed 'by

wages. .000 by rent ami other lixed charges, and i'J.OOO by food supplies. It was estimated that the annual revenue would t-ntal £11.500 from the supply of a daily dinner at l"fi per -head to 150 customer. This number was based on tlic daily outlay for fund for one of our .'nrgest educational establishments, which supplied ih.it. number of diners. Those es'imn'tes had been carefully ciickiNl '.»v I'rofcssor Boys-Smith. Mr. Marshall (director c-f the Technical Col-l'-gR). and a skilled accountant, all of v. hoot agreed that they were based on reliable data. Like the rest of the v orlj. we were undergoing a period of evolution, and in the domestic! circle I ' : - wits largely due to acute -hortage of labour. There was much hot air talked about immigration; as the likely factor to solve the domestic' prseVem", but he lud little faith in this suggested ponai-ea. 'Firstly, there, was iittle or no likelihood of the necessary --hipping being provided for a long time; ill the nox.i place lie was extremely doubtful whether the right elusi of woman those who would take kindly to domestic drudgery—would he sent. out. He believed in the development of New Zealand for the New Zealanders. ii whom he had unlimited faith. In America the public dining rooms were crowded, and lie counselled his hearers te. do what they could lo keep the homes together, if they threw tho whole v. eight of their sympathy into tlic enterprise it was •here to stay. Mrs. iLindo Fcrgus-on regarded tiic proposal ns an excellent one. The establishment of such a kitchen should be welcome.!. Help wa= unobtainable for the homes. Her work on tiio I heritable A .1 ißnard had convinced hor that it I was not always surprising that husbandsleft their homes. In some cases they, were ill-kept and tho food was .badly! coked. On all hands medical men were] nvornising tho evil effects of the shortage of la hour on the mental and| physical sides of women. Ifc had been, proved that women coulel do such work a. was involved in the scheme before them. Women might be able to showmen how economically clubs could 'be run. The women would help, and men would be asked to put their money into the scheme. It would be a good plan later to -have depots in the suburbs, •.'.here food could be procured. Mr. D. E. Theomin said that they would require definite -guarantees, and he took it 'that customers would have to fake some risk. It would never do for the committee to depend on chance support. .Mr. Co-hen concurred in this view, and said the committee must be assured of sufficient funite to carry it through the first year, anyway. The klca was to form a company, consisting -of £.1 shares. Mr. Theomin said he was so satisfied with the ech-em-e 'that he would be willing to take up t£so. This lead was followed by a number of others, who promised to take up share? -in- amounts from £5 to £'20. The total reached £2"20.