KITCHEN PRINCESSES.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18241, 27 November 1924, Page 2

KITCHEN PRINCESSES.

TRAINING IN DOMESTIC SCIENCE. (fBOJt OU3 OTS COB3jiS?OSj3SST.) LONDON, October 16. '•'Domestic servants, their training and their status.'' was one of the subjects discussed at the National Council of Women at Brighton. The question arose en a. motion by Lcdy Matthews (Tunbridge Wells) endorsing the opinion of the Domestic Service Enquiry Committee that training in domestic science should form an integral part of the education of every ycung girl, and urging that there should be increased development of instruction in practical domestic science in elementary and secondary schools. _ , Lady Matthews insisted that the teaching now given, was not sufficiently concentrated and vocational. Domestic wcTk, she said, had always been looked upon' f-s unskilled, and until lately illpaid, and, in the case of married women, unpaid. The work had been described as the "Cinderella" of the professions. Women were supposed to ur.dersta.nd domestic work by instinct, and supposed to pick it up as they went along. "We have wemen," she eontnued. "who enter upon married life and openly boast that they know nothing of domestic matters. We want it to be realised that cooking is nothing but applied chemistry, and that scrubbing and scouring are nothing less than the science of hygiene put into practice. We hope the time will come when we shall see established in our ■Universities a domestic science tripos. Th;-.t is a dream, bub we hope it will not always be a dream. A\ e should clothe the domestic in a garment of honcur and show what she is, not a drudge, but a princess." (Cheers.) Miss Mary Tudor said that when there was domestic inefficiency in a poor home the woman was stated to be a bad manager. When the rich woman was ignorant of domestic knowledge she was a woman of artistic temperament. Advice to Migration Societies. The resdution was seconded by Mrs Fotliergill, whose opening sentence, that the conference 'had reached its most important question, was greeted with warm applause. Inefficient domestic wctl-c was, she said, affecting the whole nation, for England was built upon its homes. What was now wanted was a. better class of young woman to enter upon the work, for that would bring about a sense of colleagueship between the mistress and the maid. At Brighton, as Miss Basden pointed out, the educational authorities had established a high standard of training, and. as she reminded her hearers, the University cf London had established a course at King's College women's branch that fulfils the most advanced requirements. A new and interesting note was struck by Mrs B. James (Aijstralia). "We find," she said, "that the girls who come out from England are deplorably ignorant of household work. Cculd you not get your overseas settlement and emigration societies to put them' through some good practical training before you send them to us?" Miss Basden, a Brighton medical worker, urged the institution of a. national scheme for examination in domestic science and the same status for the "profession" as for nursing and teaching.

The resolution was carried by a large majority.