WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1915. HOUSECRAFT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 19 May 1915, Page 4

WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1915. HOUSECRAFT.

Without housecraft, civilisation would indeed be a failure, and the world little better thai* a wilderness. It is true that this might me said of other things, but not more truly than of housecraft, which is therefore indispensable, not only to the ideal happiness of men and women and the health of children, but to the ordinary comfort of the world. It is not often enough spoken of by the name here given to it, but much too frequently as domestic science or domestic economy. These interchangeable terms probably puzzle some people, as indicating things that are very hard to understand, yet they merely mean housecraft, and housecraft just means the due fulfilment of domestic duties—of course with knowledge, with good sense, and good taste. In writing on the subject in an Australian newspaper a well-informed writer says -that to increase efficiency, to eliminate waste, to cause routine to run like clockwork without one nerve-destroy-ing hitch, to. be cognisant of every matter affecting family comfort and family well-being; this is the aim of domestic science, or, to call it by its proper and shorter name, "economy"—

fcr economy means literally "house management and nothing else. The

same writet KibserTe* that'it was cjice 1 considered « mark of intellectual superiority to care nothing for house, agement. Now women «re tak jig to it with. the zest' that belongs Ao' doing ' the correct filing. An amusing letter from a soldier, lately published, describes the writer (who .was wounded) as eating <fbaoon very well cooked by a lady whose usual occupation is writing excellent In the home also, the bacon is none the worse cooked because the cook is educated, nor does & "light literary touch" necessarily imply a heavy hand with pastry. It is, however; maintained that, housecraft or domestic economy should be treated as an art and notl as a science, because when it is so treated it becomes part and parcel of woman's life, and adds a charm of its own, which nothing else can .impart*.' This aspect is brought out most clearly and forcibly by a letter written for .the London Times weekly edition by that paper's Fashion Contributor in Paris. contributor pens a most appreciative tribute to the genius of the Frenchwoman for making the best and most of the common things around her. Since the war, the Parisian woman has had to practise economy in its straitest and most inconvenient- form. But such is her art: that she manages to be graceful, and to concede nothing to the grim ugliness of poverty as long as she can possibly manage. The little personal daintinesses, so dear to her heart, are the last things ehe will Ist. go, and this not in a eelfish way^ but because of her intense perception of the art of living. Then she is such a manager. "Nothing is wasted," declares the contributor, every crust, every scrap is turned to account. Thp Frenchwoman of whatever rank keeps her children well fed, well clothed, and well-brought up. Both in the city and in the country the women of France to-day are helping to save Europe, because they can so ably,.play their part. The reason of all this efficiency is to be found in the simple statemeni that every Frenchwoman can cook, and every Frenchwoman can sew; which means that, as a rule, Frenchwomen are good housewives, good mothers to their children, and pleasant companions to their husbands, useful and happy in their own lives; and this is the flowerage of domestic economy or housecraft. In crediting Frenchwomen with this supreme accomplishment, .it would, however, be unfair to imply that- the art is not fairly well understood and practised amongst ourselves. It were well, however, to make it the national ideal for all British womenfolk. New Zealand is doing fairly well in this important matter, yet there is occasion for trying to do still better. The Motherland is showing an encouraging example, notwithstanding all the trouble and unsettlenient caused by the war, for a writer in Land and Water states that there is a possibility of lectures and demonstrations being given throughout England en the subject of "The Principles of Household Economy." The lectures will instruct in the art of buying, cooking, and using food, and uill tend towards the prevention of waste in every shape and form. Assistance has been promised by some of the foremost food and cookery experts, who know every detail of the craft from A to Z. There is also to be a wide distribution of literature on the subject. If this plan should be carried out it ought to prove an immense national benefit. To begin with, it raises the status of cookery and house management to an "art" or "craft," and encourages the domestic worker, and brings the true value of hitherto quite "matter of course" work into the light of appreciation. Most girls and women have just absorbed their knowledge of cooking and house -vork from their environments, and if these chance to be unfavorable they probably go through, life working without method and cooking abominably, or passing .it over to someone else who has been better trained. It would be a splendid thing, and quite a streak of silver lining to the ' war cloud, if national coekery and management, classes were to be formed, and all women practically educated to do the very best with their materials, and to eliminate waste altogether. So much poverty, discomfort, and ill health would be avoided that the benefits would be incalculable, and what is here said with respect to England may be said with equal trutu of New Zealand. Few things therefore are so desirable or ro necessary as steady development in the great businesvS of housecraft.