THE HOUSEKEEPER ABROAD

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 69

THE HOUSEKEEPER ABROAD

Xo. IV.— IX ITALY. In studying the expenses and household management, of the Italian housekeeper ; much the &ame points of contrast -with English domestic life, means, and methods present themselves as in the case of the French housekeeper. Italians who are conversant with English life epitomise the difference in a witty sentence, '".Everything costs less there, but one spends much more.-' I That is why an income which to an English family is merely comfortable would be to an Italian family of the same ( social standing an actual fortune. The style of living is so simple as to reduce both wants and desires to a limit incomprehensible to us. who move through life burdened, like Martha, with many } things. Under these circumstances, ''tKft necessity, and even the opportunity, for large outlay is smaller, especially in the middle and working classes. Less is expected of them, and indeed the well-known frugality and simplicity of the Italian people make them less inclined to spend money on luxuries, and more disposed to save and inv-est any superfluous means." After discussing the difficulty of selecting an average typical income for comparison, because of the immense difference in the prosperity of varying parts of Italy, the writer of the article before me selects the case of a professional man residing in Florence, and possessing an income of £400 a year. The family numbers six — father, mother, and four children ; and their mode of life and average of expenditure may be accepted as typical of the piofessional and official classes of gentlefolk, who, with few exceptions, do nou mix with that ".smart society" v here alone entertaining to any extent is done. Thus in our typical hou-ehold a dinner paity, or even a '"reception." will be a very rare event ; the sigr.oi.i'b day at home and the family festival days constituting the regular routine of household gaiety. On the other hand, the out-door amusements of the Italian family include a good deal of theiitie-going — in fact, they will go to thr theatre more often th m an English family with a much larger income, for piices are delightfully cheap, and even if the expense of a cab or 'bus is added, the? charges are also low. So far as peivnut- are conurned. our family will on'y keep one. who, known in Italy as the "cook." -n ould come under om comprehensive definition of "a general.'' Her wages .ire hum 12* to £>1 per •nonih, ond the "me/zo seiir/.i0." or cliavviom ai, a\ ho comes in perhaps for an hour or two each (L\v, or it may be only two or throe times a week, will cost al-ou^ 8s per month. Oood seiv.ints are stiltobtainable in Italy, even by people of moderate -means. What a blissful vista that little sentence opens to our incessantly woiried experience ! Read on, and wish you were in Italy ! '"Good Italian servants are the best in the world, for no otfxers

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>"kow so much consideration for their masters, for whom they often entertain s genuine affection. They have no high and mighty airs, they do not 'give notice' if asked to do some work not strictly •within their province, nor do they continually change their situations." One jnust, however, read this sentence also: — "Italian servants are less neat and tidy than English ones, and the appearance of Ihe house is therefore less attractive.''

JScrw, as to the house itself, and its tental. It is more usual for such a family as we are describing to inhabit a flat rather than a separate house. Rents do not vary so much according to situation as in English towns ; even in the most aristocratic quarters cheap apartment- are to be found, for a sufficient reason. In many instances the same house is occupied on the first and second floors by very rich families, while the basements and .garrets are let in lodgings to ths verypoor. Therefore it is quite impossible to guess th* social position of an Italian iaxnily. as we do, from their address. A fiat of 10 or 12 rooms, including hall, kitchen, and ofaces, will cost about £48 per annum, on tin 1 thiid or fouith floor of a largp ho'jse. or a ground floor of a •smaller one, prd in this latter case a little jblt of garden may often be included. c 'lhe rooms in such flats are larger .<nd moie airy than those of a London house costing £150 a ye.u\ and far larger than those oi a Sat of £200 or £250 in a moderate 1 , y £ood situation. On tlie other i iii.d. surh. jmart:nci.ts rre usually unprovided w)th modern convenipnees — thrre is no b-\th-

room, no hot water taps except in the kitchen, the stairs are badly kept and illlightsd, and ther. is little attempt at tasteful decoration, unless the house is one of those old ones whose walls are frescoed.

But our little picture of Italian domestic management is but shadowy and vague until we get a slight idea of the daily bill of fare, for it is the kitchen expenses and routine that are so useful in 'ndicating general expenses all the world over. Is it not so? Much that has been said in regard to French housekeeping and cooking applies, as may well be understood, to Italian households. As in France, only two regular meals are arranged fcr in Italian households of all classes. Breakfast is merely — breaking the fast — with a cup of coffee and perhaps a bit of tread and butter, or a roll. Xunch is a regular meal, which includes an entree, meat course, and fruit or cheese, or both, according to nvans. "Afternoon tea," an innovation, is only indulged in by the Mgliest social clasi-es, or those who, having English connections, have learnt the habit from them. Late dinner consists of soup, two courses, cheese, and fruit. Sugar being very heavily taxed renders jam puddings and cakes * luxuries. Thus pudding is only served once or twice a week at dinner, unless guests art present. Wine is drunk ot luncheon and dinner, and fince it only cosls from sixpence to onj shilling and threepence lorn flask containing nearly five pint?, cv.n scarcely be considered an cxtrav • :>anre ; even good -nine is very eiivp in It \ly o

Education is not a costly item, being largely under State control, and the cost of instruction is f-r.iall.

Fuel is not a large detail in the household budget, for among the middle classes fires are rarely lit save in the kitehep. Xot that they are not needed (from our English point of -\ iew) for comfort's sake, but because Italians, like French people, arc peculiarly hardy as regards cold in the home, thoa^h sensitive to it ont ol doors. If the day is very cold or anyone is unwell, a fire is lit in the living rooms, but recourse is usually had to the "scaldini, ' or earthenware vessels, filled ■with embers.

The toilette is not so import ont an item with the Italian lady as with her French sister, and from the figures given ie would appear that Italian men are content with peculiarly small mercies in the ■way of tailoring, as the following sentence indicates : ''A man can get a decent suit of clothes for 40 or 50 lire (32s to 40s) !" As this remark is made in discussing the income of the average professional man or official whose household budget we have been considering, we must assume that such a suit would be considered good enough for his position.

As to the" expenses of an average household in the working classes, a few words must serve to gire an idea of the frugal lines on which they are planned, for to go into the matter in any detail would involve far more space than I have at command, owing to the widely different conditions obtaining among the several classes of the peasantry. The household budget of a labourer rather than an artisan is selected because, ''in spite ot the great progress achieved by Italian manufacturers during the last few years, and the increasing number of factories, especially in Northern Italy, agriculture is still by far the most important industry of the country, and employs the greatest number of hands." There is a kind ot system called "metairie" prevalent among farmer-landlords and tenants in various parts of Italy, which, for sake of brevity, I shall describe as somewhat on co-opera-tive lines, landlord and tenant sharing expenses and profits according to a certain well-defined system. It is the household budget of such a farm tenant ana labourer that we will now glance at, contrasting it, so far as is possible, with the budget of a farm labourer in New Zealand. In the case detailed by the Cornhill Magazine writer, the little farm forms part of a moderate estate in Central Italy, and the family consists of father, mother, two children old enough to help in the work, and two younger ones. They occupy a house, comfortable and roomy enough, where the furniture, if scanty and simple, is clean and sufficient, and the outbuildings include, beside the stable and sheds for the farm cattle, a vathouse for vine-pressing. The homestead will probably be situated amid cultivated fields, on some pleasa,nt hillside, bathed in sunlight, and near at hand will be a small orchard and garden. The total income of the family, even including the extra wages which the man may earn by special work, and the little sums earned by his wife -in straw-plaiting, etc., does not exceed £48 per annum. But we must remember that in this "metairie" system there is no rent to pay, and the landlord is charged with all necessary repairs ; so the important part of the expenditux-e comes under the heading of food.

Very little meat is eaten in a peasant's family of this description. The principal food consists of wheaten bread and maize bread, — which last is called ''polenta"— eaten with a simple relish, or "companatico,"' such as sardines, anchovies, or some meat gravy. Meat itself is only ealen about twice a week, and is usually pork in some form, fresh or cured. A thin, poor, red wine is the week-day drink, but on Sundays and feast days wine ot a better quality marks the enjoyment ol simple luxury. The peasant's hours ot work are long ; he breaks them with a larger number of meals than the town dweller, though such meals are small. A light breakfast of bread and cheese, with perhaps some vegetables ; a midday dinner of maize bread and ''miiiestra,*' a sort of omnium gatherum soup, to which lentils, pulse, and a tiny morsel ot bacon give flavour, and more bread and cheese. The afternoon meal is 3 repetition of breakfast fare, and supper much the same as dinner, bub less substantial. Altogether, the food bills of this family of six persons will amount to about £2? per annum — more than half the total income. As to fuel, even greater economy must be exercised by the peasants than the gentry, and we have seen how little they patronise fires. Thus we read that "in the uplands of Tuscany and on the north side of the Appenines, where the winter is very severe, the evenings are usually spent in the stables for the sake of warmth, without the expense of lighting a fire. Other items of household expenditure are so frugally ordered that clothes, boots, washing, and house linen, all being accounted for, bring; the anniyil expense up to only £38 or £40, leaving a sum of £8 for "luxuries, amusements, and savings'' ! Another budget — that of a, mere day labourer, whose earnings are much smaller — is also given, and the year's come, on which the father, mother, and three children are to be supported, only amounts to £23 8s 9d, "of which £2 8s 9d is derived fiom presents. Xor is this the very ebb tide of decent labour, for we are told that large numbers of Italian labourers, able and willing to work, never have the opportunity of earning even as much as this. Is there any need to point the contrast with our own wage earners? "The paradise of the working man" is no stretch of imagery surely when applied to New Zealand ! —In tho anthills of South Africa have been found suspension bridges, passing from one gallery to another, and spanning a tjjßoe nxn.e than 6ia wide.