GIRL OF FUTURE WILL BE TRAINED HOME-MAKER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18000, 10 November 1926, Page 13

GIRL OF FUTURE WILL BE TRAINED HOME-MAKER.

One of the greatest demands of the day is for efficiency—efficiency in public service, in government, in business, in education, and in the home. To-day men and women who want to succeed simply have to be efficient,,

for there is no room for the incompetent and the inefficient. With the labour market so overcrowded there is little chance for the man or woman who does not know how to do something really well. There is special need for efficiency in the home. High costs and low wages make economy essential, and the woman who wants to run her home successfully on as little money as possible needs to be thoroughly competent. She must understand food values, be a clever cook, know how to rear children properly, understand the duties of housekeeping and shopping, realise the value of fresh air, sunlight, and cleanliness in the home, and it will also help if she knows a little about dressmaking. All these capabilities in one woman! It seems a lot to expect, and yet, when one looks around one, how many women there are who combine all these gifts in one quite ordinary personality! In the future housekeeping and home-making will be looked upon as a career, and girls will train for it as to-day they train for nursing or teaching. The status of domestic work is being raised, and girls who are wise'and who have a liking for the work of a house will seriously consider it when they are deciding for what work they will prepare. It is one of the few careers in which the demand is greater than the supply, and, as fresh homes are being made every day, there is an increasing call for the skilled domestic worker. A BATHROOM ECONOMY. Those who make use of a wire soapshaker in the kitchen will find it an equally useful and economical article in the bathroom. The small pieces of soap which are constantly accumulating there to the annoyance of everyone may be stored at once in the shaker. An inconspicuous place should be found for hanging it near the tub. When the latter is filled for the bath, a few swishes of the shaker through the water will produce a quick suds. No least bit of soap will ever be ■wasted in the bathroom if this plan is followed. PRESERVING THE POLISH. It is the modern way to dispense with mats and (runners and place bowls and ornaments direct upon the polished wood of table or sideboard. Unless the wood is protected with plate glass, the polish is rather apt to get scratched in contact with metal and earthenware. A simple and inexpensive way out of the difficulty is to glue to the bottom ’of each article a piece of felt or baize. It should be cut to size and affixed with tube glue, which is clean to use and needs no heating. Even though the furniture be glass covered, the felt is still advisable, as it makes for quietness. DO YOU KNOW That a chamois leather that has been dipped in paraffin is far more efficacious for removing finger-marks from the doors than soap and water. Use it for any paint cleaning. INDOOR PLANTS. Indoor plants arc often rather neglected, in the summer. They may be placed in too hot sunshine, or left in a closed house for a few days. If they droop and appear in a bad condition, put a teaspoonful of sal volatile to eve/y quart of the water used for watering them. This will revive plants that seem almost dead, and is also beneficial to all plants needing a tonic. TO CLEAN ROLLER BLINDS. Light coloured blinds should be well brushed, rubbed with flannel or bread, and have any stains removed with a paste of fuller's earth and French chalk. Linen blinds can be cleaned also with flour and water dough. Blue, green or dark red blinds should be sponged lightly with bran water and wiped quickly with a clean cloth.