College of Housecraft.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 25, 19 June 1912, Page 60

College of Housecraft.

VERY FEW WOMEN ARE .BORN HOUSEKEEPERS. LONDON, April 25. St. Martha's College of Housecraft at Chichester street, St. George’s Square, London, is the small beginning of what may develop into a very useful and important scheme. It aims at helping gentlewomen who require a short practical and inexpensive training in housework, either for managing their own houses or with a view to taking up the teaching of domestic science as a profession. There is a demand for educated domestic workers which is in excess of the supply, and the training given here is both theoretical and practical. THE DULL SIDE OF DOMESTICITY. Of course, nobody, man or woman, wants to have anything but a comfortable, well ordered home; and, further, one managed on thoroughly economical principles, but your domesticated woman too often sinks to the level of a household drudge, with neither leisure nor interests outside her home. That should not be necessary, and it is a help in this direction that the sort of training which can be got at an institution like St. Martha’s College comes in. The house is not a very large one, but it is run on the usual lines of a well-to-do family, who live in comparative luxury, having everything done for them by welltrained servants. The servants in this ease are the students, the work of the house being divided up "between them, the amount of time they spend in each department depnding upon the length of their stay in the college. The full course is six months, which is not too long, all told, for what there is to be learnt about efficient housekeeping. The average woman is not a born housekeeper. She only does housework because it is there and has got to be done, and not because she has any special aptitude for it. THE COMPLETE HOUSEMAID. Students on entering St. Martha’s College are put at first to the routine of housework. They get up every morning at half past six, and get the house ready for the family, so to speak. If they do not know how to scrub and sweep properly they are shown how it ought to be done; further, how to turn out rooms for the daily or weekly cleaning, and for that which is technically known as “spring cleaning.” Then, of course, there are the gentle arts of blacking stoves, cleaning marble and also mirror surfaces, polishing brass, which they are not only required to do, but are also expected to make their own polishes and pastes from recipes given to them. The duties of parlourmaids come next. The students lay the table for meals, and, of course, have to keep the napery, silver and glass in proper condition. They also are responsible for the arrangement of the flowers. Then there are doors to be "answered,” visitors to be ushered in and out, and “afternoon tea” to be brought up and later cleared away again. Throughout the course of housework, and indeed this is true of the whole training, a strong point is made of a saving of labour being effeeted wh inever it can be done, and the most direct methods for obtaining good results being employed. It is just that, of course, which makes all the difference between skilled and unskilled labour. IN THE KITCHEN. Cookery comes next, and here nothing elaborate is attempted. No fancy dishes or French pastry or anything of that sort. AH the cooking of meals for the students and staff is done by students, who draw up the menus themselves, and quite plain dishes are all that they do. They have to know their stoves properly, however, and clean them, and, of course, there are the pots and pans to be looked after and the kitchen itself to be kept clean, so that the cooks have quite a busy time of it, Bread-making is taught, and cake-making, and they also do all the jams, pickles, and so forth for the “family.” The kitchen course is. a very thorough one, and it would be easy afterwards for anyone who wants to do something more special to attend demonstrations and more advanced classes elsewhere. The marketing, is, of course, done by the students. It generally comes under the duties of the houeeworkere, and a knowledge of prices is, of course, very essential. The third course is that of laundry work. Washing, starching and ixumug are taught, and the waehiug of

woollens, silks, and lace. Also the removal of stains. Large rooms in the basement are devoted to this, but washing of large articles such as sheets and so forth is not included. The object is more that the students shall know enough to keep the laundry bill down, for to do all the washing at home is barely practicable. MENDING FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. This very important item in housecraft receives a great deal of attention. When all is said and done mending, patching, and darning are extremely difficult to do well, and take a great deal of time. But the wear and tear in a house is extremely great, and to be able to keep things going by the necessary stitch in time is to make them last very much longer. But there are not many places where one can learn repairing of this sort. At St. Martha’s College a great point is made of it, for just the very reason that so few people know how to do it well; or, if they do, they are inclined sometimes to spend more time over it than the article in question is perhaps worth. As in the cookery class, nothing elaborate is required of students. No fancy stitches. But they learn how to deal with the hundred and one odd things which get out of order in one's house. It is very useful, for instance, to be able to retuft a mattress when the buttons have eome out, and the stitches undone, and all the hair or fibre is getting into lumps. Upholstery also, is taught, there is always a good, deal of that required in a house, and one might save many a long bill if one could do >t oneself. LECTURES AND DEMONSTRATIONS. That is the practical course of housecraft at St. Martha's. The students pass from one to the other as soon as they have become proficient, and when they have been through every branch they work in them week about, so as to be as fully practised in everything as possible. But all the time is not devoted to the practical side. The theory of keeping house is not forgotten, and there are afternoon classes which the students are required to attend when lectures ami demonstrations are given. The principal of St. Martha's is Miss Marguerite Fctden, who is the author of several very useful little books on household manage meuL

on certain days of the' week, but the main principle on which it is going to be worked is that when eases of consumption come under notice, the doctors and nurses will visit the houses of the infected with a view to doing what they can to prevent the spread of the disease. It is hoped that they will be able to do a good deal towards effecting cures by advising on hygiene in the homes and diet and so forth. From this, it is confidently hoped that much good will result. WOMEN ON THE BOARD OF GUARDIANS. At Brentford, near London, the chairman of the Union Board of Guardians for the .past year has been Miss L. D. Ellis, of Bedford Park. She is the oldest member of the Board, and her services in the past year have been so much appreciated that she has been re-elected chairman for the second time. Hendon has a woman viee-chairman for the Board of Guardians. This is Mrs. Alfred Smart, whose election is just announced. Mrs. Smart did not miss a single meeting of the Board all last year. CARNEGIE FUND FOR HEROINES. A little Liverpool girl named Jessie Chalk, aged twelve, was presented with a watch by the Carnegie Hero Trust Fund this week for saving two children from being run over by a runaway horse. Mrs Annie Davidson, of Hurworth, Darlington, was awarded at the same time .£5 and 15/ weekly for eight weeks for bravely rescuing a little child from drowning. A DUKE’S TRIBUTE TO LADY GUARDIANS. On being re-elected chairman of the Bakewell Guardians last week, the Duke of Devonshire paid a tribute to the excellent work done by lady guardians and heartily welcomed Mrs Sharpe, of Darier Dale, the first lady member oi luS board. Miss S. M. Since, of Bedford Park, who was the first lady member of Acton District Council has been elected chairman of it* Public Health and Isolation Hospital Committee. UNPLEASANT FOR THE AMBASBADRbkSS. Mme. Bakhmetieff, wife of the Russian Ambassador to America, and Mme. Vasadieff, wifo vl Uni Kuioiau Naval At-

tache, had an unpleasant experience tliai other day. They went from Washington to Baltimore to attend the Easter service in the orthodox Russian Church there, and afterwards dined in the public restaurant of the Hotel Belvedere. Of course all Russian ladies smoke, but when they lighted up and began to smoke with their -coffee there was a sensation in: the room, and the manager was fetched, who courteously explained to them that it was not the custom for ladies to smoke in the restaurant, and offered them a private room. The ladies accepted the situation gracefully, and after bowing coldly to the manager, left immediately, refusing the offer of a private room. The manager of the Belvedere has explained that no other eourse twas open to him as the ifeeling in America is so strongly against women smoking in public. CHANGE IN CORSET LINES. Corsets may undergo quite a change. For some time the tendency has been to leave to the figure its natural dimensions, giving more suppleness to the •bearing. Women anxious to follow the fashion seek more and more to find the lines of the antique statue. The breast is quite low, and there is no objection to a certain thickness across the waist, provided the hips are absolutely flat. To obtain this “silhouette,” it is necessary to wear a very moderately-boned silk jersey corset. But certainly a strict diet and close attention to weight are" the mediums through which the modern woman, wiser and more “coquette” than her sisters in the past, can triumph over age and embonpoint. THE INEVITABLE ROSE That completes every costume we weaC nowadays, has gone through many transformations. We see her in every shade of the rainbow, in every sort of material, from velvet to tulle. Sometimes she sparkles with gold or gems, or modestly, hides under a veiling of chiffon. Sometimes she is large as a cabbage, nt' other times as small as a field daisySomeone has been inspired to make het! in fine white lace, and I pictured her adding just the right touch to a black! velvet or ninon dress. Or, again, In" black, gold, or silver lace, she complete a dress of diaphanous material on which a silk or velvet rose would be too heavjr. *