In one of our largest cities I have been shown a large kitchen which had been fitted up next to an employment bureau for the training of partially trained cooks and waitresses. The teacher had been dismissed, the cooking utensils and the range were for sale. “Why?” “Because the ladies would not give their maids any time to come and learn.” I have no doubt that this was true; but there are plenty of ladies who do wish their maids to learn, and if those who have opportunities for improvement will make the most of those opportunities, they will raise the standard of work, and inspire their co-workers who are now willing to stay as they are and let well enough alone.
Useful Suggestions
In order to do any work in the best manner it is necessary that one should be strong and well. To become strong and to keep well some simple rules must be understood and carefully followed. One may be blessed with good health, but no constitution can stand the strain made upon it when the ways and means for preventing fatigue and disease are disregarded.
To keep good health it will be necessary to form carefully and to continue steadily nice habits of personal cleanliness.
Personal cleanliness includes more than keeping the skin and the hair, the nails and the teeth, clean. It includes keeping one’s sleeping-room sweet and fresh, and airing the bed thoroughly every morning. To spread
up a bed a few minutes after one is out of it may give to the room an air of neatness, but it folds into the bedding the close air of the night instead of letting it all go out of the window, to be replaced by the freshness of the morning.
And cleanliness means more than a clean gown and clean collar and cuffs. One of the first things for a waitress to consider is her supply of underclothing. She will see the necessity of fresh print dresses for morning work, and a neat dark costume for afternoons; but she may be thoughtless at first about underclothing. Yet to keep clean, and by keeping clean to promote good health, nothing is more important than to be able to change underclothing whenever she feels the need of doing so. And in clothing, stockings are an important item. It is restful to change shoes, but more restful to change both shoes and stockings. The warm, tired foot is very grateful for the clean, smooth stocking before it begins its rounds about the evening dining-table.
Slippers or low shoes for house wear must be thoroughly comfortable, and shoes for out-of-doors must give a firm support to the feet, and at the same time protect them from the wet and the cold. To buy cheap shoes is not real economy. A shoe to be worth buying should be well made and fit comfortably. Such a shoe will outwear two or three pairs of the cheap ones which are showy but poorly made.
To preserve health it is very important to have a sufficient amount of sleep. Girls sometimes say that they need only a little sleep, and are never tired except just before they get up in the morning. But one ought not to feel tired in the morning just before getting up. Sleep should be long enough to refresh both mind and body, and care should be taken to insure the necessary amount.