FIRST AID TO THE SERVANTLESS.•
MRS. J. G. FRAZER, who writes this book, gives an appalling- picture of the lot of the unfortunate housewife who tries to
keep one small servant. But the feeling of most women who read her book will be that the lot of the woman who tries to do her own work on the scale proposed by Mrs. Frazer will be an even harder one. Surely the work as arranged by the author- is on too ambitious a scale for one pair of hands. Even, granted the absolute and untiring efficacy of all the labour- saving devices recommended by the author, there seems very- little leisure left during which the working lady of the house- can call her soul her own. And here let it be said that though, as the author opines, critics are usually men, and though the editor of this journal is a man, he is much too- astute to confide the reviewing of this book to anyone but a. female member of his staff, and therefore the present writer is- by no means ignorant of her subject.
The fault of the book seems to be that, as hinted above,' the house of the servantless lady is apt to be too large. If._ one person is to do the whole of the cleaning, a house on us smaller scale would be better than the house as planned by the author, and it would be very difficult for the standard, of comfort to be so high as that indicated. For instance, a person who had all the beds, all the cooking, and all the cleaning to do would hardly have time to arrange flowers for the dinner-table, and the meals should be much simplified if_ the servantless lady is to have any leisure at all.
With regard to the labour-saving devices, they should be- recommended to every housewife, whether she has servants.. or no, for time spent in discovering and maintaining labour- saving devices for the benefit, of a domestic staff is time very well spent indeed, and the said staff, whether consisting ofi one unit or of the servants necessary for a large Louse, be grateful to find that no unnecessary labour is asked front• them and that their comfort is considered.
• First Aid to the Serrantlets. By Mrs. J. G. Frazer. Canitridge : W. Hefter• and Sons. [18. net.]
The book contains an entrancing account of a machine called the "Dreadnought" Dish Washer, which apparently not only washes, rinses, and dries plates, dishes, cups, knives, forks, and spoons, but scrubs "out pots and pans, and all that in a trice by the aid of boiling water and soap-powder." Then there is another charming object called the " Semco Boot Cleaner," and there are many hints as to other delightful devices for helping the housewife. But it should be remembered that no mechanical device in this world, from a motor-car downwards, is ever always just ready to do its work. Machines, like human beings, want constant attention and cleaning, and many hours can be easily wasted by trying to find out just the one little thing which is preventing a given machine from doing its work.
Mrs. Frazer very properly praises the use of a gas circulator for the hot-water supply of the house, and recommends the gas being kept on ever so little at night. The present writer possesses the circulator mentioned by the author, which turns itself off to a point of light when the water is at a given temperature. But it must be confessed that even that point of light gets through a good deal of gas. A most useful list of all the apparatus recommended is to be found on the page before the index, and altogether the little manual is a fund of information to the young housekeeper, whether she intends to do without a servant or not.
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