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WOMAN'S WORLD

♦Continued from page 2.) Domestic Follies. The "Contemporary Review" for January contains an article by Miss Clementina Black, wlio 13 an authority ou women's .questions, dealing with the very large amount of unnecessary work whien women' do in their own homes, Habit, custom, and tradition have imposed upon them much work which is arduous as well as unnecessary. Miss Black entitles her article "Domestic Idiocies," ami the idiocy consists, in each case, of cairns domestic practice or some feature of domestic architecture involves increased work for the woman who ie responsible for keeping the house in order. Not ( all of her idiocies have been perpetuated here, states a writer in the Melbourne "Argus." We do not, for example, indulge in the foolish practice of whitening our doorsteps, to have their purity sullied by the first foosteps, and destroyed by the first shower of rain. Nor are we seriously troubled by the difficulty of .(jetting at water pipes "when severe cold has caused them to burst. Nor-are we afflicted much with "skylights." But the rest of her remarks might apply 'equally well to Australian homes, For our houses arefull of dust traps and inconveniences. To take the "idiocies" in Miss Black's order, we have still, except in new- and expensive houses, the doors, which are placed in the wrong positions and are constructed so as to require -..constant dusting. The grooving of door frames and panels is'a matter to which I have frequently referred, and- I have seldom seen a hou6O in which there was hot one room, _ at! least, with the door in such a position that the family could not enjoy the comforts of the fire in winter, or of the open window in summer. Windows are another constant source of work and worry here, as well as in England. Often badly placed both' for lighting an.l vefitilatiou, they are always difficult to keep clean on account of their ■ fittings. I have never -been able to understand v by it, is considered necessary to rirovide them with sills, which project beyond the level of the wall. Venetian blinds, ngain, are just as difficult to remoyo for cleaning in Australian houses as in Kmrlisli, and I agree with Miss Black that outside, shutters arc much moro satisfactory from every point of view. The subject of floors is one which troubles all of us. There is no ideal floor covering for a house in which, the work has to be done by one woman. In my own opinion a stained floor with loose rugs in about the best arrangement fur rooms in which there is not a great ficul of. traffic; not a highly polished ikor, but one which can be kept in ordjr as many stained and oiled verandah floors are, by the regular 'use of a dustless wop, with 'a very occasional polishing. But fow floors are set close enough for-this plan to be followed. A™ so most Ticople have to fall back upon the cold and ugly linoleum. Cork carpet, which Miss Black approves of, has the disadvantage, of showing ■ footmarks bndly. In fine, the only solution that I. can eee at present of our difficulties about. floors _is to adopt the Ilapallr.se' practice and insist upon every person removing their boots before entering the houso.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19190424.2.6

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 179, 24 April 1919, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
550

WOMAN'S WORLD Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 179, 24 April 1919, Page 3

WOMAN'S WORLD Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 179, 24 April 1919, Page 3

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