FEMALE EDUCATION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 92, 20 April 1877, Page 4

FEMALE EDUCATION.

; . (Christchurch Press). ti . i Female educauon in CSanterbqry wilj soon be more on a level with that pro*; vided .for, boys. „The? Girls' High School so long talked of wilj sopnrbe a j reality. An : advertisement has appeared 2 invitipg, applications for the post of Lady Principal, and the ■course of instruction, haa been decided on. We are glad to find so homely a thing as cookery included -in the currir • v ealuni^ *; : We ; hope thia very sbnaible step on the part of the Governors will please tbe parents, and be productive pfj&Ppd.f^oUs. : TJ^or our own part we great things from i.t. f . We look * "fbr ward to the time when, nnder the iufiuence of the Professors of ii either ar t^~th c maitres de iphiloftphw -i and the maitres de cuisine,' — the girl h of the period will, be as accomplished in the kitchen aa in the drawing-room— j* able to turn an epigram or a roast j^with equal adroitaese,, and as niuch at : home .o^6^ a copy oi Latin verses as in ''the making^ of ah apple-pie. It i$ 3t; e_rioaß *^hat in this age of woman's rights, and general advanced opportunities for mental culture, there is also •7a desire to encourage the old fashioned housewifery duties. The popular lecf t Qfsres at South: Kensington on cooking were -attended; '--by- .thousands of woraeq of women .o.f.all^ranks. *Most;pf the large towns in England have schools of cookery, and the practice of the art .has •"'been made easy to many who Would never have learnt from fjook-a alone^ But in' tlie case of the Girla' High .School we venture to make one suggest t ,{ion The utility of the lessons will be :; greatly increased by the addition of a f little practical work. It will no doubt be found convenient to provide refreshment at the school for those pupils who live at some little distance, too fatto alio-* of their going home during the mid-day recess ; and why should not rj jthe, meal, be, served up, by the pupil^ ? What we propose is (hat luncheon should * be cooked dsily, By a .'-•certain numberof 1 schools in rotation, c r fbr4he benefit of all who may -wis¥tb On partake of: it oh payment of a:sm'a(l Xfi.weekiy-r/epi .The fair cooks.wilt-tiik'e much -/pore, interest-in preparingiacstual food meant to be-eaten, than in merely i?) experimental leesoos in CQoking;v Anil besides their work wiil be subject to an 161 practicftl iests and this in » mapner.thaD which nothing could b|e btitier adapted to encourage a whol-i---some coaipetition. The young ladi^ .Yj?h'o.-78ife. Uqwu.' to iahlewill .beicapitsi of tbe fare placed before them, '-anl" their '.critical remhrkf?, which 'w;*may be sure wijl ...be volunteered with o', itfco'OßOSt emphaiic fraLikness, will pro 0 : npunce a .^erdict on each day's perfproiMiance.: The concoctor of a savory: disjb t"-v will be rewarded with universal ap> T pUusej while a less fortunate -artist, r ;*;;wriose efforts, like those of the : fine \,jf4yZ}n Yunity Fair,, have produce[j EE.Ouly ."a nsoat abominable pie," will be as unanimously derided, and .may '" even, in an extreme case, be sentenced. >. to., the dreadful penalty of -having to /: ; eat it herself. . Another useful result Pf • ' the proposed lessons is tbe diffusion df nt a sound, knowledge of the principles of l " cooking. Ladies will not need to be io dependent as heretofore on the mystic-f-f cally vague directions of the oookery books. We bave no doubt many ladies' can remember tbe helpless slate of despair into which they have been thrown by such directions as the following" :4- --" Cut the butter into the flour, add the sugar and. the carra ways, pour. in the brandy and the milk." Well, what then ? And what is to be the limit of X- these operations ? How much butter is she to cut into how much flour ? and how long is ehe to go on pouring iv 4 l brandy, and-'nulk ? ; And what will it <C b. ( ? ; wben_done F-r-asoup, or astew, or „ a r tipsy cake ? Surely, not biscuits, as *! ihe" book pretends. The attempt io '' follow such inatructiona as these must have been enough- to "turn her hair grey and her wits astray," like poor ' Mrs Wragge's, while trying to master ..the receipe for the famous omelette. ' " Beat up two eggs with a little water •'■•' or milk, salt, pepper, chives and pars- '; ley. ;* Mince small. "There! mince small ! How am Ito mince small wbein -ih it's all. mixed up and running?!" -'"•-"Boil,* but not brown." "If it '7 ' mustn't be brown, what color must it be ? She won't tell me. She expects , ..meto. know, and I don't!" Exactly < ,: so. The compiler of a cookery book always doea expect you to know; and 7 the majority of womankind, like Mrs > WregKje, don't. There are exceptions,. -' of course. We do not suppose, indee-i, that many women in Canterbury are so ... ignorant of how to prepnre a meal as in -! the eady days, and young ladies have •■often to assist in the kitchen. But if fSU they can get good instruction in °the womanly art of cooking during the ' ordinary school course, they will be better abie to do so with comfort fo — thiimselves and aatisfaciion to their ••■'■frisosh**. At any rule, even if the high school does not give more tban a rudi..meatary knowledge of cooking, few of our girls will be so misguide-l aa to jriske iniofc sauce " with parslt-y, of . coufso," hks the coniplacenfly iguorant young bridb Mr Punch haß itnmortslised.