American Wives Discover Secret of Banishing Work From Home

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 122, 13 August 1927, Page 24

American Wives Discover Secret of Banishing Work From Home

(Written /or THE SUN by

H. KIRK)

■ T is said that curiosity is a gift God bestowed on women. Be that as it may, I found when I returned from America that my observations there enabled me to give advice to inquiring friends. Many questions were asked regarding laboursaving in the home, and that is my text to-day. Our proximity to America, which so many ot us visit nowadays, and America’s influence through the cinema, books, and magazines, incline us to adopt the methods of building and furnishing in vogue there, while our climate, at its best, resembles California, and the ways of living there are suitable to ours. Many of the devices I mention are in use in our more expensive homes, but they are in general use in America in the small homes, and our housewives would be happier, less wearied folk, if they were generally adopted here. When one is building even a very modest home, the initial cost in installing gome, or even many, of these conveniences is small in comparison to the comfort derived. I have sometimes thought that the force expended daily in cleaning even the bathroom would in a year supply a woman with enough energy to master the '‘differential calculus,” and in a slightly longer time to become proficient in lone-flying the Tasman Sea. The first house I visited was a small but charming bungalow in Honolulu. Labour is easily procured there, as Chinese boys are only too willing to give their services before and after college hours, but the house was, nevertheless, equipped to save even the minimum of effort. My attention was immediately drawn to the floor, which was of wood, stained and polished a cheerful colour, almost orange. This was a pleasing contrast to our habit of using dark stain, and was not only attractive, but would certainly not show much dust. I noticed that the angle between the skirting board and the floor was fitted with a curved metal strip, so that thfere was no sign of the dirty, unhealthy dust-trap we suffer. The floor was so laid that even a persevering person would have found it difficult to insert a pin between the joints, which were almost impercepitle. How different from most of our floors, where the boards may buckle, and will certainly in time open, and the cracks fill with dust, so that in spite of broom and electric vacuums the housewife wages a constant war with the dust which rises at every step. I found on inquiry that the timber is kiln-dried, and this practice is not yet in vogue here, though the timber is imported, and is procurable at a very small extra cost. The windows, wide and airy, were provided with blinds, whose rollers were attached to the bottom and not the top of the sash, the cord running through a ring at the top, and hanging down. Thus, by raising the blind to half its length j or even more, one was screened from! observation, and yet had light and shade without entirely excluding the air. And let me say here that when a house is built for sale, the floors are' stained and polished, coverings for kitchen and blinds throughout are provided, while paths are laid down, and the garden put in order. Many houses are provided with screen doors and windows, in the latter the screens being so arranged as to slide into the walls, or to run upon a roller when not required. i

I was in California in summer, and there I noticed that coloured canvas canopies over the windows were much in evidence, these being not only very convenient, but decidedly attractive, and, unlike our permanent wooden ones, could be removed when the passing of summer terminated their usefulness. Where wooden casements are in use, leaks in the windows which cause us so much heartburning are prevented by interlocking strips of metal, which exclude not only storm, but also draughts. The bathroom iu America is a fascinating place. The basin is of the pedestal type, hiding the unsightly plumbing which needs constant dusting. The porcelain bath has what I,

believe is technically called an apron of the same material extending to the floor, so that it appears to be a large china box minus a lid. These are to be seen here now in all the hardware stores, and in time will, I am sure, be used in every home. Both the bath and the basin can be wiped out in a few minutes, and do away with the need for ignominious crawling beneath to dry up the overflow that the Head of the House has caused in his exuberant splashing. The taps for both bath and sink are innovations. Hot and cold water enter a box or receptacle of some sort, hidden by the plumber from view, at the temperature required, and this condition is determined by turning controls such as we have attached to our taps. The water enters from the bottom of the bath or sink, and thus splashing is eliminated. Instead of having to use an exasperating plug, which delights in coming out at the wrong time. I found the opening of the waste pipe was operated by pushing a knob set above the basin or sink, thus raising a metal plug, which falls into position and closes the pipe when the knob is released. The kitchen is small, but so arranged that the housewife takes the minimum number of steps in moving about to prepare a meal. The stove is usually an electric one, but I saw some excellently equipped gas stoves in use. Honolulu homes, of course, need no heating, but many of the American homes are centrally heated from a furnace in the basement, which is

also the destructor, and thus the house is provided with a continuous supply of hot water, the air is kept at an even temperature, and dusty fires are no more, while the basement is used as a laundry, and clothes are dried there instead of having backyard treatment. But, to do justice to central heating, which intrigued me greatly, I would need to write another article. Returning to our Honolulu kitchen, the small sink is set into a bench, the back of which is tiled, the top consisting of slabs of marble. This continuous surface is an improvement on the bench of tiles. Above are many cupboards, one narrow little one being reserved for spices alone. Below are well-balanced flour and sugar bins. A wooden slide pulls out from beneath the bench, and is used as a cutting block. A hinged flap, which serves as a table, is attached to one wall. There is a cupboard that hides unsightly brooms from view, and another from which the hinged ironing-board and electric iron emerge. A pilot light Is attached to the iron point, a

device which insurance companies would find to their advantage to insist upon having installed here. It lessens the danger of fires caused by leaving the iron turned on. The kitchen dresser communicates directly with the sideboard in the .dining room, so that one fills a drawer in the kitchen with cutlery, or a cupboard with china, and on going through to the dining room pulls out the same drawer or opens the same cupboard. In some homes, particularly small ones, a circular revolving cupboard, instead of a dresser, is in use. Standing between the two rooms, this cupboard is divided into four compartments, and is abundantly fitted with shelves. On the sink is a wire cage contrivance for draining dishes, a device more easily cleaned than a plate rack; and by the sink is a tall swivel stool on which the housewife may sit during Lighting points are liberally used through the house, and instead of being placed in the centre of the room, as they are here, so that they throw a perpetual shadow ahead of one, these are placed to serve to the utmost advantage—over the sink, the stove, the bathroom basin, and always over the dressing tables. A device I noticed in one home was a shoot for soiled linen, leading down to the laundry, and it saved one plodding downstairs with arms full of garments, some of which always elude one’s grasp, and remain in embarrassing exposure ou the stairs or in the front hall. A small lift is sometimes used for the same purpose, hut is more costly.