1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



57o 



the good wife look as hearty and well kept as the 

 fine horses in the barn? Not by a good deal. The 

 poorest-kept stock on the I'arra was in the kitchen. 

 I was tolling- of this at iiii institute a few montlis 

 after, when a mnii in the audience said: '* Do you 

 not understand all that, Mr. Terry? If one of those 

 horses should die from overwork and poor care, 

 there would be faOO dollars gone. If the wile should 

 die, he could yet another far uothitm." 



I think that was a pretty harsh judgment. I 

 should rather say that such men, in their eagerness 

 and strife to get ahead, have been thoughtless. 

 They do not see these things as an outsider does. 

 They have meant well, but have got a little otf the 

 track. 1 hope every farmer who takes Gr..EANiNOS 

 will eye his wife closely, and see if there are any 

 grounds for saying she is not well kept. I hope he 

 will go into the kitchen, in particular, and see if it 

 is fully up to the times in conveniences and com- 

 forts; and then whenever he visits a friend 1 hope 

 he will look the home over carefully. If there are 

 any little improvements that he hasn't got, may he 

 go home and plan to get them as fast as he can. If 

 his friend's home is lacking in some little things 

 that go to make the work lighter and pleasanter, he 

 might (juietly suggest them to him. Also, he might 

 write to you for publication what he did or what he 

 saw abroad that was valuable, and thus let his light 

 shine to brighten homes, perchance, that he could 

 never otherwise reach. 



This reminds me of some things I saw in a kitchen 

 away up in Evansville, Wis. When at an institute 

 near there I talked to the farmers as much about 

 improving their homes as their crops, so Mr. B. S. 

 Hoxie, a wcll-kuown architect and builder, invited 

 me to see his home. There was one thing that 

 many a farmer's wife sorely needs, and that was a 

 dumb-waiter, as they are called. I do not remem- 

 ber seeing any mention of one in GLEANiNCfs since 

 I have read it. This waiter is simply a long box, 

 say two feet square and six feet long, open on one 

 of the sides, and with shelves in it. It is hung with 

 weights and pulleys, so that it can be let down from 

 the kitchen or j)antry into the cellar, or drawn up, 

 easily. The good wife, after a meal, can draw up 

 the waiter and put on it every thing that needs to 

 go to the cellar, and thus save herself many a wea- 

 ry step. A box of potatoes, the butter, lax-d, etc., 

 can be kept on it so that she need not run down 

 cellar very often. I have seen my wife go down 

 cellar at least half a dozen times while getting a 

 meal and clearing it away. I sometimes think she 

 might plan to take more at once, but it is easier, 

 perhaps, for me to think so than for her to do it. I 

 had never heard of a dumb-waiter, or, at least, not 

 so as to fully understand its value, when we built 

 our bouse, so we did not get one put in. After hav- 

 ing seen them in use in several homes we have de- 

 cided to have one in (jur pantry soon. It is a very 

 simple atl'air. It works just like a sash in a window- 

 frame hung with weights and pulleys. The weights 

 balance tht- weight of box and contents, so it will 

 stand an\where, up or down. The space into which 

 the waiter comes may be inclosed, both above and 

 below, with a door on one side, if it is desired. The 

 cost need be but a few dollars. I saw one last win- 

 ter in a dining-room, as there was no cellar under 

 the kitchen. It was inclosed in a fancy manner, 

 and looked like a little china closet. You may have 

 one in your fine home, fi'lend Root. If so, you 

 would do a good deed to give some pictures of it. 



so all could see that it is simple an.d not beyond 

 their reach. 



There were lots of other nice things in Mr. Hox- 

 ie's kitchen; but I will stof) to speak of only one 

 that WHS entirely new to me. It was the arrange- 

 ment of tlour-box and shelf for making up bread, 

 etc. On one side of the kitchen I noticed a little 

 shelf about one foot wide by two and a half long. 

 The space beneath was inclosed, and there were two 

 doors with their trimmings. 1 couldn't make out 

 what it was for, so I asked. Friend Hoxie went to 

 it and let down over the top a large leaf, or bread- 

 board, that was hinged to the wall and fastened up, 

 and which 1 had not noticed. When this was let 

 down it was just the right height to make up bread 

 on. When through, one had only to hook it up and 

 it was put up out of the way, and the used side hack. 

 I was so interested in looking at this that I forgot 

 the little doors below until my I'riend opened one, 

 and there was the dour right where you could dip it 

 on to your board easily and not get any on the 

 floor. This was by all odds the neatest and best 

 flour-box arrangement I ever saw. It is Mr. Hoxie's 

 invention, and not patented, and he would be 

 pleased to have every one use it. I give a cross- 

 section view of the two boxes in the inclosed space 



CROSS-SECTION OF FLOUR-BOXES— TOP VIEW. 



under the little shelf. The shelf is held up by a 

 board down to the floor at each end. The front and 

 end of each box, B, C, are made of wood. The 

 curved side, D, which has to be curved in order to 

 open, you know, is made of tin. The hinges are at 

 A. The box swings right around out. E shows the 

 end-board that holds up the shelf. The dotted lines 

 show bread-board down and one flour-box open. I 

 have just thought that it would be nice to put sugar 

 in the other box. Of course, these boxes want to 

 fit exactly, so no dust can get in. 



Mr. Hoxie has built a great many houses in 

 Evansville— no, not houses, but homes. He has 

 made it a life-study to give a man the most con- 

 veniences and comforts possible for the money. Of 

 course, I greatly enjoyed visiting such a man's 

 home. T. B. Terry. 



Hudson, Ohio, July 16, 1887. 



Friend T., we have no such dumb-waiter 

 as you mention, in our house, l)iit we have 

 two of them in tlie factory. One connects 

 the dining-room with the kitchen, and 1 

 don't know how we should get along with- 

 out it. During dinner-time, the cooked 

 food is sent right up to the waiters ; and 

 when dinner is over, the dishes and all sur- 

 plus go right back down into the kitchen. 

 We will try to give you a drawing of it in 

 another number, including a description of 

 some little device of our own to make it con- 

 venient The other one carries the printed 

 sheets from our large printing-press, up- 

 stairs to the folding- room ; and when " pa- 

 per day" comes, and especially if it should 



