DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 



1839 



DOMINION DAY 



earning a living is partly responsible for these 

 conditions. There are numerous domestic 

 science schools, which give excellent courses in 

 the various lines of household work, but these 

 do not usually attract the women who become 

 household servants. 



Domestic service would seem to be a solution 

 bf the problem of the girl who can earn hardly 

 more than living wages in the department 

 store, factory or office. The domestic helper 

 has a comfortable home, and her living ex- 

 penses are not paid out of her weekly wage. 

 There are, however, two features of domestic 

 service that bring it into disfavor with the 

 average American or Canadian girl; these are 

 lack of personal freedom and the stigma of 

 social inferiority. The factory or office girl 

 has a certain number of hours between the 

 close of one working day and the beginning of 

 the next that she may call absolutely her own. 

 This is a joy denied the girl who works in the 

 household, and the latter, moreover, must 

 always endure the knowledge that she is put 

 socially beneath her sister who works- for an 

 industrial firm. 



Interesting remedies for the servant problem 

 are suggested from time to time. A wealthy 

 woman of Chicago has successfully adopted the 

 shift system, whereby groups of servants work 

 for eight hours a day, each group relieving an- 

 other at a specified time. Such a system, how- 

 ever, can only be practiced in the homes of 

 the rich. Some students of the subject favor 

 the abolition of all individual labor and the 

 establishment of nurseries, kitchens, dining 

 rooms, etc., maintained by several families on 

 the plan of cooperation. Such a system has 

 been successfully tried in Brookline, Mass., but 

 its practicability has not yet been thoroughly 

 tested. Every housewife who engages domestic 

 servants can help to make the profession of 

 housekeeping attractive by providing her maid 

 with a comfortable room and adequate bathing 

 facilities, by allowing her a reasonable amount 

 of time off for recreation, and by treating her 

 considerately and kindly. S.L.A. 



DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. See SANTO DO- 

 MINGO. 



DOMINICANS, domin'ikanz, also called 

 PREACHING FRIARS, is the name of a religious 

 Order founded in 1215 by Saint Dominic to ex- 

 tend the power of the Church. Their first 

 house was established in France. Pope Hono- 

 rius III confirmed the Order in 1216 under the 

 rule of Saint Augustine, with special authority 

 to exercise the powers of priesthood. The 



Order took definite shape in 1220. Originally 

 a preaching Order, it soon became a power in 

 the great universities of the day; to these it 

 contributed many learned men, among them 

 Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great. Four 

 Dominicans have occupied the Papal chair, and 

 two were distinguished painters, namely, Fra 

 Angelico and Bartolommeo. An order of nuns 

 was established by Saint Dominic in 1206. It 

 was originally an asylum for women, but later 

 developed into an educational institution. The 

 Dominicans practice extreme austerities, in- 

 cluding midnight offices, long fasts, strict disci- 

 pline, total abstinence from meat, and silence. 

 They are bound by the usual priestly vows of 

 poverty, chastity and obedience. 



Saint Dominic (1170-1220), founder of the 

 Order of Dominicans, was born in Spain, and 

 educated in the University of Palencia. After 

 his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest he 

 devoted his life to missionary work and to the 

 relief of the poor. In 1215 he went to Rome 

 and spent his remaining years in the organiza- 

 tion of the Order of Dominicans. He is said 

 to have arranged the form of prayer known 

 as the Rosary. G.W.M. 



DOMINION, domin'yun, a town in Cape 

 Breton County, Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton 

 Island, twelve miles northeast of Sydney, five 

 miles north from Glace Bay and twenty-seven 

 miles north of Louisburg. It is thirteen miles 

 from the Sydney & Louisburg Railway, with 

 which it is connected by electric tramway. The 

 town is named for the Dominion Coal Com- 

 pany, whose mines in or near the town have an 

 annual output worth $1,000,000 and furnish 

 employment to 2,000 people.. Dominion was 

 settled in 1884, and was incorporated as a town 

 in 1906. Population in 1911, 2,589; in 1916, 

 estimated, 3,000. F.J.M. 



DOMINION DAY, a national holiday in Can- 

 ada, to celebrate the confederation of the prov- 

 inces under one government. In accordance 

 with the British North America Act, the Do- 

 minion came into existence on July 1, 1867, 

 and each year the anniversary of this day is 

 celebrated as a holiday throughout the Do- 

 minion. It is perhaps the most important 

 holiday of the year. The Union Jack flies 

 from every public building and schoolhouse 

 and from many private homes. Patriotic pro- 

 grams are given in public halls or on village 

 greens, and athletic meets are held and ball 

 games played. The day, in short, expresses the 

 patriotism of the nation, but it is also a day 

 of relaxation and recreation. In the United 



