392 



THE SCHOOL BOARDS 



and method. I suppose it is no exaggeration to 

 say that a poor Frenchwoman would make the 

 money which the wife of a poor Englishman 

 spends in food go twice as far, and at the same 

 time turn out twice as palatable a dinner. Why 

 Englishmen, who are so notoriously fond of good 

 living, should be so helplessly incompetent in the 

 art of cookery, is one of the great mysteries of 

 nature ; but from the varied abominations of the 

 railway refreshment-rooms to the monotonous 

 dinners of the poor, English feeding is either 

 wasteful or nasty, or both. 



And as to domestic service, the groans of the 

 housewives of England ascend to heaven ! In five 

 cases out of six the girl who takes a " place " has 

 to be trained by her mistress in the first rudiments 

 of decency and order ; and it is a mercy if she does 

 not turn up her nose at anything like the mention 

 of an honest and proper economy. Thousands of 

 young girls are said to starve, or worse, yearly in 

 London ; and at the same time thousands of 

 mistresses of households are ready to pay high 

 wages for a decent housemaid, or cook, or a fair 

 workwoman ; and can by no means get what they 

 want. 



Surely, if the elementary schools are worth any- 

 thing, they may put an end to a state of things 

 which is demoralising the poor, while it is wasting 

 the lives of those better off in small worries and 

 annoyances. 



