30 Hattie Plum Williams 
afternoon and were taken to her kitchen to make some candy. 
One of them, a ten-year-old, gave one glance as she entered the 
room, and then in a tone of mingled disgust and triumph re- 
marked, “You didn’t scrub yesterday, did you?” Teacher has- 
tened to explain that “ Katie” came on Mondays and that she 
always scrubbed after she washed; and though the explanation 
was accepted without argument, the child undoubtedly considered 
that she had “caught ” her teacher in a transgression no whit less 
than some for which the pupil had been chastised. 
The Russian German housewife is a persistent and furious 
scrubber. No mop disgraces her home, and a broom is too valu- 
able an article to be spoiled by this process. Armed with soap 
and a cloth or brush, she drops upon her knees and vigorously 
attacks parlor and kitchen oilcloth alike. Even porches, and 
walks, or “stepping stones” which may replace the latter, are 
subject to the same process, although in this instance she rises 
from her knees and assumes a stooping posture possible only to a 
seasoned athlete as she gradually worms her way down the walk. 
Her girls and boys are early taught the art of scrubbing, and their 
constant application to it accounts for the fact that a stranger, 
walking through the settlements, can invariably pick out the 
Russian German houses by the looks of the front porch. The 
cynic will reply, “their front porches ought to be clean, for they 
are never used,” and there is no denying that in the majority of 
Russian German homes this part of the house bears the same 
relation to the rest of the dwelling as did the old-fashioned parlor 
of our grandparents. Except in the rather rare instances where 
a bell graces the front door, whoever would “enter in” must go 
to the rear. The reason for this lies, partly, back in the old 
home in Russia. There the houses are built directly upon the 
street with only windows in the front. The door is at the side 
and cannot be reached except by gaining admission to the yard 
through the large or the small gate. This method of archi- 
tecture was adopted when the German colonists first went to 
Russia as a means of protection against the Kirghiz, Kalmucks, 
and robbers with which the country was so long infested, and it 
remains unchanged to this day. When the Germans came to 
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