Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 100, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1911 — TEACHING BOYS TO . COOK [ARTICLE]

TEACHING BOYS TO . COOK

Wealthy and Progressive New York Woman Training Her Bons in Housewifery. One of the most progressive of the many energetic New York women has announced that she intends her sons to he as helpful in household duties as her daughters, and that this summer Bhe will start them with a camp in a corner of her country place. There will be two tents, one for sleeping purposes and the other for cooking and eating, and there they are to learn to do plain cooking, “such as every young man should know who hopes some day to marry,” says the fond mamma, adding plaintively,, “especially in these days when even the best of boys is in danger of getting married to a comic picture suffragette." The training in housewifery, however, is considered valuable even if the lads are spared this fate, for their steps may turn to the paths of the explorer or the engineer, which will carry them far from such luxuries as housekeepers and valets. If at all times they know they can turn to and cook for themselves they are expected to feel a mastery over even the most ill behaved circumstances, 'fhe husband of the suffragette even will go about his business with unruffled serenity, confident that so long as feminine politics spares him his trusty chafing dish all will be well; if that is ever needed to be used for ammunition in a militant uprising there will still be tin pans and the gas stove. But cooking is not the only accomplishment booked for these youngsters. The care of their two tents will teach them neatness, for each day the camp will be inspected by their mother, at no regular hour, either, so it will behoove the boys to have their abode always in order. Guidance in the crafts of mending and sewing on buttons will be included in the day’s routine, lest the lads, ignorant of this, should grow up into useless and helpless creatures. The woman who plans this practical training for her sons is hoping that similar camps will be established on neighboring estates, so that a little friendly rivalry may add zest to the Joys of putting one’s house in order. The healthful out-of-door life and the independence bora of tent living will do the city lads more good than any other known scheme for the summer months, she thinks.