Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 January 1900 — Imperial Housekeeping. [ARTICLE]

Imperial Housekeeping.

It Is a popular custom to represent the German Empress as being above all a good “hausfrau” and one Interested In little else than household management This tradition is viewed with a certain amusement in aristocratic Berlin circles. The fact is, that the Empress has so little to do with the housekeeping of the palace at Potsdam that she relegates to the Emperor the daily task of receiving the official whose duty it is to supervise the management of the royal household. It was the consort of the late Emperor Frederick, born Princess Royal of England, who first took personal charge of the Prussian royal establishment. The greatest extravagance and waste prevailed before she and her practical husband took the matter in hand and effected sweeping reforms. Their example is followed by the present Emperor, who never gives the simplest dinner party without first calculating the exact cost per guest. The little daughter of the Emperor is receiving a careful education In all domestic branches, but the Empress takes no interest in any except in that of dressmaking. Most of her own and her daughter’s dresses are cut and made under her supervision. A large staff of needlewomen are employed, and one French or Viennese model gown is often copied in a number of different colors and fabrics. The Empress dresses with much elegance, but she has no particular reputation for originality.— New York Tribune.