To dispell the idea of drudgery, labor must be looked upon as a privilege. To be able to work is the permit to enter the contest of life. The "ups and downs" of daily work is life. The effort to do, and to win is the measure of life's pleasure. Happiness does not depend upon perfection but upon preservative or progressive thoughts and acts. Every desire to maintain or prolong life is noble, pleasing, invigorating. Time could not be spent in a more satisfactory manner than in home work, but most women do not know it, hence it does not occur to them to really enjoy it. Under scientific living the New Woman will find her true sphere in the home and the work of the kitchen will be raised to a level with that of the laboratory - the art of cooking will be on a plane with the professions.

Living scientifically does not mean that a woman will have no time for a reasonable amount of club or social life, as, with greater knowledge her work will be better planned, besides the possibility of providing her family a diet that will sustain life for hundreds of years, becomes of greater interest and importance to her than other work or amusement. She finds the same delight in discussing the cheraistry of food, with friends and neighbors, that she does in discussing art and history in the club room.

The servant question will also be solved by scientific living. When woman becomes independent of the servant, except as she is able to employ trained dieticians, better preparation and more faithful service can be demanded of those needing positions in private homes. At present women suffer more from incompetent cooks than they will from doing all the cooking when it is systematized.

In order for women to reconcile herself to do less cooking several facts must be fully realized.

First

All classes of people, as a rule, eat and drink too much - more disease and death result from intemperate eating and drinking than from starvation, excepting the universal cell starvation.

Second

A few combinations of food to be enjoyed freely, or with good judgment, serve a better purpose and afford greater enjoyment than a great variety that can only be tasted or excessively indulged.

Third

It is foolish to spend time and energy {cooking kinds of food that are better and more useful raw.

Fourth

It is a sin for a mother to set injurious food before her family, cultivating misery and death instead of life.

The last step necessary to emancipate woman from the bondage of excessive labor is to arouse her intuitive genius in devising simplified methods of work. Better thinking and planning result in many improvements. Men are more progressive than women in emancipating themselves from monotonous labor. Had cooking, sweeping and dishwashing been a part of their daily work the processes would have been simplified ere this, while women have increased the labor and enslaved themselves. Even while groaning under the complications that overwhelm them, if a shorter way of work is advocated it is greeted with a cry of "lazy!" dirty!" As soon as this false feeling that housework must be done "in the same old way" is dispelled, many new ideas will be put into practice, making woman's work less burdensome. With this aim in view a few ideas are given for immediate relief, while better ones are being evolved.

1. A knowledge of the chemical value of food and of its purpose in the system saves much of the labor of cooking. Fruits, nuts, and most vegetables being more desirable in the natural state or but simply prepared with dressings, do not require cooking.

2. A good supply of foods that keep well and can be easily prepared should always be kept on hand for emergencies. Such precautions free the mind from care. Among this class of foods may be named unfired bread, canned Boston brown bread, fresh and canned fruits, dates and figs, celery, cabbage, and onions for salad, nuts and nut meats, salad dressing, dried sweet corn, eggs, cheese, fig and nut cake, angel food, etc.

In time all vegetables and fruit will be cooked at a temperature just below the boiling point for canning, thus affording a greater variety of easily prepared foods for emergencies in scientific living; however, canned goods of any kind should not be used when it is possible to obtain fresh food.

3. Many kinds of food that require long cooking should be prepared in quantities to last for at least a week - light bread and baked beans, may be cooked the same day, being kept to serve occasionally with fruits and nuts.

4. Uncooked flaked cereals mixed with ground nut meats, served with cream or milk are excellent for breakfast, at least twice each week as a relief from cooking. If a woman is overworked both breakfast and luncheon may be served uncooked without neglect of the family. This also saves dish and kitchen work.

5. The use of the double boiler and hay cooker saves labor, as they require no watching and make less dish washing.

6. Some kinds of pastry may be indulged occasionally, but the less the better, so it need be no burden. The habit of baking pie and cake for company should be forever abandoned. Pleasing companionship and simple diet are always more acceptable to guests.

7. The soup course is a useless enslaving habit A tiny glass of fruit juice would be more fitting as an appetizer and aid to digestion. Soup made at dinner should be served from the chafing dish for lunch the next day or for dinner on club day or Sunday, with salad, fruit and nuts.

8. To introduce the natural breakfast, on Wednesday morning of each week the meal should be as simple as possible, allowing the housewife to dress upon rising for a walk as soon as the meal is over, instead of dressing for kitchen work. Hot milk or poached eggs may be served from the chafing dish, other foods being natural. When twelve women in a neighborhood start for a walk on the same morning the air of freedom will soon be breathed by thousands of careworn sisters, and the new park systems will be more appreciated.