The San Francisco call. [volume], October 04, 1908, Page 5, Image 5

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
.Tiie tikn" .Francisco Sunday Call
AT LAST, THE IDEAL SERVANT IN THE HOUSE
ELECTRICITY !
Ida L. Brooks
. ' V~ »HE time has come when Monsieur,
I th" Man, must install a highly
| efficient and unabridged elec
trical servant in the house fpr
\u25a0 the joy of his* wife, or she will
ark the reason why in a manner be
fitting the occasion. Woe to you, Sir
Bridegroom, if you don't have it all
' prepared for Her! And woe to you, Old
Baldhead, if you don't wire your house
\u25a0up fresh or wire a new one for the
little old lady who has been filling your
" stomach with good things for 50 years
without ever remarking what a miser
able business it all was!
A house in which everything hap
pens electrically. That's what women
want now. It isn't all they want; they
won't be p.upr^mely happy forever just
.on that. But it is one of the things
they are on the verge of asking their
husbands for.
Presumably, at the end of another 50
year;, the family coin gatherer will not
Ihavo to be entreated; electricity for
power and heating will have been
dropped from the category of luxuries;
therefore it will not be denied. As a
luxury, it will have been superseded by
Fom^thlng: , even more luxurious, for
which one shall beseech and receive
• : denial.
But today electricity in the house,
attending- to one's many household
duties, gravely and with witching
\u25a0 briskness, constitutes a most delectable
fai.ryland. TVho wouldn't rather live in
fairyland, with Pet*>r Pan and the
others? What man who has the price
\u25a0wouldn't be willing fo pay It to let his
wife enjoy a bit of enchantment — to say
. nothing of himself? And what wife
wouldn't be more than willing to have
him da so?
Does some objector call this a sordid
fairyland, in which household affairs
piay so large a part? Then let him go
nis ways, without being housed, with
out being fed. without being warmed,
\vithout being clothed, without being
bathed, without being shaved — in a
word, without being sordid. And may
: we never look upon his like, again.
•"The electrical servant is no sluggard,
pouts not. glowers not. does not give
notice, and, although neuter, is capable
of supplanting servants, male and fe
male. Whatever it doeis, it does well,
without making pretenae of greater ac
complishments than it possesses. -It
appears promptly when summoned and
fftirrs precipitously at the will of its
\u25a0 ttii-trofs.
.<' Having thus provided the modern
house servant with a character, it re
mains to detail its clever manipulation
of household affairs. Then let us seek
entrance to a home in which electricity
has full swing.
As most matters vital in house keep
ing emanate from the kitchen, it will be
well to begin in that quarter. Jhere
we find abundant evidence of elec
tricity. First of all, the range con
fronts us. the coolest looking range
one could possibly imagine. Made of
weathered oak and supported on cast
ers, it bears little resemblance* to any
thing formerly called by that name.
It has a smooth top like a table, a
drawer and closets benoath for cooking
utensils and at the back a board with
the switches, plugs/ cords and pilot
lamps. An electric oven stands on an
oven stool beside the range.
All the cooking utensils are provided
with heat insulating supports, other
wise in shape very much resembling
the utensils of any other kitchen. Ex
ceptions, however, are the broiler and
combination cooker. The broiler. is t^ll
and narrow, with a door opening out
ward at the front. 'The meat, held
firmly between the bars of something
resembling a toaster, is put into the
broiler edgewise through the door. Al
most immediately after' the broiler cur
rent is applied broiling commences at
both sides of the meat simultaneously.
The heating element consists of resist
ance wire formed in spirals. The com
bination cooker, like a patent medi
cine purporting to cure everything
curable. Is seemingly beset with vir
tues. It heats water, boils — or, more
correctly, steams — eggs, warms food
previously cooked, warms the baby's
milk, steams vegetables) sterilizes any
thing in need .of sterilization, cooks
cereals and performs. various other of
fices too numerous to mention.
In another corner of the room we.
see a small motor disengaged from
service. Close by are the dish washing
machine, the silver polisher, knife
sharpener, coffee grinder, meat cutter,
egg beater and general peeler. In such
ways as these electricity turns scul
lion. What greater joy— provided you
yourself have lately been scullion —
than to attach a tiny leather belt, turn
a switch and let the knives and whir
ring wheels do the rest; or, after in
dulging in a good meal, to consign the
dishes to the washing t/ink, electrify
the paddle wheels into activity and
some several minutes later set the
oisnes away in tneir placeo ci«an and
dry?
On the wall is an ; electric fan and
beneath it on the floor a tubular air '
heater. Ab no employment known to .
this kitchen materially increases the
warmth of the body, the. use of either '••'\u25a0
fan or heater depends entirely upon
conditions and . either at a
moment's notice may play Its part, in as
great or little degree as is desired.
As we pass out of the kitchen, a
frail female, in no Immediate danger
of becoming permanently, installed in
a fairy house with a übiquitous elec
tric servant for all day companion,
murmurs "Oh, joy!"
Opening a closet do # or that we -ob
serve in the hallway, we come upon- a '
machine resembling at first^ sight in 1
the dark of the closet a of
lawn mower. But we -switch on the
closet light and disclose an electric
house cleaner, with allots attachments
1 on an overhead shelf. A device, for
sooth, that takes all , the dust out of
things into its capacious interior and
is guaranteed not to choke in the
process.
By attaching this machine to the
circuit and using one or another of
the various tools with which it is sup
plied, the house may be completely
freed from dust. The tools are used
at the end of a long hose,, thus making
it possible to reach -all out of the way
corners. Homo of them are provided
with a brush toprevent the scratching
of 'hard surfaces, but those . used /on
carpets or lighter fabrics are without
brushes'; on the contrary, stirring u$
dust ' with \ their metal, edges as they
pass over the surface. \u25a0
Everywhere goes the dust extermi
nator, inhaling dirt into its maw; up
and down the walls. Into drawers and
cupboards, back and forth over the
floors, whether hardwood, or soft car- :
.peted, among the folds of portieres,
into, bookcases, over polished 'tables,
chairs, window shades and all the other
trappings of a home.
At the rear of the hall in a closet all
by itself is the electric shoe, polisher.
Just put .your foot on the shoe rest, "
press a button and see what happens.
It tickles delightfully, \u25a0 first ;on the
lower part of your shoe, then.* up to
ward the ankle.*\ Back and forth, /with
lightning speed, go the brushes, then
all movement ceases and the pilot lamp i
brightens to notify you to withdraw^
that foot and put. the other in' its place.
INmiE'MOD
ERNfIOMEJT
Bakes, Boils and
JOroils,
gashes the
[DisKes ;
Washes and
Irons AJothes/
Sweeps and
[Rusts/
Grinds Coffee.
Chops-Meat;
Peels Vege
tables;
[Polishes Ihe
parpens Knives
p^ats jtggs,
*Armpunces\a
V/arms [You for
Rights [Tour
J-feats the |Bjd,
Preezes^ce,
Vrearry r
Pops [Corn, V
— "~" J feY \
polishes |ohoes>^
73 , fifl-" Rjl.-.
vjirls lourjjpir^
SawstKelWood,
|Kuhs iKe Clock,
Warms [Babys
Mdnightßal
or jjjiyes
ipliee!
In. three minutes' time your shoes are
shiny* and presentable.
Next to this.. is the telephone closet,
\u25a0 common carrier of messages to and fro. ,
It now. being laundering day, the,
laundry looks remarkably inert, but
there arc 'all tho-evidences of clean in- f v
tentions. The belt is, off of the whevl.
of the washing machine and. the immer
sion heater is stone cold. Yet the
slightest movement on your part could
change all this and in 15 minutes you
rould have a large family washing well.:'
under way. -'
Over there, is the ironing board anil
an electric iroir; left resting on its
triple deckstand. As an ircner, eleo
tricity- has come to he moro widelj
known than in hny other" o' its other
i household capacities.
i Electric, irons are supplied 'with t'ureo
fi heats, high, medium and low, in order
V-that they may be instantly regulated.'
vHowever, If carelessness has resulted in
a greatly overheated Iron, of course it
takes but a second to shut off the cur
rent.
The household workshop- varies with
tho penchants of the master. In this'
ono we find an electric saw and the
much lauded "water " jacketless' v , glue
'• pot. * Piled sawdust ' on- the floor tells
the tale of the saw, and ho who uses-,
the glue pot is. nothing loath to pro-;
nounce it a wonder, never : overheating
its contents nor himself, proving' con
. venient, durable and clean.
Having seen how electricity performs '
menial duties, let us. watch it at work :
on dress parade. On the living room '
mantel is the living room clock. No one
ever, winds it or regulates it from '
year's end to year's end. -Apparently It
. goes without any. power to make it, go,
but really it is that mysterious servant j
in the house that makes it go. , \u25a0.'
On a table is the corn popper,, at-.
tached to a socket low down in the
wall. The surface of the table Is
highly polished and the popper stands
upon . it popping away, but does not
mar* it, does not even litter It with
chaff, for *it .has a close wire mesh
dome covety»V\u0094
: In tho morning, if one's family
breakfasts^ daintily, .it must be joy it
self**to*-prepare* an ~ electric breakfast,
for. the ; whoieCthing can be* done right
theTe in the breakfast room with one's
adorable husband reading fragments of
morning news aloud. First, you must
put 'the coffee and # the water in the
percolator . antfvput in the plug. And
that will need no~more attention until
it : is time to -pour It out. Now cut
a. few thin slices of bread and. put
them into that- two sided toaster.' Lit
tle Jimmy; will fkejp' them* from burn
ing while: you cook the eggs, or what
ever other simple thing you want, in
the chafing dish. But, .of course, you
must not have forgotten, if the morn
ing is the least bit chilly, to connect
the luminous. radiator and 'have every
thing cozy^ as soon as possible.
In this. beautifully equipped home to
which we- have. unceremoniously gained
admittance? mother never wears her
self out waking tho children's dresses,
although she makes every one of. them.
In the. "sewing rsom.-she. -she has N a baby
motor. that works astonishingly under
her direction- Is. it a wonder, that she
finds sewing so pleasurable when she
has a servant's hand always on the
wheel of ; her machine?
In the smoking^, room adjoining, you
can v'catch \u25a0 a glimpse of something
swinging -above the desk. It Is the
pendant electric cigar lighter, always
on>duty to prevent the, slightest possi
ble delay in the case of a smoke. Press
that button and in anMnstant you will
be puffing away. Think of having to
wait for a match to come to a blaze!
Great Scott! '•_
Whgn.bedtime comes, it Is the great
est tiding in- the world to have a good
natured, willing servant at call. So
often when the lights are turned on
baby wakes and cries hungrily. Out
comes the- baby milk warmer,, with a
small quantity ot. water in the bottom;
in goes the plug.' Baby's bottle is let
down through the small opening in
the lid and in five minutes everything
is peaceful again.
If the night is close and yet. on ac
count of the baby, you can't make use
of the sleeping porch, there is always
the electric fan at the head of the bed
and its breezes will waft you oC to the
land, where you would be.
, If, -however, it is a biting cold night
\u25a0 and you need artificial heat, you con
nect .your electric heating part *t the
wall socket within reach from the be*,
place it comfortably near your feet
and doze off with a smile on your lips
occasioned by reminiscences of a hea"ky
hot water bag. Waking later on in tn«
night, you may disconnect the pad
but, should you sleep on, no harm
would be done.- — .
Other electric bedroom devices are
the curling iron heater and three
pound flat iron. Thi3 light weight
iron is more available for use in the
bedroom than in the laundry, beins
chiefly adapted to pressing datnty ap
parel rumpled in wearing. Often,
when preparing to go out, a woman
will avail herself of such a conveni
ence.
. In the bathroom the water has a way
of beating while you are .wishing
for it, and when you want a massase.
there is tho massage motor.
Tbo. man of the house no longer
fumes about waiting for an indolent
maid to bring him warm water for
shaving. He draws a little water in
his shaving mug. makes the connection
and while he strops his razor the water
heats. A nickel plated swap trap fits
into the cup while in use and Is easily
removed during the heating process.
The electric motor haa doubtless been
applied to home devices other than
those already mentioned. Ice cream
freezers, churns, clothes wringers; In
fact, anything demanding continuous
rotary motion can be operated by
means of this power.
Besides possessing virtue* of clean
liness and odorlessness, electrical de
vices have the gift of portability,'
which is a great convenience In many
respects. The ease with which they ara
connected and disconnected and tho
speed with which the current acts for
heating and especially for pow«r are
points greatly In their favor.
The initial cost of all these contriv
ances at the present time la large.
Whether exorbitantly so or not will be,
decided by the Individual; If the gain'
In convenience appears sufficiently
great to him he will not consider It ex
orbitant; If money Is no object to him •
bfe will not consider the outlay large.
There are many who willingly pay any
price for novelty, who continually'
make a demand for it.
Even at the present time the prices
are decreasing, although they are etlll
far beyond the means of the small
householder. So the seeker after nov
elties must acquire an electric servant •
for his home now, while It may only
be enjoyed by the exclusive few.' Nor
may he tarry much longer, for spon
the unmoneyed many will be .encroach
lnging on his exclusive privilege and
there will be no Joy In It for him.
Frequently the owner of an, electric
house will go so far as to have an elec
tric stable. Formerly it was impossible
to charge an electric .carriage at one's
own home. Now, however, the electric
rectifier makes it possible. Consequent
ly, the stable as well as the house is '
wired, and with the rectifier instaße.)
one's runabout can always be kept',
ready for use without depending upon
a public garage.
Another new electric joy 13 the door
bell operated without the use of bat-,
teries. This eliminates the "bell nut of
order" anil puts the door bell on tha
same status as the other electrical ap
pliances throughout the house.
As an a!d in innumerable employ
ments, electricity has proven hlgMy
satisfactory. We are only waiting for
it to become even more efficient, mor*
widely operative. And then — we shall
look around for something else. This
seething modernity has made us rest-