My sister had no domestic help besides mine, so I learned a good
deal about general housework. A girl's preparation for life was,
in those days, considered quite imperfect, who had no practical
knowledge of that kind. We were taught, indeed, how to do every-
thing that a woman might be called upon to do under any
circumstances, for herself or for the household she lived in. It
was one of the advantages of the old simple way of living, that
the young daughters of the house were, as a matter of course,
instructed in all these things. They acquired the habit of being
ready for emergencies, and the family that required no outside
assistance was delightfully independent.
A young woman would have been considered a very inefficient being
who could not make and mend and wash and iron her own clothing,
and get three regular meals and clear them away every day,
besides keeping the house tidy, and doing any other needed
neighborly service, such as sitting all night by a sick-bed. To
be "a good watcher" was considered one of the most important of
womanly attainments.
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