A-B-C OF HOUSEKEEPING BY CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK & LONDON HARPER’S A-B-C SERIES A-B-C OF HOUSEKEEPING. By CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK A-B-C OF ELECTRICITY. By WILLIAM H. MEADOWCROFT A-B-C OF GARDENING. By EBEN E. REXFORD A-B-C OF GOOD FORM. By ANNE SEYMOUR 16mo, Cloth HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY HARPER & BROTHERS PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PUBLISHED MAY, 1915 CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. CHOOSING A HOME 1 II. FURNISHING THE HOME 13 III. THE TABLE 26 IV. CONCERNING HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 38 V. THE HOUSE IN ORDER 50 VI. HYGIENE AND PLUMBING 63 VII. THE HOME WITHOUT A SERVANT 75 VIII. IN THE LAUNDRY 88 IX. WHEN COMPANY COMES 99 X. THE CHILD IN THE HOUSE 111 A-B-C OF HOUSEKEEPING I CHOOSING A HOME The choice of a home is usually decided by the pocket-book. Other considerations carry weight, but matters of convenience, preference, and location are lighter in the scale than the sum one can afford to pay for a shelter. What proportion this will bear to the rest of the income must be settled by each one for himself after an estimate of the other expenses which must be met. When a whole house is taken and the cost of heating and the charge of the outer premises, as well as the entire care of the place, have to be assumed by the tenant, one-fifth or one-sixth of the income is all he should give for rent. The price of coal, the wage to be paid the person who is to clean snow from the sidewalk in winter and dirt from it the rest of the year, look after the furnace and ashes, put out garbage; the consideration of the services of the one who must sweep front steps, halls, and stairs; the small repairs every house demands from time to time, will all have to be added to the sum devoted to rent. While the tenant and his wife may perform part or all of these duties, it is only reasonable that they should understand how much they are saving in actual cash, and comprehend that what they economize in this respect is the equivalent of what they would pay to the landlord were they to occupy an apartment in a flat building.