“Every ‘big-house’ contains a large, magnificent restaurant, which is artistically embellished by the hand of art, and splendidly furnished with elaborate counters, fine tables, easy chairs, grand mirrors and all other furniture that conduces to the ease and comforts of man. It is lit up, when dark, with brilliant electric lights, which almost rival the brilliancy of a cloudless noon-day sun. In this gorgeous apartment all kinds of eatables, from the daintiest to the coarser that our world produces, can be bought there at cost by all individuals who may wish them, during any hour of the day and evening. Our regular meals, as I said before, are served promptly on time; but, by the aid of this restaurant, no one need go hungry for a single minute. In our world no one pays for meals that he does not eat, except to the helpless, and no one gets anything for nothing, unless it is voluntarily given to him. As our day’s labor is only about two hours, so the cooks and waiters change off about that often. “After meals the dishes of both the dining-hall and restaurant are put into a dishwashing machine, through which a powerful current of steam and hot water containing chemicals pass for a few moments; then a current of hot air passes through it, which dries the dishes in a few minutes. Our ladies never put their hands in water to wash dishes. Our _large_ families can have such conveniences, but your _small_ families can not afford to have such dishwashers.” CHAPTER VIII. INTERIOR OF THE “BIG-HOUSE.” [_Continued._] “I think I shall take my supper this evening in your elegant restaurant, which you have just described, if I can find some one to take me!” exclaimed Viola. “I am only too sorry that it is so far off.” “But let me tell you, Miss Viola, in our world you would not wait for some one to take you, if you desired to go anywhere. You would start whenever you felt like it, either alone or in company with others, just as it happens. A woman in our world is as free and independent to go any and all places as a man is. She earns as much with her day’s labor as a man does, and is therefore not financially dependent on any man, as you will readily see by an explanation of our monetary system some future time.” “How do you do your laundry work?” asked Mrs. Uwins. “I suppose that is done on the same large, easy scale as all your other work.”