They should know that a lack of punctuality or carelessness in one department disturbs the working of the entire system. The influence of the kitchen and laundry is felt throughout the entire institution. Skillful management consists not alone in the ability to attend to the apparently important affairs with ease, but in never losing sight of the minor details. Nothing is so large as to be of paramount importance, nothing so small as to be considered immaterial, where human lives are concerned. [Sidenote: The Housekeeper’s Province] To define the exact limits of the housekeeper’s province is impossible, as institutions vary so greatly in size and in the number of officers. Local conditions always influence the situation. One lone woman may have to manage the domestic affairs of an institution, superintend its entire business, including its nursing, manage its bookkeeping, do the work of an interne in emergencies, and act in various other capacities, that readily suggest themselves to those who are acquainted with life in a small hospital. In another institution her province may be limited entirely to the purely domestic affairs, the purchase and preparation of food, care of linen, the cleaning, and the management of those who work in these departments. In either instance, the responsibility is great. To meet this responsibility without being oppressed by its weight, requires that the working force be completely organized, the work definitely divided and assigned. There should not be a square inch of the building for which someone is not directly responsible for its good order and cleanliness. Real success in management, however, does not alone consist in the work going on as it should while the housekeeper is there to direct and supervise. Her own health and efficiency demand that she have recreation and rest, and, as a matter of fact, depend on her not being always there. Her skill and generalship of the situation will be shown in the fact that, whether present or absent, the routine of the work is not noticeably interrupted. In every institution there should be some individual who is sufficiently acquainted with her methods to assume control and carry on the system in her absence. [Sidenote: Bookkeeping]