The list may seem a long one; but when the appliances and utensils are placed before the adequately prepared young woman, she will have a sensation not of discouragement but of delight. To make every young woman realize that if she has adequate preparation she can feel perfectly at home in a house with an industrious little motor at its heart from which will go forth the miracle of an invisible force that will bring every part of the work to magical completion without any effort of ours and that thus what once was drudgery may be turned into a delight,--this is the problem that stands with expectant, perhaps ominous, eyes at our doorway; ominous if we show an unwelcoming look, expectant if we give it greeting and stand ready to take this friend to our heart. Everything in this world is good. The great god Power led the woman out of her House and into the Factory. It was necessary in order that she should have a chance to learn the rules of the game. Now, her lesson learned, the same great god Power is quietly but firmly taking her again by the hand and leading her back to her House. There she will dwell; and there she will again attempt to create that divine reflection of heaven which we call Home. Now that she is once more allowed to undertake this task, let us hope that she will be successful in building up an institution worthy of the scientific age in which she lives, illuminated with electric beams that shall beat into every rat hole and every germ-protecting dark corner, and with every conceivable energy-producing and conserving device that can be planned by the human mind. CHAPTER XII THE HOUSEHOLD LABORATORY VOICES IN THE HOUSEHOLD Upon the shelf the clock ticks merrily; The kettle sings his song in drowsy mood; Within the stove crackles the fragrant wood; The coffee-mill grinds out a cheerful lay. Surely within the oven one can see A roast ... what else on earth would smell so good?... And little globes of fat, all amber-hued, Dance in the pan and sing with noisy glee. Sweet sounds! Inviting yet another song; And I will sing in unison with them. Work brings the joy that helps the work along, And so, harmonious, sounds the kitchen hymn. While all about the ready dinner-table The children's voices raise a merry babel. _Helen Coale Crew._ CHAPTER XII THE HOUSEHOLD LABORATORY The kitchen should be a combination of laboratory, machine shop and studio. The work done there is just as complex as that! There are an almost infinite number of different things needed to accomplish the different processes that have to be carried on in this workshop. There must be a variety of mechanical devices to negotiate and subtly maneuver all the effects that are to be brought out to artistic and wholesome conclusions.