Electric Transformer Co., Toaster and Hot-Plate " 176 43. Electric Cooker " 177 44. Gas Oven " 180 45. Electric Fireplace " 181 46. Electric Radiator " 188 In almost every English house at least a third of each day is wasted in doing work which in no way adds to the comfort of its inmates. CHAPTER I WHAT THIS CHAPTER IS ABOUT _Why Labour-Saving Houses are Needed_ THE LABOUR-SAVING HOUSE CHAPTER I WHY LABOUR-SAVING HOUSES ARE NEEDED Why do we need Labour-Saving Houses? Because: 1.--Life is too short and time too valuable to waste in doing work which is unnecessary and which adds little or nothing to our comfort. 2.--There is a scarcity of labour. Girls of the class from which domestic servants were drawn formerly now dislike service. The would-be employer finds it difficult to obtain servants and to keep them when obtained. 3.--Unless great changes are made in our houses and households it will become even more difficult to obtain servants, because so many professions are now open to young women that they are in a position to choose how they will earn a living. 4.--When servants are not obtainable, the mistress is driven to turn to and do the work of her own house. That is why a demand for labour-saving mechanism is making itself felt. 5.--Owing to modern inventions, it is now possible to achieve a house in which a family may be housed and fed in comfort at half the cost of labour which is absorbed in the labour-making house. 6.--It is pleasanter to spend money on the things one likes than to squander it on unnecessary coals and kitchenmaids. House-keeping. Home-making. What do these words mean? They mean so much that is vital to the individual and to the nation that one could weep for the stupidity which permits any untrained and ill-educated girl to become a nurse, a cook, a housemaid, a mother, and the mistress of a home! CHAPTER II WHAT THIS CHAPTER IS ABOUT _The Ignorant Employer--The Incompetent Servant--Wanted! a New Race of Mistresses--Domestic Training for all Girls--Its Value to the Nation--"Menial" Work--The Surplus of Governesses, Secretaries, and Companions, and the Scarcity of Servants--Genteel Professions--What the Servant Dislikes--How to Popularise Domestic Service._ CHAPTER II THE SERVANT PROBLEM AND SOME SOLUTIONS OF IT I "Servants? We haven't a single-handed cook or a house-parlourmaid on our books, madam."