character were known he would not be permitted to pass the door. The Home Service worker having particularly in mind the welfare of the daughters of the family, encourages the mother to talk about her plans before she decides to take a lodger. In this way much harm has been avoided.
Sanitation and cheerfulness cannot be secured simply by selecting the proper kind of house. These things depend also upon the way in which the house is kept. Where there is a yard it should be cleared of litter. The garbage cans should be covered, refuse should not be allowed to collect in the cellar, and the rooms and halls should be clean and orderly.
All this may seem to be simple and something to be taken for granted, yet there are families where the home life is unsuccessful because of lack of proper housekeeping. From the clutter of unwashed dishes on the kitchen table to the unmade beds, everything in the house makes a disagreeable impression.
This failure of the housekeeper is particularly noticeable in many of the larger cities of the country. Although people living in the crowded streets know their neighbors better than is generally supposed, they do not exchange visits with so great a variety of people as does the person living in a small town. Here the woman, inexperienced in housekeeping, sees frequently the homes of women of greater experience and better taste. In the city the housekeeping methods of a whole neighborhood may be so similar that a woman has little incentive to improve her work.
This is also true of families living in the colonies which immigrants form in towns and villages in every
