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usually given in the art of preparing food in the most
economical and healthful manner, other than by mistresses
who, from having paid little or no attention to such matters
themselves, are incompetent to teach, and cooking is commonly
learned haphazard, at a large and constant cost lor
waste in private families; but the evil does not end here, tor
these same servants are by-and-bye married, and have probably
to bring up families, and the same incompetence and wakefulness
leads up to the formation of a miserable home,
insufficient supply of nourishment, and unhealthy progeny.
The first necessity to overcome this difficulty would be
to procure good teachers, and facilities are now offered by the
National Training School for Cookery, where, by a comparatively
small subscription of a few pounds, a person may
be so instructed as to become a certified teacher, competent
to instruct in the art of cookery for all classes.
These teachers should commence by teaching what to
buy and how to cook for those with the humblest means,
when they can afterwards extend their instruction to more
advanced cookery.
North Surrey District School.
This School receives pauper children from the parishes
of Chelsea, Croydon, Kensington, Lewisham, Richmond, and
Wandsworth and Clapham.
The average number of inmates in the School is about
767, a considerably smaller number than was accommodated
some years ago.
the aveage cost ol each child to the different parishes
varies accoiding to the rateable value of each parish and the
number of children sent from each parish, thus the cost to
Richmond is about £38 per annum per head, to the Lewisham
Union about £42 per head, and to the Croydon Union,
including Penge, about £27 per head per annum.
The School has been considerably enlarged, and a smaller
number of children being accommodated it is necessarily
much less overcrowded.