Page:The Diothas, or, A far look ahead (IA diothasorfarlook01macn).pdf/176



, as we have seen, the young men, as zerdars, did service to the community, and completed their education abroad, the girls, whether viora or zerua, went through a somewhat similar experience at home. It was by their fair hands that, under skilful guidance, all the cooking and baking for the community were performed at the cooking depots, or laboratories as they should rather be called. Their tasks were carefully adjusted to their years and strength. Besides, the muscular exertion required was but slight. Machines of ingenious construction, demanding little beyond the guidance of mind, performed equally the most laborious and the most complex operations.

By the hands of the maidens of the community, also, or, rather, under their guidance, was performed the large amount of laundry-work rendered necessary by the frequent customary changes of clothing. Simple as the attire of the period was, and free from the abomination of starch, the amount of labor required for the laundry-work of a family, according to the crude methods now in use, would have been very considerable. But machinery,