Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1870-11-25

knitting, the dear old grandmother gently
wiped the fast-falling tears, saying: "Ah,
little one; you didn't want to get up this
morning when the others did. Remem-
Der, that if you lose an hour in the morn
ing, you will waste half dozen hunting
| it all day long, and deprive yourself OF
much pleasure. I'd try and remember,
| if were you, never to lose another"
To be sure, our present housekeepers
do not retain their parents habits of early
rising. But. contrast the life of our pa
rents with the modern life of their des-
ccndants. The demands of society, late
hours, too much visiting and company,
make laggards in the morning. and the
appetite. injured by untimely eating at
these late hours. is supposed to need coax
ing with dainties at breakfast. The Ella
borate breakfast requires as much time
and labor as belongs to a dinner; and the
dinner. with all the variety that etiquette
claims-several courses, and multitude
of dishes consequent upon these courses.
increase the labor immensely; and, unless
blessed with good corps Of servants, re-
lquiring little oversight, we can secure lit
tie time for rest, reading. or sewing
Such servants are seldom granted to NOR
tails in our times. Twenty years ago, one
girl, without any Of the modern improve
ments-water to be brought from the
street pumps, suds to be taken up and
emptied in the gutter--accomplished more
work, and made the family more comfort
able, than three or four will do now.
We are inclined to believe that the
heaviest trials Of housekeeping may be
traced, not to the degeneracy of our mo-
TIERS daughters, but to a marked and
most unfortunate change in the character
aud capacity of our "help." CD This be-
lief Is no freak of the imagination. Some
few families still retain servants that have
been with them for years, and such house,
keepers have no sympathy with their less
favored sisters; but let death or. marriage
remove these comforts, and compel them
to seek others to replace the old and we'll
tried ones, and they will learn that this
complaint has very substantial founda-
tions.
What remedy may be found it is inn
possible to say. In part, our housekeep-
ers are to blame. They have such hor-
ror Of being left without help-such dread
of copstant chpnae shat they live AZ
slaves to the whims and caprices Of igno-
rant class of persons, who soon recognize
their fears and dependence, and use this
knowledge to extort high wages for very
little service, compelling their mistresses
Ito pass over their impudence and arrogance
by bold threats of leaving.
This lack of independence-this fear to
assert their own authority and rights-is,
we apprehend, in great measure the
cause of the insubordination and useless
ness of the girls Of the present time
When they learn that their services will
not be accepted unless faithfully rendered,
we may look for easier and happier times
But how is this to be accomplished A
few cannot remedy the evil 1t can only
be effected by general cooperation. We
are not willing to acknowledge that the
housekeepers of the past were any more
capable than those of our time but we do
think that our position, owing to the great
annoyance We are subjected to from the
kitchen cabinet, is far more trying than
our mothers could have been, even with
their lack of the many household conve-
niences that we enjoy.
What sort of housekeepers our daught-
ers will become. enervated by late hours
and the excitement Of gay balls and
strange dances, and crippled by the hide
GUS freaks of fashion. it is painful to i'm
agine, and impossible to foretell.