The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-11-29
THE BIDDY MARKET.


THE BIDDY MARKET.
A correspondent of the Bucks Couuty
Intelligencsr, writing from Philadelphia,
gives the following account of the panicky
condition of the Biddy market
One important item in the effects of the
great commercial panic, crisis and revul-
sion is that the wages of the servant maids
in the city have come down in consequence
of the number of them discharged from
families forced suddenly to retrench ex-
penses. Before the panic there was no
such thing as reason among them; wages
rose to three, four and five dollars a week,
where before the war they had never been
moro than two, two and ahalf and two
seventy five. High living had become SO
much the rage in the city and environs
that family keeping only one servant
could with difficulty retain any, as the
maids were all in the market for places in
families where more were kept. At length
it got so bad that two servants in family
were considered not enough by the maids,
end in such cases they demanded fancy
wages. One day week out, permanent
wash tubs, washing given out, in fact moth
ing satisfied them. In some families am
acquainted with, as high as dozen were
kept, and have been shown through dwell
iDgs where the servants had parlor of
their own, and everything in accordance,
including polished oak stairs, &c. The
rush for these fine situations was universal
among all classes of servants, good, bad,
and Indifferent. To the middle classes of
families the trouble was ine1presslble, and
nothing seemed sufficient to retain the
Biddies. They appeared to like to change
about, simply to keep their mistresses in
constant fear of being left without any.
But now that hard times have come and
money is scarce, and any sort of thing has
to be put up with by respectable people,
the five-dollar Biddy is sent off first, and
finds no place awaiting her. The four-dol-
lar Biddy goes next, and finds the same
state of things. And so it goes on, until
some of them will even take one dollar
week for the sake Of home for the win
ter. You may, therefor, quote the Biddy
market in Philadelphia as panicky, and
rates anything that can be had. Those
who held out stiffly against reduction were
the first to be discharged. You may I'M
derstand the relief we all feel when tell
you that householders Of the middle class
all felt that however comfortable their
homes were they only served as temporary
training schools for servants seeking places
in wealthy families. And the latter we're
really not much better off, for the same
greedy searching after higher and higher
wages and less work took the Biddies from
one rich family to another in search of
places with the highest pay, the least work
and the best living. Such thing as
permanent attachment to the family SEEM
ed impossible, except in some instances.
In these times the rich suffer more than
the middle classes, for they need more
money to keep the mill going, and in many
cases it is difficult to raise any. This evil
has arisen from the European styles of liv
ing, with retinues Of servants and lu1ur-
rious ease. But even in the highest reach
of our fast living we did not attain the
English standard, where every lady has
special maid of her own to attend on her,
so that if there are half dozen ladies in
a family there are as many ladies' maids.
You may be sure, however, that if the
panic had not come we should have reach
ed that point, SO that after all we have
some reason to be thankful that the crash
came. Perhaps in due time, when pros
perity comes and things get on a rush
again, we may have to 60 over all this
experience as before. But at any rate we
have relief for the present. Now as things
do not seem to mend, and the crash has
shortened the means Of thousands, it is a
chance if hundreds of these Biddies get
any places at all this winter. Advces
from the rural districts say that the drain
to the city of all the best servants has long
caused much trouble, SO give you this
piece of news about the Biddy market in
the city as about the best can find in the
present situation, both city and country.
In fact think you could get a pretty good
supply of servants now in the city for your
rural districts if your farmers would try.
l learn of one factory alone from which
four hundred girls have been discharged,
and in Manayunk, Kensington, &C.. there
are thousands. The trouble in these cases
is the lavish distribution Of charity through
a worthy but mistaken impulse. If the
benevolent people now interfere to support
in idleness girls who can get good situa
tions at service, they ought to be told of it
in pretty rough terms, as the consequence
of such interference would but enable the
discharged women to tide over the winter
without accepting lower pay, and await
the spring prospect.
BLOWING. -" The other evening"" re-
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