Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-06-19
Skilled Dome site Service.


Skilled Dome site Service.
There is no department Of American lille sc
cursed with Ignorance aud lack Of skill as that
ut domestic service. There are thousands Of
families ia this ciy-and the same fact obtains
IN other cities who have no satisfactory scr
yi,,. from year $ end to years end The ser
wants come and 50, and he aud waste, and spoil
and quarrel and steal. They have no loyalty,
no tailhulncss, no c,rclulness, no skill to do
the duties which they undertake aud which
they loudly and confidently profess to under
stand. Their ignorance Is only matched by
their iusolcuce. They have no disposition tu
learn, no ambition to become excellent, no de-
sire Io please, and no wish to remain for any
considerable length uG time IN one place. The
waste of fuel i'll rich men y Kitchens would
keep all the poor people warm. The food
thrown away, or ruucd by rcckicssncss and
ignorance, would Iced tens Of thousands. For
clgners wonder that the American faulty takes
to the boarding. house aud the hotel, but the
secret OF tins strange liking for hotel life is In
the wrctchcd service vi dulncstlcllte Women
rct tired and discouraged with housekeeping,
and give il up.
Ii wo could SC" any tendency to improvement
in domestic service we should not trouble our
selves, to write lllS article but three is no such
tendency apparent. We are every year more
thoroughly satisfied that there must be some
concert OF action among the ladies Of the city y,on
various points, before there can be any improve
rcnt. These points are, first, that no lady shall
give servant a certificate oil character or skill
that ovcrstatcs the FACTS in the slightest degree;
second, that no servant shall be engaged who
caunui bring Il satisfactory certificate from her
last place, or give competent references; third,
that when amlslrcss finds herself imposed upon
by false representations She Immediately dismiss
her servant, So that at last, all incompetent
servants be driven into places where their wages
shall bear some proper relation to the value Of
their work.
So long Us poor and dishonest servants are
tolerated, and find no motive to make them
selves better, they will not bccume better. The
experience of our housekccpers asprovcd this.
y poor servant who knows that she can walk out
of ono good house directly into another will not
try TO become excellent. She gets used to float
iuy, and docs not object to it. There is a pleas
ant excitement In ii, to which she becomes ac-
cuslomcd. There are huudrcds if not thous-
ands of servants in New York who never stay
three months in Il place, aud arc in no way un-
happy about it, and the good housekeepcrs of
the city are responsible for their existence. Ii
t!l,ir credentials were properly looked into, they
H,u'd find themselves driven into inferior
We do not know why it is that it is supposed
that cn"klng, ss an art, needs never to be learn
c'!. Good cooking is among the best and most
useful ot all the arts We are more dependent
upon it for health, comfort and tho economical
administration of home lie thanupon any other
art whatever yet not one III one hundred OF
our Cooks ever learns her business, or ever
thinks OF learning it. We arc driven to pro
iassoua! lakcrs lur our bread and to the COLI
l;ctioncrs for our pastry, cake, puddings and
creams Our lady of the kitchen calls herself
!, cook il she can roast Il joint that it can bc
catcn or broll steak SO that 1T cannot be cat
on. Ii dinner party is tn be given, a pro-
Iessi,.l,al cook must be called n tosavc the lady
of the house from torment or Disgrace. We
pay for good service, and get that Which is
wrctchcdly incompetent.
There are two possible measures which
might relieve us II the city authorities would
establish aud maintain Il bureau OF registry
which would receive no names but those OF
men and women who can establish, by the
most reliable testimony, their competency IN
tho different departments of domestic service,
and so make it a prime object with all servants
Is get their names upou it, they would open II
way out Of our difficulties.
The second measure to which VIC allude is
the establishment Of school of domestic Ser
vice, so that any servant who really wishes to
Improve herself can be fitted for her work,
whatever it may he, whether cooking, or wait
ing, or laundry work, or the care Of chambers.
Our city is full of rich mcn-mcn with super
Huo,s wealth They will leave this wealth to
charities and museums, and various objects
,n".c or less practicable and pralseworthy.
What greater favor can these men do the city
In which they have accumulated their money
than by founding school of domestic service,
where men and women who have failed to learn
their business or who wish to enter upon ser
vice, can acquire a practical knowledge OF their
work
Surely there must be, in nation like ours,
s'ne way out o! our present troubles. We
have put nearly everything in way OF mend
Ing but this, and before it we seem to stand
helpless. Are not the remedies We propose
lr:lclicablc2 If they arc, then they should TO
applied. The first measure we propose would
not be complete without the other, and the
latter, established in some way, would not
work we'll without the former We want not
only the instruction, but the public, authorita-
tive recognition Of it. We want a standard
mat shall establish and maintain distinction
honorable on one side aud dishonorablc on
tne "ther--bctwccn good servants and bad ser
San's; Such standard would, while incrcas-
ing the comfort and economy of home life
'So nI serv'cr an intelligent and respectable art,
~. 'T'S'n' At the ~ morale Of all engaged in it
~ '''"""d Scribnsr'S for Jnly
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