The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-11-27
SOUTHERN SERVANTS.
The Servant Question from a Southern
Standpoint.

| STANDPOINT
Anterior to 1861, southern farmer
and planters, like the centurion of old
had servants under them to whom they
said go, do thus and so, and it was done
This authority ended with the war, but
the lesson taught has not been commit
ted to memory, nor have we attempted
to forget this peculiar but lost privilege.
| A servant to black my boots as we'll as
to harness my horse, to fetch me pitch.
er of water, or to build me a fire, to go
on errands, or otherwise consume valu-
able time, is a perplexing luxury too
| frequently indulged in by men who con-
fess their poverty, and are ever ready to
lament their condition. To be waited
| upon is a normal arrangement of south
ern life. The cost of such indulgence is
an afterthought, and is seldom calcu-
lated. From seven to ten dollars a
month and his board (the latter often
considered the scraps from the table,, is
thought to be the sum total of the cost,
whilst the "scraps," if vigilant economy
we're habitually praeticed, would be
found to exceed in value the monthly
wages, and the countless perquisities of
his position would amount to more than
both wages and board. These employees
are everywhere among farmers, and they
are expensive superfuities. Should
they be discharged at Christmas, and
the farmers resolve to do this work them
selves during 1875, one years experience
will teach them how extravagant and
useless are such attaches.
This ubiquitous servant frequently
has wife, who is the cook or washer
woman, with an attendant tribe of little
ones. These must be fed, and they,
too, seemingly get scraps" which are
oftAner thrown to the dogs and pigs,
because the perquisites of Office supply
much more dainty food. But wood must
be cut and hauled, ana fires built to keep
these brats wdrn, for negro children
seldom wear clothes nowadays; and
here begins another lack of economy.
If the farmers house is on the road
side, the wOod-pile is on the opposite
side, the kitchen as far in the rear of
the house, the well o. water is away off
at the horse lot, and the "cabin" is per-
haps still further off in the woods, or
beyond the spring. But time costs moth
ing, and the cook spends hers hunting
up wood and water, and looking after
her "chillun," except when standing
over the kitchen fire, built of cord cf
wood, a d hot enough for a smelling
furnace.
Let us systemic a little Just there,
and see what might follow. Rebuild
the kitchen within twenty feet of the
pantry, connect the two by q shed, IN
der which have the we'll or pumps, with
the woodshed hard by filled with sea-
soned wood and why should not the
farmers own daughter be the cook
The wholesome exercise Of kneading
the dough with her own tiny fingers,
and plying the improved stove, would
develop her into q matroply robustness,
the very envy of many hOt-house plant.
And other beneficial results would fol-
low this change, not the least of which
would be neat aud tidy kitchens. Are
southern kitchens proverbially clean ?
Not more SO than negro cooks, who are
systematically filthy. They are adopts
at hiding cleanliness with dirt, and con.
sequently most housewives are ashamed
ever to have visitor think of stepping
for moment into their kitchen. South
ern farmers, look inspectingly into the
conduct of your cooks for one week. See
them throw the coffee grounds here ont
of the door, there slop through the
yonder pile up egg shells and
bones on the shelf in the corner; now
securing table all smeared with ilth
with a dirty rag, and then sensing the
same rag into pot of dirtier water to
rinse it, and then cleaning out with it
the pan or oven into which the food is
dropped that is to grace
your table, or tickle your palate within
an hour. Is it any wonder that each of
us eats his peck of dirt before We reach
our teens And yet negro cooks are
at the south, and our daugl-
ters are seldom taught to perform this
of all work. d. Wyatt AjEin
IN R1rGI CarOlinidn.