The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1876-04-26
Oar Servant GsIIS.

oar ESrT0nt GsItS.
K matter, political as well as soci |
40 have faJtcred ourselves that we
have been up with the spirit of the
times-We have flattered ourselves
that we have accepted in good faith
what has been glowingly described as
the situation" In word we have
been ready to swallow everything that
ought to be swallowed, from black and
blacker. up or down, to blacklist. But
there is one dose We fatty say we can
not take, we mean our servant girls.
From an hygenic standpoint our SER
want girls are nauseating, from NOR
al standpoint, a standing abomination,
from the standpoint of decency they
smell RINK TO heaven from that of hon
CIV, theY shock all our refined ideas.
Sher We fail in knowing how to man.
80 white, house servants, or the
p tie, house servants fai! in knowing
Nv to manage us. Which ever way
it is, We are not able to obtain, or
having obtained, are not able to keep
white help. The last and only resort
is our former slave women, 1t can
not be supposed that the system of
slavery was any assistance in keeping
the female slaves virtuous and vet they
are the best We can do. All hours of
the day and night, the kitchen door is
slammed by vagabond male visitors
and the kitchen is to all intents and
purposes transformed into a brothet
We endure 1t. It's the best we can
do. If the mistress happens out for
an hour, trunks are opened, drawers
ransacked and the whole house is as
upside down as if invaded by custom
house officer. There is not a single
household but buys more pounds of
lard in n twelvemonth, than the united
avOirdupois of the entire family.
There is not a single family whose liv-
ing expenses are not doubled by our
system of house servants. Our lard
melts away like snow under tropical
sun, our coffee disappears with alarm
ing activity, our sugar never fairly
gets into the house. while our winters
pork never gets closer to the kitchen
than the smoke-house. Our servants
pilfer, and though small in the in
stance, its aggregate is something
enormous. We know it, we catch |
them in the very act and might detect
more by making the effort. and yet We
endure pity and shall we say it, almost
For making trouble between |
retailing thoughtless words
and misunderstanding expressions, and |
for manufacturing plausible reaonable,
down right lies, the black servant
girl Out-herods HerOd. We gossip
back, except outrageous lies to be the
truth and fall out with our
friends. We realize the absurdity, the
facts remain unchanged. Is B.. this fic-
ton over-drawn? Calculate your living
expenses and see. We endure. Its the
best we can do. No! its not the best
We can do. Every servant girl found
stealing should be promptly arrested,
everything missed should be traced if
possible. We should know who comes
and goes at the the kitchen door, and
when o crowd of black fellows are
found lettering in the kitchen they
shout be told not to stand upon the
order of their going, but go at once.
Our servant girl system would not be
endured single day north of the Ohio
river. The whole thing needs more
than indifferent reformation, it must be
reformed altogether. A firm deter
that our kitchen shall be kept
respectable, and that everything in it
shall no longer be the object of larceny
will accomplish the desired end.