The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-02-04
The British Bar Maid.

The British Bar Maid. sa
The strong desire of smart, respectable
young women to obtain the place of
bar-maid behind public-hOuse counter
is evinced by the number of applicants
offering their services in the licensed
victualers' newspapers, describing
themselves as tall, genteel, well-edu<
Gated, attractive, never been out before,
and ready to serve months without
wages. have in my time known many
attractive bar-maids, and have often
heard from their lips tales of misery,
whilst others, full of gaiety, would not
exchange their position except upon a
"very eligible offer" Numbers of
young females have been brought to
the bar through unthinking friends of
"mine hostp-the latter taking the
maids upon the sole recommendation of
customers; and, once installed bar
maids, bar-maids they must continue,
unless married, for few would accept
their services in any other capacity.
A great many undoubtedly like the -po-
sition from the pure love of admiration
and vanity. They are to be talked to,
and converse with flatterers and admir-
ers; and their fOndness for dress is con-
Siderably heightened by the opportuni-
ties afforded of showing of" to the
"fellows" using the tavern. 1t would
be far from the truth to assert that all
this allurement to imprOprieties with
men leads to evil courses as Il rule, for
as class, placed in so many ways of
temptation, bar-maids are far more
moral than any other female employees
that could be easily named. They have
no objection to be made love to and ac-
cept presents from "sOftheads" and
'spooneys," but catch them outside the
bar with such In many houses of the
west end of the city, used by clerks,
lawyers, and shopmen, the landlords
find it greatly to their interest to have
handsome, fine, snowy, attractive, and
talkative "young ladies" behind the
bar. The conversation at these houses
is by no means of the ''gOOdy school of
alphabet" Many of these "yOung la
dies" have rich dresses in the hight of
fashion, found them by their employers,
and only serve at those hours when the
''giddyites" look in to liquor-up and
feed. 1t may be piety, or something
else, that causes this branch of bar
maidenhood to forsake the taps on the
seventh day, but certain it is, they al
ways have their Sundays out, and are
to be seen at Kew, Richmond, and even
the "Zoo," escorted by rich admirers.
Many marry rich men, and not long
since a Jermyn-street bar-maid was
united to a wealthy ship-ewner, and
member of Parliament. The old gent in
this case married out of gratitude for
the young lady's civility when he was
taken queer at the bar. Most bar-maids
possess the virtues of civility and polite
ness, until their customers get queerly
otherwise, and are asking for "tick, +"
when the virtues disappear altogether,
and instead of 'please give your'orders,
gentlemen" the gentlemen are "crd cred
out.n With respect to remun GRAFTON
being an inducement to enter the SER
vices of the "bar,n it must be otherwise,
for the general wages average only 910
to G12 per year. In regard to easy and
pleasant duties as encouraging females
to seek such employment, those who
have thought so at first must have been
sadly disappointed. In many west end
houses, bar-maids are down by o'clock
in the morning, and with the exception
of three hours rest in the less busy
hours of the day, they are at work until
half-past II at night. They have to
clean the floor of the bar, the taps and
| glasses. They are in many cases never
still or off their feet from early morn TO
the middle of the night. On Sundays
they have few hours to themselves,
which are taken up in cleaning out
their garret and arranging or mending
their clothes. Once a month they are
allowed ''day out" They have to ST.
lently bear the filthiest language and
disgusting sights, particularly from
their own sex. They have to put up
with insults from the lowest of the low
without a murmur, and all this for less
wages than is paid for maids-Of-all-work
| Emily Faithful.