Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-03-28
THE NEW HIRED GIRL.
How Things Run When the Old Hired
Girl Goes Away and the New One
Comes.
Philadelphia Times.

Philadelphia Times
There is trouble enough, more than
enough, in the house for weeks because
OF the old hired girls sins of omission
and OF commission; things are at skies
and sevens from morning till night and
there is the mischief to pay generally;
that is the reason why the old hired girl
goes away--goes away defiantly; with
her skirts drawn closely about her SO as
to avoid contamination; goes away like
a raging meteor hurting through space
in search Of another and more salts
factory universe.
When the old hired girl has gone and
the new hired girl has come, there
seems to he reasonable prospect of
peace in the household. The new
hired girl, who is to be chambermaid
and waiter, is Endorsed as willing, cheer
full and good-temp9red-w which is a
great deal more than can be said of her
predecessor. She comes described as
docility itself--the old hired girl was
just as docile as screeching north
easter or n full-bown volcano. So the
situation seems promising. Confidence
in her is shaken little, however, on the
evening of her arrival. In order to
attract the master of the house to a
tender of bread she jabs him in the
shoulder with the bread-tray, but it is
observed with satisfaction that she gives
evidence Of her docillty by accepting
with the utmost meekness the reproof
called forth by this erratic conduct.
Her cheerful disposition is manifested
by ner habit of singing mt work.
During the morning her whereabouts
in the upper rooms of the house may
be located with precision by the bursts
of song which swell up from her happy
soul and float lightly upon passages and
stairway. 1t is thing to be regretted
that she does not sing well; in point OF
fact, she howls dismally. Inasmuch as
these woesome sounds really Indicate
observation-disclosures, are evidence of con-
tent. they are tolerated. AT an early
stage Of her term of servitude she gives
evidence of the possession of what may
bo delicately described as intelligence
of peculiar order. Encountered upon
the back stairs bearing buckets of wa
ter, she explains that she was ordered
to turn the water off from the bath
room the night before; that she has re.
ceived no order to turn II en- in the
morning, and that, therefore, in order
to fill the sewers she must depend upon
the faucets in the kitchen. Her expla-
nation is received approvingly, men
tai reference being had to the heroic act
OF the well-known Casbianca, and the
less well-known vigil of Gen. Have
locks son upon London bridge. Not 30
| much satisfaction is manifested when a
casual request to light the gas in the
drawing-room when she closes the
shutters is interpreted rs IN order to
start every burner iii that apartment at
its full capacity, especially rs the care
full closing of the drawingroom doors,
Joined to the absence of the family
from home during the evening results
in the brilliant illumination remaining
in full blast until the next morning-to
the material advantage OF the gas COM
pany. Several amiable indiscretions Of
somewhat similar character lead easily
and naturally to the development Of Il
profound conviction on the part of the
administrative head of the house that
the new hired girl is little better than,
as he himself expresses it, 81 natural
born fool" The executive head of the
house, whose gentle nature resents such
harsh phraseology, and who still bears
in mind lively remembrance of the
old hired girls cyclonic and volcanic
ways, puts in the extenuating plea that
even ii she is little stupid sometimes
she is so good-natured, cheerful and
willing that her errors of judgment
should be forgiven her. Things go along
uuon this basis of equitable compensa-
tons for some time. The new hired
girls good nature, cheerfulness and
willingness bring her forgiveness for
telling formal caller: shes not mt
home, ma'am; she's making jelly in the
kitchen for the purity tomorrow, ma
am; "for putting the claret i'll ice, on the
occasion of the party thus referred to,
because that was what she had been
ordered to do with the champagne; for
assaulting with Bath brick and u rag,
the silver that she had been told to
clean, and for whole string of like
performances, calculated to work con-
fusion and breed trouble. Finally,
when she leaves the bedroom windows
open during driving rain-storm, be-
cause she had been told that the bed
rooms are to be aired every day, it be-
comes evident that she must &c. She
takes her dismissal, as she has taken
the various ratings bestowed upon her
for her misdeeds, with placid good ma
ture. She is docile, willing, cheerful
to the very last. Calmly, amiably, the
new hired girl, with the dewy freshness
Of her newDess still upon her, packs up
her bag like the Arab, and NJ silently
steals away.
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