New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-10-17
A CORNER IN SERVANT GIRLS
rur DEMAND EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY.

oil,
o,+od And this demand caunot DC suPPH
O. i, ore not 10 he had; they are hot III eN
-. ,I,o,, ca,not he secured for love Oh money
80 tho statement repeated in one form OF "ho'n''
-. tho i,telIiceuce Offices few days ago
"' 'n 49,, rcnorter visited the principal agencies
- i,onired into this state OF aiiailS an" -0
- for it, At Tie Hord Employment Cii''o M
s,nitb said "The demand Tor servant guns 10 wy
. II has been so during the whole summer, es-
neciallv at the seaside and at summer Doarolhg-
houses The servants that have been al lheSe
Ioe are now re urning, and are being rapidly dis-
osod of People who have been out OF town during
tbe summer are now looking out for servants lot
+be Gaming wear. You should have been here Mon
dov. we filled a hundred places that day. Inc de-
mand for good girls is Unprecedented,
think and this demand Is not CONNIE"
TO the city. Everywhere outside the cily' LOT
that matter there is a great cry for Them we are
sending them as far north as Saratoga ana us lar
south as Philadelphia. We sent one Tue o'hoi u"S
70 wyoming Territory $50 miles from any ran
road The fare was $50, yet the officer VINO
wished her in his family was perfectly Wiling 10
nay this IN addition to good wages
Are rirls needed for any ono class of duties par
ticularlyg'
aWeil. especially as cooks and houscworkerS'
also rs chanNennaids.'
.Isany nationality preferred"
ayes: there is a special seeking for Swedish
German ana Scotch girls; they are more refining
than the Irish Girl and more satisfactory; in fact
GREAT many people will not have Irish girls, because
they have become so domineer!ng."
How about Chinese seryantsP
awe have frequent calls for them; people are
anxious to get them, bat sc cannot get bold OF
them. There is one agency believe, that makes
snecjaltv of employing Chinese seryants-not girls
however"
At the agency No. 1852 Broadway, in answer to
the question whether there was an unusual demand
Tor servant girls. the reply was:
wish YOU could get me 800 or COO good girls
vould have places for them within very few
DAYS The hotels have been making an unpre-
cedented demand for them htH this season. nave
supplied only private families, but during the sum
mer have been besieged by hotel prop'lctorS VINO
were not exactly on their knees begging for ser.
want girls, but were extremely anxious I" get theu
SERVANTS WITH BANK-ACCOUNTs.
why cans the need be met p
For the simple reason that the girls can't be had
have been sending out trstcla>S girls TO all parts
of the country from Maine to Texas. good many
of these get married, and then comes call for
Others to till their places. One sent to Texas mar
ricd SG5. 900 a short time since"
Does that happen often -
L" Not every day. Good giyls are scarce. The
best girls do not change often; they become at
tached to a family aud stay there. And then. taxi
ing of money, good many of them would Ce good
catches You may not believe it. hut | have
woman whom have employed tor many years who
has saved $4,000. ] have them ranging all the
way from that down to $1,000 and - 900. Here
is a bank book of one of them; you see that shows
a deposit altogether OF over - 900. these bank
books are the best recommendations we have OF
girls | always ask If they have bank account
and when a green girl begins service make 1t a
point to advise her to open an account. Those who
save the most are not those who make the highest
wages but those who earn moderate wages, say
from $l4 to SIS month; the others buy hneIy
Just then good-looking woman of about thirty
entered. -. -.;...o5 ~, .,,,ol.or . ,o. - 1,,,l,
account of $1,000. She has changed places only
two or three times in six years. She can Obtain
frst-claSs place at any time. such gulS VII not
leave the city; they remain here ~ private lamiileS
For this reason. although there is great demand
outside. we cannot supply really good girls
A. Ode.Is. Broadway and lMTI$-iCurth-St3 an
agency esta bished in 1852 il was said that, al
though the demand for servants during the sum
Iner had been very great at seaside hotels the de-
Iuol "a lo,,' ~r.ot.r NV for tbc city and
throughout the country, I'VE want il was SAID !
there. both men and women. The native element |
cannot supply the need Of servant girls, and al |
though there is great influx OF foreigners they are
raw and unable to supply the places where the need
is We can't do much with them, that's the sum |
"a great many servants have been ont Of the city
AT the hotels for thcsummeT, and these have been
mostly disposed Of at the hotels in the city and
elsewhere. But there are great many, too, who |
have been tidlng over the summer, who were |
discharged when families left the city for summer /
j
savings since They Will not go to the country al
though there has been, and IS great demand for
them there Many families keep their servants on
half pay during the summer These OF GouTsr, are
provided for now. Those who were discharged
have more or less money, some OF them pretty bg
bank accounts from 81 600 10 $1,000. They take !
n easy during the summer, and hire out IN the fall
They are good class of servants for those are the
ones that save their mouey They have no trouble
in securing good places when tIey 90 not return 10
their former ones. =,
why Is the demand especially great nowf"
tIaTr cor
wants for the year. There great many servants
looking for places, 20 lie sure and we have already
fifty orders fill People here to get ser
wants when the room if almost packed, yet they |
say, We can't get girls. ne reason Ihe trouble
and they expect high wages and 70 are demanding |
more than people are willing TO give. There is a
special demand for girls to Geek, wash and ron but
they can't be got even at ga a month. The girls
are lust in from the country and are looking for
easier positions so they won't tsko these places not
AT present at least. Even TIE green-horns take |
advantage of the situation and demand high prices
as well ~ the experienced ones"
NArloyALITIEs IN GREATEST DEMAND.
@What nationality of servants is most in demand |
Just now with you y
"Swedes and Germans and NOrweglans. The |
Irish are rather Independent, suppose yOu know |
They attach so many conditions TO their service such
as church-going, company Sundays, and what they
shall have for breakfast that people looking for
a more satisfactory class of servants Yet they
are all about alike, get to Do 10 this respect. 1t
is more noticeable in the Irish girls merely because
they are so much more numerous than the others
They ali soon learn what their rights are"
As an instance of the great extent Of the demand
for girls even in other occupations, Mir Odell said
"Last spring the Elizabethport Steam COrdage |
Company. oil Elizabeth n. j. gave us a check for |
$3.50 to pay the passage of twenty young women |
from England tc work in its factory at spinning |
rope yarn. Ne filed the order II Is the strongest |
kind of evidence Of the great demand fer All kinds
OF labor"
AT Bedells agency. Fourth-aye. and Twenty-Gfth |
st., the previous statements regarding the great
extent of the demand for servant girls were cor |
roborated This is one of the old agencies of tho |