Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-12-12

A GLANCE INTO BOSTON INTELLIGENCE OFFICES
THE wHIMs AND FANCIEs OF EMPLOYED AND
EMPLOYERS.
From the Boston Herald.
There are servants and servants, and yet. If
we are to believe the plants of housewives and
housekeepers. good servants are among the
world s scarcest commodities. The trouble lies
chiefly in the desire Of womankind in general
to obtain servants that shall in every way fill
the measure of their idea as to what servant
ought to be. With young housekeepers the
picture of the ideal servant is very frequently
taken from novels written of English home lfe
where servants are represeEted-and more or less
truthfully. tOO-as possessing the quality Of
Knowing how, when and where to do eyery-
thing without instruction. The English se!-
want is portrayed. also, as possessing a
saIyility that Is nauscating to good taste
and is only rciisiled by persons mot born
t. command. This seryc bearing of tie
Brit ssh underne, undoubtedly is often over
drawn. but it serves to make many American wO-
men dissatisfied with dOmestics that while being
nei;ier npudent nor forward. possess a COM
mendabe belief that their position does not
necessarily call for cringing demcanor In the
United States the nature OF our institutions
gives every person a certain independent feeling
that prevents in great measure the existence
of the same relations between employers and
employees common in countries under monarch
ical governments. This feeling is plainly shown
by the dislike of servants in this country to the
wearing of livery. and is almost as mark ed in
those of alien as in those of American birth
American families desiring live.ied SER
wants are compelled to employ either cOlorpl
n HpH i'm, mi,
iicentiy imbued with the spirit of indeprnd-
encc to make the insignia of servility distaste-
full. There is a fashion in servants as in every
thing. and this fact is made apparent by the de-
mand Tor French nursery maids. and. as this
demand far exceeds the supply. it is not sur
prising to see jimmy" fresh from Killarney
passing, by the addition of neat capand apron
as Eugene in New York and Boston The
brogue. rich as that OF Rory O'More's sweet
heart. that falls from the lips OF these Frencil'
nurscmaids, tells story of contemplate snOb-
berry on the part of many aresidcnt OF Fifth ave
nue. or Murray Hill In view OF the fact that
there are so many requirements in the minds of
eXacting mistresses. it cannot be regarded as
strange that there is continually among us a
small army of unemployed persons living on
what little money they may have saved from the
scant payment OF their employed hours and de-
pendent. to great extent for future work
upon third party who. . for a consideration ="
enoeavOrS to get them situations. Despite the
snail amount OF money earned weekly by SER
wants. many of particularly if fortunate
enough to remain some time in one situation
manage to put by for :. rainy day. no insir-
nhcant sum. and by reason of their forethOught
are enabled to live comfortably when out of
employment. Among other servants, and par
tlcularly among the young women who love
hnery this habit of saving is not so common.
ana IN days of adversely they suffer bitterly for
their lmprovidence. Some few OF the working
class have homes to which they 90 and find shell
ter during their idle time but the vast majority
are thrown on the world almost penniless and
without resource of any kind. With the latter
class, OF course, the first thought is
A NEW SITUATION.
and at times they are willing to take tempo-
rarily almost anything that will keep Off the
wolf hunger. until something more advantage
Gus presents itself. In large cities there are
many cheap lodging-houses to which at night
the unfortunates can repair and bv the OUTLAY
from their scanty store of ten or fifteen cents.
obtain a bed and breakfast. throughout the
day, If unable to pay the fee of an Intelligence
office, they answer advertisements in the daily
papers. or wander up and down the streets. ap-
plying at nearly every door in the vain hone
that, IN some one house. there may be vacancy
in the servants quarter which they are compc-
tent TO fill. This method OF securing work is
rarely successful and many young girls are
driven to lives of shame. after weary DAYS of
ceaseless endeavor and anxiety. by their ina
bility to obtain the means by which to earn an
honest living. With the men it is different.
Capacitated' by nature to the endurance
OF hardship and fatigue less given to
dependency. and with the ability if
employment to their liking is not obtainabe, to
perform manual labor they suffer less acutely
in mind and body than the weaker SEX and are
able to tide over bad times; and. when a new
position is theirs, knowing by bitter experience
what lack of work means. they take good care
to guard against repetition of the circum-
stances that led to their first loss of employ
ment In Boston there are many intelligence
offices, and of these the largest have branches
In other large cities. From the agent OF this
employment bureau many interesting facts con-
corning servants and their employers. the char
aac!ciistlcs. 1o'ocs and peculiarIties of both
have been cleaned Applications for work
are made daily to the Boston office he saws by
fully four hundred unemployed persons, the
women 0utnumbering the men three to one
VI the females who are looking for work
and have not previously been e,nployed in
the city, the greater number come from Nova
Scotia, where they earn but IS cents per week:
nut. once arrived in the Hub, they demand
SO for the same amount OF work and will not
unless hard pressed for funds. accept less
The largest demand is for girls capable of per-
forming homework, and the demand in order
OF nationality is first for Americans is ma
yves OF the United States-thcn Nova ScOtians
then Germans, and then girls OF other nations
"A certain ntneSS Tor the performance of one kind
OF Labor appears to be common to girls of each
nationality. At least. a belief that this is the
case seems to have a hold ON the mind of the
average woman, for. in making request for a
servant to fill a certain position, she will men,
ton the nationality she desires. and in nearly
all cases. the position and nationality are alike
in the applications. The belief that las the twg
is bent the trees inclined" makes large de-
mand for English and American nursery maids
on the part of people who consider the welfare
OF their children rather than the dictates Of a
fashion which points to French maids as the
proper thing. For cooking however the great
desideratnm is native of France. For cham
Der work. German is usually requested, and
for the laundry. an Irishwoman The question
or religion enters to great extent. into the
matter of servant hunting. very decided
preference is shown for Professionals But many
employers, free from bigOtry. do not care what
the religious belief Of their servants NAV be-
beyond the fact that the presence of Catholic
servants in the house sometimes disarrances
THE DOMESTIC ROUTINE
on ''church" days. true Catholic must needs
go to early mass and, even if at long distance
from church. will tramp through all kinds of
weather rather than lose the service
The greatest evil that amnlOvorS howe RI r,,ord