Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1882-05-20
Our Agents
OAE Ase
e receipts OF the following persons viii be
SERVANT GIRLS.

with our civil.service system. Girls OBJ
iect to doing kitchen work il they can
End any other kind Of occupation That is
nearly as remuneratlve. They vii!
stand all day behind counters selling
goods, nav fare on horse-cars, and on wa
Res thoy can receive for doing house
work where board is furnished. They
will work in blnderies, shoe factories.
aud other manufactures, often located
On, the top story OF q high building, be
compehedte 20 early and remain late,
brave exposuretO wind, cold. and storm.
jossie strangers on the street, and walk
distances to very poor boarding-piaces.
sooner than attend to domestic duties In
q good house where they are subject to
no expenses except for clothing. The
demand for women to do housework
is never supplied. Women and girls
wanting places in Offices, stores, shops,
and manufactures are obliged 10 seek
than or to advertise for them, while the
coiunas iof newspapers are filled with
demands for persons to do chamber
work, cook, aash, iron, and take care
ofchl!dren. All labor wants are sup
piled except the wants for female labor
ors In households. 1t is. generally ad-
mitted that general homework is less
labori0us than most of the work which
women perform in other occupations re-
curing manual labor. 1t is certainly
less mOnotOnous, and is in every sense
highly respectable. Domestic labors by
common consent are the most proper
ones for women to perform, and the
ones in which the largest number Of
highly respectable wives and mothers
are engaged. No woman in moderate
or iair circumstances feels any degrade
ton in cooking food, sweeping floors.
and Keeping clothiug in order tor the
members OF her own family. She would,
however, feel degraded II she was oblig-
ed to tend store or work ir q manuiac-
tory.
Evidently it Is not the difference in
remuneration or in the amount or Sc
verify of the labor to performed that
causes girls to prefer almost any
kind OF occupation to that OF Homework.
The cause OF their aversion to household
dnties must be sought elsewhere. An
Intelligent writer in o of our maya
zines suggests that caste distinctions
arc very closely drawn between the
persons who do different kinds Of labor
In this country. Seamstresses who
work on custom garments regard those
whe sew on ordinary work as their in-
feriors. The latter looks with scorn II
not contempt On the girls who prepare
their foed IN cheap boarding houses. In
the several artificial grades among
working women, that OF general house
servant is thought by thoss otherwise
employed to be the lowest in tho social
scale. This class distinction, in the
opinion OF the writer, has much 10 do iu
Influencing the choice OF occupation.
Girls who do Homework must be eleva
ted to the social position tina seamstres-
ses and clerks enjoy, or they will be
reluctant to continue in the calling in
which they are engaged. A writer in
an English paper states that girls en-
gagged IN house work are often abused
In the public press, and the faults CON-
mon to them as a class greatly magni-
fed. while u good word is rarely spok-
en- in their favor. He states that the
few thefts committed by servant girls
are always promptly reported in the pa
pers, as are their acts of carelessness,
while no public notice Is ever made
Of faithful conduct or heroisM in the
discharge of duty. The question OF do.
mesic help is now attracting considera.
bic attention in Great Britain, and meas.
ures are being taken with q view of in.
duclng superior girls to work IN private
families instead OF 10 hotels and manu-.
factories. Many mistresses in the
higher classes of society are deslrous Of
obtaining tho services of women of taste
and refinement in their households.
Only a few Gays ago the papers chron.
icled the death OF q young servant girl
% the result of saving her mistress
from being burned. In her heroic
efforts TO extinguish the flames her OWE
dress caught fire and after suffer ine
protracted misery, che died the mos
terrible of deaths. The instances o.
nurse girls periling their own lives t.
save the lives of children committed to
their care are frequent, and are deserv-
ing of general notice. Considering the
large amount OF valuable property left
In charge Of servant girls by women
who devote much time to shopping,
visiting, and pleasure seeking, 1t seom.
remarkable. that cases of theft are mo-
more frequent than they are. We hear o
about as many banks being robbed by
high saIaried officials as we do of house,
being robbed by poorly paid servant
girls who are left in charge of them
The temptations set before domestIcs arr
many. and are very generally resisted
Servant girls do not unite in genera
strikes for shorter hours or higher
wages, or for both, as persons do VIII,
are engaged In most kinds OF work. A.
Q class, they are conscientious, homes
and uprioht. Thew form the mos
useful body of persons II the communi
tY. II their sci vices were better appre
ciated, they would, in most cases, b
better performed. What is more, a bet
ter class of girls would prefer working
in private houses to working in shops
stores, and large manufactures. Nov
that 80 many new are opened
to working women, it may becom
necessary to offer greater inducement
for girls to engage in household duties