Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-03-05
OUR FEMALE SERVANTS.

Philosophical Observations OF One Hav.
ing Experisnce-From the German OF
ofDr. Ernst Eckstein.
Translated for the ST. Paul Globe.]
When Kossak, that spirited portrayel
of customs some thirty years since pic
tured the Berlin servant girl. he gave as
ruling motive, the fear that the type OF
this wonderful production would vanish
in few lusters from the household
chronicles on account of the continued
influx of provincials. In the meantime
experience has taught us that the amiable
anthor saw too darkly. No social grade
of the influx from the provinces takes on
the city peculiarities so quickly as that OF
the female servant; it would seem that
the theory of life which characterizes
the servant of our great center lies in
the airlwith all its variations.
Is 1t not an actuality to-day as theni
When Kossak maintained: "There
dwells not the slightest doubt in the mind
of the Berlin servant girl that the house
hold, as the shell for the oyster-was or
dained for her-and her character, which
sometimes surprises with its gentlness
and flattery, often frightens by a fearful
outbreak of her uncontrolled nature,
conforms 10 this belief No Berlin SER
want girl is without her history; but the
annals of her servants book give
very meager details concerning
the most important events. The
misfortune of the times is
that, as in the works of Tacitus, the
most important chapters have been lost.
y 4 In the life of our heroine the
cousin plays very important role. And
we warn our readers not to understand
this title in the sense of an exact relation
ship. The evil Of diplomatic
secrecy IN most cases surrounds this
cousin. An infinite number of tokens
proves his existence, but his personality
is almost always concealed. His exist
euce is chiefly discoverable as was that of
the god Bel at Babel, through the van
iShed provisions. The enormously in
creasing consumption of fresh bread, the
evaporation of wine and punch, the dis
quoting shrinkage Of winter fruit, are
reliable signs of the presence of house
god. Should his worship not be opposed,
this powerful being SO closely connected
with the family, little by little allows
himself to become visible 10 the eyes of
the mortals of the house The frightened
mistress in an unexpected moment en-
counters dumb mass of humanity in
some rear passage, or the master, chanc
ing to open the door, finds a frightened
young fellow asking for Mr. Smith And
they must content themselves with the
explanation my cousin' as answer to
their inquiries. All this is as true to-day
as it was them yes, and 1t is not even ex-
clusiveIy characteristic of the Berlin
servant; the type, instead OF having been
extinguished by a baser element, has
rapidly developed, and conquered q wide
circle of provincial cities. In dar-
ing to attempt in the following lines
a short characterization of our female
servants we are not in position to shelter
ourselves under the plea Of an historical
. ethnographical necessity, upon which
Ernst K. has with jestlng grace laid so
much stress. However, we are herein
fully justified by the natural desire of
every mortal to study more accurately
those beings upon whom he is most de-
pendent, and Of becoming more intimate
ly acquainted with their peculiarities.
Our servants are the real Penates and
Lares, no divinities of first rank but most
significant Prinoipien which always i'm
print the mark of their sway upon do
mestic concerns.
1t lies in the nature of the relation that
the individual type of this household
Hydrologic fix its boundaries less sharp
" and dovetails itself less firmly into the
frame of a logically organized system,
than the figures of the Greek Roman
gods. Our treatment, therefore, will bear
much more the character Of aphoristic,
gushing improvisation. The inevitable
lot of all who conquer new territory for
scientific contemplation is incomplete
ness. Let us begin with the cook, this
most important factor or our female DO
mestics. The cooks separate themselves
naturally into two catesories; into
such as can cook and into
such as cannot. The last named category
is by far the most numerous. 1t is accus-
toned in contradistinction to the first,
TO term itself ''cook'' merely while the
FIRST with lofty self consciousness distin-
cuisines itself as ''perfect COOK
The normal cook, viz: the cook who
cannot cook replaces this want by a
pralseworthy moral courage. When she
has, for the first time left her country
home and presents herself at the intelli-
gence bureau, she has not the clear con-
seriousness of this ETHEREAL preroga-
tive. She candidly informs the person
who furnishes servants that this or that
is perfectly unknown to her, that up to
this hour she has only made coffee, washed
plates or peeled potatoes. Tie worthy
woman, however, whose duty it is to pro-
vide the city public with domestics, COM
forts and encourages her. "Nonsense,
that will come all right" see, have here
three good addresses, go there quite con-
fidentially and say that you understand
very well ordinary cooking, and then buy
at the nearest shop good cook book, you
need nothing more. At every meal ask
as matter of form only: elbow are you