The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-08-07
Servants In Italy.

The contadina under training make
excellent servants, and are far more
sincere and pleasing in their ways than
their city brethren and sisters. Not
much can be procured for the table
without sending into the city, except
milk and eggs. The country butter is
not good, and the bread is not accept
able to foreigners. A servant goes
down, about six in the morning, to
market, and brings up supplies for the
day, and, everything being put up with
fresh vine-leaves or in tin boxes, if she
does not linger on the way, as often
happens, to hear Mass or gossip with
friend, the contents of her big basket
do not suffer, and she comes in looking
as if the long walk had only done her
good, and with, perhaps, great bunch
of roses for her mistress, peace-offer-
ing for the delay. The steward is the
factotum in rich families, and the cook
in those of less pretentions, and all
transactions for housekeeping are car
ried on through these two.
1t is not considered 1.-The thing for
an Italian lady to 60 to market, and
first-ciass servants are not very willing
to take places where they are denied
their privileges We foreigners, who
do not choose to submit to being taxed
unawares, have made law for our
selves, and go at least occasionally in
person to inform ourselves of market
prices, and of what the market affords;
and we are rewarded by a greater yari-
ETY. and more reasonable prices. Asw
pay higher wages than the Italians, the
servants endure it from us as they would
not from them. The Italian servants
are so persistently good humored and
submissive, and so thoroughly uncon-
scious of the value of truth or time,
that there is very little use or satisfac-
ton in what we call good scolding."
The signora is quiteright'' is the inev-
table answer to all reproofs; and the
Have patience with me, dear lady"
which generally follows next, is at first
pathetic and afterward monotonous.
But they are really attached to the FAM
lilies they serve, and capable Of untiring
devotion in emergencies; their faults
being chiefly, as the French charitably
phrase it, lies defaults de leurs qualities :"
To give an example: We had paid
the steward less than he asked (but a
good deal more than the fair price, for
trip tothe city in our behalf; the next
morning our milk. which he had sup
piled to us until then quite to our salts
faction, was of most blue and melan-
choly tint. sent it back with remon-
STRANGE, to which an impertinent answer
was returned. then sent the amount
due for the few days supply, with a
message that it was not necessary to
send any more. Disagreeables are
always expressed by gentle negative
in Italian dealings.) This brought the
desired crisis. Thesteward himself ap-
peared, full of apologies, saying thathis
brother and not himself was to blame
that it was true they had an unfortunate
COW who gave watery milk, and, by
mistake, the milk of that miserable ami
NAL had been sent to us. But the sig
nora might be quite sure that such
mistake would never occur again; an(
it neverd did.
Similar experiments were tried by th'
butcher, whom l told that it seemed t
me that the oxen in this neighborhoot
had very large bones and very littl,
meat on them. "Ah, dear signora,
said the handsome fellow, his facial
smiles, 'tbut you know they must hav,
bones-er. they could not walk" gent,
iatinatedsto-him that l would be glat
if he would try to send the roasts from
small-boned animals whenever possible
and he quite enjoyed his poor little joke
and did betterfor me than if had &C
cused him openly of cheating me-Mrs
8idnctardi's at Home In Hdiy."