The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-03-21
Girls i'm the CITY.

| In the dining rooms of mauv of our
thiri-class hotels and in the kitchens OF
some of our private houses can lie
found girls who have left their coun-
/ t"y homes to better their condition in
the city. L a girl is fully competent
| for kit.hen or general house work she
can OF course tnd work at the usual
three or four dollars p week. But as
a usual thing country girl en- not do
the work in a city family. The wa 8
are en- irely different from those she has
/ teen accustomed to. and those who
hire girls expect competency. and I'M
less they get it. the girl is discharged
and new one eng ige |. The kitchen
girl Is hired and placed in the kitchen.
| The mistress, PROBABLY. never darkens
the kitchen door. There the girl is.
and she must work through herself.
getting what little instruction she re-
ceiv s, may BE- from the retiring girl
who is not over particular or verI mi
mute in explaining things Now it will
probably seem easy TO the competent
girl in the country to get through
under such circumstances. She knows
she is smart. cleanly. a good co,k and
30 on. Well. the cooking will be differ
ent in the city. but passing that by. let
us Iefer to one common matter to show
how new field kitchen work in the
city is to the country Cir. Her trouble
will beg n W tn the stove. What trouble
can there be with a stove? Ii there
was no other trouble than that which
would come from the difference between
a Coal and wool fire, it would b.
trouble enough. But there i the
boler. What would the girl from the
country do with thata She might be
told to keep fire all n ght to keep
il from freezing. or she might not he
allowed 10 do at. But if she was told to
keep fire. and did keep one, she might
not keep it 81 a to prevent the boiler
from freez NO. Many houseke apers
who sensi5ly look after such things
often find that even experienced girls
will leave the fire box full of ashes. and
keep the fire wholly on top, above the
water front. where it does not keep the
water sufficiently warm to prevent
freezing in very cold weather. And the
boiler once frozen. and the fire started
next morning. boiler, stove and proba-
bly, the girl will be blown to atoms.
We refer TO this one thing to show that
the conditions in the city are totally I'M
like those of the country.
But suppose the girl succeeds by tao,
or luck in giving satisfaction. What
change it will be for her. The servant
girl in the city is nearer prisoner than
any one can be outside of prison walls
The kitchen is her home. if she is doing
kitchen work. All of the balance of the
house is barred against her. She is az
much alone the greater part of the time
as if she were in solitary confinement.
She is not allowed to have much COM
pany. if any. In many places she is
not allowed to go out ut all. and those
who do permit her to 90 out, give her
but two or three hours week. Does
that picture please our country girls
who have good homes. or plenty of
chances to work in the country, where
they will be treated as one of the fami-
ly9 And as for working in our second
and third-class hotels. the girls en-
trance into such employment is almost
equivalent to loss OF character. She
may not deserve the disrespect which is
usually shown her, but she gets it all the
same. The city presents no more favor
able opportunities TO the girl than it
does to the boy. 1t is a selfish place,
and a dangerous place. There are often
more misery and more tears in a single
block than can be found on all the
farms of Congressional District.
Girls. do not get tired of home. 1t is
the sweetest, safest spot on earth for
You, and if there is desire or a neceS-
sity for YOU to 90 cut to work, answer
the demand for girls that come from
our country homes HeSterI1 RtIraI.