St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-04-26
LONDON BARMAHDS.
A Glass that Command Respect ID
spite Their Business.

A Class that Command Respect De-
spite Their Business.
London Letter in Troy Times.
The one redeeming point about the Lon
don tavern is the barmaid. am told on
good authority that in metropolitan London
alone, with its population of about 5000,
600 souls of one kind and another, there
are 1000 barmaids, exactly double the
number of girls employed in one capacity
or another about the theaters. A barmaid
must be young and attractive. She is re-
quired to dress in black cashmere or
French merinO princess robe, so as to be
distinguished from the miStress,-a London
tavern, like an American farm, must have
a mistress, who generally appears behind
the bar in the gaudiest cOlOrs, and, above
all, to prevent rivalry in dress between the
barmaids themselves, and therefore to
lessen the temptation of dipping their hands
in the till. The dress, too, it may be men
toned, must be made without pockets,
which l should think must prove great
hardship, especially in this climate, where
one is subject to colds in the head. They
must, moreover, be intelligent to the extent
of at least engaging the customers of the
''masher' type in conversation, and of
leading them on to spend great deal of
their time and money at the bars 1t is,
however, a mark against a barmaid if she
devotes herself 700 exclusively to one or
two persons. This is not conducive to
trade. Her policy is, therefore, to talk
little to every one, and having to serve all
and sundry as they come up to the bar,
she is able to pass from one to another
without giving apparent offense. In this
way barmaid picks up great deal Of
surface knowledge, and, in many instances,
becomes really smart and accomplished far
beyond her station in life.
But she is by no means the slave of her
customers. Let any one, especially a
stranger, attempt familiarities with her, or
address language to her which, according
to her lights, she considers as unbecOming a
gentleman, she will have that person up be-
fore the master or mistress at once, or call
into instant requisition the service of the
''chucker out.'' Of course, she must neces-
sarily overhear great deal that is not fit
for ears polite, but so long as it was not
addressed to her, and the person using it
does not make disturbance, that is none
of her business, and though obliged to serve
the low types of character above described,
it is not expected of her, however, that she
shall hold any conversation with them
further than the transaction she has with
any of their demands. 1t is barmaid's
ambition to be promoted from the Bill
Sykes side of the bar to that of the masher.
Here she is in her element. She can listen
to silly nOthings by the hour from dozen
nonentities, the object evidently being to
keep as many as possible of what she calls
her customers Oh the tenter hooks. See
her in the evening, if she is at all attractive;
she is perfect flower plat, because of the
number of buttonhOle bouquets that
have been presented to her during the day
by her numerous admirers. Yet her life
can not be all bed of roses. She is re-
quired to be on her feet fifteen hours day,
every day in the week; she must live on the
premises, and she is only allowed to go out
one day in every four or five weeks; she is
boarded by her employer and receives for
wages, with which she must clOthe her.
self, and always appear respectable, on an
average of about 50 week.
What becomes of the barmaids when the
bloom of youth has passed and they have
broken down in health from the hard work
and close confinement? | have found no one
who can answer the question satisfactorily
From the force of habit barmaids have
ideas and ambitions far above their Origi-
nal station of life; they turn up their nose
at a respectable artisan; yet it is not often
that those who have made SO many pretty
speeches to them behind the bars, when
they were young, pretty and attractive
care to make them partners for life. What
becomes of these $4,000 young women? l
repeat it again. What becomes of these
100, 900 engaged in similar callings in other
parts of the country?