The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-03-27
THE HIRED GIRL.
HeI traits and Privileges-How Much 1t Costs
to Keep Her.

or more, but no mind had been di
: corning enough to emulate it. Sine
/ it has become an axiom OF family lif,
it raises the party of the third part
an important rank in the domesti
n circle. That she is important no on
q who has ever hired her has failed t
find out. Happy are they who NEE
in her treasure. Twice happy ar
< they who can get along without her
| Here in Springfield the servant girl
, ale Irish, and form two distinct class
es, the natives of the realm of St Pat
rick and those OF American birth. A
rule the latter, having had at leas
the rudiments of a common school ed
ucation, are to marked degree more
intelligent and capable than the form
er. The wages paid these domestics
range from 81 to 81 week, the former
sum going to the least experienced
and efficient, aud the latter to the ia
vortes of wealthy families and cooks
in restaurants, whose work is espe-
cially hard. The average pay of the
girl who can wash and iron and do
part or the whole cooking for family
of reasonable size is So; and it is a
| PllOC w HlOn indhCo lACoC Slllo OuO VI
the most independent classes in the
| community. Some business men
would be glad in these times after
paying all their bills for food, fuel,
rent, washing and lights, to have So
week left for clothing and other
purely personal comforts.
When the average domestic appears
on the streets in hcr Sunday clothes
she carries about her an air of COM
fort and responsibility which is often
painfully lacking among a crowd of
shop girls. And there are some
kitchen maidens of whom it can truly
be said, ''she is very much of lady"
1t is common to accuse this class of
putting every cent they can earn on
their backs, and that, too, in fashion
that will cause the most possible dis
play. Still there are Springfield hired
girls who are real estate owners, and
''forehanded" in other respects.
Many of them have money laid by in
the savings bank, and one local insti-
tuition can count up more than a
thousand depositors from this class. |
The amounts invested are also consid- |
cradle, some of the books bearing
credits of $1,000 and even $1,000.
The usages of society are as firmly
established in the kitchen as the par
Tor. Calls are made and returned
with due formality. AS general
hing, the domestic does not associate
With the shop girl, the feeling of supe-
'iority of one over the other being mu-
ual. And the domestic has set of
nf xxrhfah ~
iced apply for admission. The stand
ng of the employers family is gener-
lily considered when a newcomer
eeks to mingle in the highest cir
les, education, ability to do fancy
York, and few similar accomplish
1ents being also regarded. Some of
be Springfield domestics have married
cry well and maintain orderly and
ttractive homes to which they well
ONE their unmarried associates.
theirs who were carefully brought up l
| our best families, have married
oorly, and the places where they live t
re as untidy and fever-breeding as
ny in the city. The contrast between
le knowledge of this class and their r
Sc of it is painful enough to sicken
lC AhOou AORClul lOiltl NlSllOI |
the land. They hold themselves to n
ep into any house to which they may
} called on an emergency, and do up Y
o work, whatever it may be, in ex- c
llent shape, and they teach their n
lildren to do the same, for a consid- u
alton. But in thoir own quarters o
ey sometimes live with very unciv- s.
zed fashion. G.
The hired girls privileges vary con- il
lerably in different families. 1t is n
morally understood that after the
nday dinner is. out of the way she Il
all have the rest of the day to her. c.
If, even though the family are forced d.
be content with bread-and- milk &C
pper. Some housekeepers think II
ey must be very strict with their
Up for the sake of maintaining disci-
ne. They lay down the law that
Dir girls can have only one after w
on and one evening out each week, P5
Tile others allow their servants to be W.
ay whenever their absence does not " "
the family. And the VI
1trast is kept up all along the scale. ",
Q woman was heard to remark WI
lie since that when she caught the Po
Is reading the daily paper she guess VI
they'd catch it. But other families cI'
glad to keep help intelligent enough we W:
care for the papers. These people VI
willing their domestics shall have re-
re in their sleeping-rooms part of 10,
day, so that place may be afford , ,ei
for sewing and recreation, and they ~
ID not be tied down to the kitchen sP:
ing all their working hours. The l.
t girls are kept in the same fami- on
year after year, while the poor SUI
S are constantly floating through Try
intelligence offices. A well-to-do ne
lilly will do almost anything in or WIN
to keep a first-ciass girl. Cases lel
e been known where they paid her VII
wages and also paid her board sor
ing their absence in California or Una Una
ope. 1t is probably more common liza
ay her half-wages in such cases. DC
ow much it costs to keep a girl is rus
UGH mooted question. Some mis-
ses of experience put the amount
Ugh as $40 week, and claim that /
have figured out this result care pur
7. They allow So for wages, So be
board, "a for waste, provided the dor
10 1oft