Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-09
PUTTING ON AIRS.
A Business Mans Experience With Some
of His Female Employees.

Il =
of His Female Employees.
The only objection to women as work
ers," said a Nassau street business man
yesterday, as he leaned back In his Office
chair, lis the constant efforts they make to
convince one that they belong to a much
higher station than the one they happen to
occupy ] employ good deal of female
help, and my experience is that many of
them think more of making the firm believe
that they are ladies Of birth and breeding
temporarily dethronged from high social
positions. than they do of making them
selves valuable in a business way. This
morning, while l was dressing, my laun-
dress came into my room TO get the weeks
| clothes. She Is full-blOoded Southern
negress. She had a photograph of her
sister, which she showed me with great
pride. .
.'She's a comm on heah. sah," she said.
| ina sistah. Miss Pinkie Joneson, is, an
expect she'll jes' be mortified to deaf when
she sees me-"
"Why so, Euphemia?"
''Why, bless ma soul, sab. yo' don s'pOse
Use alwus been a no count washerwoman,
do yO' say? When ma sistah, Miss Pinkie
JOnesOn, sab, come up from B'you Sara
las time to see me, was at service in one
NV the mos scrumptious houses in Wash
in'ton. sab. an she was jes' proud NV me-"
You like Washington society better than
New York;"
Dare amt no cullud sassiety heah, sab
-jes' few dandy Six av'nOo niggahs, wild
green Ober gaitahs and yaller pants, what
talks silly bout faro an keno an all sorts
of wickeness. Use shamed to meet my sis
tan. sab, shuah.'
Il 10 hr.., ,f-fa n
have had a good deal of trouble lately with
servants. and particularly with govern
esses. There seems to be no place in the
American household for the governess.
We've only one child, and ii hardly pays
to have both q governess and a nurse, and
80 we endeayored for time to get some one
who would combine the two functions. Fin
ally we advertised for nurse with enough
education to teach a child the commones;
English branches. She came and we sup
posed we had at last found valuable do
meStic. Last night my wife ran around the
corner to her sisters. She came back and
brought lot of people with her and they
all trooped into the parlor.
THE nurse was there. She wore a placid
smile, which was directed toward large
and cumbersome gentleman who might have
been truckman or coal HEAVIER when not
in society, and who sat with an appearance
of solidty only equaled by one of the piers
of the East river bridge. on musical chair
which my wife's uncle brought from Paris
last fall. Ii is delicate bit of furniture
made of bamboo polished like ebony. Lii
les. roses, and storks had been artisticaliy
painted on the chair by my wife. The mu-
sic box is so arranged that when one sits
upon the chair strains of melody tinkle
TIa .,< f,.
shaven but agreeable coal HEAVIER sitting up
on this chair and listening with nine-inch
smile of unqualified delight TO the
Shadow song from ''Dinorahr' Directly
opposite him was his hostess, the nurse
She wore brooch. cameo which myyife's
mother had left her, and which she priced
very highly. Ii was a charming picture
When my wife ordered the pair out of the
room the coal HEAVIER went good naturedly
but the nurse had her head in the air.
This morning at breakfast she was on
hand to have an explanation with me- as
my wife was too i'll to go down stairs She
began by saying that she believed lady
was lady no matter how she was placed.
told her we didn't object tn ladies in gen
eral, but when they assumed the prerogatiye
of my wife and took to entertaining large
and heavy laborers in the parlOr. we felt
that 1t was necessary to give the
household chance. ] then lis
tened to long harangue about
ladies and their right before l discovered
that the nurse considered herself govern
es despite the plain explanation had with
her when she came into the house. In try
ing TO explain to her that she was nurse
and not a governess, succeedly in insult
ing her so grossly that she gave me notice
on the spot Ipaid her up TO the end of
the month, and she is by this time, hope,
well out OF my house.
l came down town and opened my mail
when the forewoInan of one of our princi
pal departments came in to see me. She
made me a very polite bow and asked me if
was willing to listen to and of the ladies
in my employ for moment had heard
so much about ladies' that day, that be
gan to find myself in bad humor with the
term, and so / asked her to be as brief as
possible She turner toward the door, nod
ded her head, and small Irish girl pranced
in and extended her hand to me. l nodded
to her and asked what could be done.
She said she was one of the ladies in
the cutting department, and she had been
deeply insulted by the assistant superinten-
dent l asked her what the man had SAID.
He told me In the most coarest and dis
gustin' tone that any gent could possibly
use. she said, to take q drop on myself
and do little more work.
Il told her would see about it, sent for
the man-who, by the way, is an honest
and faithful emplOye-and found that she
had stopped her work during business
hours TO go over to the mirror and put her
hair up in paper. She had resented his in
reference as an insult and her part was