Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-11-16

the minister; what more could you
ask ~
"Rayuond, what on earth are
you talking aboutW
"It's all here, you can see for
yourself. The fact is, Pve bee1
thinking a good deal about this
labor question; and one evening |
wrote letter for the Journal pur-
porting to have come from Mrs.
f. L. Howe. setting forth her
troubles with servants, and appeal
ing to the host of respectable, un-
employed women for help"
"You miserable humbugl read
it with a sympathizing heart, and
meant to write to her myself-our
cases are so much alike-only /
forgot It,"
dwell, here comes letter from
rustic maiden, who speaks for
her sister and herself, and proposes
to undertake the job, She's in
serious earnest, too, and Pm i'm
pressed by her letter. Just read
it,
Mrs. Lattimer read with a criti-
cal, not to say skeptical air.
I'D rather have Bridget with all
her peppery temper. Deliver me
from superior, Pm as-good.as.you-
are servants. | intend to be mis-
tress in my house, and l want ser.
wants and not companions and
friends
"All right, you have my approx
al there; but | thought the trouble
was you we're not mistress. They
obey just far enough to enable them
to keep their places and draw their
wages, and they have no concep-
tiOn of any other kind of service.
Now, if 1 we're a housekeeper /
should try these girls; certainly
Won cOuldn'c be worse off,
"If you were a housekeeper You
would do Just as the rest of us do
bear the ills we know rather than
tempt the unknown
"Perhaps so; I'm profoundly
thankful I'm not a woman, to go
on doing a thing to all eternity be-
cause grandmother did it before
me, and my neighbors would think
it $50 queer OF me to try any new
way"
"What are you going to do about
the letter? ? You really ought to
answer it,"
$50 | shall. | shall tell the min
lister | have forwarded the letter to
Mrs. +. l.. Howe, who will CORE
spond with him if she decides to
pursue the matter"
If the EDITORS letter proving
that Mrs. i. l.. Howe was no myth,
created deep and profound excite.
ment IN the little circle of three,
what can be said of the effect pro
duced by a letter addressed to Miss
Matte Harper, offering to her and
her sister service in the household
of the writer with wages and con-
ditions very carefully specified i
To be sure, it was signed Mrs
Frederic Lattimer, but of course
one would use a fictitious name in
paper. The letter was written in
very PLAIN terms; it said servants,
and not SHRED girls" which was
supposed in bingham to be a title
of greater respect, and stipulated
that the engagement was only for
a month, at the end of which time,
if Mrs. Lattlmer is not pleased, she
would pay their expenses home.
"It'll come pretty tough on you,
Marthy Harper, being looked down
on as a servant" said the kind old
housekeeper. "You won't have
any 'sociation with the family"
81 don't care to associate with
the family; we don't associate
with the men we make shirts tor"
said Matte. 81 shall have Dolly,
and Dolly will have me, and we
shall both have the babies. ! don't
think we shall care for much more
1t was only at Mattie's earnest
entreaty that the minister forbore
to accompany them to their new
home.
alt wOuld look as if we expected
to be received as something more
than we are,' she said to Dolly
"And | want her to understand
that all we ask is fair wages fol
fair work"
So they went alone. a smart
looking maid answered their ring
at the door bell, calculated thelI
standing at a glance, and left them
in the hall while she went for her
mistress. Presently the girl came
back and conducted them to the
kitchen. Mattie's eyes noticed that
the floor was unswept, the range
greasy, and pile of unwholesome
looking towels lay on the table
for Bridget had been gone a week,
and a procession of supplies, each
one worse than the last, had held
brief possession of her kingdom.
81 am so glad it isn't a basement
kitchen, and see what a nice yard,
she said to Dolly, whose eyes were
ready to overflow.
Something came clattering along
the hall, and the door was pushed
omen to admit beautiful boy 0I