Wichita eagle., 1888-08-05


! your domestic difficulties. Never say I'm
not practical again Here are two servants
| for Won made 10 order-a cook and nurser7
| maid-natiyes, sisters, capable, educated,
| warranted by the minister. What more
| could you ask!'
Raymond, what on earth are you talking
! aboutf'
Its all here, you car see for yourself The
fact is, I've been thinking coed deal about
| this labor question, and one evening wrote
letter for The Journal purporting to have
come from a Mrs. E l. Rowe. setting forth
her troubles with servants, and appealing TO
the host Of respectable unemployed women
for help
"You miserable humbug! read it with
a sympashiziag heart, and meant to writs
her myself-our cases are SO much alike-only
forgot it."
well, here comes letter from rustic
maiden, who speaks for her sister and her
sell, and proposes TO undertake the Job
She's in serious earnest, too, and I'm quite
impressed by her letter. Just read it"
Mrs Lattiurer read with critical not to
/ say skeptical air.
'.rd sooner have Bridget with all her pep
perry temper. Deliver me from superior, I'm
as good as you are servants. Intend to be
mistress in my house, and want servants
and not companions and friends"
IAN right, you have my approval there;
but thought the trouble was you were not
mistress. They obey just far enough to en-
able them to keep their places and draw their
wages, and they have no conception of any
other kind of service. Now, if / were 3
housekoeper I should try these girls; GER
tainly you couldn't be worse OF"
IF you were hOuseAeeper 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 Tn
] not woman, to go on doing thing to al
eternity because M grandmother did it be-
fore me, and NY neiGGDors would think it
/ SO queer OF me TO try nsw way"
what are you going to do about the let-
teri You really ought 70 answer IL"
$50 shall shall tel the minister have
forwarded the letter 10 Mrs. E L. Howe,
who VIII correspond with him if she decides
/ to pursue the matter"
II the editors letter, proving that Mrs. E.
! L Howe was no myth, created deep and pro-
/ found excitement in the little circle OF three
what can De said Of the effect produced by q
letter addressed to Miss Matte Harper, offer
/ ing TO nsr and her sister service in the house
/ hold Of the writer, with wages and condi-
lions very carefully specified To be sure,
! it was signed Mrs. Frederic Lattimer, but Of
! course one would Use fictitious name in a
! paper The letter was written in very plain
terms: it said servants, and not ''hred girls, u
which was supposed III bingham TO bee tide
/ Of greater respect, and stipulated that the
engagement was only for month of trial,
/ at the end of which time, If Mrs Lattimer
/ be 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 ISOLATION with the family
Il don't care TO associate with tee family;
/ we don't associate with the men we make
! shirts for said Matte ~ 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
( sit would LOOK as II We expected TO be re-
ceiEed as something more than we are" she
said to Dolly And l want her to under
work"
/ So they went alone A smart looking
maid answered their ring at the door bell
calculated their social standing at glance,
and left them in the hail while she went for
her mistress. Presently the girl came back
and conducted them to the kitchen. Aattie's
eyes noted that the floor was unswept, the
range greasy, and q pile Of unwhoiesorne
lie Low caf1 R--IH -af
had been gone week, and procession Of
supplies, each one worse than the last, had
held brief possession of her kingdom.
Il am so glad it isn't q basement kitchen,
and see what e nice large yard" she said to
Dolly, whose eyes were ready to overflow.
Something came Gathering along the hall,
and the door was pushed open to admit a
beautiful boy Of four, drawing a tin horse
after him
'sOh, you darling!" exclaimed Dolly, rap
turously.
But the bog drew back little saying,
''Where's Bridgeti"
And in a minute the nurse pounced upon
him and dragged him off, calling him "a
little torment and bad, naughty boy"
Mattie's first bread, rashly undertaken
with Bridgets home made yeast, was an
utter failure and the baby chung obStinataly
to Johanna in spite Of Do.ly's establishments,
while Mrs. Lartimer, knowing nothing Of
housekeeping herself, had not q particle Of
patience with Ignorance in others, and chung
to her deep persuasion that nothing but the
most vigorous putting down could ever keep
those girls from disagreeabis assumption.
But long before the end Of the month Dolly
reigned sweet and serene in the nursery,
wore her nurses cap without an uncoInfort-
able thought, and drank IN delight from the
shaded park, with its flowers and birds and
fountains, as unconscious Of bitter servituds
as the children she loved and guarded
las for Matte Mrs. Lattmer confessed
to her brother, she's invaluable, and l shall
never be able to endure an ordinary servant
again, but if she hadn't known her mind bet
ter than did mine we should have parted
the very first week. That's one blessed thing
your old journal has done for the labor
question, and if my ship ever comes In III
endow the paper out Of gratitude"
"Ah, always felt that was born TO be
benefactor,s said tbs editor. Your ship
would have come IL long ago il you had
called me for pilot"
'And which one did he naTyf' asks the
saucy girls at my elbow.
Neither Of them, my dear. Pretty Dolly,
in the course OF time, went back TO Hing
ham and married farmers boy. who had
worked his way through college, and WIS not
ashamed Of his wife for having made her
way in the same fashion: and Matte. for
aught / know. IS q middle aged and respecca~
BILE cid maid. living on her savings, and
educating heathen In Africa For this story
has nothing to do with marrying O. giving
in marriage, but with the fact that a good