West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1888-01-13
A kitchenmaid of these later times

NOulu WOuuCi do ehS A"SiA -
1886. To make a fire was a real
Job, especially when one was obliged
10 wade through the snow in the
long yard to get an armful OF wood
from the pile in the woodhouse.
And then no friction matches, but
matches made of shavings about
five inches long, the circumference
of lead pencil, and either end dip
ped with sulphur. And the light
Well, all that the girl had to do was
to open a tinder box-a tin about
the size of blacking box, filled
with cinders of burned rags-and
strike flint and a steel together
until the sparks fired the tinder.
Then she applied one end of the
match to the fire and then the match
was lighted! 1t was not an uncom-
mon thing when the girl found that
she was out of matches to watch the
neighbor's chimneys and where she
saw the blue smoke gently curling
to run over and borrow few Goals,
with which she hurried back and
started her fire. These maJches
were sold in punches of II at 2 cts.
the bunch. A few homes of the
rich folks used coal, but it was of
the Liverpool kind. Wood, howev-
er, was the principal fuel, and hick-
ory and pine the greatest in demand
the latter for kindling purposes.
All the churches and schools, too,
were heated by wood fires, the big
stoves in places of worship being
placed in the back near the preacher,
and the congregation being served
with heat by means of the pipes run
ming along under the galleries to
the front. Wise old ladies took lit
tie foot stoves to church with them
which were heated with charcoal,
and they enjoyed the long sermons
the better because of the Uomforta-
BILE condition of their extremeties.
In those days servant girls had
some encouragement. They were
principally native born, either white
or black, but a few Irish, Dutch,
and Swedes were employed to leaven
the whole. An office for their graf
uitous registry was kept. The So
ciety for the Encouragement of
Faithful Domestic Servants was in
stituted 60 years ago. Subscribers
only were supplied, and they were
obliged to pay an annual fee OF 50.
No servant was sent without writ
ten recommendation. The girls
were encouraged to remain in their
situations, and to this end prizes
were offered. Every servant at the
completion of one years uninter-
rupted service was presented with a
Protestant Bible, or, having copy
of the Scriptures, she could take ~
instead. If she remained in her
place two years she received So;
three years, So; four years, 81, and
five years, $40 and certificate. At
the end of every subsequent year she
received $40. Many, many girls.
strange as it may seem to house
keepers of these latter days, staid
with their employers for life, and q
not infrequent obituary advertise
ment announced that "the faithful
servant and friend of the family"
would be buried from the residence
of her employer.
Five dollars the month were the
wages prevailing in the thirties, and
the servants saved a goodiy portion
of their pay # one may judge by the
frequency Of their deposits in the
New York Bank for Savings. Ac-
cording to the annual report of that
institution, made in 1883, the most
numerous class of depositors were
the domestic servants, who were rep
resented by $50 pass books. Labor
ers, $50; seamstresses, 331; clerks,
$50: carpenters, 146; tailors, 143.
OF the 5000 people doing business
with this bank the single women
appeared to be the most provident.
They numbered 952, and the widows
were ABA. There were but two other
savings banks in existence in that
year, the Seamen's, 49 Wall street,
chartered 1929, and the Greenwich,
situated at 10 Carmine street, in
corporated in 1888. The Bowery
was chartered in 1884. Five dollars
was considered quite sum of mon
ey in those days. and a citizen justly
boasting of the possession of $5O,oO0
was adjudged an extremely rich
man. Stephen Whitney, who was
estimated to be worth single mil
lion, was, like John Jacob Astor,
pointed out on tie streets to strang
ers as an object of interest. And
of principal.
~
Cleaning the big tin Dutch ovens,
gathering hickory ashes, rubbing the
brass knockers on the front doors
and the fancy knobs that topped the
uprights at the end of the stoop
rails were part of the servant girls
duties. Water was troublesome
article to get. For washing, rain
water that flowed from the root
through leaders into cistern in the
yard was used. No storm, no wash.
That made the weather such an in
teresting subject of conversation.
Sometimes a fire would occur in the