Telegram-herald., 1889-10-03

n-lther TIE taste nor the physical abLli-
g. % 90 witn nsr O-n hands the work
Necessary - Dc dons N any household,
aoseyer small. We women know hOs
deceptive appfaraacss are n respect 70
tie amount OF work " De done: for, 10
tie uELnit.atod, i often seelas tbat the
~ork a = small family m1st bs N fact
msEe pastile- But fScts are st1b0OEn
things, and the eOntTary Is vel knowl
~ be true and the unyaTylng routine
of washing. ironing, cooking, dish
washing, etc. etc, must be done with
as persistent regularity IN = family OF
three as IA one or Thirty. Now the
Vexed question OF how u Obta
competent h~ip 20 do this work,
that We with here ana
there an exception, neither Ike
ID 40, nor ave able to do, ourselves,
and l might add, nor knO. now ~ do,
has as yet not been settled. To he
sure Ee see nOw and then 4 faithful
and Efficient servant 10 some family.
but the army OF Incompetent aud soul
narrowing kitchen girls, : indeed ap-
palnng. But right here l want 10 say
word IA behalf Of these poor girls,
against whom our maledictlons are so
freely uttered. For what stimulus
have they 20 be anything but poor and
incompetent; and IN fact what chance
have they to DC anything else. No one
ever wants 10 hire UNFRAMED help aud
DC 10 the trouble 10 teach them, but
everybody wants a girl that knows now
20 do Al kinds of work. And if Il
turns out that she does not
know, the IS generally discharged
and another hired. Now is
the paitry price OF two or three dollars
q week a sufficient lnducement 10 a
glrl OF any independence or ambition
70 take THIS position OF servant and De
debarred from any other society than
those Of kitchen girls?
When a woman does her own work,
she does not for 4 moment consider
that she Is thereby doing anything that
Will exclude her from entering good
society. Now what IS the difference
whether woman does her own work
or does the work OF some other person?
And again, what is the difference
whether girl earns money by doing
hOusewOrk or by teaching or by selling
goods or by any other respected
means2 If We would bring up this
/ position 10 level with other occupa.
tons, We would soon find better class
of girls 10 till il. Ii there could only
be IN some way an inducemtnt given
TO these girls TO become skillful, and
competent, and intelligent. is 1t not
/ likely they would become so? We have
no trouble whatever IN hiring women
/ skilled IN needle work, nor men skilled
As carpenters. But until there is some
/ lnducement offered 10 become skilled
/ IN cookery, We snail 60 on advertising
I IN vain for girls 10 do our work, and
shall go on hiring and discharging a
| poor class OF help that scarcely
/ earn the small sum that they receive.
/ Ii Is IN the cooking that we find the
I most deplorable defects. And how can
| II be otherwise? To be good cook re-
/ quIres experience and judgment. No
merely mechanical processes of labor
/ VIII evolve a good dinner. Good cook
| ing calls out many more faculties than
/ are required TO be competent sales
lady, or good seamstress, or even
| fire accountant. A good cook must be
/ quick IN perception, correct IN 1udg-
ment, methodical, accurate, neither
/ dull nor slow. And when we can afford
TO pay good price to competent cooks,
| and can make the condition a little
/ more desirable upon which a girl en-
/ ters our homes TO do this work, We
/ shall doubtless spend less time bemOan-
ing our sad tate IN being at the mercy
of poor help.
But since for the present, we have to
make the best of 1t, and discharge a
/ Door Qlrl only 70 oct another q little
| poorer, and since some of US cannot do
| the work ourselves nor pay such a
price as a competent girl ought to COM
mand, then why can We not make some
\ plan practicable, OF having the COM
\ forts of home without the vexations
/ and annoyances of the kitchen. In
/ other words, why can we not have
/ boarding houses at so convenient dis
I tances and at such a price that we
/ could take our meals out of the house,
I rather than have them prepared at
\ home? II these boarding houses were
we'll patrOnized, good tables could be
| furnished and a minimum price Sc
/ cured, for by having these restaurants
/ or boarding houses accessible, they
| would have to be numerous, and that
would bring competition in price. We
1 would then have the comforts and free
! dom of home and be saved much care
! and vexatiOn, for DAYS work now
/ and then would be all that the ma lOr-
ity Of women would need 10 hire done.
/ We are now too busy and too full of
! care 10 be always amiable, and by hav-
ing more time at our command we
/ would doubtless be more intelligent and
more actively benevolent. II. A. r.