San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-08-14
TOLD BY A LADY'S MAID.
THE STORY OF THE LIFE AND d.
TIES THAT FALL TO HER LOT.

Few American Girls Want the Position.
The French Girls Have Almost a Mo-
nopoIy-With Propensity TO Gossip
They Are Discreet and Silent.
| Generally among the crowds of eager, eX.
cited, well and badly dressed men and wo
men who surge up and down the gangplanks
| and decks of the outgoing ocean steamers are
| a few simply gowned, well hammered women,
who quietly bid farewell to their friends, do
| not join in the wild hurrah and waving as
the ship swings froH her pier, yet stand on
the main deck just behind the wealthiest and
most prominent people, and are off for long.
varied trip abroad.
They will visit Paris and London, put up at
the first hotels, and perhaps pay flying visits
to the German spas in company with our
wealthiest countrywomen. They are, in fact,
ladies' maids servants, if you will, and in
nearly every case of any other nationality
but American How is thisf' | asked sew
eral young women of quiet social standing
who gain livelihood by working in box and
candy factories 1t would seem that for such
a position, where the work is light, wages
good and travelling expenses paid, there would
be innumerable applicants.
That is well enough" they replied, ''but
one is obliged to wear cap and apron and be
constantly at another's beck and call, so we
prefer factory life and freedom"
WHAT THE FRENCH MAID SAYS
Let US see just what the maid will say for
herself and sound her opinions on the sub
iect A little brown eyed Frenchwoman,
who had lived many years in the United
States, was proud and delighted to give her
ideas on the question in detail:
had been taught the profession of hair
dressing when quite a girl but decided
wanted to come to America, so secured a
place with an American woman as maid and
kept it for five years. Some people think it
an easy occupation and rather contemptibl.
on that account but let thoroughly expert
enced woman try and see how sGnally she
will fail
Those thousand little personal wants must
be remembered and all satisfied with degree
of delft skill that only comes by practice
One must he at least n clever hairdreSSer sew
neatly and rapidly, have taste in the arrange |
ment of costumes, and at times she will be |
called upon to both read and write for her |
mistress. She is busy from one day to an |
other with merely mending lace, laying fine |
darnS in silk stockings, catching up or letting |
out seams, as my lady'S plump proportions |
wax and. wane, putting toilets away in linen,
and bringing out others with the innumerabe |
accessories of gloves, fan, slippers wrap, etc
Then there is one talent think ndispens- |
able, and if not natural, should by all means
be cultivated-that is the gift of good TEN
per Be chatty if you like; it will interest
the lady as she is having her hair brislly
brushed and her nails manicured. but there }
are times when ones good humor will be aw
fully strained; it is so in every profession,
and ours is not an exception But the ques
ton of mistress and maid has been so fire.
quently and carefully discussed in fiction
and either the one or the other held in a disa
greeable light, that it is pleasure to refute
all this false testimony.