Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-03
THE SERVANT GIRL.
Reflections of Shrewd Observer on
the Question of Household Help.

Washington is a peculiar place as far as
servant girls are concerned. There is good
supply and the proportion of competent serv-
ants is probably above the average. They
seem to be very accommodating and either go
away with their employers for the summer or
stay in the city all the year around. The ma
jority are colored although there are number
of servants of all nationalities. They are faith
full in the discharge of their duties and have a
care for the interests of their employers. One
servant will do al the work or she will confine
herself to some special department. They are
neat and quick and seldom out of temper.
A good many sorely- tried housekeepers will
object to this description of the Washington
servant girl They can cite instance after in
stance of servants in their employ who were
quite the reverse. They can tell tales of in
competency and ingratitude that excite COM
passion and stir Indignation. They will not
admit that there are any good servants. They
denounce the entire class and wish that there
was some way invented of cooking, dish wash
ing, cleaning, &C., that would do away with all
servants.
WHAT LADIES TALK ABOUT.
It is said to be in bad form to talk about your
servants in society. However that may be,
whenever the ladies come together no CONVEX
sation of any length is carried ON without some
reference to this absorbing subject. 1t may be
in bad form, but 1t is human to talk of the sub
ject that is uppermost in the mind. There is
no doubt that with the majority of ladies who
keep house this is matter of supreme i'm
portance. 1t is not like politics, mis- sions, or
temperance, or the affairs of others. They are
outside OF the home and can be kept there if SO
desired. But this is matter that forms a part
OF the daily life. 1t rises up in the morning with
you and it lies down again with you at night.
Like babies and Clothes it is something that
demands, and imperatively, too, large portion
of the time. 1t is singular how little unanimlty
there is on the subject of the virtues of serv-
ants. 1t may be that the class who claim that
servants have no virtues is in the majority;
still, the other side is heard to protest. You
hear what an excellent servant one has and
how everything goes on like clockwork, and
then again you hear a dismal chorus of the in
competency and bad temper which is found to
characterize the servant-girl class.
WHAT DOES THE SERVANT GIRL THINK.
1t is seldom, in all the discussion that prevails
and in all the diversity of opinion on this ques-
ton, that the servant girl is heard to express
her opinion. 1t would be interesting to known
what the servant girl thinks. There may be
two sides to this problem. The servant girl
| might be able to tell of ignorant, incompetent
mstresses, of a lack of consideration and of
lack Of system. They could throw some light
on the house keeping methods of young
wives, which the lover husband happily only
sees through the enchanting medium of
a loves glamour. They could also tell of
women who have mastered the art or rather,
the profession of keeping house and max
ing a home-women who have taught
and trained them in ways of economy
and in skillful management. They could speak
of women who were equally at home in the
kitchen or in the parlor and who instructed
their daughters in the knowledge of how to
make home. The fact is that servants could
throw flood of light upon the various and
perplexing phases of what is known as the
''seryant-girl question"
BACHELORS REASONING.
This is the way an old bachelor reasoned as
he sat talking with STAR reporter the other
evening. He is taking his summer vacation
out on the parking in front of his residence
this year. All the members Of his household
were away and he had a chance to say his say
on a matter about which he probably maintains
a discreet silence when his friends return to
the city and he begins his rounds of social calls
As he says, he then hears the problem thor
dghly discussed from the parlor standpoint
and during the summer vacation he evil
IDENTIFY has taken advantage of the absence of
the family to hear what the authorities
In the kitchen had to say. He, how
ever, confessed to the reporter that he had
been only partially successful in obtaining
candid expression OF opinion. But from hints
and suggestions dropped now and then he has
been able to get a glimpse of the other side of
the servant question, which he confesses has
been sufficient to leave him poised, a. it were,
on the fence.