Morning journal and courier., 1889-04-06

American hotels. But the IaQ1es maids, Who are responsible only to their mattresses, hold | what are regarded as the most desirable po- I sitions; insomuch as, while the most exact- ing, and often the most shamelessly servile, duties are required of them, they receive from thirty to fifty pounds per year; their opportunities for travel and sightseeing are unlimited; and the advantageous secrets their close relations to their noble mistresses enable them to possess are supposed to give them extraordinary substantial benefits. All lower female servants hold them in deadly hatred; the while longing for their places as almost equivalent to the honors of royalty itself. The female servants also comprise a head lsundress at thirty pounds, and two or three assistants at twelve pounds each per year; assistant cook, who must be equal in ability to the chef, and who receives twenty pounds; two additional assistant cooks, or kitchen-maids, at fourteen pounds; and two scullery maids at twelve pounds
 The head butler is sort of generalissimo of the male servants ot the household. A majestic bearing is fortune to this fellow. | He is the general-stand- around -and-look-a | ful of the castle; but must have an eye to | the welfare of guests and the character and l behavior of his interiors. He is also the 1 head waiter. He attends to the table and its proper setting and service at all times; pre- | siding at the carving and other mysteries at | the sideboard; for all of which he receives ! seventy five pounds per year. The under l butler, at thirty-fve pounds, has entire | charge of the silver. It practically never leaves his hands or sight; as he not only de- 1 livers to, and receives from, the hands of the 1 butler all pieces used, but washes polishes 1 and sleeps alongside their receptacle-cases in | the pantry. During seasons of unusual en- I tertainment he also assists the head butler at 1 meals. There are generally also first, sec- l ond and third footman. These receive about ! the same wages as the under butler. They l clean milord's clothing, which @ valet scorns l to do save when his master travels, assist at ! meals as walters, wash glass and silver ware, l are regarded as general help under the but ! lers; and are, properly speaking, only foot men when on duty as such with the car- l riages. 1 Among the other male servants is milord's valet, with well-knew duties. A bright one receives seventy pounds per year and will easily manage to secure as much more. Then there are the head cooks, to none of whom are paid onesfourth the price given by the American nouYeau-riches to their recent ly imported chefs, who receive from one I hundred and twenty five to one hundred and | fifty pounds, with perquisites of about fifty l pounds from the sale of drippings and fats. l There is also head coachman, at sixty to | eighty pounds, under whom are a second | coachman at twenty-five pounds, stud groom at fifty pounds, and grooms, stable ! men and helpers at from ten to twenty pounds each; and one or two todd men" who attend the servants hall, carry baggage,
 
 men to all beiow-stairs.
 The whole number of servants at one of these castles is therefore very large. 1 have only enumerated those directly serving the household itself, whose members may not number half dozen, and in seasons of en- tertainment will not average more than two dozen souls. Yet from thirty to thirty-fve persons are required to serve them. Added | to these is an equal number in outdoor en- | ployment, of which I shall speak in the suc- | cseding article, making a total of fifty to | seventy-6ve servants on the payroll of an | Irish estate of average pretensions;-a sort | of grim compensation in expense, however, considering that find the annual revenues ! derived by these impoverished titled Irish landlords to range from one hundred thou | sand to upwards of one million dollars. !
 The ordinary daily routine st the castle, l when visitors are not being entertained, is | distinguished by remarkable repose. Milford | and lady, occupying apartments remote from each other, and always attended by valet and I waiting maid, who each sleep within call of voice table bell, 1ise at about eight o'clock. After their bath and toilet, the latter being most informal and sensible, weather permit ting a stroll through the grounds is taken | until breakfast. This is served with all pos- sible ceremony between nine and ten. The | only actual dnty, and this is imperative, either master or mistress ever assumes is ap- proving the bills -of-fare, which nilaGy gene rally consents to perform. These are usually l ready the previous evening. Her maid in- ] forms the housekeeper, who informs the | head housemaid, who sends an under house. ! maid to inform the cook that her ladyship is 1 actually awake. The cook dispatches his as-
 sistant to secure footman. He conveys the required slips to the butler, who seeks the maid, and the latter places taem, with pen
 cil, in the hands of her ladyship, who. still
 in bed, inspects, changes or approves at her
 leisure; when the bills-of-fare by another
 circuitous route finally reach the cook.
 Whatever the conjugal results of titled
 married life may be, such @ thing genial, l cordial affection is never exhibited before | servants, children or friends The associa- | tion at meals, the home-life. the conduct in | all places, may be described 8 never-end- | ing period of sodden stateliness. Between | breakfast and luncheon, which is served | from two to three in the afternoon, her lady ship may write letters; pass few hours in
 her library or music room; permit her maid to call her attention to portions of her trou-
 seau of the last or next season; and finally undergo the tedium of change in apparel | for luncheon. The while milord has attend ed to his correspondence; seen his agent; in rare instances admitted vexatious deputa- tion of tenants, and possibly inspected his shooting accoutrements and the stud. Be- tween luncheon and tea either milford or mi- lady, or both, may take dash within the grounds in the saddle, seldom together, al- ways with an attendant: or, still separate, l with footmen in livery be driven in different directions over the surrounding country in | coaches, traps or the elegant castle jaunting- l cars, returning in time for tea at five; which
 is frequently taken without change of toilet. 1 The rigor of dressing for dinner, and the l solemn stateliness of that meal at eight ln 1 the evening. are something indescribably groteslue as to comfort plebeian in his un-
 aristocratic ohsourity; and from the termina-
 tion of dinner until the inmates of the castle
 retire the possession of palace with pala-
 tial appointments and an army of servants cannot furnish quietus to the slow tortures of indigestion, CT still the sluggish artillery of hereditary yawns The distinction be- 1 tween this every day castle life and that when | the place is thropged with guests will bs
 shown in the succeeding article.
 But whether the castle is asleep in it's in
 ane home-life, or is stirred by the presence | of msny noble visitors, it's child life ever re-
 mains the same. Children are almost exclu- | sively reared without seeing their parents ! save by chance. Their apartments are re- 1 mote from the remainder of the household. 1 Whatever their youth, they occupy separate l sleeping rooms adjoining the nursery, which | is usually sitting room, dining room, school l and play room combined, though they have | the general run Of the castle, within bounds, | and always in charge of the governess or l nursery maids. The regime of meals and | their service is as strict and formal as that l with their elders. The goyerness is always l with them at meals, and indeed practically l never absent from them. Their study, play | hours, meals, outings and hours for rising l and retiring are as vigorously observed as at ! a military school. Their clothing is wholly i prepared under the direction of the gover- 1 ness. Her ladyship simply receives reports l of discipline and progress. She is in no | sense their mother. On rare occasions, when | her ladyship is alone, or when guests who | are close friends are present, they are per
 mitted to appear with their governess at the | family table. But these occasions, while re-
 gaIded as rewards, are dismally formal and | austere. Some things these children gain. l The vast grounds are full of sweetness, sum-
 light and song. They are kept in these eve- ry moment permissible from their studies. l I believe them to be from infancy to their | departure for school, and sometimes until l their entree to noble society. the healthisst ! children and youths in the world. Some
 thing else is gained. As rule, their com pulsory and hsbitual sbnegation before their | elders prevent that insufferable arrogance and |