The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-03-24


were protected from the inclemency OF
winter. and removed TO the front yard in
the summer
To conduct the affairs OF such an es-
tablishment as we have hurrIedly de-
scribed, required "a reiinue OF servants.
Our modern hOusekeeper would stand
aghasf at the idea Of having now 10 pro.
vide for. cloihc, train and direct tho
duties of such Il host Otunderlings as did
the mistress OF two generations ago. In
many OF the large households from if.
teen 10 twenty negroes. men. women and
children lived on the premises with the
white family. The usual number, young
and old, was generally from eight 10 ten.
v = have already referred 60 the gar
dcner and his functions. The carriage
driver and his boy imagined they had
much to do in attending TO their pets,
and keeping the carriage clean and
creased No stragglcrs or children were
allowed 10 be about the stable, in which
was often to be found fierce dog Kept
chained in the daytime, but let loose at
night, for protection Of the premises.
This same individual saw also that the
cow was regularly fed at night, ana
turned out on the commons TO Craze dur
ing the daytime, and in case she did not
come up at eyen-tide in time to be
MIXED, ii was his olerOus duty 10 search
her up and drive her home
The most important male functionary
among the servants was the butler or
dining-rOom servant. lie was an auto
crat not only az the breakfast table, but
of the dining-room entire. lie polished
the silversburnished the mahogany SIDE
board. had the floor rubbed. and set the
table for each meal ills deputy, a smart
youth, who was ultimately to be his sue
ccss0r, cleaned the knives and forks by
rubbing them over plank with brick-
dust, or on soft brick itself, and did AL
the other drudgery demanded Of his
superior The table.kniyes then in use
were made OF the best steel, mounted In
handles of the purest ivory The forks
had only two prongs This was an i'm
proyement on the spike used by our an
cestors OF the sixteenth century, which
was driven with the left hand into The
roasted haunch to secure II, while with
the right the hunks Of flesh were chopped
OF with moat-axe. 10 be served % the
guests The b4nqueting table at HaddOn
Hall. used in the time OF Elizabeth, bears
the marks OF this performance 10 this
dav. The four-prong fork Of the present
dag was preceded by the three-pronged
fork, and is luxury OF recent origin.
The knife OF the present dinner
table ia the lineal descondent of It's
fierce proyenitOr. the meat.aXe of the
dueenth century. At this latter date
guests had 10 use their fingers in tearing
their food to pieces before eating it. The
Improvement in manners required that
some other mode than this should be en-.
ployed Hence, large, coarse knife was
introduced with which 10 cut the food.
instead Of chopping II with the axe co
A. to get If Into pieces small enough 20
be swallowed The shape and size OF
this knife were gradually modified until
az last the narrow, flat implement now
i'm use was the result. This was made
sharp on one side only, so that the food
could be transferred 20 the mouth with.
out danger OF wOunding H. At the time
of which We now write most OF the old
people used The knife in conveying their
food 10 the mouth. II was a habit trans
mtied to them by their predecessors,
and was never entirely abolished until
the Introduction OF the fOurpronged
fork OF the present day.
By q certain time OF the day the dining
room and its incumbent. 10 whom we re-
turn from this depression, presented y
busy scene tie was preparing to set
the table for the chief meal OF the day.
On such occasions his air Of importance
was greater than ever; and after his du.
lies had ended. that department became
A closed sanctuary, into which no one
but himself was expected 10 go. II was
q serious matter 10 disturb this order
and precision that relgned therein from
that hour TO the time for serving dinner
And yet the place was worth inspecting
The spOtless damask, artisticaily laid
and folded al the corners of the table
the lastly arranged silver, the silent ar
ray Of blue china, the cut-glass Jars Of
yellow and green pickle, aud the grace
ful urn of snOw-white celery, afforded
a pre-pandlal picture worthy of the artist
and his lifelong training. In warm
weather upon like occasions, the room
was kept dark and cool and free from
the intrusion of insects Just here we
take the liberty OF enquiring why II was
that the manufacturers Of that 0 blue
chinaware always insisted upon putting
for handles upon each end Of tho soup
tureen a quizzical reproduction Of a
hogs head"
At least Two cooks and their assistants
were generally necessary TO the demands
OF our aforesaid establishment One
either man or a woman, presided az
the big fireplace in the kitchen, with it,
great iron derrick and black array of
boiling pots, its cruel looking spit upon
which the revolving rOasts were pre-
pared and It's grim and tired-looking
Old sndirons. The other had genller
employment. She was the pastry and
cake and beaten-biscuit maker She
was familiar with the mysteries Of
pickle making, preserving and prepar-
ing Jams, jellies and catsups, and al tho
proper season she was expected 10
gather the lavender and rOse-leayes
which the ladies of the household used
In preparing sachets for pertaining the
linen OF tho house Then there were
laundresses and seamstresses and maids
Of high and low degree The young
ladies OF the family had their
favoIite serving women, while the
mstron OF the establishment was often
habitually followed In her daily round
by a juvenile pet whose special priyi-
lege'it was 10 tend ole missus.' Some
OF the moro favored among tho maids
were allowed to occupy sleeping apart.
ments in the house, in order To answer
the calls OF the faulty. la addition To
the list Of dependents already given
were the very old and tho very young
negroes, who had TO DO cared for a.
regularly MS the rest of the household
The former were usually provided with
comfortable quarters somewhere on the
premises, where they were allowed TO
doze away their last days In quiet But
their lifelong habit Of work did not
allow them 70 DO entirely idle They
would volunteer their services 40 times
The veteran cook would lend hand IA
preparing the dinner upon occasions
The old woman would knit stockings
look after the soap or nurse the young
while their mothers were otherwise EN-
ployed Looking after the soap" re-