The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-07-11
LADIES MAIDS LIFE.
THEY GOSSIP A GOOD DELI, BUT
CAN HOLD THEIR TONGUES, TOO.
Atrocities of the Amateur Photographer
Millions in Old Postage Stamps-A
Dream Song-The Lady of Palm Tree
Eron the Ne,p York Star.

who quietly bid farewell to their
friends, do not join in the wild hurrah
and waving as the ship swings from
her pier, yet stand on the main deck
just behind the wealthiest and most
prominent people, and are oil Tor a
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 with our wealthiest
countrywomen. They are, III TACT,
ladies' maids, servants, if you will,
and in nearly every case of any other
nationality but American. "How Is
this?' I asked several young women
of quiet social standing, who gain a
livelihood BY working in box and
candy factories. ut would seem that
for such a position, where the work is
light, wages good and travelling ex-
penses paid, there would be innumer-
able applicants"
THAT is well enough" they replied,
''but one is obliged to veal a cap and
apron and be constantly at another3s
beck and call, so we prefer factory life
and freedom"
WHAT THE FRENCH laid SAYS.
Let us see just what the maid will
say for herself and sound her opinions
on the subject. A little brown eyed
Frenchwoman, who had lived many
years in the United States, was proud
and delighted to give her ideas on h
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 contemplate
on that account; but let q thoroughly
experienced woman try and see how
signally she will fail.
Those thousand little personal
wants must be remembered and all sat
isfied with a degree of deft skill thai
only comes by practice. One must be
at least a clever hairdresser, sew
neatly and rapidly, have taste in the
arrangement 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 another with
merely mending lace, laying fine darns
in silk stockings, catching up or let
ting out seams, as my lady's plump
proportions wax and wane, putting
toilets away in linen, and bringing
out others with the innumerable ac-
~cessories of gloves, fan, slippers, wrap,
etc.
Then there is one talent | think in
dispensable, and, if not natural,
should by all means be cultivated
that is the gift of good temper. Be
chatty if you like; it will interest the
lady as she is having her hair briskly
brushed and her nails manicured, but
there are times when ones good
humor will be awfully strained; it is
so in every profession, and ours is not
an exception. But the question OF
mistress and maid has been Sc fire.
quently and carefully discussed in
fiction, and either the one or the other
held in a disagreeable light, that it is
a pleasure to refute all this false testi-
mony,
THEY GOSSIP A LITTLE.
AS | tell you, l lived five years with
Mrs. L., and although there were ups
and downs, my life was pleasant and
comfortable. The house being that
of a rich woman | shared in its luxur-
les, and could hold myself a bit above
even the butler. My room on the top
floor was carpeted, curtained and
warmed by a gas stove, and much of
the day l spent working for myself. L
lived on the choicest fare, was given
many of my clothes and SO managed
to save nearly every cent of my wages,
500 a month.
Yes. | met other ladies' maids in the
dressing rooms at large balls and re-
ceptions, and we French women We're
naturally friendly. We would criticise
the ladies' gowns, and, l must say,
did a deal of honest gossip. You
know how great q temptation it is to
rake over the Goals of other folks,
social, domestic and finan-
cial failures and successes.
But we are very clannish, and
do battle for our employers when any
outsider begins even to cast disparag-
ing chances. You would be surprised
at the discreet silence of many of these
maids, for. with a born propensity to
gossip, they will hold many family
secrets that time and again have been
carelessly discussed before them.
Would any maid take upon herself
the task of publishing her memoirs or
adventures, as Mr.. Jeems Yellowplush
once did, | warrant she could unfold
as interesting a tale.
Now, for my part, | should think
American girls of thrift and Judgment
would do far better in this business
than the unsatisfactory pegging away
at factory work. With the fine oppor-
tunities to save her salary, she will at
the end of two or three years have ac-
cumulated enough money to be indie
pendent and set up for herself in q
small a There are many of the
leading modistes, milliners and hair
dressers in London, New York and
Paris who got their early training as
maids, and now are at the head of
prosperous houses. Then the positions
of maid and mistress are reversed, and
it is often Nine. So and So who drives
up in her brougham and requests In
audience of her ex-bonne to plead
longer time on the milliner's bill that
has grown out of all proportion to her
income.
The Camera Fiend.
From fhe BMrIfu0fOn Press