The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-01-23

800 ~
sehtl!santtlllstll,i.s,le,.st..
ONCE LNe.. 20 aud % Fourteenth Street.
THE RISE OF ANEW SCIENCE. H
What . Contributor toGKAts Fields New
| sssi,;s Paper Thinks. Il;
The history department Of the Yassalr
College has Just issued three circulair1s,
with, the unusual NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 81
Domestic Service The frat is address.
ed 70 housekeepors all over the land !;
the second Is to servants, In whatever:
branch they may be engaged while the
third Is & to oil training.schools which
teach or pretend 10 teach3th household
arts. Circular Z number one starts out
with this preface: TSgl 0ilS'7l e9lA Fs1I,ii3Y
en"'The graduates OF + Yassar College.
Glasses Of 'SS and 80, desire 10 lcollect
statistics III regard TO the subject Of do.
meslic service, and ask your, assistance.
1.-THE work has grownpouteof a1belief
that knowledge Of some oil the actual
conditions Of such service, as viewed
from the standpointtof bothitemployer
md employe, lis tessentiarto an aintelli.
gent discussion Of this question /. z It lis
hoped to tnbulates the results obtained,
showing the average ,wages paid In each
occupation, the length OF time employed,
etc. 1.-THE statistics; to be OF value, must
represent p the : experiences y OF !, many
house.keepers in many local tie i. and
the corporation Of all who are interest
cd In the subject is earnestly solicited.
Three schedules are sent SyouI. upon
which 10 supply information. 81 All per.
sonal information will be, treated US con.
tidential. The name Ia asked as a guar.
antes Of good faith, 2 TO avoid sending
duplicates, and to render possible further
correspondence In regard Is 10 , special
points Of experience. J It may, however,
be omitted II desired. !" e3t,sfai s.t1.
The questions asked take into account
many OF the causes which influence the
conditions OF domestic service indirectly
but very, strongly. The comparative, adj.
Vantages Of city and country housekeep.
ers are carefully investigated, as Ia, also
tho effect ofgreat manufacturing indus.
tries upon, the supply, Of household SER
wants in their neigh borhood. l3The nun.
Der OF clerical or. other suitable employ.
ments open 10 women is also estimated
Tor every localitylin which tho statistics
are taken.s The inquiry. does mot stop
even here, but goes on to- investigates
different. butt highly, important class Of
facts, to-wit, the personal relations be-
tween mistress aud servant, and the spe.
cial privileges, il any, allowed the latter.
In the circular to'serrants, after care.
full question as to nationality, length of
time in service, wages, etc., three ques.
tons sare asked, which, III answered
frankly and honestly, would clear up
the main dispute in the whole matter: Ii
&(U$Why do you choose housework, rs
your, regular, employment 2 Z NJ 4 $5g Z b.
(2) Would you give up Homework II
you could find another occupation that
would pay you as well Z 80 4
&t(3) What reasons can you give why
moro women do not choose homework
as regular employment u Is, s5a4Is
Some advanced thinkers have decided
that servitude lis going to disappear as
surely as feadalism and slavery have al.
ready gone; that for one man to do per-
sonal service for another involves sac-
rifcel Of human dignity which future
ayes will not tolerate, and that the grow
ing difficulty in finding "a satisfactory
servant is ushering in an era when will
be impossible to find any servants at all.
Others maintain that the whole trouble
is, in a sense, accidental, resulting from
the imperfect business arrangement,usu-
ally existing between master and man,
and that future generations will view
domestic service exactly as they do other
sorts OF manual labor, since it will be
performed under the same conditions.
The answers to the questions propound-
ed should at least indicate which side is
right. II the servant demands simply a
reasonable employer, time may be trust
ed to produce him. II what he wants is
no master at oil, let the social economists
begin at once to make the :worldfovcr
accordingly. r; s, .i,Ft7 ~ 4! ll.Jt,si.f
But this is trespassing upon the
ground covered by circular number
three, which suggests two ways out OF
the difficulty: First the direct method OF
making domestic service skilled labor
OF u high grade, educating the servant to
the peri 'ction point and paying him
sum proportionate to his value. This
will do only for the very wealthy. More
modest households. must take the other
way, which involves concession count
Ing. IRON the side Of the employer. It's
underlying principle, is the employment
of the household specialist, who is, to a
certain extent, q ministering, angel. a
woman calls daily to dust the brio, brac,
and does it deity and with the miEi-
mum of risk /; man comes from the
jewelers. to wind and regulate the
clocks. and ne can thenceforth. consult
them without ymental reservations as
to their ,truthfulness; boy COMES and
keeps the brasses shining and the mir
rors polished by contract, and saves the
housekeeper from endless lectures on
the respective merits OF Bath brick and
sapolio; and the rugs Sare taken away
once a weekan made absolutely dust
less by improved machinery. i all this
Is. very well but add to this corps OF pro.
fessional visitors a chef to prepare the
soup.kettle,a an electrician to y inspect
the burglar alarm, a stoker, to look after
the furnace and a man TO wash the dog,
and the continuous procession OF timer
ant helpers destroys all sense of home
privacy and comfort. sls39s; 'f.,a;tt3i;
5GAnothers partly successful evasion OF
the domestic service .diflicultyxiss found
in the .Women's Exchanges ands in the
moro recent trials Of cooperative house.
keeping. There is an.argumenttin favor
OF this last arrangement which Ishave
neverlheard urged even by it's advocates;
that sis,9 that.;about nine 4housekeepers
out OF ten are failures. Il II the tenth one
has the true domestic talent, which is,
in its way, as distinct las the talent for
sculpture or the giftof mind.reading,she
can more easily manage the domestic al.
fairs of ten families than Of one, since
she would have the larger liberty which
| comes from handlinOlit Thin 90 IN Fouont;.