The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-06-15
lor maids, nurses, cooks, with however, but

lor maids, nurses, cooks, with however, but
small success.
I need but copy the following, from the
London Queen, to show how different is the
want in London from New York.
The servants should rise at 6:30, and the
cook a little earlier; she then lights kitchen
fire, opens the house, sweeps hall, cleans
steps, prepares upstairs and down
stairs breakfast. Meantime the
room, takes up hot water to bed
rooms, lays the table and so forth,
while the housemaid dusts the
day nursery and takes up the children's
breakfast. Surprising the family breakfast
ls not wanted before eight-thirty, that meal
sery before eight O'Clock. AS soon as this
is over the cook must tidy her kitchen. look
over her stores, contents of pantry, ETC.,
and be ready by nine-thirty to take her or
ders for the day. She will answer the
Kitchen bell at all times, and perhaps the
front door in the morning, and will be an
swerable beside for ordinary kitchen work,
for the hall, kitchen stairs, all the basement
and according to arrangement possibly the
dln1ngroom. She must have fixed days for
doing the above work, cleaning tins, etc.
The cook also clears way the break
fast; az soon as the house-maid has taken
up tho family breakfast, she (the house
maid( must go and begin the bedrooms
where the second s~cullery maid may help
her a6 soon az she has done helping the
cook. The house parlor maid will be re-
sponsible for the drawing-room and sitting
room and all the bed-rooms; also stairs md
landing, having regular days for turning
out one OF each weekly, being helped by the
second ~scullery maid. She would be dressed
in time Tor lunch, wait on it and clear away.
She will answer the front door i'll the after
noon, take up 5 O'Clock tea, lay the table
md n NJ Ivy,vpnr M III 1911
must clear the kitchen meals md help In
all the washing up; take up nursery
tea, help the cook prepare late dinner, carry
up the dishes for late dinner, clear and wash
up kitchen supper. The nurse has her din
ner in tho kitchen. Servants meals should
rectly after upstairs lunch, tea at five,
supper at nine. They should 90 to bed
regularly at 10 o'clock. Now as to their
fare. For breakfast a little bacon or an egg
or some smoked fish; for dinner meat, vege-
tables, potatoes and pudding. If a joint
has been set up for lunch 1t is usual for it
to go down to the servants table,
ALLOW ono pint and n half of beer to
each servant who asks for it or one bottle.
"Tea, butter and sugar are given out to
them.
9Th weekly bills for tho servants shall
be about two dollars and a half.'
And so IN. The neatness of all this care
full housekeeping would be delightful if it
could be carried out with us or if the SER
want would accept it.
But imagine n New York mistress achiev-
ing it! The independent voter would re-
volt. Neither he nor his wife would ever
accept it. English servants lose all their
good manners whom they come over here
and cannot appear ut all as they do in Lon
don.
American servants are always expected
to eat what goes down from the masters
table and there ia no such thing as making
one servant wait upon another.
Thore are households in America whore
many servants are kept in order by n clever
mistress, but 1t 10 rarely an order which
lasts for long. II 10 a vexed question, and
the freedom with which we take n servant,
without much of u character, must explain
II great deal of IL. Foreign servants find
out soon their legal rights and their i'm
portanee. Where labor IL scarce it is not
ensy to get u good footmnn, parlor maid or
cook; tho great variety and antipathy of
race comes in. The lrishmnn will not work
on II railroad with the Italian, and we all
know the history of tho ''heathen Chinee."
Mr.. Winnns, in Scotland, hires u place
which reaches from tho North sea to tho
Atlantic; he spends $20O. 900 a year on 1t.
lilo has, perhaps, 800 servants, every ono of
them perfect. Imagine his having such n
place here! How. many good servants
could he find, how long would they stay?
How long does n French chef ut $4,000 n
year stayp Only ono year. He prefers to
return TO France.
Indeed. French servants, poorly paid and
very poorly fed ut home. are the hardest to
keep in this county; they ali wish to 90
BACK. II III curious, but they grow imperti-