The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-07-10
CHOOSING "a SERVANT.
OPINIONS OF SEVERAL hNTELLl-
eENcE OFFICE KEEPERS.

Trouble Is Generally with the Employ
er, who Is Usually Woman = In
justice to Hardworlsing Girls.
A small tow headed boy. with vacant
look ON his face. and a thumb worn Old
blankbook in his dirty hands. sitting on
short stool before a Uttered desk, whis-
tling in a lazy, half hearted tone: small
stove emitting n fierce heat in an inilig- .
uant sort of way. as if disgusted with
itself and its surroundings: nine riclzety
chairs. set in rows along the walls; a
faded old carpet, smoke stained ceiling
and rickety table-these are the OBJ
jects of furniture in a small square room
one one of the east side avenues.
The interior of the roem is screened
from the view of passers by d dingy blue
curtain drawn over the lower half of
the windows. A legend in faded yellow
once giltAletters over the door and on
may be hired there This is typical
Employment Agency"
A reasonably careful observer will see
many curious things i'll an hour in one
of these agencies. It5is always easy to
get high priced help. There is plenty of
it. But the less skilled and lower priced
service is hard to obtain. That is tho
kind most of the agencies have to do
with. Nine out of ten of the agents will
tell you that the great trouble in secur-
ing satisfactory help is with the employ
ers. A casual investigation goes to show
that they are right.
VARIOUS OPINIONS.
The agents say that the business has
changed greatly IN the last few years.
Twenty years ago." said one of them
recently, when young couple set up
housekeeping they expected to start a
permanent establishment. The women
in those days were familiar with house
work from their own house training.
They were not ashamed TO go into the
kitchen occasionally and give the green
help little instruction. Then, too, we
got a great deal of green help from the
constant immigration which stopped
here. M
Now, all that is changed. The women
either don't know enough, or are too
high toned to go into their kitchens and
give their cook pointer when things
don't go right. And the supply of green
/ help from immigrants is cut off. They
/ don't stop here any more. They go on
out west. where the old way has not
! changed so much for the worse. It's
almost impossible to get the ordinary
plain help now"
Very few people know how to engage
help. said another agent, ''They come
here and talk to the girls for an hour at
n time. and they don't know enough to
/ pick out the one who will suit them
Four-ffths of the time they go to telling
what said to my last cook, or what
she said tonne and the upshot of it i.
they make the girl think the place is toe
hard and she won't go. whereas if they
went at it in businesslilxe way they
could soon be suited.
.tYes," said third agent, 1.-THE ever
lasting shifting is making lot of trou
BILE now. lisa rare. thing for a girl to
have a place more than a few months
even when she gives the best satisfaction
People go to Europe for the summer and
go to Florida for the winter, and keel
1 house lin the intervals between theil
pleasant trips. Then they growl because
they can't get first class help. They'r,
the people that do the kicking. They
want servants to show references fol
years of service when they only expec
to hire them for a few weeks or months.
TWO AGENCIES.
There are two inside rooms at the plac,
above described where girls looking fol
work wait for possible employers. They
come early in the morning and wait un
til the Office closes at o'clock in thu
afternoon. When an employer come.
the agent politely offers chair and in
isquires into the needs of his customer
He then goes into one of the inner room
and looks over his supply The accom-
plishlnents and pedigree of each one il
the inside rooms have been fully notet
down when they applied to the agent
and he is pretty familiar with them all
, He selects what one he thinks will 1bes
satisfy the visitor. and indicates with
graceful wave of the hand the one &
whom the aspirant for work is to ad
! dress herself Sometimes bargain j
, struck almost Immediately.
, There is an employment Office in Sixtl
avenue that is just little different iron
any of the rest of them. 1t is run by
woman, a clear headed, gray eyed Eng
lish woman. who was for years til
housekeeper for well known New
Yorker. Her clientage is almost who'll.
D among the wealthy people. And tn
t peculiar part of it is that they scarcel
4 ever visit her Office. She has a whol
G deslxful of letters which say, You knov
J., just what want. and trust you to ge
Il it for me"
4 Some day this woman will wake up t
g the fact that she has valuable lot {
O autograph letters from many of the bes
e known women of this city, with not
e few from Philadelphia. Washington
: Baltimore and other towns. An auctio
sale of these autographs would interes
a great many people and be very prof
able to her.-New York Sun.
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