The record-union., 1891-02-15
ABOUT DOMESTIC SERVICE.
Some Hints for Housekeepers From
a Literary Woman.
A POSTGRADUATE Course I'm Howe,
hold Labor, With Appropriate De-
grees-The Responsibility of Mis-
tress and the Duties of Servants.

| tress and the Duties of Servants.
| Twill say at the outset that L find. on,
| the whole, little to complain of in recauI
ing my experience regarding householdj
service. / began my married life as'
many young women do, in an unfortunate!
| ignorance of the details of housekeepinr
and of the spirit which should guide II
This was not because / had not had annie
opportunities of learning, but because NV
mind was strongly attracted in other
directions, and its leading bent toward
| literary endeavor was allowed full scope
by those intrusted with my bringing up.
At my start in practical life L did not
know enough OF its rules to be aware of
my own deficiencies, and soon found
myself slow and awkward learner
where l ought to have been proficient
SO much Of personality appears to me
essential to the showing of what | have
learned regarding household work and
those who perform it.
Perhaps L cannot better commend NV
lesson, such as it is, than by remarkin9
upon the mistaken kindness which, in q
weA-ao-do family, often relieves the
young girls from all participation in
later day, pass out of the atmosphere of
ease and af1iuence to which they hayo
become accustomed, they sustain posi-
tive loss in not knowing how a house
hold should bc mounted and governed.
In many cases the occasion for this
knowledge begins at the very beginning
OF married life. 1t often comes also
through the yicissitudes Of fortune, which
are common in most communities Al
any rate, whether in easy or in narrow
circumstances, no family can nave lis
due share of comfort and endowment
without the care and attention OF some
woman of heart and intelligence I have
learned to consider the position OF loved
and honored guardian of the household
happier and higher one than that of
leader OF fashion or phenomenon of tai
ent and accomplishment. 1t is indeed
true that the domestic virtues may be
combined with charms and graces which
most embellish life, but where the latter
are exclusively sought, and the former
neglected, the result will be in no sense
admirable.
L would have every young girl perform
as much of household labor as is neces-
Sary for the right understanding of its
various tasks. How can she order any,
thing rightly done if she has never done
1t? L would have her work until she has
learned to respect the work of others, and
not to speak or think with ungentle con-
tempt Of any department of domestic
service. Would it not be well if to this
END semi or post-collegiate course
should be instituted as an adjunct to the
higher education, and degree conferred
upon its successful graduates? L can
suggest two of these. Those of the first
year might be termed Hopeful Neophytes
N. H.; those of the later, FL. E.
Household Experts.
Some thorough instruction in house
Keeping might do much to mitigate the
fierce dislike of service which keeps
American girls out of our kitchens and
nurseries. and gives them over to the
care OF aliens. To be blindly ordered by
an ignorant mistress, who does not know
enough OF what you have to do to ex-
plain what she commands, in case you
should not understand it-this would
certainly be a relation of discom-
fort to both parties. To be trained
to skilled labor, on the other hand, by
one who herself understands and appre-
ciates it, would involve no lowering of
selt-respect, no supertluous discomfort
and fatigue. When l see, as / often do,
our American girls deteriorating in
health, and not unseldom in character,
through the experience of the shop and
the factory, feel deep regret at the
thought Of the refined and well-ordered
homes in whose comforts and good in
fuenceS they might so easily be sharers.
their service being to the right-minded
an occasion of respect and gratitude, not
OF superclllous patronage or fault-finding.
do not know whether we can hope that
this order of things may change, but I
am sure that, whether in regard to for
elgners or natives, better mistresses will
make better servants, and q generous and
just disposition on the one side will do
much to insure willing and able re-
sponse on the other.
think, then, that the defective training
received in the first place by the house
wife is the originating cause of much that
ls complained of in the conduct of do
mestics. The results of this imperfect
education are twofold, viz: the want of
adequate understanding of what is to be
done and ordered, and the want of con-
sideration TOR those who are TO do it.,
growing out of ignorance concerning tho
extent and value Of their labors. On tho
other hand, it must be confessed that the
faults OF domestics are often very trying.
From my own experience, 1 should say
that grave offenSes among them are much
less common in these days than they were
twenty years ago. l mean by these, in
temperance, dishonesty and diSreputable
connections. / remember, in my own
early housekeeping, to have been much
disturbed more than once at finding my
cook drunk and disordcriy. This trouble,
| think, is rarely experienced to-day.
The temperance reform has made pro-
greSS among Catholics as we'll as among.
ProteStants, and it's benefits have become
appreciable i'll tie ranks Of household
help. Instances of glaring dishonesty
are, think, rare among Irish servants,
and equally so among Germans of re-
spectacle belongings. n want of concern
for the interests OF their employers and
want OF reasonable care OF their property
will still be found to be common traits
among those who serve in families. And
this leads me to say that the price Of peace
Iylf hnt all,
the State, is eternal vigilance"
The constant need of oversight so much
OF in domestics is less the re-
suit of any evil intention on their part
than of a want of mora, energy and reso-
luton. The spirit of zeal and Of faithful-
ness in them should be kept alive by con-
siderable watchfulness on the part of
those who appoint and direct their tasks.
Tho carelessneSs of those who serve often
reflects the carelesSnesS of those who are
served, and will be sure to diminish in
the presence of a sound and sympathetic
Ideas and principles, after all, govern
the world. The good or bad tone of our
household will depend very much upon
our own idea of what it should be. If we
exact from ourselves conscientious at
tentlon to details, we may reasonably
exact it from those who serve u.s. And
as we ourselves are human, who should
show III all our relations with them the
OF our common humanity,
with compassionate charity for its in
tirmities. We shall be wise, moreover, if
we learn to consider the work of servants
as supplementary to our own, not as OPP
posed to it. The well-being of the house
hold is matter of SO much moment that
any right-minded mistress might be glad
to fulfill all its varied Offices The limits
OF human strength and the complex de-
mand of life and of society allow this.
Our servants in this view become our
alter ego. They do what we should be
glad to do if we could do everything that