Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-08
FUR TREUE DIENSTE.
How Housewives of Berlin Solve the
Servant Girl Problem.
A REWARD FOR FAITHFULNESS.
Purses With the Less Sensible Accompani-
ments of Medals, Etc.
REFORMS BROUGHT ABOUT BY WOMEN

CORRESPONDENT Of THE DIsPArcH.l
BERLIN, April pa meeting was held
not long ago in the magnificent City Hall
by the Housewife Union of Berlin" for
the purpose of publicly rewarding servants
of the members for years of faithful service.
The reward took the substantial form of
handsome silver pin engraved with the in
itials of the union and the words Reward
for Faithful Service" an engraved certid-
cate, copy of the unions cook book, and q
sum of money determined by the time Of
service. These meetings take place once
year.
The Housewife Union" is one Of the
most energetic women's organizations In all
Germany. It was founded by Frau Lima,
Morgenstern. Public interest in the e1peri-
ment grew each year, and now, thanks to
gifts and legacies, this branch of the union
is self-supporting, and quite out of debt
To be entitled to a prize woman must
serve at least five years in the same house
hold, after which time she receives the pin
and the certificate. She receives, after ten
years in the same family, the cook book
and 10 marks in gold; after 20 years she
gets 20 marks, and after 80 years in the
same household 30 marks is the sum given.
The Awarding OF the Prizes.
The council hall used for the annual meet
ing was filled to overhowing with an inter.
ested crowd of women aud old men here and
there, looking, and probably feeling, very
much out of place. In the front row sat
from 20 to 80 servants of all ages, dressed
in their best, and fully appreciatiye of the
importance of the occasion The meeting
was opened by the president of the union
Frau Morgenstern herself, a short, stout
woman with white hair and bright, kindly
face.
She spoke to tine servants present, en-
phasizing the good their example must do,
and contrasting the security OF their posi-
tion with the lot of the factory hand and
the shop girl. The employer came in for
q little of the praise as well.
Then the list of those to be rewarded was
read, and the women came forward, one by
one, to receive the prizes. The first name
announced was that of a working house
keeper, who had served 90 years in the
same place, OUTLYING two generations and
now, in her old age, cared for as one of the
family. This announcement evoked
storm of applause, and the audience was
much disappointed when told that this
faithful creature was too old to make the
journey from her distant country home, and
that her prize had already been forwarded
to her. Next on the list came another
housekeeper, whose term of service had
lasted 38 years; then a cook of 80 years.
standing in same household; another of %;
and another of &c. All these lived in
country towns, not far distant Then came
six women, all of whom had served rs
years in families here in Berlin; then one
who had served for "a years; another for %,
and so on. Twenty. eight in all were re-
warded-the majority having served for
more than 20 years in the same family.
Quite Contrast TO America.
Touching stories of fidelity in misfortune,
of honest attachment born of pride and in
terest in the employers family, were told,
and it was hard to believe, in listening,
that we were in the latter half of the nine
teenth century and in the heart of a great
city. Originally the high prices of family
supplies had attracted the attention of rTau n
Morgenstern, and her public lectures on the
subject occasioned considerable excitement.
They aroused the women to action, the
union was formed, and q regularly organ
ICED boycott finally had the desired effect OF
lowering prices on the necessaries of life.
The union then turned its attention to char
ity Then came a time when- the adultera-
tion of food was carried to such an excess
that it was impossible for any but the rich
to obtain proper nourishment. Here again
it was the union which stepped to the front
and obtained legal protection for its labora-
tories established for the purpose of detect
ing adulterated food.
Besides the so-called "People's Kitchen"
an institution similar to the diet kitchen in
New York, and the committee for prize
giving, the union has under its protection
free intelligence Office and cooking school,
one of the most thorough of its kind.
GRACE ISABEL COLBRON.