The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-07-19

For the major part of the domestlcs,
particularly east of the Rocky Noun
tains, consist of people who have emf
grated from Europe and who in many
cases have received their training there
These strangers arrive here with the
conviction that all people are not only
politically, but also socially equal in the
United States, and having been op-
pressed in their native country by those
more advantageously situased as regards
rank and fortune, arc particularly fond
of airing their new-fedged notions OF
personal independence and are eager to
resent everything that can in any way
be construed into an infringement there
on.
If, instead of encouraging our cooks,
our chambermaids and our nurses to
paint, or to acquire g smattering OF
chemistry-which is a perilous science
for cook-Lady Aberdeen were to have
devoted her energies toward teaching
them arts connected with their calling,
which would afterward enable them to
demand and obtain higher rate Of wa
ges, she would have rendered them far
more real and lasting service.
I fear it is too late to get the Countess
of Aberdeen to listen to reason. Nine
or ten years ago, when first made her
acquaintance, she was most unobtru-
sive little woman, with kind of half
deprecating, half-timid air about her
which, coupled with the sweet express
sion of her face, rendered her very at
tractive. Unfortunately her husband
was subsequently called to act as Lord
High Commissioner of Scotland, and
later on as Viceroy of Ireland, Offices
which led to her being surrounded dur
ing the Earl's tenure of them with many
of the attributes and much of the hom-
age and adu lation usually paid to the
sovereign. Whenever she did anything
in the shape of charity or in pat
ronizing the organization of some
benevolent scheme, she was lauded
to the skies; so much so that she
gradually became convinced that she is
born administrator and leader of
women. While her still shapely head
is somewhat turned" her heart re-
mains as warm, as generous and as
brimful of enthusiasm as ever. And
this is just where the evil comes in. for
the readiness of her heart to euthuse
(if may be permitted to make use of
the expression) unrestrained by level
head, frequently leads her to adopt
altogether wrong and disastrous courses,
as she may be said to have done in
starting the Domestic Servants Club
and Union. CARRIE CARELESS.
better to have directed her efforts toward
rendering them more contented with
their calling. Discomfort on their part
is at the root of the entire servant diff
Guilty. Especially in this great and glo-
rious country, where, theoretically at
any rate, all are equal, the servants can
not bear the idea that they should wear
cottons when their mistresses wear silks;
that they should be forced to receive
their visitors in the kitchen when their
employers welcome their guests in the
salons and boudoirs. If only a person
who adopts the calling of domestic SER
vice would start out with the determi-
nation of remaining content Herewith,
half OF the servant difficulty would be
solved. This is difficult enough to OBJ
tain in the old world, and in the new it
is we'll nigh impossible.