Omaha daily bee., 1893-08-20
TIE MISTRESS A HEROINE
MRS. B. A. Po" an Experienced Woman,
Discusses the Domestic Service Problem.
AMAN KNOWS NOTHING AT ALL ABOUT IT.
ppirituailsm ono of the Fads-wlfat
Woman witch RED Hair should Wear
Tho Rage for Black and White
Likely to Inst Into Autumn.

vi llit uOllltSllt StlNlit dutehApl
In THE SUNDAY BEE of the 9th inst, and
would kindly ask q little space in your
valuable paper for the purpose of pre-
senting facts in an opposite view from
this writer, based on actual experience
with this much discussed, lauded and
written about queen of the Kitchen"
The mistress is equally discussed in con-
junction with the maid, as natural
consequence: but Is she ever spoken of
In kindly manner? | do not wish to
speak disparagingly of the servant (she
will receive her dues, but merely give
facts and due justice and honor to the
much abused and maligncd mistress.
Whenever l read an article on this
question representing the lady of the
house as almost soullcss, or, to use this
writer's assertion verbatim, "a woman,
on the contrary, thinks she has mort
gage on the body and soul Of every serv-
ant connected with her establishment"
and the servant as abused, | cry out
with my experience, "HOw unreasonable
amid the existing order of things" Is
this writer wife, mother, mis-
tress, with husband, children, home
and help to guide and watch over
besides the multitudinous services
required of her for church, society, and
30 on?" If she is all these and has had
long and thorough experience with the
average servant girl, and can still pre-
sent the mistress rs eXacting and un-
reasonable, it is simply unreal, and her
experience Is one of the few, and cannot
be representative picture of an Amcri-
can home. III she be unmarried or even
married, with no home of her own, or
ray she has home, but vocation that
uecessitates her absence the greater
part of the day, then she cannot be ex-
perienced authority. If the writer be q
man and unmarried he positively knows
nothing about it, and il he be married
md classes his wife with all other house
wives as belonging to a sort of a soulless
prder of beings in their relations to their
help, then his statement is no criterion.
It is only the mistress who has had daily
personal experience with all sorts, ages,
hationalities and degrees of help, who
:an be relied upon as authority on
lhis much mooted question. Now
/ submit that twenty-three years ex-
perience with housekeeping and girls,
and the confidence of an extensive ac-
quaintance in this and other cities in
That direction, will enable me to speak
with a pretty good knowledge on the re-
lation of mistress and maid.
The BEE in speaking of the mistress
desiring to get extra help out of serv
bhu puyS ouO AZ "oillph w wash,
the woman preferring to come at 5
o'clock in the morning in the summer,
Ind when she is through with the wash
Ing the mistress forgets how
bright and early she began
work and will find cleaning
Ind scrubbing to keep her
until o'clock, or if not the woman may
10 enough ironirg to get in full day.
Now, were to ask every mistress of a
home in the city of Omaha who has a
nasherwoman at what hour in the morn
Ing she usually comes do not think one
eould say as early as o'clock. l have
had washerwomen who never came
barlier than half-past I, and oftener at a
quarter to g. and when the washing was
finished at or 3 O'CLOCK received their
pay for days work and left without do
Ing any cleading or scrubbing. AS for
bhem doing any ironing on that day,
It has never been done for me, and / did
not expect it, as l supposed this was the
rule, although an unjust one to the mis-
tress, who was paying days wages for
Ieveral hours less than "a days work.
The washing may be wretchedly done,
yet the same price is asked and paid.
lail to see in this where the mistress was
sxacting 10 the maid.
The writer in THE BEE AYERS that
were women to establish certain uum-
Der OF hours as days work for a girl,
Ind when employing her have it under
ptood and the mistress keep the
contract that the girl would
gladly do the same. This is not
doubted were 1t possible. The utter i'm
practicability of such rule will readily
be made obvious. The work of family
and home, or the machinery of house
work can not possibly be classed with
.t.l
any other besiness for that matter, that
begin duties at a certain hour in the
morning and closes at certain hour in
the evening. 1t is SO unlike all others,
In that the daily wants and necessities
of family and home are so varied, ever
changing from some cause or other, often
times suddenly increased, again lessened
and at times as the eXigencies of the case
demands, requiring extra work from
both family and servants, at others far
less than the regular routine, hence the
stipulating of a certain number of hours
as days work for girl could never be
consistently and satisfactorily carried
out. While every home can be run sys-
tematically to great extent,
unavoidable occurrences are bound
to change the regularity, making
the work of the family and servants
vary In consequence, and these matters
gan be very easily explained and under.
'tood, when employing help but iron
,lad rules and contracts between mis-
tress and maid as to her number of work
Ing hours are useless, and would be more
honored in the breach than the observ
ance. While the theory might be cor
rect / have yet to see it in practice. Bu
even under all these circumstances, 6
girls working hours vary but little, and
these unforeseen happenings are no
always the fault of the mistress.
The Editor again says the goot
girl should have appreciation
shown her. All good servan
girls know they are recognized
and appreciated as such. There is n,
one outside of my family that | woulo
sooner oblige and delight than my gool
girl. In every home no member of the
family is approached more caretully,con
siderately and kindly than this same
good girl. We all like her. and she is tn,
veriest monarch of the home, in thi
free country. Her life is happier anC
freer from care than the mistress
and no one can believe tina
any woman would be exactins
and unreasonable with such
girl. Only the other day, lady sait
TO me, why, would rather have IN,
children disappointed than to make anN
unnecessary work or Inconvenience,