Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1894-03-16

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cate, a copy Of the &sl|l6l
sum Of money 5detefmi
| service. ~
The Housewife union 1lof.sI
energetic women's organizstjcpf n
many. In Berlin its infiuens III
out over every branch of houi
and every industry pertaining
was founded by Frau Lima
The idea of encouraging faith
service by public reward is
alton from her brain. In the
it's existence the committee OF
hard work to make both ends
public interest in the expei
each year, and now, thanks to a lloL mi
legacies, this branch Of the union Is self
supporting and almost out Of debt
To be entitled to prize, woman mu,t
serve at least five years in the same housp
hold, after which time she receives the min
and the certificate. She receives after len
years in the same family the cookbook
and ten marks in gold after twenty Year,
she gets twenty marks, and after thirtr
years in the same household thirty marks
is the sum given. She may receive a ccr
tain prize every five years if she wishes
the only necessary condition being that
union, must pay two years membership
fee and small sum toward the prize
The council hall used for the annual
meeting was filled to OVERLOOKING with An
interested crowd of women a man hpre
and there looking and probably feeling
very much out of place. In the front row
sat from twenty to thirty servants Of All
ages dressed in their best and fully appre
| oiatiya Of ha iD,portapoa IF tho
The meeting was opened by the presidept
of the union, Frau Morgenstern, short
stout woman, with white hair and bright
kindly face. After brief resume Of the
minutes of the last meeting the president
spoke Of the purpose of prize giving, the
hope of improving the class of domestic
servants by encouraging long and faithful
attention to duty and the attempt to re-
store something of the patriarchal relations
Of servant and employer in former days
when the servant was one of the family
taking personal pride and interest in the
welfare of the household.
She then spoke to the servants, empha.
sizing the good their example must doto
many of their class, and contrasting Tie
security of their position with the lot Of
the factory hand and the shupgirl. The
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as well, Frau Morgenstern rightly giving
the housewife her due share of importance
in making and the keeping of good sery.
ants. Then the list of those to be reward.
ed was read, and the women came forward
one by one to receive the prizes.
The first name announced was that OF
working housekeeper, who had served fifty
years in the same place, OUTLYING two gen.
| nd it,b ola e..
as one of the family. The announcement
evoked a storm Of applause, and the audi
ence was much disappointed when told
that this faithful creature was too old to
make the journey from her distant coun-
try home, and that her prize had been for
warded to her.
Next on the list came another house
keeper, whose term of service had LASTED
80 years; then a cook of 80 years. service in
the same household, another of 28, and am
other of g. All lived in country towns,
not far distant, and from one who was un-
able to be present letter of thanks was
read aloud. Then came six women, all Of
whom had served 25 years in families in
Berlin; then one who had served for "A
years, another for %, another for %, sew,
eral for 20, four from Is to 20 years, and
to Is years. Twenty-eight in all were re-
warded, the majority having served for
more than 20 years in the same family.
Several had received prizes five years be-
fore, and several were from families where
fellow servants had been rewarded within
the last few years.
At the previous meeting forty-fye
women were rewarded, and the number
oil hoa Halo
twenty.
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 great
city. They recalled other quarters of the
globe where two or three women cannot
meet for a social chat without narrowing
tales to narrate of incompetent "help, . Of
the hardships of housekeeping and signing
for the time when modern ingenuity will
invent mechanical substitute for that
necessary evil-the domestic servant.
The Housewives union was organized
about eighteen or twenty years ago by the
housewives of Berlin for concerted effort
against the unnecessarily high prices de-
manded by the purveyors of the various
means of existence. The high prices Of
family supplies had attracted the atten-
ton of Frau Morganstern. and her public
lectures on the subject occasioned consider
able excitement and aroused women to ac-
ton. The union was formed, and regu-
larly organized boycott had the desired ef-
feet of lowering prices on the necessities Of
life. The union then turned its attention
to charity. During the distress occasioned
by the unprecedented growth of the city's
population after the war, more than 5000
poor received assistance each winter.
Then came a time when the adulteration
of food was carried to such an excess that
it was impossible for any except the rich to
obtain proper nourishment. Here again
the union stepped to the front and called
the attention Of the government to the
frauds perpetrated on a helpless public.
and obtained legal protection for its labora-
tories established for the purpose of detect
ing adulterated food.-Berlin Cor New
York Sun.
His First Train.
The Oldest railroad conductor in the
United States is Richard Coughlin. In
1888 he ran train from Paterson, N. j., to
Jersey City. Each car was pulled by a