The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-03-21
SHE HAD THE FLOOR,
THE HELP GIVES HER OPINION OF
THE MISTRESS.
The Diverse side of the servant
Girl QuestiOn-GOod Reasons why
Young Wimen Prefer Factory to
Private House.
Copyright 1885,. by American Press y
SoriatiOO

of course it was a club meeting. This
particular club was peculiar. 1t was
open to all sorts and conditions Of wom-
en-. On the front seats several good
sized fortunes were represented. Three
servants girls We're in an out OF the way
corner. They had met, the president
said. to discuss the condition of the
working girl. Mrs Lincoln. who had
servants Of her own. asked the antique
question, why don't those girls do
homework if they're so badly treated
in shops? L know several families she
continued. who would give good wages
and a good home, and who can't get
good servants. These girls consider it
degrading to do housework.
The secretary. a quiet little woman
who, report said, had once been a fac
tory girl herself. intimated that there
was a screw loose in Mrs. Lincoln's
statement. because she had the names
of fifty shop girls who were willing to
change and do homework, but no fami-
lies could be found willing to take an
unframed domestic
There was whispering in the little
knot of servant girls. Mrs. Presi-
dent" began a half frightened voice,
and then the owner went at the heart of
done credit to her more cultured sisters
of Sorosis. I've been hired help. do
mestic, working out girl and servant ever
since l was fourteen. / don't know how
to do anything else and I've had no
chance to learn, or I wouldn't be doing
hOusewOrd. I'd as soon be on Black
wells island if ii wasn't for the feeling
that you couldn't leave when you got
ready as a prisoner in most peoples
kitchens. There's a good deal of non
sense talked about working out girls
good homes. OF course in the big man
sions, where a number of servants are
kept and there IS plenty Of room, por-
ton of the basement is set aside for the
servants dining and sitting room. It's
nicely furnished, and they can have COM
pany there if they like The sleeping
rooms are usually the worst. / worked
in a fashionable house not long ago in
an arisOcratic locality. There's costly
bric-a-brac in the reception room. The
dining room is one Of the most beauti-
full I've ever seen. There's a big bill
Hard room in the basement Up three
flights of stairs is q. mite of back hall
bedroom. There's a large size cot bed
in il that leaves just room TO enter.
There are one chair. a small washStand
and cracked mirror. \ strip of mold
ing nailed TO the wall over the bed does
duty as a wardrobe 10 hang clothes on.
In this room the two servant girls sleep.
The kitchen was large and had two
wooden chairs and a small rocker. That
was enough though. The mistress did
not encourage company. If girl had
"A young man.. she must meet him on
the street Many mistresses regard the
moral character Of their servants with
unnecessary suspicion. They abominate
late hOurs-fOr the servant. 1t doesn't
make any difference what time the mis-
tress gets in herself. But if Bridget or
Dinah is out to the theater it's dreadful
and positively must not happen again.
These are specimen home comforts.
People who talk about the servants
homes only know about the parlor floor.
Lots Of houses have Queen Anne fronts
and Mary Ann backs. In fact it's al
ways the mistress story that's heard in
print.
There's plenty of nonsense about the
wages. too They range from So to $50
a month. This. with board and lodging,
is much better than what the factory
girl as a rule gets. But the servant
works from > in the morning until at
night. That is sixteen hours work
seven days in the week. 1t is work that
requires skill. too. Skilled labor paid
for at he rate of 3 cents an hour and
board and lodging, When you have din
ner to serve at Z. it's $50 when your
work is done. There's no such thing
as an evening out. If YOU work in a
shop, when the door closes behind you
at O'Clock. your time is yours-when
you do homework. there's not minute
that is practically your own. OF course
in the very big mansions where a retinue
of servants is kept things are arranged
on business methods. There's a head
servant, who receives the orders for the
day He hires, discharges. gives the
days and evenings out He renders an
account of everything and the bills are
settled by checks once a month. Unless
she wishes, the mistress never comes in
contact with the majority Of the ser
wants. About the only servant that has
a hard time in big house is the lady's
maid.
Some mistresses are only thought
less. Others are naturally unsympathetic
and domneering. / once took some
newspapers from the wastebasket and
while 1 was waiting for something to boil
/ sat down to read. The lady came i'm
and began TO berate me. She said she
did not pay me to read newspa pers /
have worked in house for months and
never had a word spoken to me on any
subject but my work. Neither newspa-
per nor book was ever offered me. l
did not ask their friendship but il was
like living in deaf and dumb asylum
and not knowing the sign language
There is the INSCRIPTIONS class of mis-
tresses. too. They regard wages cheated
out of their help as money saved
know q girl who worked for a rich and
fashionable woman who pays SO for a
pew In a fashionable church. The girl
was given one afternoon and evening
out. When she returned at 10 O'Clock
she found the luncheon and dinner dish
es to be washed and the furnace fire out.
1t was / o'clock when she got the work
DONE She was so tired she couldn't
sleep and she was sick the next morn
ing. She explained to the mistress but
she wouldn't listen, and finally the girl
was obliged to go home and was sick
abed for several weeks afterward. But
she never got her half months wages.
Both the woman and her husband
claimed she had forfeited what was due
her when she left before the month was
out. Take the societies that are inter-
ested in collecting the wages of working
women-they will help all classes of girls
except servants.
"Of course there are good mistresses
and good homes, and there are we'll
paid shop girls and good employers.
There are some mistresses who don't re-
gard themselves as imported Limoges
and the servant as potters earth just
because she's little off color in her
culture. They're a good deal like hens
teeth though-mighty few. And even A
tenement home. where you can do as you
please and have some one TO talk to, has
advantages"
Bridget sat down and Mrs. Lincoln
looked puzzled NJ. e. J. KELLY.
How ships Are Lost.
IT is stated that 900 ships annually
cross the Atlantic ocean, and steamers
between Europe and North America