The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-06-05

little lunches AT day long. and one
generally finds them with the mouth
full, and often large slice Of bread
and butter is lying near by. where
they happen to be at work, polishing
the floor, or ironing, as 1t may chance.
The difference in feeding servants
makes an enormous one in expenses.
Wages, of course. arc in proportion to
other things. A cook, who is also
general servant-for very few families
keep more than two, even where there
are chiidren-gets from fifteen to
twenty marks per month (three dollars
and ssventy-fve cents to Eve dollarsl
and she is always neatly and comfort
ably dressed, but then she never wears
. hat or bonnet, except on Sunday and
invariably knits her own stockings
The housskeeper always has in her
stock of household linen . large guam
tity Of aprons for the use of her serv-
ants, so many of white and colored be-
ing given out each week and accounted
for when a servant leaves. But they
wear NO fine feathers or silk dresses.
and every one of them. men and wo-
men. pays . small tax to the govern
nent of about twenty cents per month,
credited to them in hank book at tho
end of each year. and called the hos
pital fund, emitting them to care
and support during illness. This
small amount is often, though
not always. paid by the employer.
and credited each month by small
stamps issued for the purpose and for
sale at every postofice- These are
affixed to a card inscribed with the
name of the owner, and good for one
year or more, as 1t may be, and when
full must be presented at the head po-
lice Office for registration. where they
receive credit for it. Arriving at old
age or incapacitated from work, each
one is entitled to a pension, which,
though small, is better than nothing
There is no homemade bread in Ger
many; but washing day has its own
terrors, especially so when it comes
but once q month, as in most German
families
Then the servant does not hesitate to-
say to the visitor, '.Nein. die gnadige
Frau ist NIGHT zu hause, wir haben
CROSSE wasche" (No, the gracious lady
Is not at home; we have our big wash
ing); and very likely this servant may
be a soldier dressed in his linen suit,
with sleeves rolled up and bare red
arms, looking boiled from the wash
tub. Most ladies help in some way
with the washing, and invariably do
all the cooking on that day, and on the
next they assist in sprinkling and
folding the clothes to go to the mangle.
Every German girl is taught how to
Is quite feat of gymnastics as they
stand, ono at each end, holding the
linen, with the right foot firmly
planted forward and the left one back,
and then pull with all their might to
stretch it; and very fatiguing process
It is
But the average German woman is
very strong; she must be to do all that
is required of her. She has little or no
time for reading or any accomplish
ment after marriage; it is kitchen and
housework, and sewing and mepding
By turns She must help her children
with their lessons, and must be con-
tent, for amusement, to go out occa-
sionally for walk with her husband,
stopping always for glass of beer at
restaurant, and this especially on
Sunday afternoons A few balls in
winter, with the simplest social enter
tainments sandwiched in between, is
about all she ever sees or knows of the
world. A woman is considered old at
p5, and if not married before that is
dubbed an old maid and set on one
side, and what can she have known be-
fore that, as they seldom travel and
are very strictly brought up?
On the question of bowling Aneri-
cans would do well to take a few hints
from the Germans, who are careful
when they bow to friends and acquaint-
ances, both men and women, to look
one directly in the eye, which seems to
emphasize it greatly. Children are
taught that at once in the schools, and
there is none of the hang-deg bashful-
ness among them when they respond
to a greeting; and neither do ladies.
when they bow in the street, look
down on the ground or round the cor
ner, or anywhere except at the person
they meet-a custom only too common
In America