Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-14

:. EFNA KIN nome lie, WDlle as
l.A " for servants, we do
s1J@eS not ssoa F servant what s: / /
was to discover just
what English home life really was, as well
as to find out something concerning the
merits and dement's of English servants,
that 1 recently put on cap and apron
and descended into certain London base
ments disguised as housemaid and par
lor maid. Now, John Bull is very fond of
quoting the saying that AN Englishman's
house is his castle" and when my expe-
riences were published in a London journal
he Indignantly resented my exploit as an in
vasion of his castle" while Mrs. John Bull
and the Misses John Bull have accused me
OF meddling with their private affairs and
telling tales about them. Up to the pres
ent / have not been able to convince them
that 1 went into the affair without any
malice aforethousht.
During my career as an amateur domestic
saw nothing to ind cate that the English
home had any advar lagos over the Ameri-
can home. SO far as l can see, the typical
London house is built upon the principle of
making everything as inconvenient and
everybody as uncomfortable as possible
Away down under the ground is the base
ment, dark and dismal, where the servants
live in a vain endeavor to catch glmmer
of Gods sunlight through the area WIN
dow. The English basement differs from
the American basement as night differs
from day. The high stone steps Of the New
York house take the first floor far above the
pavement, and leave the basement on a
level with the ground. In London the base
ment is a cellar, usually foored over with
CT In
stones are daily rubbed over with other
stones. called soap stones.'' which process
is said to whiten them. 1 suppose it does
whiten them. but 1 am not sure. 1t is too
dark to see. The front steps of the house
are also whitened with the soap stone 1t
all looks very pretty until the poodle and
the pug go out for constitutional in the
London weather, and when they return
make sort of spatter work before the
door. The steps that descend from the
pavement to the area are narrow and steep
and are seldom boarded underneath When
was housenaid 1 lived in daily terror of
being obliged to have my legs amputated
SO often did l lose my balance and get my
feet caught in the apertures between the
steps. To so up and down such area steps
requires more practice and skill than Jacob
needed to climb his celebrated ladder.
The Cntch-Ail of the Scuilery.
There Is a little cave-like room in all
London easements where the gas is ever
burning. 1t is called the "scullery" Here
the dirty work. is done, such as the wash
ing OF dishes, securing knives. scrubbing
pots and pans and brushing the boots. 1t is
kind of stopping place for dirt and grease
Into the scullery is carried. after each din
ner. the immense spit used for roasting.
and there it is cleaned, or rather supposed
to be cleaned. On the scullery table there
Is a dish rack into which the dishes are
placed after washing, where they drain"
Tor half a day, when they are taken out and
given what is called polishing" Wiping
dishes as 1t Is done in America is an I'M
heard of thing in typical English house
holds. What wonder that the mistresses are
constantly complaining that their most
beautiful and expensive china is always
nicked and cracked, when it Is subjected to
such treatment!
The securing of knives is considered a
very important part of the household work
In New York house the cook rubs up the
steel knives in jiffy as she washes them
but mere the knite-cleaninS process is q real
ly solemn occasion The "scullery maid"
preSldes over queer-looking machine, and
with much ado, amid the turning OF crank
and wheel and handle and leather the
KNIVES are made ready for the table For
the cleaning of six knives an hours time is
required. In houses where no scullery maid
1t k3pt there is continual fighting and bick-
erfng as to whose place it is to perform this
piece of domestic labor. 1 was one evening
for certain course because IL happened
there were not knives enough to go around
until some were cleaned. and, although
there were four servants in the house. each
declared ii was mot her place" to do that
work, and the cook had to be given a shil-
ling to induce her to rub off three knives
English upper servants look upon knife
securing as something degrading, fit only
for the lowest drudge from the slums to do
Some time ago l was about to engage a
cook for our home, when the girl startled
me with the question, "Who cleans the
knives?" 'Why, you would do 1t, of course"
answered. Thank you miss but
haven't come to that YETI was the reply of
the young woman as she bowed herself in
dignantly out of the door. l have since
learned that the mistress of small house
hold who does not keep scullery maid to
assist the cook is always in terror lest the
knives shall go uncleaned. Yet Mr.. Kipling
and many other English critics are ever
plying our poor, WORKOUT American wives
with their help that Is no help" My SYM
pathies are much more with the English
mistress, unless she has mint of money to
support a horde of servants. She is a slave
to the whiTnS and capriCes of her maids, and
she is more handicapped than her American
cousin in that she knows little about house
work. The American woman can, in an
emergency, scour her own knives, while the
typical English matron is quite ignorant of
how to set the cumbersome knife machine
in motion.
The Boots Must BE Cleaned.
There is lust as much trouble about the