The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-27
SERVANTS OF WEALTH.
v,yY ARE QUITE LUXU RIOTS MEN
AND MAIDS.

TROY had fallen, in tile course of the
,-.7abeon. on that talk of perennial inter
e---5 the housekeeping mind-the servant
.rss+ion-and the hostess was telling how
7r-s Jack Astor had just m oved into her
l-.nt-new Fifth avenue hOu Sc, with forty
ss-vsnts in her mena &c. ''EMt she is not
-~s-s extravagant than her friends and
-sfehbors. for Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt
commits thirty-six dOmestics in her house
.or5 Mrs. Alva Va lderbnt has only four
loss Mrs. Elbridge Gerry gets along with
,re help of thirty, Mrs. Letter in her
washington house, employees twenty-four.
Afr. Austin Corbi manages with nine
teen. while fourteen is the smallest array
of domestic talent the wife of any compar-
ative.y rich man can decently keep house
with These are the only Americans who
are not harasse'l by the trials of the
servant hall. 70; with the exception of
royal Establishments nowhere else are
erooms and maids so well paid, fed and
housed as in millionaire homes
81 went throui n the Astor mansion re-
Gently and what chiefly excited my atten-
zion was the servants quarters. The ar
cbitect, decorator and owner have spared
no skill. taste and expense in their ar
rangement. Two separate corridors run
along the top az the east end, and opening
on to them are series of rooms, one for
the men and ONE for the women. Every
servants room is furnished in brass, de-
MIN and oak
..The women have the use of their own
big, beautiful bath room and general sit
ting room hlled with books, pictures, easy
chairs. games and ported flowers at the
window. and the men are equally we'll
provided.
.'At the end Of the women's corridor is a
suite of bedrOO N, bath and study in blue
and white, dainty enough for the daugh-
Ter of the house, complete in detail from
stamped paper on the escritoire to patent
silver faucets at the porcelain bathtub
This is the homsekeeper's snuggery and
the butler has his in the mems corridor
Below stairs they showed me the ser
upholstered in green leather, fitted with
cupboards containing pretty napery
china, glass and linen, and it Is now the
custom in these smart houses to give the
servants afternoon tea, as in England
Aided to these comforts are all modern
appliances in the way of lifts, dumb
walters. electric bells, little. telephone
running into every room, heat from fresh
air blown over hot water pipes, so that
actual labor is reduced to a minimum.
The same perfect comfort and convent
ence reignS in these new millionaire
houses, where a suite of extra rooms are
even provided for the maids and Wallets
ot visitors, in order that ones own SER
wants may not be inconvenienced.
Neither do these mistresses stick at
paying the best wages, and the average
schedule of salaries gives 800 each to
butler. and housekeAener, nearly twice
that much to the cook, $40 to the coach
man not less than S25 each to ladies'
maids and Wallets, and what, with grooms
and housema1ds IN the first, second and
third degrees women like Mrs. Astor and
Mrs. Vanderbilt pay as much to keep up
their city homes as does the Duke of West
inc naaan1 aHrr
keepers, gardeners and stablemen"
But don't forget" insisted pretty Wo-
man from the other side of the table, that
his princely system has utterly ruined
the chances of those women who try to
have smart servants on a smaller scale
than Mrs. Astor. I am the slave of my
butler, who is really an invaluable man
in his way, but very expensive way his
IS. For example, he requires second man
and pantry maid under him. The pantry
maid really does all his work. washes the
dishes, cleans the dining-room, and the
second man does the silver, tends the front
door until o'clock, and the maid waits on
my breakfast table.
MY butler makes his first public ap-
pearance at luncheon, which meal he
serves and at O'Clock, in full dress, he
is ready to open the door to my callers
and announce them. The second man
bring up the tea tray and the butler SUI
perintends the setting of tables, arranges
lowers, announces the meals, pours wine
and serves leading courses. Like all men,
servants who live with wealthy families,
these smart buffers are luXuriant, eXtraV-
agant creatures. Mine has his dressing
table fitted with a complete set of silver
mounted toilet articles, and writes, so my
maid tells me, on the handSomeSt note
paper, stamped with a crest and motto.
Another mistress told me how her hus
band discovered that their butler dream
ed his nights away in silk pajamas and
wore the most delicate spun-like under
wear; for one way or another" placidly
concluded the hostess, "all of our servants
Of course contrive to make considerably
over the regular wages. Buffers always
keep the keys of the wine cellars, silver
safes, etc. l know my husbands valet
makes frequent selections from his ward
robe, and it was only the other day my
herself up to the management of her es-
tates. The estates proved to be nice row
OF houses in Harlem, bought partly by her
wages, partly by clever auditing OF my
kitchen bills and crafty disposition of val
liable crumbs that fall from my table"
But why do you let them steal so outra-
geOusly?" questioned the one impecuni-
GUS guest who keeps house in fiat with
a single maid. whereat the other women
agreed that she couldn't keep house with
out some leakages, nor could a busy mol
yidual be expected to eternally count her
husbands shirts, the fresh eggs and hot
ties of champagne, and thereby earn the
everlasting contempt of ones cook and
butler and reputation for stinginess; all
OF which made the impecunious woman
wonder
However, her fashionable friend is not
so easy a mistress as she seems. She pays
eXtravagant wages, and expects her en-
ployes to be smart in appearance, always
ready, respectful, eager to humor her ev-
cry Whin and as energetic as machines.
NO servant is ever reproved twice for
the same fault. After two bad dinners
the cook is asked to make way Tor new
employe. A very good housemaid was once
corrected for walking UP the front ztairs.
Hurrying to answer a bell, she again
went by these stairs, to find the mistress
standing at the top, who rang for the
housekeeper, ordered the girl dismissed
with all her belongings in an hour and a
substitute provided. Servants must not
ask for days out at inconVenient times
AMI dismissal follows any quarrels or
complaints. The mistress pays to be
served, not to be annoyed, or inconveni-
eLced, and the health, griefs, morals, etc,
or her servants interest her not at all
ct there are some woes even the high
est wages will not soothe, and through
sne perfectly appointed kitchens of many
lashlonable houses professions OF cooks
R4Ss, unable to endure the heavy work.
Niany chefs are obliged to stand over their
stoves until long after midnight, sendins
w after huge dinner hot dishes for a
EfJy brought from the opera.
IN the season two Suppers are serveu at
every ball, one at II and one at o'clock;
al luncheon and dinner early every day
-uests are entertainer. and it was not
IN a woman tainted a her stove, after
sJoklng for 500 persons in forty-eight
hours, that one cook last winter struck
yer cOlOrs and marched out of her tiled,