Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-11-13
SERVANTS OF WEALTH
Amassing Snug Fortunes.-lhe
Smart Servants Trials.
SOME LUXURIOUS MEN AND MAIDS
Buffers Use Silver Toilet Articles ano
Cooks Buy Rows of Houses-Pay
Liberal Wages.

In6y ndu lalltu, III 1bo oou'oo VI "
luncheon, on that talk of perennial IN
terest to the housekeeping mind-the
servant uuestion--and the hostess was
telling how Mrs. Jack Astor had just
moved into her brandnew Fifth
avenue house, with forty servants III
her MENACE. "But she is not more
extravaganza than her friends and neigh
bors, for Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt
counts thirty-six domestics in her
household, Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt has
only four less, Mrs. Eldridge Gerry
gets along with the help of thirty, Mrs.
Letter in her Washington house en-
ploys twenty four, Mrs. Austin .Corbin
manages with nineteen, while four.
teen is the smallest array of domestic
talent the wife of any comparatively
rich man can decently keep house with.
These are the only Americans who
are not harassed by the trials OF the
servant hall, for with the exception OF
royal establishments nowhere else are
grooms and maids so we'll paid, fe1
and housed as in millionaire homes.
81 went through the Aston mansion,
recently. and what chiefly excited my
attention was the servants quarters.
The architect, decorator and owner
have spared no skill, taste and expense
in their arrangement. Two separated
corridors run along the top at 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, denim and oak.
1.-THE women have the use of their
own big, beautiful tiled bathroom and
general sitting room, filled with books,
pictures, easy chairs, games and potted
flowers at the window, and the men
are equally we'll provided.
cat the end of the women's corridor
is suite of bedroom, bath and study
in blue and white. dainty enough for
the daughter of the house, complete
in detail, from stamped paper on the
escritoire to patent silver faucets at the
porcelain bathtub. This is the house,
keepers snuggery, and the butler has
his in the mems corridor. Below stairs
they showed me the servants dining
room, wainscoted in oak. 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. Added
to these comforts are all modern ap-
pliances in the way of lifts. dumb
walters, electric bells, a 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 convenience reigns in all these new
millionaire houses, where a suite of
extra rooms are even provided for the
maids and Wallets of visitors, in order
that ones own servants may not be
inconyenienced.
Neither do these mistresses stick at
paying the best wages, and the aver.
age schedule of salaries gives 500 each
to butler and house-keeper, nearly twice
that much to the cook, $75 to the
coaohman, not less than $25 each to
ladies' maids and Wallets. and what
with grooms and housemaids in the
first, second and third degrees, women
like Mrs. Aston and Mrs. Vanderbilt
pay as much to keep up their city
homes as does the Duke of Westminster
at Elton Hall. with his corps Of keepers,
gardeners and stablemen."
'But don't forget" insisted pretty
woman from the other side of the
table. "that this princely system has
utterly ruined the chances of those
women who try to have smart servants
ON smaller scale than Mrs. Astor.
] 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 pan.
try 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
appearance 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 brings up the tea tray and the
butler superintends the setting of
tables, arrapges flowers, announces the
meals, pours wine and serves leading
courses. Like all men servants who
live with. wealthy families, these smart
buffers are luxuriant, extravagant crea-
lures. Mine has his dressing table
fitted witRa complete set Uf 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
husband discovered that their butler
dreamed ., his nights away in silk
pajamas and wore the most delicate
spunsilk underwear; 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
L l. II