Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-08-15

pam linen collar and cuffs with a
small cap and white apron. She
sometimes helps in the buffers pantry
AFTER dinner, and to her lot also falls
the peasant duty of arranging the
flowers throughout these rooms and
often in the dining-room.
Ihe second chSmbermaid. after as
SlStIng the first, has the care of the
servants rooms, which is in itself.no
light task, as the provision made for
the comfort of The servants in these
luxurious American homes is again a
matter of surprise to foreigners and
revelation to the serving class who
have never known any more comfort.
able sleeping apartments than a dark.
badly ventilated attic, approached by
d ladder, where three and four women
must sleep in one room, if it may be
called a ROOM. The fourth floor of
the horse is generally given over to
the servants, although it is considered
safer TO have the butler sleep near the
pantry and one man in the basement.
In most cases each maid has a room
70 herself, carpeted and FURNISHED to
be in keeping with the rest of the
house with bedsteads of white
enameled iron with brass trimmings.
wash stand and bureau, and ward
robe where there are closets for their
clothes. These, with white curtains
and a rocking chair, are far and away
more comfortable than are to be
found N the thousand boarding houses
where one pay S12 a week \ bath
room on this floor, arranged with two
or three basins and hot and cold
water, is for the servants exclusive
use.
Mos fashionable people employ a
chef, although some prefer a woman,
who is often as good a cook as "a
man and in many ways mere desir-
able, as they keep better order in the
kitchen and as a rule are not so eX-
travagant as men. A professional
woman cook can often command $50
a month. When a chef is employed ne
| seldom sleeps in the house, but comes
in the morning in time to prepare the
| family breakfast, the kitchen maid
|
and having everything as nearly ready
as possible for his majesty when he
! arrives. The life of a kitchen maid
under a chef is not an enviable one;
as lie does nothing but cook, she must
! do everything else-prepare the yege-
| tables, scrub the floors and tables and
clean the cooking utensils. Woe be-
| III I,piy
q saucepan not Sp0tlesSly bright. She
may be thankful if she does not have
! it thrown at her head, accompanied by
! a v6lley OF French OathS which, hap
! lily, she does not understand. Yet
any girl who has ambition to become
a first-class cook will put up with al
most anything from chef because Of
what she can learn from him. A chef
! receives not less than $40 month and
/ half as much more from the enormous
/ commission he leyies upon all the
| tradeSpeople with whom he deals.
! Not one escapes, not even the iceman.
! OF course, this comes out of his en-
| plOyer'S pocket eventually. Not long
ago a fruit dealer wrote to the lady of
! the house that he would not be able
to supply her with fruit any longer,
as her chef had eXtorted larger and
larger commissions from him until he
had no profit left for himself.
| The monthly expense of keeping up
| a fashionable household of, say, six n
| the family is never less than $1,000 a
MONTH of which fully 5000 is paid in
servants wages. This estimate does
/ not include the stable expenses, as
! they are always distinct from the
house service. The coachman, VINO is
generally a married man, has very
comfortable apartments over the sta
/ BILE, and boards the grooms. The
stables are often several blocks away
from the house, in streets where prop
! erty is less valuable, and they are
connected with the house by a tele-
! phone.
! ALI the work of the servants is as
! play when compared with that done
! by their mistress and her daughters.
From the hour of waking one morning
! until 2 or 3 the next morning their
work goes on without interruption.
! The first hours after breakfss are oc-
| cupied with answering invitations,
making out dinner lists, looking over
cards and family consultations, for
that is about the only time they meet.
| Then comes shopping and the dress
maker, which means standing for
hours at time; in the afternoon, call
! ing and the inevitable driving in the
! park, then dinners, balls and opera.
so it goes on increasingly until the
season ends, very much as the last
' one did, and many another before it
some engagements, some marriages,
some heartaches and much gossip. In
! May or June they get back to the
country, fondly imagining that they
are going to rest, but knowing full
we'll that they are hugging delusion.
New York Tribune.