The evening times., 1898-05-06
rs TIE Madam,
so THE MAID Is
Neat Costumes for Domestics
Characterize Households.
"Spruced Up" Looking Cooks and
Housensids Give Tone to Man.
siOns of Mistresses.

| A sloppy maid augurs a sloppy mistress
So say the critics who claim fs be good
judges of what we housekeepers should
do and what We should leave undone.
In no'country in the world are there
| so many freaks called servants as in this
| America. They tend the front door in a
disheveled state that is something appall-
| ing. The bell is answered again and
again by maids that look as IL they might
have been dressed from the mistress's rag
bag.
We have won a reputation throughout
the world for badly-gowned service. Our
maids refuse to acknowledge a regulation
uniform. Their mistresses refuse to in
sist upon a service apparel as 1t should
be. Dress confusion worse cOnfounded
reigns in kitchen and house as a result
of this pronounced negligence.
Nothing could be more upsetting than
the constant vision of one, two, perhaps
three maids pieced together in any way
that happens to suit an erratic fancy.
Many times have taken up this subject.
II somebody would send out an article
every day In the week 1t would not be too
frequent to jog the attention of women
who have in a great measure the correc-
ton OF this fault in their own hands.
Among upper tendon the attire Of men
and woman servants is considered Of vital
Importance. Everything hinges upon
dress below stairs.> The maid or man who
applies in first-class houses for a position
knows this and prepares for 1t accord
ingly.
Within certain circle containing by
far the larger number of housekeepers
and women who can afford to keep an
establishment running in a pleasantly
oiled groove. sloppiness is to be found.
Here 1t is lack of insistence. If each
mistress would refuse to be content with
anything save a neatly-gowned maid. no
matter how small her menages we would
after a time have comparatively little
trouble in securing not only capable, but
weli-dressed servants as well.
The maid of all work must be a mana
ger to look at all times trim. but there
is no excuse under the sun for sloppiness
when two servants are employed. Most
maids are like children i have found.
They require as much chasing after in
order to keep them right up to-the mark
in the matter of clothes as the small
boy.
They seem 10 hate SO to spruce up.
Every time they will dodge the hour for
changing the morning dress for an after
noon uniform if they can. 1t is lack of
training and shows how utterly remiss
the American housekeeper is
A cook or housemaid given to under
stand what is expected of her in this di-
rectiOn will after time feel exceedingly
wretched If she is not as neat as pin
There are women who go out to service
who are simply hopeless. l don't believe
anybody on earth could train them to
neatness. They have lived all their lives
in squalor and can never fit into decent
surroundings.
Such women are not worth bothering
with. They should be promptly discharg-
ed. One of the most enjoyable features
of my stay abroad has always been the
daintiness of the maids. They are taught
that II is the badge of an expert to be
perfectly costumed, and in every situa-
tion one finds a crisp beauty of attire
that is refreshing.
Here a uniform is considered by our
servants a badge of disgrace. This mixes
matters terribly. The would-be ladies
are frights in the house and on the
streets crude limitations of their mis-
tresses.
The streets of Paris hold no prettier
sight than the nurse maid display. Doro-
thy Maddox says. A French nurse is a
picture The American nurse maid. ex-
cepting among the wealthiest classes. is a
horror. She wears a white apron. There
her attempt to be proper ends. The hat
tipped on her head is a rakish affair
or battered affair: her gown is gen.
orally too short about the heels, and she
wears unless the weather is fine, a rusty
jacket. Then mamma piles on the agony
on baby and baby's coach, gives this
nondescript the handle and thinks she
has done her whole duty to polite So
ciety.
There is not a service of any sort in
England that is not dressed in a thor
oughly fascinating way. A servant in
England expects to wear a uniform. 1t is
this uniform which gives each man and
woman her proper place among her kind.
1t classes all the wage-workers. They
know where they stand and what to ex-
pect. There is no attempt made to over
step boundary lines that separate class
distinctions. As / have said many times
before. if / had to earn my living as
cook, waitress; or in any
branch of service. should want to do so
in proper garb. should crave the priv
ilege of wearing print gowns for morning.
a black Gown for afternoon. the snowiest |
of aprons and caps and collars and cuffs. |
If | had an exacting mistress l should !
frankly tell her that it took time to keep |
my wardrobe in order and l should eX |
pect that she would arrange my work so |
that | need never go about in tumbed, |
soled condition. OF course, a girl hard at |
II ScruDDlng ana sweating all the day long
Is not going to look at any time clean and |
fresh. 1t is only fair that she be given
chance.
IL is too funny to see some of the ef-
forts to have a maid dressed as she should |
be. IT is all SO halfway. There is never
at any time complete unanimity of dress
feeling, but one color and mode seems to
be fighting 1t out with another. such as
basque of calico, a skirt of wool, a dab of
muslin tcalled by courtesy cap). and an
apron that has long ago outlived it's days
IF usefulness.
The time seems, from present appear
ances. a good ways off when mistress and
maid viii have perfect understanding re-
,arding the important bearing which a |
service has upon the beauty
md symmetry of living We cannot ex-
'ect to escape our share of ridicule from
oreigners so long as we allow chaos to
ule our servants wardrobes,
WOman's Swear Words.
A book might be written about the
hings the girl says when she says
hings." She does not recover from the
,abit. either, when she ceases to be a girl,
hough her expressions of disapproval