The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1898-06-04
MISTRESS AND MAID.
THE SERVANT QUESTION CAN
OFTEN BE SETTLED.
Familiarity Breeds Contemporaries of
Sincerity on the Part of the House
holder Generally Ends In Demoralized
Domestic Service.

made TO me is that of the unsatisfactor-
mess or servants generally and their
ihgratltude and astonishing lack of sf-
Ieetlon for their masters in particular.
After all have done for them" is
pretty sure to sum up the long tale of
a housewives griefs, says a writer In
the New York Post. OF all the de-
hghtful Inconsistencies that grace the
Iemale mind this latter point of view
Always strikes me as being the most
complete. So l artfully lead nv fair
friend on to tell me all about her woes.
Tor she is sure to be exquisitely one
sided and quite unconscious of her
position. They are so extravagant,
take 80 little interest in my things and
leave me at moments notice if they
get an idea / am going to break IN.
Horrid things! l wish l could do with
out them. They cause me more worry
and annoyance than any other thing in
my life. The conditions were bad
enough years ago, when servants were
Kept in the same family for years. de-
scending like heirlooms from father
TO son, often (abroad) being the foster
sisters or brothers of their masters.
and bound to the household by a hum
dred ties of sympathy and tradition.
BUT IN our day and in America, where
there is rarely even a common Iangu-
age or nationality to form a bond, and
where households are broken nm with
such FACILITY, the relation between mas
ter and servant is often so unpleasant
and so strained that we risk becoming
(What foreigners reproach us with be-
ing) a nation of hotel dwellers. Nor is
this class-feeling greatly to be Won
dered at. For, from the primitive
household, where a poor neighbor
comes in as help" to the smart"
establishment where the butler and
housekeeper eat apart and a group Of
pIush-elad fiunkies adorns the entrance |
nall, nothing could we'll be contrived |
more sure to set one class against an
other than domestic service. Proverbs
nave grown out of it in every Ian
guage. mo man is a hero to his
valet" and familiarity breeds con-
tempt" are clear enough, and are not
our comic papers full of the misunder-
standings and absurdities of the situa-
tlonF Yet one rarely sees a joke made
ABOUT any other way that the poor
earn their living. Think of IT for a
moment. To be obliged to attend 9TH
er persons at the times of day when
they are least attractive. when from
Fatigue or temper they drop the mask
that society Clues to their faces so
many hours in twenty-four; to see al
ways the seamy side of life, the small
expedients, the aids to nature; to stand
behind a chair and hear fun made of
an acquaintance who has lust been
warmly praised to his face; to see .
hostess who has just graciously urged
her guests mot to go so soon" hlurt
out all her boredom and ''thankfulness
that those tiresome So-and-sos" are
paid off at last" almost before the
door has closed on them, must needs
give curious bent to a servants mind
Ihey see their employers insincere and
they naturally copy them. Manv a
mistress who has just been smilinglv
assured by her maid how we'll her dress
suits her and how young" she is look
Ing would be thunderstruck to hear
herself laughed at and criticised five
minutes later in that servants talk.
Ihey are trained from their youth up
never to show their true feelings. for
. servant who said what she thought '
would be pretty sure to lose her place
Frankly, is it not asking a good deal to
expect maid to be very fond of a lady {
who has her sit up night after night t
INTO the small hours to unlace her I
bodice or take down her hair, or to {
man can be very devoted to '
master he has to get into bed as best
le can because he is too tipsy to get |
here himself? There is a saying that '
horses corrupt whoever live with S
hem" 1t would be more correct to I
Jay that domestic service demoralizes I
alike both master and man. Bad =
masters are the cause of so much suf- $
ering that, to protect themselves. this I
sreat brotherhood has imagined a sys- \
EN- or Keeping run of places" and Civ
ng them a character" which an as
'trant can find out with little trouble.
This Is so complete and so well carried
nut that a household where the lady I
las temper" the food is poor or
which breaks up often can rarely get a g
domestic. The place" has e
zen boycotted and really good SER v
ant Will sooner remain idle than en- u
err it. Or, If circumstances are too
aueh for him and he accepts the situa- b
ion, it is with his eyes quite open, e
moving infinitely more about his new Il
Employers and their failings than they Il
ream OF, or than they could possibly p