The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-25
WOMEN OF THE SHIPS.
u-wARDEss OF A BIG OCEAN LIN
FIR HAS A WORLD OF WOES.

- the Only sCOnlf0rt--E EN- mime
l. WadIy Exacting When Toss
= Inv Neptune-Americans Make
ut Passengers But Are TOO indie
.ondent to Give Good Service.
From the Chicago Inter-Ocean.
a.. CONAN must be a first-class hypo-
-. before she can be a successful stew
rdess'
i,rl. woman who has been stewardess
an Atlantic liner for years, and knows
~ss~sof she speaks. is responsible for
hat statement.
Won haven't an idea what the life
ana she said. II don't believe there
any honest service harder than ours.
-,-,n nature is hard enough to handle
.ssr and when it's seasick-well, if you
,rt 10 please it you've got to have the
'.ssrce of a saint You've got to get rid
.rsrv Bit of your sensidveness and
"a. and take fault-fnding as though
~, loved ill., and humor everybodyts
bin,s and crazy notions and pretend TO
,,nnathtze with people and believe every
s.rg they say. Sometimes I think all the
ranks must travel; but | suppose the
,,,,ble is that we see the worst side Of
epsrv one. Then, too, there really are
MO neople who are nice, even when they
,-, seasick. and I'll tell you one thing;
Who women who are used to the best
Amos IN shore are the most agreeable
.n3 reasonable on ship. The women who
roke tbe most trouble are OF the ordinary
.oss who are afraid they won't get every
hing they've paid for and won't be treat
o5 as wen as some one else ON the boat.
T5oy inst Keep The bell button hot all the
,;me and they can't wait for anything.
Tbsv thinll we ought TO be standing by
beir doors listening for the bell. That's
r,rilv possible when each stewardess has
ssction to look after, and there are for
,v.ty5 berths in each section. OF course,
al the sta-erooms may not be taken, and
/ al the women are not i'll.
~ fell YOU ten seasick women can keep
4 srewardess on the jump all day long.
They want medicine and smelling salts
and wafer and broth and lemons. They
want the pillows aired and the portfolios
onened or closed When they can't think
what they want they ring for the steward
ess and ask her to suggest something they
might have. We are here to do the work,
and if people would only be little bit
reasonable everything would be all right,
but we mustn't ask them to wait. That
always makes them angry, and if any one
COMPLAINS of a stewardess that's the end
Of her. No one investigates the matter
4 to see whether the stewardess was to
blame She is simply discharged. 1 sup
pose it is all right, for the pubic must
De satisfied but it seems pretty hard,
doesn't it?
Last trip there was a big, fussy woman
in one section and she didn't leave her
a slateroom. She wasn't seasick, but it
nasty on deck and she liked to wear a
wrapper She had a friend with her, most
n Of the time, and those two women had
everything on the menu served to them
three times a day and sprinkled lunches
and drinks all along between meals. A
nice little woman was waiting on them,
and positively she hardly got a chance
10 do anything else. They found fault
with her all the time, but she kept her
temper like an angel, and never said
word that wasn't respectful. When we
reached New York those women went and
reported that their stewardess had been
cross and sulky all the time and wouldn't
give them proper attention, and the girl
eol her walking papers.
DO you know why there are so few
American stewardesses? Its just this:
Ihey are nice and clever, but they are too
Independent. They won't be humbled, and
lhey try TO defend themselves when people
are unreasonable and unjust. That keeps
tnem in hot water all the time. Plenty
Of American girls try the work, but
usually they don't stay long. They have
not oeen trained to hold their tongues and
say tnank YOU when they are kicked as
ue IOWer classes have been in England.
i"e very thing that makes American wo-
ntH poor steWardesses makes them our
incest passengers. The American stew
aIuess thinks she's the equal of the pas
salsels-and gets discharged, but the
t1'Aeilcan passenger thinks the stewardess
- III a way her equal-or, at least that
"s human, and treats her accordingly.
SI9' ABOUT month ago one of the swell
women IN this country crossed with
r my, qua Wheh she rang her bell the first
.e.l'nS ! was having an awful time with
some English people When went 10 her
'SsaH apologizing, but she just laughed
- -I sad On, l know you must have
al N'ne' Kun along, now, and settle
oai. "e cranks, and then come back and
i'm al'er me- Real American ladies' are
rs,.- n.y. ~ De like that, but English women
"eNtf are.
h. never thought about it, but it must
dreadful life you lead" said the pas
Woe O'iiSu A"i I'll the lale Oh
an ~ ~ sl Iui. Why, miss, 1 wouldn't wish
p worse luck than to do my work."
,.p out why do you do it?"
WIN cause there's money in It. That's
Aho,,. me company doesn't pay us much
a., T4o month is what most of us
cam, 'ul you see, there are the fees. You
mil, ' 81. what they'll be. Sometimes 1
mall -" on a Trip and sometimes I'll
peor,. 49, IL all depends on the kind of
ara ae you nave and on how many there
tbs y. mem. Two dollars and a half is
aryn, Isuai fee if the stewardess has done
rr. S Tor you; but I've had women
had a. -e quarter and then again I've
mon '.yil give me $40 The stewards get
near,, money than we do and don't work
her 80 hard. Men fee more literally
FoE- women and they're not often sea-
e,ono2' II they are, they have pluck
~" 10 20 up on deck and get we'll"
sllos me stewardess who has the
fes tt[ " l1e promenade deck gee bigger
s.nr. ''s" 1hose Gown here?" asked the
staI'r1 '", 'lc young woman, who had a
n0b ~" IN the depth of the boat
fees ,- H. mat eVens up. You see the
So MAJ, Digger up there, but there amt