The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-06
WoESOF THE STEWARDESS.
TRIALS HERE THAI WILL WHY HER
FRONT SEAT IN HEAVEN.

RUnEueNNt9-btN a"-
vvorL-A seasiek bride 1a Not ~1ssnautic.
o., ,,omnn mus. be n first-class hypocrite
N-fore she can DO q successful stcwardcss.'
a u,tIo woman who has been stewardess on
d. Atlantic liner for years and knows whereof
an, spcaks is responsible for that statement.
avon haven't any idea what the life means"
rS r.id. Il don't believe there is any honest
service harder than ours. Human nature 10
h.rd enough to handle at best; and. when it's
,casick we'll, II you want to please 1t you've
rot 70 have the patience Of q saint. You've
~, N get rid OF every bit OF your sonsitiveness
and nrjde and take faultHnding as though you
loved It and humor everybody's 'whims ond
orazy notions and pretend to sympathize with
ceonle and believe everything they say. Some
Hmes I think all the cranks must travel; but I
.rnnose the trouble is that we sec The worst
,de Of every one. Then, too. there really are
anne people who are nice, even when they are
,.osick. and I'll tell you one thing. The wo-
mon who are used to tho bost things on shore
arc the most agreeable and reasonable. on the
.hin. The women who mako the most trouble
arc Of the ordinary class, who are afraid they
won't get everything they've, paid for and
von't he treated as well as some one else on the
ho,t. They lust keep the bell button hot all
the time and they can't wait for anything.
They think wo ought to be standing by their
doors listening for the bell. That's hardly ros-
.ible when each stewardess has q section to
look after and there are forty-two berths in
each section. OF course, all the staterooms may
not be taken and all the women are not Ill.
.I tell you ten seasick women can keep a
stewardess on the jump all day long. They
want medicine and smelling salts and water
and broth and lemons. They want the pillows
aired and the portfolios opened or closed. When
they can't think what they want they ring for
the stewardess and ask her to suggest some
thing they might have. We are here to do the
work; and II people would only be q little bit
reasonable everything would DO all right, but
we mustn't ask them to wait. That always
makes them angry; and II any one complains
Of a stewardess that's the end of her. No one
investigates the matter to see whether the
stswardess was to blame. She IL simply dis
charged. 1 suppose it is.all right, for the pub
lie must be satisfied, but 1t seems pretty hard,
doesn't It'll
Last trip there was a big, fussy woman in
one section, and she didn't leave her stateroom.
She wasn't seasick, but 1t was nasty on deck
and she liked to wear a wrapper. She had o
friend with her, most of the time. and those
two women had everything on the menu served
to them three lines a day and sprinkled lunches
and. drinks all along between meals. A nice
little woman was waiting on them. and posi-
lively she hardly got a chance to do anything
else. They found fault with her all the time,
but she kept her temper like an angel and
never said.a 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 got dismissed.
can StewardesseS1 It's Just this. They arS
nice and clever, but they are too independent.
uasS TTe' W SS nup peoeie an are t nGre sry 20 def sns
unjust. That Keeps them in hot water all the
time. Plenty of american girls try the work.
n nos S Ssaa' tfyai med to oo hoid s their TOM tongues eae and hs ssy
thank you when they are kicked, as the lower
CLASSES 'ss; ess,hhaavv have been be- in England; The very thing
makes them our incest passengers. The Amer
lean stewardess thinks she's tho equal of the
lo sisp passenger thinks ias s't the sfewar SIs sni Is, Ai IN a
way. her equal, or. at least, that she Is hui
month moan a@ ago 't ons Of ri The ses s%eIlest won nasl h IN New e
YORK crossed:with me. and when she rang her
bell the first m3erninS l was haying an awful
her began apologizing. but she just laughed
and said. oh. l know you must have a hard
and then come nien 5a eH% and "hq LOOK sgs' after ei m me- 'rf Real
American ladies are likely to be like that, but
English women never are.
dreadful life you lead, said the passenger who
had called forth the tale Of woe.
an | ens%y Worse T iaSSl tR %in'i I. ! do T g8 Mosk wish
but why do you do It'll"
~ because there's money in it. That's why.
SIS Q month is what most OF us get; but you
see there are the fees: You can't tell what
s anS sdm be- Sometimes TII mes. III l. make $40 on a trip,
there are Of them. Two dollars and a half is
thing for YOU; but Two had women give me a
quarter; and then, again I've had them give me
and and dU mt W stsya Ras9 get m m9 psr money So than an We wn do
Literally than:women and they're not often sea-
siekmor. i they are, they have pluck enough to
20 up on deck and get well"
Don't the ,stewardess who has the suites on
~ promenade deck get bigger fees than those
a So s,nte aepen i &st tSa the young woman who had
oh, well, that evens up. You sec the fees
arc bigger up there, but there aren't SO many
very few of those rooms taken. Summer is the
harvest time, for the stewardess up there.
linens when rich people are travelling for pleas.
most Of the passengers are travelling on bust
o mess i.s 41iy one Of those suites was occupied on
Down hero travel is heavier all the year
round, but one doesn't get big fees. Now, you
sooop believe 1t. but stewardesses in the
Sne year than those in the first cabin, and they
nave a better time, too. The passengers In
pay for : what RiSei th hespS set. and Pe sSeEe % Sns s sfpsSt t e
sfsfcond cabin passengers right through the year.
Snacting as the folks In here and don't want 80
m9eh %coddling. One of my friends was stew
ettaeSs In second cabin until last week, and
eneh she was promoted to first cabin because
NJ ny Oh the girls In here got married and left.
bmsaa friend begged not to be promoted, but she
% 3m. 70 nave 1t all the same, and she says she's
Just SICK about 1t. OF course the Steerage
s'swardess is the one that has the worst time"
% SNIttTerage stewardess," echoed the listener.
ldnilnt know they had any down there"
siess you. yes. Why. that's where we
Gr as Mighty few women get cabin places
ppffSL, unless they have a strong pull at the office.
S SUS' OF me women who apply have been nurses
thu nv 80 they get a chance 10 do nursing down
srdrc, IN the Storage. That's about all q stew.
tShhaaG;sss Is Tor down there. The passengers make
pIscs own beds, and the officers see that the
Ss % IS cleaned once a day. II the weather 10
tvSe ~. at all, the people are all turned out on
ona deck, unless the stewardess says that some
10 ym1 Is really too sick to go. It's best for them
tbo" nut IN the air. They would all be sick in
i'SSe Nttle holes. III never forget my first trip.
mara neen nurse In a hospital, but i needed
i u ~ money, so ! took a trial trip on the Med
TTSSirahcan TO see how l would stand the water.
TT RE- J applied for a place on. an Atlantic boat.
si III gave me the storage. Ughi / was sea-
SSi H. myself. and some OF the people were SO
cny ana the cabins got 80 filthy between
ia adhhLhfs, ana everything smelled. i thought
liz ~ pelore the trip was over, and ! don't be-