The evening times., 1898-03-02
THE REALM
BELOW stairs
Relative Duties of Mistresses
and Maids of Mansions.
Training schools for Housekeepers
Institutions for Servants.

Maddox writes over the servant question.
We are inclined today most OF the blame
on the maid. while the mistress is allow
ed 10 so scot free. 1t is about time the
responsibility was shifted on to the right
shoulders. Admitting the average SER.
want to be a trial to the flesh ! frankly
ask. is not the mistress an even greater
trial? Not understand, To her servants,
but to womanbind i'm general. to house
keepers who must correct her blunders.
The woman whe manages her servants
badly is an extremist. She is tNrant ar
a slave In her exactions or her slack
ness she prepares the poor creature un-
der her control to scatter misery wher-
ever she goes. No servant who has been
shacl5led by iron-clad rules or. allowed TO
slip along in shiftess fashion can do her
duty She becomes suspicious or indif-
ferent.
With no well-regulated ideas Of service
She carries discord from one household
TO another, leaving in the best regulated
homes dire confusion.
TnqueStiopablE we max blame incdpa-
ble housekeepcrs FOR the miserable state
Of affairs b.low stairs.
There are q few women who have com
mon sense q guide them in the manage
men, OF servants. They know just how
FAR 10 go when making demands OF
granting s3Vors. y maid who has been
bounded TO death j. on the alert Tor in
suits. The servant unused 20 control, be
cause uufori innate enough TO have had
Shiftls-s mistresses. wiz not brook train
ing from The mistress who knows how
the duties ol a good servant should Ice
performed.
Ii there M-rs more homes controlled By
women who understood the delicate
knack ol housekeeping we should not
hear 50 much about bad service. Take.
for instance tn. impertinent servant.
Who FIRST permitted her TO shower abuse
upon her employer? In no other business
relations in this country are such scenes
enacted as daily take place in the
en- Of homes supposed TO be run by gen
tlewomcu.
The maid is impudent the mistress
quarrelsome The pair fight and make up
like a coupc of iishwives. Sometimes
the girl is right. sometimes her employer.
A grievance quietly stated upon either
side il surely worthy of consideration
The moment a complaint takes the form
of ..tautrums it should be ignored as
worthless.
Most servants glory in their fighting
qualities. in their abilities to resent i'm
position. or what they fancy imposition.
triumphantly tell her mistress as she
flounced out of the house what a nasty
temper she had and she always expected
to have f.
If the maid with he''nasty' temper had
been given - series of lessons by mis-
tresses. in the art of curbing il. | am
thinking that in time il would have been
curb,-d The world is fun of character
less housekeenerS who know much
about running an adjustment as Jointly
dolls They ruin their servants.
n is their incapa bilities that ill our in
tcllig-uce Offices with neer-do-weels. Not
long ago "a new cook Of mine startled me
by whistlius up the speaking tube. When
/ failed to nay attention 10 the Sumons
she arrived In person. I said: Kate. you
must never call me in the tube. Send up
YOUR messs 20 by the housemaid or come
yourself.
She looked me all over and the. with a
sneer. replied. Mrs. Blank. my last mis-
tres always answered my calls. Mrs.
Blank. by her lack of training. will keep
this girl on the street most of the time
seeking a homo instead OF being well
housed and earning steady wages.
Ii is the little things that show how a
servant has been coached. Ii is the little
things that please or annoy very love-
~ woman remarked. when commenting
upon her servants. "a know the first day
AllHt FtlAht " liFALFi tttfA dif SfihS ~
suit. Judge entirely from their small
mauneriSWs. If. when l enter my kitchen
10 give an order. the cook remains seated.
[ know she has lived with an iSnoramus
and won't suit me. When / address the
hnusem8id and she leeDs ss mum as an
oyster. / know she viii have TO be given
her walking ticket
Here is housewife who pays splendid
wages and j. most c"nsiderate in her
treatment OF her maids. She asks mere
ly to he shown "A little respect due her
as mistress Of the household. Her good
training is however. of small account.
because ihe very next place her maids |
may live will. in all probability. be under |
the government Of woman who has no !
idea on earth of managing servants.
What we need is cooperation. 1t is ;
perfectly useless TO fiatter ourselves that |
the lessons learned in a well-reguIated !
establishment are not gong to be unlearn-
ed at the first opportunity. They viii be !
dropped for ways that are dark and
tricks that are vain if the slightest |
counteDance is given the delinquent.
Training does not necessarily mean the |
employment Of harsh measures. Indeed. |
the ,~ell-trained servant is bound to
have. I'm the long run, by far the cas-
lest time.
To tell the truth that reference
upon which hinge SO much is an |
awful farce. | wonder sometimes If we |
could only secure one of the mistress in |
stead OF the maid. If we would not be on |
the road to reformation. 1t is really |
the mistress character. her methods, |
her knowledge that are our salvation or |
our undoinS.
Talk about training schools for !
servants, what We need in this country /
are schools for crude housekeepers.
schools where they will be taught 20
manage servants before they are ever |
allowed one inside their own homes.
Speaking of references brings to light |
a fault before which all others dwindle |
into insgnitcance. 1t is to this fault (
that we may attribute most of our |
troubles. The incapable mistress is a |
trial. but she does little mischief COM
pared with the woman who condescends |
to falsify her womanliness by recon-
mendiGg utterly unworthy help" She /
may be looked upon as the one prime fac
tor i'm this upheaval constantly taking |
place in our realm.
| shall take greatest delight in telling
her in q series of articles just what | |
think OF her. and with every word writ |
ten I shall offer a PRAYER that the seed