The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-01-19
Woman and Her World
SERVANTS FORM A UNION

Wan countries and into the continent.
Recently the female servants OF the Nor
wegian capital organized the 'Demesties'
union.'' Now their employers. the mis-
| tresses, have formed, for their own protec
ton, union, binding themselves not to
employ a servant who is a member Of the
Domestics' union.
The maid servants of the capital met
| one evening, between 200 and 500 being
present. After being addressed by sew
eraI women speakers, servants themsel-
YES. they unanimously resolved TO organ
ize a union and adopted the following
constitutions:
All night work to be abolished, except
in case Of sickness in the family, work
to commence at $50 o'clock in the morn
ing and end at O'Clock in the evening;
work or attendance on the family after
9 o'clock to be performed by second set
Of servants or to be paid for extra
One afternoon free each week. and the
whole of Sunday every alternate week
Light, warm and we'll ventilated rooms,
each servant TO have her own sbed.
a paper to be published in the inter-
est of the union and to advocate reforms
in the treatment of female servants.
The newspapers of the Norwegian cap
itai next morning, commenting on the
formation of the union and the consti-
tuition adopted, said: ''Under these cir
cumstances a mistresses' union is an abb
solute necessity. The few simple para
graphs adopted as a constitution at the
meeting mean neither more nor less than
a complete remodeling of our whole daily
life. and if this union isto be fact we
will be at the mercy of our maid SER
wants"
AS to the conditions of Norwegian fe-
male servants: Maid servants in Nor
way are scarce. The great mass emil
CRATE to America, and the reports COM
ing to them from their friends here of
large wages, easy work, good treatment
and shrort hours make those in the cities
of Norway feel Disconnected. These re-
ports also make them independent in their
feeling toward their mistresses. AT the
same time servants in Norway, at least
in the southern parts, are accorded a
treatment which must be far from sat
isfactory, and aheir organization to rem
edy certain abuses is not TO be wonder
ed at A separate room for the maid
servant is almost unknown. She is con-
sidered a household article that can be
provided for anywhere. Often she has
only a cold uncomfortable garnet or a
bunk in the kitchen. Her feelings are not
considered. Even in larger houses, keep
ing several servants. hunks are nailed to
4Io Of
ally the room is too small to contain a
proper bed. In the country districts con-
ditions are little different.
What the outcome of this servants
union will be is difficult to surmise. If
similar organizations spring up all over
Europe and the male labor organizations
permit them to become members of their
considerations with equal privileges and
all that is implied. therein domestic life
and social habits and usuages will be re-
volutionized.
INFANTICIDE IN THE EAST
In modern times China used to be a by
word for this crime. We know more of
the country now, and the wild exaggera-
ton of the first report, when missionar-
les began to labor there, causes many
people, residents especially, to disregard
the evil which exists. By a natural re-
action infanticide has become a standing
jest for the mystification of new
chume." But it would seem that the
early reports from Fiji and the Sand
witch islands were not much exeggerat-
ed. One can hardly credit the assert
ions of Mr.. Williams, careful as he was
generally that the number of babies muir
dered was nearer two-thlrds than one
half of those born" But he makes a
statement even more extraordinary.
Both men and women there are pass
though they kill their own. Mr.. Will
Jams actually knew an instance where the
mother did away with her offspring in or
der to adopt a young relative,
But the most striking of all examples
occur among various tribes of India We
get an idea of the state of things among
the Khounds in 1854, when Major Camp
bell reporated with exultation that he had
no less than 9o1 girls registered in his
district, which, contained 2,149 families.
And he had good cause to exult foir when
his labors began, scarcely one could be
seeen. In the powerful Cohan tribe
around Mynpurie, Mr.. Unkin vainly in
quired for an unmarried girl. The family
records of the chief, going back many
generations, did not show one single dau-
ghtrr. In 1855 Mr. Moore found the Will
ages of the Benares district containing
% girls to III boys; in . the proportions
were 81 to PSI; in 80 "a to 343, in62 he could
discover no girl under years. These fig
ures are enough, but among the Rajputs
infanticide was yet more common. The
difficulty and expense of finding son-in-
law acceptable in caste and station were
the motives avowed.
But the reader has been asking ques-
ton all through. no doubt. How could
the mother endure the system? One may
understand a la rigueur, that q man
should be willing TO destroy his babe just
born when he saw no hiram in so doing
and all the neighbors did the like. But
we have been taught TO believe that the
maternal instinct dares and suffers any
trail. A sheep vii! die 10 protect its
lamb. and hen viii face tiger. But
IT Is not so with women IL certain con-
ditions be observed. Upon this point the
evidence Of the commissioners IS detail
ed, abundant and conclusive. Il would
appear that the maternal instinct does
not begin 10 operate until p woman has
az least seen and touched her baby.
knowing this by experience. the midwife
kept It out of sight until the father had
pronounced. In northwestern Europe
they did likewise. rs we learn by many
descriptions. And when this precaution
was used the mother submitted without