The evening times., 1899-07-01
THE SERVANT QUESTION.
Mrs. Haweis Speaks of the Servants
Side OF It.
(From the Contemporary Review.)

(From the Contemporary Review.)
In our intercourse with servants. said
Mrs Haweis We shall find them very
human, no Doubt But. after all. with
the opportunities within their reach. the
wonder is they so seldom make a worse
use OF them.
The poor little "slavey' may put her
fingers In the treacle-so does Tommy. il
you don't stop him Mary Jane may want
TO go out with her young man at an in
convenient time. and cheek" mistress il
she is refused-so many a dainty daughter.
Cook may forget an order, or fail in omni-
science CT foresight-so do you Are we
not all human?
No doubt servants occasionally peculate,
abstract. take toll. So does the confiden-
tial clerk. the family trustee. the loving
husband. wife, son. who privately pawns
your jewelry. even if he stops short OF
changing your diamonds fer paste No
doubt servants will take liberties IL you
let them; SO will others. But / think il
we want to brand a class. the servant
class. with their genera, worth and their
filial kindness, would come out no worse
than their smart young mistress and mas
ters-perhaps even better, considering
their temptations.
As class. they are respectable. worthy.
honest, and rarely come On the rates. un-
less they marry unwisely. They habitually
do more for their old parents and their
poor relations than many average sons
and daughters dream of doing They are
not more Indifferent to kindness. not more
trouble and worry than any other class Of
people. And in Illness. in old age-aye
and in infancy-who does more for us than
the kinG-hearted nurse or confidential
valet or maid? We sometimes think them
Gngratefal. but more often than not it is
the mistress. not the servant. who is un-
grateful. although it must be generally ad-
mitted that. in the better" class at least
mistresses are usually kind and indulgent
up To their lights They seldom iII-treat.
unde-pay, or uldeTfeed their servants.
They only abuse them, and this more often
behind their backs.
in treating II detail the employers treat
melt OF servants and the servants treat
ment Of their employers. Mrs. Haweis
said:
"As to servants rooms and their gen.
eral comfort one can only lay down the
most general rules. Everyone has no
ticed the difference in the atmosphere of
a servants ard a lady's or gentleman.s
bedroom; there is almost always what for a
better word may be called a stivey smell
about the attic bedroom 1t comes from
variety OF causes-bed linen not changed
frequently enough. uneleanly habits water
left standing-the modern covered slop-
pail is often 20 blame. II will conceal for
hours. even days. what ought not to be
allowed standing for minutes; but out OF
sight out of mind. The lady is fastidious
the servant often IS not. Neglect to open
the window. careless sweeping, the seques
tering of food in cupboards, coarse poma-
tum. foul hairbrushes, etc--all these taint
the air of a room. 1t may not be ad
visable for the mistress to be always fuss
ing about in the servants bedroom. but she
is responsible for the sanitation OF the
whole house. She has a right to insist
upon regulations which shall insure clean
illness and protect health. and domicil-
iary visit occasionally is not only expe-
dent but Q household duty.