The record-union., 1899-11-14
A School for Servants.

husbands ever since the marriage of
Eve, but the founder of the Domestic
Science School at Syracuse set about 10
manage" the business men of the city
to put the new venture on it's feet
The word charity must not be connect
ed with any such school, or the pros
pective pupils would fout the project;
therefore the business principle of guild
pro quo was adhered to by Mrs. Larned.
First, an equipped kitchen of the latest
pattern was needed, which luxury
means an outlay of two or three
teal talk with the managers of the city
gas company, they decided to give to
the school the space in the back of their
commodious store, and to equip it with
gas ranges and gas cooking tables,
throwing in the pots and pans as good
measure. The advantage to them was
directing the attention of housekeepers
to the use of gas ranges and of gas as
a fuel.
The haphazard way of cooking which
make an uncertainty of the result,
could have no place in this scientific
laboratory, so a teacher was secured
who could triumphantfy wave a DrexeI
Institute diploma in the faces of the
incredulous. Her salary and her time
were shared with two other institu-
lions, for economy was necessary in the
experimental stage.
But money had to be raised, and this
is how it was done. The local mer-
chants and newspapers were told of the
scheme, and were invited to contribute
ten dollars each-the price of years
scholarship. By naming this for the
donor, the money was charged to adj
vertising accounts. The girl to whom
was given the scholarship, was a living,
cooking reminder Of the firms interest
in the growth of Improvement. AS a
matter of fact, it is not difficult to
persuade a man to help a cause which
has as its object the elevation of the
standard of his table.
Housekeepers, too, subscribed to
scholarships, in the experimental year
of the Syracuse school, and appointed
women to fill them, sometimes a faith
full servant worthy the outlay, and
sometimes the daughter of the house
who contemplated matrimony. 1 saw
one of the latter at work on her first
lesson in frying. There was every rea-
son why she should know how to cook.
for her fiancee was to take her to
prairie ranch where she would be maid
as well as mistress. Her task was, to
form some cold oatmeal into croquettes,
and coat them with the necessary egg
and crumbs, a performance not above
the ability of the houseworker whose
kitchen is under the apple tree, and
whose dough is moistened earth, and yet
this young woman, blushing with en-
barrassment, spoiled six croquettes
before she rolled one that was eatable.
The school opened with three classes
of sixteen each, and many on the
waiting list, and the pupils were from
all classes, the scholarship girls, many
of whom We're clerks in shops. young
ladies of society, one or two liberal
minded housekeepers, and many ambi
tious women who We're working at
domestic service, and who regarded the
S1O-course as a good business invest
ment This mixture of classes would
make trouble if wise head and kind
hand did not do the guiding. AS it is
in Syracuse, proficiency in the class
counts, and not social standing, and the
two great divisions of housekeepers
and house helpers smooth over word
that has unjGstly become a term of
ignominy So long as the servility of
domestic labor is pronounced, it is inn
possible to secure operatives who have
intelligence to succeed at anything
else.
As the school grew, a waitress class
was organized, and one for rdietetic.
cookery, which brought in a group, of
nurses; and these things still continues
Each year there is a rigid examination
when questions are asked that few.
housekeepers could answer, and those
who are worthy receive diplomas
Helen G. Candee in Ainslee's. 2
girl's idea of an eligible man is one