The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-02
NEW SERVANT THEORIES.
uh or REPORM SU60EsTED ny
Al ENGLISH Written.
Recommends That women ne called Miss or
Wr.. and That They Have Regular Hosrs
q work difference Between the work
-nnn. and That In PIIxats Houses.

.,r .,n ~ q woman writer who has q theory
d.. ,u. .lbioct that IL Original whatever
.. u'Irr Qualities may be-. II IL n radical
r....I ~ reform Witch may be accounted
nl uoU.urc by the fact that II originated
b. 90. rrud where tho matter ~ domestic ser.
v. .,fs ON liz ltNd th1n II i to-day In
,.. ,uIurr, lutimaton Of this condition
v.- lli tat year when M erort was made
e .,yty, h"ra a number ~ servants TO supply
e.. I,niuu demand. and this attempt revealed
a. 'l, .tmrt time an existing scarcity here which
! .nrrr been brought into notice before. "
rI- ,,o,h TO the Vell-estnblished belief In
t.,.n .annv ~ English servants to learn that
,., vrf, 80 source n. I" make It necessary
I .rud l'r, IN the hop" Of finding recruits for
4. f,w- market. American housekeepers
- WY. believed that The servant question
4. 7r.lud presented no complications. We'll
= 0cd satisfied and accustomed 10 regard
s....a g. q duty they we're looked upon as
.I-o,-
t.l frog country like the United States. where
q T~..r.r,. Zoo caste are unknown the servant
q 90. wl. murh more involved The feel
n t..ff I' servant is NE good ne the master
o.. t-r,. D., ia, Vl- bellry we'd to have some
w.. .T., nl 'Hroylug rlo kind Of IN lie ncy
..i To- "N.,' on every side in England.
Nr.-,tu.h,r BRA women form a very small pro-
p,.ruu OF rha - ryaqts employed here. and this
=, .i- always b,rn taken ~ a sort ~ corrob-
q I.,u. ~ 10, theory that national Institutions
D.. u.,I ju do nth DESTROY ing tho qualities
q I.l fu good servants. The existence
r. -tIu, din ulrie~ In England gave that
ta.rr 10 shock The 'oreicn-born servants
s.n.ga o.! here were thought 10 acquire here
SON, .d.t. about their Independence that soon
d.'r.. ,d their Inherent fitness 10 work In the
household American girls in service are isund
,h.H, To- the COUNTRY districts, whore in farm
o. holmes and establishment 0f equally mod
o. c..uum.ui they are treated more or loss rs II
t, belonged iu the family. They have been
"rd u,r. or loss capable there and TO some
e,iruf rus',i, o." rule. suggested recently IN
Ir.Ilrd Co.,, lh.'v to h"lp forward n solution
o'rles"r,Hr ~ question.
Np-' og the native born girls who must sup
rpr themselves and would be expected 10 take
g. Iumc-ii. -ervire II they lived In any other
country Than the Unitod states, prefer TO work
e. mills or -torns They are presumed 10 find
flora an iudcuendence thaf compensates them
fpr rha smaller paw and harder work. 4 well
Trained waitress always gets In New York from
Sc tu :2l a month and Of course Is under no
expense for living. So her wages really amount
a. more than those Of a shop girl whose paw Ia
~ a weak. \ cook. and not the most expen-
Eve cook by any means, can readily com
uaua IN a drst-clasS home as II would be de-
srr.hei in the servants agencies, from t7S 10
81 "a month. This paw i not, Of course, equal
g. m, ~st.a-ies paid 10 the best Of the m
enclosed IN the Ia rgest department stores.
llt II compares favorahly with the rewards
a. ,he,a women. particularly when the COM
farr " living 70 he found In the houses o' the
families that pay these wages be taken into
Consideration. But the attraction of employ
raut In The shops is becoming greater every
wear for the ioreign-born women, from whom
the domestic class used 10 be recruited AS we'll
as from the natives. There In, OF course, less
inclination 20 take employment in smaller
families that hire only one servant and II IA
there that the suffering from the inef1 ciency
Of maids Is felt most seriously.
one attempt N overcome tho dim culties ~
poor service In this quarter has been MAIDS re-
GENTLY IN 4 modest wav. An association OF
women Influenced wholly by the he nevolsnce
~ he scheme have taken an ofloe which sup
plies trained servants for a limited time every
dsy. They live in their own homes and will
g. 70 their employers for as small a period Of
time as two hours. Only capable women are
aided by the society, which investigates the
capacity ~ its servants before they are sent
OF 10 work. This plan. 1t might be observed.
Is also in the general direction Of the proposed
London reformation which has been urged.
Before this latest English scheme was sus-
Gestei the training Of poor girls 10 take places
o. domestic servants was begun in certain
London schools. That effort seems TO have
been successful, 10 Judge from the demand
for n" women who have been prepared there.
A racer' rerort on the work by a teacher deputed
g.. Eu,.-tty.,a tho u.nrL baa haan ynaHa The
women are IN demand and retain their places.
Sometime~ the girls are ready To go into service
AZ he ag' ~ 10, having begun their work OF
these Poor law schools all come from material
thar would be thought most unpromlsinR. In
some II The schools six months practical train
The -torarooms with the mstrons, and later
serve an apprenticeship in the kitchen and
laundry and receive practice rs parlor maids;
all the woro Is done by the pupils under the care
Of efficient teachers, and no muyiny has ever
been reported amonst the teachers Women
some NJ the most successful OF the ser yants |
taught in tho schools began AZ this age. More
than me thousand trained servants are turned
ont every year by the schools. OF these 10 Per
cen, are looked upon as satisfactory servants,
while 50 lie are still in need Of certain training
service, and care is taken TO see that these
get into the kind Of families likely TO continue
thH work Of preparation nearly competed,
~ INV VI NNIt 'AllNRl VNAll tAAl| ~ W ~ 1
tain special kinds ~ training and have succeeded
u act As children's nurses. In spite OF the sue
oess of the scheme the supply inadequate 20
The demand for good servants In Londab
Reference has already been made 10 y
srN TO the scheme proposed In an English
magazine by n wopan writer, who says: 1T %
clear 10 all our heads Of households that we are
on the brink Of q revolution In our daily lives.
owing To the lmpossibility OF finding female
servants. and then proceeds 10 outline q system
OF relief radical enough u meet the difficulties
81 such a threatening outlook. Her contention
Is that the work OF domestic service Is never
ending, degrading In a measure TO Its victims
when they have 70 wear oeTtain kinds Of gar.
n"nts, and humiliating, a. they are addressed
bv names without p~relxes. and, however they
NAV he able TO save because food and lodging
are provided for them. dissdvantsaeous always.
because they never have homes OF their own
snG are always strangers In the house OF another.
Nh" thinks that women are seeking employ
r'ni ~ other kinds because their work begins
.nd ends at a fixed time. after which they are
ir"" 20 do what they want and enjoy their own
lv"., Her remedies are the abolition OF the
word servant" and many New Workers. can
te-'liN TO the objection 10 that title that prevails
h'r" Don't call me a servant. I'm no. SER
vdll' protested a. particularly imperttnent
coos who had passed fifty. I'm a girl" None
OF hem objects 10 hired girl" or merely girl
OH' servant IA likely to cause a storm, how |
ever well trained It's hearers may be, She
re- nnW"nd> flied hours for every servant
40 mo ldoption Of the prefix Miss" before
tH' 9 Ine OF the servant addressed, In order
thi' she may feel no more Inundated than the