The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-18
HOUSE SERVANT FAMINE.
THE SUPPLY OF DOMESTICs rs FAR
BELOW THE DEMAND.
One Bureau Could Find Places for 500
Prejudice Against Service One Cause of
the Scarcity-Increased Demand Follow
Ing Life In Flats-Other Cities suffer.

bAl IUNt nj DIfNful " w w u II'NNluk hlltn
ever before. In fact, it is the opinion Of experts
on the subjects that domestic Ne rvants are yearly
becoming scnrcer and tina, within a short Period
unless there is n radical change in the situation
the man Of average means will have 70 impor, his
| cook and second girl from the surrounding country
or let his wife do the h~ousework. Nor is this trouble
peculiar u New York alone. Other large cities
suffer from IL and in Chicago one Of the big hotels
is going u try men for chambcrmaids work be.
cause II cant get the chamtrrmaids in sufficient
numbers.
Just what is the cause Of the immediate dearth
is a question not easily answered. In general,
however, the cause is to be found in that prejudice
which declares that the domestic ser, ant shall be
| considere lower In the social scale than the woman
who works in a factory or does manual labor
| of q commercial nature, and this despite the fact
| that the domestic is In reality much better paid
and has better opportunities Of saving money
than the factory girl or even than the average
shopgirl. Here Is a conversation overheard in
an pley ated train recently between two factory
girls;
What's your sister doing Celia ! hear she's
left the the factory,
YES she's too sickly for the work. She's
! gone 10 the country
Amt she working any moIe"
Yes; she's workin' there
Got a good job
She's gettin $40 a month. 50 a week. | mean"
OH she out al service, said the first girl quick
TO catch the meaning Of the others slip whrn She
reckoned the wages by the month.
Yes, she is, said the questioned girl detiantly.
She had to do something
Ain it too bad said the first girl 4 wont
..,. ,,tl,p nh,ttt IL a. tho .thar Avis Muxls,
she can come back when she gets stronger
Maybe" agreed Celia lifpleSsly. She feels
IL terrible and so does Mother. W she's 50
asha med she won, let Tim 90 cut to see her an
he's leen her steady for morn IA year
Those two girls worked In a button factory.
II appeared from their iur,htr conversation that
they got ST n week, out Of which they had ~ pay
their Duaru at home I heir hours were long and
they worked in i'll ventilated and no, towel
lighted rooms, under a foreman Who's" treatment
of them was such aS no domestic servant would
endure for a day. Yet they. spoke OF the glrl
who had gone out TO domestic service as If she
had sold herself into slavery. There is the root
Of the whole matter, the objection of the average
working girl ~ being a servant, So long as she
WORKS for n firm, no matter huw poorly paid she
may be or how hard her WORK and the conditions
under which she does II, she regards lerseif as
o working woman work lady, her term would
more probably b. and therefore a. being dis
nnctly above the domestic servant | Undoubtedly
the working girl has more freedom than the sarv-
ant. but /. Is diiiCult 10 see any other adv hn,age
on her 4 t.. People who have made q study
Of the conditions OF working women say posi-
lively that the domestic servant a. a rule marries
4 better than the factory girl, 50 II would seem that
the social embargo does not extend beyond the
feminine consideration, In the matter Of marriages
one suggested reas n from th" lack oi servants
now Is that the present prosperity among WORKING
men has resulted In many marriages and the
consequent departure Of the hrides from taking
care Of other peoples homes TO take care OF homes
Of their own. AS instance of his apart.
ment house in BrooNlyn may b. cited. here
are six apartments in the building Five OF those
apartments arr al present serv% an'less, every one
ui the servants in them having been married
within the month. Therefore the tenants are eat
ing at restaurants ana between meals wandering
about ringing their hands because they can't
get new servants 10 take the places OF the old.
In some respac,s the demand for house servants
has changed Twenty years ago each house
SER ant was q specialist She vas either a cook
or a chamhrrmaij, or a second girl or u iaundre-s,
or any one Of half a dozen otler things; mat
is, the demand Tor servants came mostly from
. families that could aliori Ia keep NJ least two
servants. People who couldn't afford That Num-
Der did their own work ur boarded bu, he il-e
/ Of the chrap apartment charged oil that To day
the great bulk Of he demand for dom"siicN comes
from people who live in apartments and who
wouldn't have room for more thar, one servant
even il they wanted and could afford 10 have
two or three, 10 meet lhe requirements ~ these
conditions a girl must be u cook and mus, lie
capable 81 doing general h~ousework Many
servants 10 years old or more are LIaule w ~
cure employ ment now because they have been
trained IN onlN one CLASS N ,N,Nh hl'' nv
Wiling or uIldnIe 10 u" kflfihl nus" .ol
olr never ldiiIls sour" HupPE tl Ia, ,hn.
erS aver d"fneN'!'N y 'he bhIgt 'H'', !. w,
trouble here Il NAV me he"lE HTIltrl lnHlisi a..
glrls are Oh necessity "i'h"ul u Irieiel'r W nHs
value and are IN nine cases gu, ol ten us una
millar with We fhfIsh lanEuas' ~ m.o
WIN housr",rh u me n''NurrN W W. i. r'
chooses =" rhlh VI" SCI AM h'IN'N si"' w "'"nH'
mn piehl! q, ha''l,hi eu'hC ,'r
n'' NHc mus I"n ~" lEN, nt"i "" r
process has achieved some -rhh'N'nG i'SulG1, W
having her pupH lrhN" hrr 10, some 'ln'l p'n'"
ne ll"ihlg pnpulhu"h IN we NeiNnht US, -
almost a ihng "i me past 'nhpeuh, u"m'',''
ore IN 50 great denand mat ih"S l"'I liat ny
can PICK ana moose IwlI cmp'"N.iS "a J, ""m'SS
when there are several places "hihUE ~, ''n
OF them. In TACT, they are not IN 'h' p'N''ioH w
hpPlcants' pul amer IN tna! W !"VtoH ri'm
Whonl catldInht"S u'SlrlhR men Naitt,'n "''n'o
ar" considered. mere ar" h"uplleNH "'h"s
women "h" nave hal VI" Sd ne tNP''.r'.' !,
young housewife uptown WI" WIN !" az ~
pInFhlenl agency 'W q C"h anu lui un - -
referred 70 her NV 81 these ven luH' Iiie nnn.' IT,
appearance az lr mouse Que salu my Nv.
plac" ana the wages were SATISFACTORY nnI ,nn'
81" would b. around me new gay w. ,estn MmH'
or"d alter"ard maj sue ma" nr',1ea v" y" !" " "
DINER eager employer 70 Conilcr Wv ~
wii's dlsyust me employ n'n' aEen' r',uNrt
70 return the depuSii she haI nhde anu ol'IN mhen
hr htsbanl threatened w" nf"l'N''"T WIN az
resi- was me none! rt'uih'u A..
notwithstanding III" LACK o. Srtnhh'S ahu ,n'
many places open AT from Hli 10 ~ " m,..'h ''
good servants mere are women Nhu 't'ul'' up
get domesucs az a m'iCh snihlIpr Wig WI we
representation that lheN 'an'l9t hnuIu W png