The Iola register., 1901-10-04

| dishes properly. what can woman
do when after repeated instructions
and admonitions her girls persist in
using dirty dishwater and putting
things away on the shelves only half
wipedP We can't always be excusing
chem on account of human nature.
1t may sound absurd, but l have gone
to bed downright sick many time
because my girl would persist in put
ting dirty dishes back into the pam
try" And poor Mrs. Ward heaved
| sigh as she looked at Mrs. Vane, who
sat erect and sharp-eyed before her.
"Thats it'll" she said, sharply. "Re-
sponsibilityl That's the word. But
how get responsibility into a class of
people who have no common bond of
sympathy or duty? No esprit de
corps? The responsibility must grow
out of a sense of dignity that belongs
to the service. AS long as the service
is regarded by those who perform it
as menial and degrading, the only
thing we can expect is shiftlessness
and all lack of responsibility"
Responsibility generally goes with
sense of ownership" suggested Bar
bara. But l don't see how anything
like ownership can be grated upon a
servant girls work. Now l wouldn't
dare leave dishes dirty, because of my
mothers training, no matter whose
dishes they were. But l can easily see
1t is not very strange for a girl to
slight any work in which she does not
feel any ownership"
There's another thing" Mrs. Vane
said. '1've told Mrs. Ward so several
times. She has always had good deal
of company and five in the family any
way a good deal of the time. She
ought not to expect to get along with
| just one girl. At the close of big
supper it is almost half-past seven.
| The quickest girl can't wash up all
the dishes properly in less than half
an hour. If she wants to go out some
where in the evening, what is more
natural than for her to do the work
in a hurry? She has been at work all
day since half-past six. She works
longer hours and for less pay than
young men in stores get for clerk
service that is not so important by
half as the housework for a family.
Now I'll warrant that Mr.. Ward pays
some of his clerks downtown three
times what he pays the girl at home
Tor almost twice the hours of labor.
Wouldn't il be better and cheaper IN
the long run, Mrs. Ward, to hire two
persons TO do your work, at least for a
part of the time? I'm inclined to
think a good many of MS expect too
much of one girl. We work them too
many hours And we ought to remem-
her that for most of the time the work
really is what must be called drudg-
cry"
"One girl in the house almost kills
me. Two would complete the bust
ness, am sure" said Mrs. Ward. smil-
ing at Barbara. "Some of what you
say is very true. But l am sure Mr..
Ward would never think of giving as
much for the work in the home as he
gives for clerk work in the store"
"And why not, if the service per-
formed is as severe and, more than
that, as important to your peace and
comfort, and his own as well when he
gets home? | know "a good many
farmers who think nothing of paying
out several hundred dollars every year
on improved machinery to tighten
their own labor on the farm. But they
think their wives are crazy If they ask
for an improved washing machine that
costs $25 or few kitchen utensils of
the latest style to save labor. That's
one reason so many farmers wives
are crazy over in Crawford county
asylum. Men expect to pay a good
price for competent service in their
business. Why should they expect to
get competent servants in the house
for the price generally offered?"
81 don't think it's the price that
keeps competent girls away from
housework, Mrs. Vane," remarked
Barbara. 81 have figured it out that
even on four dollars week at Mrs
Wards / can save more than l could
possibly save If | worked for Bord-
man at five or even six, paying out of
that for board, lodging and washing.
If the price paid for competent serv-
ants was raised in Crawford to ten
dollars a week, | doubt if the girls
now in the stores and factories would
leave their positions to enter house
service"
81 believe they would, n good many
of them, anyway" Mrs. Vane re-
piled with vigor. you can get al
most anything if you pay for it,"
But we must remember, Mrs. Vane.
that the great majority of families
in Crawford cannot afford to pay
such prices for househelp. You have
no idea how much trouble / am in for
paying my girls four or four and
half week. My neighbors who say
they cannot afford that much tell me
their girls become dissatisfied when
they learn what we pay, and very
often leave because l pay my girls
more than other housekeepers."
"The whole question has as many
sides to it as IA balll" calculated Mrs.
Vane, rubbing her nose vigorously.
81 think l shall finally go back to
the old primitive way of doing my
own work, living on two meals day