The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-23

day to her mistress, and without warn-
 ing said
 I'll be going when my months up"
 Her mistress suspected that she had gone crazy, and asked her what she 1 meant
 I'm going to be married in two
 Weeks," Mary replied, and married she
 was, although her departure on short
 notice caused serious inconvenience to
 her employers.
 It may be added that her husband
 was a day laborer and that she went to live in a squalid tenement which off, l fered marked contrast to the compar-
 ative luxury she had enjoyed for five
 years. Yet she seemed as happy in one condition as in the other.
 Marriage may be considered good
 and justifiable motive for giving up do-
 mestic employment, but most house. keepers of experience will probably
 agree that in a majority of cases no
 motive whatever is needed to induce a
 servant to leave her place. From the
 stories told by employers, the following
 case does not appear to be extraordina- ry.
 Three servants were employed in a small and quiet family. One day an ar 1 tcle of some value was missed and the
 servants were questioned about it. l There was not special suspicion that it | had been stolen. On the contrary it was thought to have been misland, and in point of fact it turned up again in a day or two.
 But the questioning ranked in the bo
 soms of the servants. One night after l the missing article had been found the three were sitting in the kitchen. The up stairs girl spoke up:
 T don't like living in rouse where I'm suspected of stealing" she said Neither do l." said the cook. Let's all leave together and teach them a lesson," suggested the waitress. That's what we'll do" replied the cook and the up stairs girl, and they did leave, although the family made profuse apologies and explanations and offered to raise their wages, and this although there had been no special sus- picion of dishonesty and no accusations of theft had been made or implied. In contrast with this was the experi- ences of another family employing two servants. In this case the family was large and the work especially trying. The family had had such trouble with servants that they would put up with anything in reason.
 Two maids came to them and did the work in satisfactory manner One day something was missed The maids c.hn losira n TO thpiT work we'll and improved continually. Then something else was missed.
 The family held a council. Was it better to have the work done well and to miss things occasionally or to go through the dreary round of servant hunting all over again? was the ques- ton discussed. The decision was unan- imous, and any woman who has been through the experience of this family can guess what the decision was
 At present the family locks up every thing that can conveniently be locked up. Other portable property they are constantly renewing. The housework is done with an efficiency that the family has never known, before. The system is expensive, but it has it's advantages
 One hears often of the respectful we'll trained servants with modest ideas found in parts of Europe and it is often asked why none of them comes to America The following experience seems to show that some do come, but that perhaps the air of liberty is not favorable to good servants
 She was a Norwegian, well educated, well trained, nice looking, an unusually r,-a 1,.I e1,, h,n,1 1,t joy to one of those small families whose perennial cry is: 'Wanted-A girl to do general homework" Here is her brief record:
 The first month she sought to help the master to put on his overcoat and made queer bobbing courtesies when she spoke to the mistress.
 The second month she ceased these attentions, but instead made inquiries as to the hour at which she was entitled to stop work on her days out.
 Tie third month she suggested a raise of wages.
 The fourth month she said that more washing ought to be sent out.
 The fifth month she announced her | approaching departure. As all her pre- | vious suggestions had been complied | with promptly this caused surprise. l She was asked if no other concessions l could be made. She replied, no, that | she was merely getting used to Ameri- | can ways and she thought she would l like another place for the sake of ] change.
 Whatever other morals these true | tales may teach, one conclusion seems manifest. That is, that of all the springs of action which move the ser want girl, none is weaker than the tie which binds her to her employers. Any | passing whim is strong enough to make her leave her place. Why this should l be so is an interesting question of itself.
 To the philosophical housekeeper, if l there be any such, it must be saddening 1 to reflect that of all the cases set down here, and they are all usual typical cases, in only one did any of the ser wants find an incentive to stick to their i, ;,, lo |