The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-24
ROYAL HOUSEKEEPING
| Queen Alexandra VIII Have TO over
see One Thousand servants.

| see One Thousand Servants.
One of the Queen AIexandra's import
ant occupations is the government of her
| 1000 persons Queen Victoria was in
| every sense mistress and head of her
household. All housekeeping questions
| w. -ettlcd by the royal mistress her
| &C. .-J personally ordered the meals,
| a. 30 ven kept an eve On the household
| linen the smallest details of domestic
! economy not being regarded as beLeal n
| her notice. To this watchIulness Was cue
the fact that the Queens was considered
| the best-Tegulated household in the en-
| tire Kingdom.
TIE new Queen Will not shirk her do
nestle duties although they may be in
a degree irksOme and worrying.
No servant is ever dismissed from the
palaces. and 10 this is attributed the free
| dom OF gossip about royal domestic ar
Engagements When Q marriage occurs the
! couple are usually provided with a small
post. carrying with IL a residence. Most
of the royal lodges are occupied By couples
| who have served royalty for many years
! The only additions to the royal house
hold since the time Of Henry VIII are two
/ steam apparatus men. 1t viii hardly be
/ credited that even now it is the Lord
/ Steward who still orders the fires to be
, laid, but the Lord Chamberlain alone who
can cause them to be lighted! A servant in
! receipt of $50 a year aTranges all the
| candles-waXfit;er is his official title-but
/ TWO otheTs-a first and second lamplight-
! er-at a salary of el0O each are required
( TO light them, IS well as the lamps, while
} it costs e=9e to have the table laid 10y
five functionaries. whose official title is
/ table deCkers.
Their sole duty is to lay the dinner
! cloth and see that the plates, dishes. and
cutlery are fairly set forth The salary
! of the chief butler. who looks after the
wine, is G5G0 a year.
There are sixty housemaids at Windsor,
and tie late Queen knew the name of each
and her special line of duty. Going into
. an unusued room. upon one occasion, she
noticed a cabinet that had not been dust
ed that day. She promptly wrote the
royal autograph in the dust, and beneath
il the name of the particular maid whose
| duty it was TO dust the room.
The kitchen is ruled over by a chef
whose salary is s7O0 a year Under the
: chef are four master cooks who are on
: duty about a fortnight at time. Then
/ there are two assistant cooks, two roast
! ing cooks. about sixteen apprentices. half
! n dozen kitchen maids, two yeomen of the
/ kitchen and the clerk of the kitchen, who
/ keeps the accounts and does the carving.
I
! ers get $500 and $3.50 each. The chef has
! a small room set apart on one side of the
/ kitchen; the others work in the one room,
I and one can imagine that the entire scene,
| with It's mingled noises. the rush of feet.
I the hum of voices. the ciatter of pots, and
I pans, the many different Odors that rise
! in cloud to the oak roof, is like another
edition of Walpurgisnacht.
At the moment when dinner is being
served there is constant stream of stall
wart pantrymen bringing in the grand,
golden dishes, tUreens. and sauce boats,
Ou- at another door flock the footmen,
bearing the same dishes, daintily dressed
and served.
The functionary who receives the low
est salary is the rat-catcher. He must
exc out an existence on 20 a year. He
is the only servant whose salary is pro-
vided outside the civil list, and every ses-
sion the House of Commons. in commit
tee OF supply, consider this vote and
grayely agree to it.
The royal washing costs $4,000 yearly,
and it is done at a picturesque build ng
near Richmond Park, called the Royal
Laundry. The linen is carried to and
from the laundry in cedar boxes bearing
brass plates inscribed with the different
! names. for example: THE King, l. The
| Queen, q" Princess Victoria" The box
es carrying the household linen are mark
ed with the initials OF the palace, as
wv. c. or "B. P" Primrose soap,
slightly scented and quite free from aka
lies, is used. and is extremely costly.
Queen Alexandra s body linen is exGuis-
itely fine and severely plain, and she
never wears flannel petticoat after IL
has been washed.
The royal household costs in the aggre-
gate fl32. COO year in salaries, while an
average OF E172,O0H year is paid TO the
butcher. the baker, and the candlestick
maker and the other tradespeople who
feed the members OF the household.
The ultra-private apartments Of Queen
Alexandra at Windsor which is the Off
; cial residence. consist of four rooms-the
audience chamber the sitting-room. bed
/ room, and dressing room. They are on
/ the first floor Of that portion of the castle
! known as the Victoria Tower and arc ap-
! preached from without by secluded por-
| tico. where the Queen may enter her car
! riage unobserved by anyone except those
! in immediate attendance.
The suite OF rooms is entered through
! two large double doors OF oak, picked out
/ with gold and paneled in Gothic style. A
| cosy lift, oak. upholstered in crimson, con-
veys the Queen from the portico up to her
| rooms In the audience chamber the Queen
| receives people with whom il is her wish 10
! speak, either on matters OF business or
| pleasure. Her sitting room. which faces
| south. is OF great height. From a wide
oriel window is a fine view of the Long
| Walk the Home Park, and the Great Park.
! There is a magnificent marble mantel and
| fireplace, in which is burned nothing but
| beech logs.
| In cabinet in this room are kept the
| sixty leather bound volumes catalogues
| in which is the inventory Of all the fur
nishings OF Windsor Cast,e-ChiEa. glass,
| silver, draperies, and furniture of the 700
| apartments, says the "St. Louis Globe
| Democrat" This inventory was made by
order of Queen Victoria, and in accord
/ ance with her ideas. Like a good house
| wife, the Queen was fully aware Of the in
! dividual merit and the places where they
4 ought to be kept, Of hundreds of her pos
| sessions, although there were, of course,
! thousands of which she had no reckoning
| The most costly dinner service in the
world is at Windsor Castle II is OF solid
| gold and is valued at $500, 900. OF the nu-
merous services OF plate and china, but
| three are ever In use. In the crimson
! drawing room is kept a magnificent col
| lection of china
! Requests for Portionlcss Girls.
| Trustees Of an old bachelors fund for
dowerless girls in New Orleans. who re-
| Gently decided TO change the spirit. il not