Evening star., 1901-03-02
DOMESTIC PROBLEM
Solving the Servant Girl Question in
New Zealand.
LADY HELPS ARE IN DEMAND
Looking After the Welfare of
Women Workers.
GOVERNMENT SUPERVISION
Photograph BY Prince.


Ii.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
WELLINGTON, New Zealand
WANTED-Lady help Address Private
Family, Herald office.
MANIFESTATION as Lady Help OF
Nurse in small family. Apply to Miss
Mary -. - street, Wellington
WANTED-By Domesticated Young Lady;
position as Companion or Help town or
country. Apply y. o. F.. Herald office.
These three advertisements l clip from
the situations wanted" column of the
Morning Herald. They give you some idea
of one of the distinct professions open to
women in New Zealand. This is known as
lady helping. The term lady help is as
common here as cook or "chamoermaid'
is in the United States. 1t is used as to
certain class of servants, and it means
that the servant is to be treated as a mem
Der of the family.
There are two classes of hired girls in
New Zealand. One Is the lady help, the
other Is the general house servant. The
lady help does the same work as "the
general She cooks makes the beds
sweeps the floors, washes and irons
ana sometimes helps her mistress dress
she Is supposed to sit down at the table
with the family at meals and to be treated
as an assistant of her mistress She is
not classed as servant, although she is
expected to do servants work and often
more than would be demanded of the gen.
eral house servant
When | first heard the expression lady
heip L thought 1t was one merely expressive
or the reign Of the servant girl, which now
preValls In Australasia. 1 soon found that
1t had distinct meaning To get at the
exact difference between a lady helm and
general servant l inquired of the lady
cierk OF one of the chief hotels in New
Zealand. She replied:
All in a Name,
The chief difference is in the manner of
address. You call general" by her first
name, such as Polly, Mary or Sal
lie, but the lady help is always ad-
dressed as miss. The mistress is supposed
TO assist the lady help in doing the house
work, but In some families the lady help is
treated worse than scullion. She does all
the work OF the general servant and re-
celVes only half as much wages | believe
some women advertise for lady helps Just
because .a tney can get them more cheaply."
but Will they work for less wages?' l
asked: should think they would want
moreH
They usually get one-third less than the
general house servants was the reply. Il
know some who work for 3 shfIlfnes
($l25) per week, while generals get 10. II
ana 10 shillings and upward. You see, the
iduy help pretends that she has a little
peter blood and breeding than the general
and she pays for it,
nave been much amused at the airs OF |
,he New Zealand hired girls. The lady helps |
~ ~ some iamliles are greater sticklers for |
tne1r dignity than any queen upon a throne |
ihey seem to think themselves guests OF |!
thelr mlstresses and express their tndigna-
Ton when asked to do what they consider |
henial things. One of my helps" said |
1ear old New Zealand lady to me, came |
1oWn to dinner the first night after her !
ei gagement In a decoIlete evening dress.
one wore low slippers and had earrings and |
o@rooch @ OF paste diamonds She paid no at
-ehtfon 10 waiting on the table, and when |
my husband asked her to get up and hand
omethlng from the sideboard she grew very /
Indignant"
Hired Girls We. Lady, Helpers.
How about the ordinary servants" 1
asked. do they like the lady helps?"
YOU mean the generals?' said the old
ady. The ordinary hired girl is known as
ne general house servant and is called the
general for short. The generals rather de-
plse the lady helps. They feel, and rightly |
nat they are masquerading under false |
oretenses They feel themselves fully the
'quais OF the lady helps, and rather better
IS lhey are not ashamed of being known as
iolng that for whidA they are paid. The
ordinary general will not allow a lady help
o order her about. She.will take her direc-
ions only from the mistress of the house.
happened TO be away from home on one
lay OF last week when some of nv men !
rends called. The lady help received them
md played the Lady Bounfiful. She enter
aimed them, serving cakes and tea She
ang the bell for the cook. who was a
general, and told her to bring in the tea
me cook did so, but when 1 came home I
ound her raging. She gave me notice and
oid me she did not propose to be ordered
lnout by any lady help. / had to almost
'et DOWN on my knees to keep her. have
,er stiii, but my lady help has been told
me-
Where the Servant Girl Rules.
hnd that the servant girl rules here
ven more omnpotently than in the United
tates The mistresses are at the mercy
their servants who TO some extent die
ate their own wages and their own hours
n Every now and then you see an ar
eie IN the paper which advocates the es-
aplishment OF an eight-hour law for house
ervants, and at present every hired girl
New zealand has one half holiday a |
eek, In addition to Sunday afternoons,
n nd as usual thing every other Sunday
In the country it Is almost impossible to /
% servants. and In the towns the ser. I