Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-11-15
SERVANTS IN JAPAN
A LAND WHERE DOMESTIC SERVICE
IS CONSIDERED AN HONOR.
The "Boys" That Wait on Table In
Hotels and :,oW They work
Household Servants That Are Equal
In Birth TO Their Masters.

about servants in Japan. Instead OF
its being considered disgrace to *
into domestic service in that country
il is an honor. writes Mr.. Douglas Sla
den.
Jinrik shL Logs and SrOOms may moi
have the honor OF being servants al
bill. hut are tradcSmen. which Is the
lowest thing OF AL in Japan short OF
being an eta, or member of the class
OF OutcaStS. GrOomS are excluded al
betting, S,,...~.....,, CHATTING lot (tht
Japanese think it impossible for q
groom to bc hon So and The rickshaW
boys as rough REQ; IL without any man
ners.
There are two classes OF servants
personal and Kitchen Kitchen serv-
ants need have 10 knowledge Of ell
Quette. They are sometimes rough
than rickshaw boys They are dull.
contented drudges. but Cook San (Mr.
Cook is held in very different est
nation. In small household he dOef
the catering and keeps the accounts a>
well as superntends the ridiculous lii
tie birds nest of charcoal ash which
cooks the meals in japan.
The personal servants show Il hu
mility to their employers which wOulo
paralyze an EngliShman with any
sense of humOr. and their masters as
sumo an etiquette air of command
But from every one else these Serv
ants expect Il considerable amount OF
politeness.
Hotel servants are male and female.
Hotels for Europeans generally have
men housemaidS as well as men wait
ers and call them all boys"
To go to Il Japanese hotel for the
first time is like going TO farce. 1t Is
impossible to keep serious In the din
Ing room you are surrounded by panto-
mime imps dressed in indigo cotton
doublets and hose who run about
shoeless and are called boys" and
look like boys until the day they die.
Half of them know no English except
the numbers. Each has a number to
himself. and each dish on the menu
has a number even down to the pOta-
toes
mo. s." you say if you are new to it,
I'll have some >, and I'll take some z
and 9 with 1t. please" He catches
some numbers and brings them, but
you would have far better chance OF
getting what you want if you simply
said 2. 40
You can hardly hear yourself speak
for the scruff. scruff across the floor.
You think ii is lucky they don't wear
boots. AT very grand hotels they wear
blue serge suits like ships stewards
and bad limitations of foreign shoes,
and they don't run. and then they
don't wait so well. because it Is not
natural for japanese boy" not to
run.
A japanese boy" has one good quail
ity. Though he cannot understand Eng
lish. before you have been in the house
three days he will know your tastes,
and If you like the breast of Il chicken
better than the leg you will get it. and
you will have your steak to look purple
or burned under when it Is cut. as you
prefer.
If be saw you using teaspoon after
yorr wife. be would very likely bring
you a used teaspoon with your next
mornings tea. His motto is that there
is no accounting for the madness of
foreigners and the forms it will take
But your bedroom boy is q very diff
ferent person. He has intelligence aud
often fair command of English.
There is nothing that a japanese
room boy cannot DO. would trust him
to mend my watch have tried him
on such varied problems as Turing a
frightened canary back to its cage.
fishing up small coin that had fallen
through crack in the floor and mend
ing the lock of pOrtmanteau. One OF
them even said that he could take in
felt hat which / gave him so large for
him that his ears did not stop it.
The Japanese like their hats to rest
upon their ears. They can mend your
clothes or put button on and are
handler than sailors. They expect you
to show them all your purchases anG
always tell you bow much more or how
much less you ought to have paid.
In the transient life OF hotel yOr
see the farcical side Of japanese Serv
ants The pristine and sentimental sid
you only get in Il private family. whcr'
the servants. like the pages Of the mid
die ages. may he equal in birth to THEN
masters but willing TO 10 service H.
his household because he is Il famous
poet or noble or man Of science. so a.
to gather the crumbs Of education
which fall from his table Exchange
white House China.
The magnificent china service for the