Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-02-14
lily said, slowly. 81 have no complaint

Hilda, you didn't half do your work
: right this morning; and, if I hadn't
come out into the kitchen, the pud-
ding Mr.. Vane likes would have been
burned to crisp. Wouldn't it ?''
Eyes, ma'am," Hilda answered, her
face rivaling in color her parasol.
and yet you had the clock there
before you as plain as day. What were
you thinking OFF"
! 81 can't always be thinking of a
pudding!" Hilda replied, with more
spirit than Barbara had yet seen in
her.
"Thcre, my child" Mrs. Vane said,
gently, without particle of impa-
! thence or i'll nature, 81 don't blame you
much. I have let buildings burn, my
self, when I was a bride beginning
| housekeeping for Mr.. Vane. We must
make allowances for human nature
that can't always be thinking of pud-
Idings."
''At the same time,'' said Mrs Ward,
with trace of impat thence in her tone,
| somebody must think of buildings
| while they are baking. We can't be
! excusing human nature all the time
for carelessness and lack of attention
| to the details of service. I think one
great cause of all the trouble we meet
in the whole problem is the lack of re-
sponsibility our servants take upon
| themselves. Out of a dozen girls that
have been in my house within the last
! three years, not more than two or
three could be trusted to wash my
dishes properly. What can a woman
do when after repeated instructions
and admonitions her girls persist in
| CD
things away on the shelves only half
wiped? We can't always be excusing
| them on account of human nature.
! 1t may sound absurd, but have gone
to bed downright sick many a time
because my girl would persist in put
ting dirty dishes back into the pam
try" And poor Mrs. Ward heaved a
sigh as she looked at Mrs. Vane, who
sat erect and sharp-eyed before her.
THAT'S it'll" she said, sharply. ere
| sponsibility! 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 mental and degrading, the only
| thing we can expect is shiftlessness
and all lack of responsibility"
Responsibility generally goes with
a sense of ownership" suggested Bar
bara. "But I don't see how anything
| like ownership can be grated upon a
servant girls work. Now I wouldn't
dare leave dishes dirty, because of my
| mothers training, no matter whose
| dishes they were. But can easily see
| it 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. "I've told Mrs. Ward so several
| times. She has always had good deal
| of company and five in the family any
| way 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 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
half as the homework for family.
Now I'll warrant that Mr.. Ward pays
some of his clerks downtown three
times what he pays the girl at home
for almost twice the hours of labor.
| Wouldn't it be better and cheaper in
the long run, Mrs. Ward, to hire two
| persons to do your work, at least for
part of the time? I'm inclined to
think a. O0Od many of uS expect too
much of one girl. We work them too
many hours. And we ought to remem-
Der that for most of the time the work
really is what must be called drudg-
cry"
Zone girl in the house almost kills
me. Two would complete the bust
ness, I am sure" said Mrs. Ward, smil
| ing at Barbara. "Some of what you
say is very true. But 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? I 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 S25 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 good