The Savannah morning news., 1902-02-23
WOMAN'S WORLD.
Continued from Page Twenty-Five

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gree of proficiency in facial massage,
| and almost any maid is supposed to
have a few rational ideas about rub
| bing skin food into annoying wrinkles
| and smoothing out crows feet.
"Of course, a maid keeps her en-
ployer's personal belongings, bureau
| drawers, closets, ETC., in perfect order
She is on duty at all hours, is called
upon for an infinite number of little
personal attentions, from the time when
she awakes her mistress in the morn
| ing. prepares her bath, lays out her
| clothes, etc, to the time often we'll
along in the next morning when she
finishes the massage, tucks the bed
clothes in and turns out the light.
I'm addition to all this she very often
Wallets the master of the house, that is,
keeps his clothes in perfect order, sees
| that his linen is laundered, puts the
studs in his dress shirts.
'She may be one of the most impor-
tant factors in the household and hold
| herself shade above the other SER
wants. because she is naturally ad-
| mitted to more familiarity and inti-
macy by her employers, but she has
! less freedom and independence than
| any of the servants. She is more ex-
posed to the moods and whims and
| tempers of the mistress needs more
tact. has more to get upon her nerves.
"The person who talks about the
eminent desirability of the lady's
maids place hasn't investigated the
| subject very thoroughly The work,
while not heavy, is trying, exacting,
unending, and the pay save in excep
! uonal cases, is not proDOrtionately
| high. l know women who pay their
maids very high wages, but there are
scores of good ladies' maids working
| for from twenty to thirty dollars
| month.
LAS for the expediency of training
| American girls for the work, l would
veto that emphatically. American girls
| as a class, make the poorest servants
in any household position.
1T is because of the national spirit
of democracy and independence, l sup
| pose. the spirit is a fine thing, but
| it makes the ordinary American work.
ing girl unfit for domestic service.
"We have more trouble with Amer
| ican servants than with all others put
| together. They are intelligent, but as
| rule they are badly trained, careless,
impertinent, bad-tempered and never
| know their place.
"If they do not intend to do good
work they should not go into domestic
service at all. If they do go into it
they should accept it's drawbacks phil
osoohically and dignity the work by
| the way they do it,.
You will find that spirit in many
| foreign servants. You will not find it
in one of a thousand American SER
wants.
Nov, this bumptiousness of the
American working girl will make her
even more unfit for lady's maid than
for cook. At first glance it might
seem otherwise.
The lady's maids place implies
more importance, more refined sur
| roundings and associations and work.
So far, so good. That is the side of
the matter that struck the writer who
wanted school for Aperican ladies'
maids.
But, with all it's refined details, the
| ladys maids place lacks, in a marked
degree, what the American servant is
bound to have-independence The
cook may have a certain independence
within her domain If she's a good
cook, her employer will perhaps let
her alone.
''The same thing is true in a lesser
degree of other servants; but the lady's
maid will not be let alone. She is at
| my lady's beck and call every hour,
she is constantly ordered about, found
fault with. Her dependent position is
| rubbed in.
IF her mistress happens to be a.
the maid gets the full benefit of it. An
| American girl will not stand it. She
will talk back, throw up the position,
leave.
Don't talk to me about American
ladies' maids. l don't want anything
to do with them. The proposition isn't
| practical.
| 1.-THE French make good maids be-
| cause of their taste in matters of dress
and toilet. They have natural talent
| for dressmaking and costume details
| Still, in this country, a good Ger
man maid is more in demand than a
French maid. l suppose because so
many of our wealthy people are of
! German extraction.
"A good German maid is a treasure.
! She hasn't, save in exceptional cases
the French girls genius for dressmak-
ing, but she does beautiful sewing and
is faithful, good tempered, devoted.
| She has usually been we'll trained if
she has. been a lady's maid in the old
| country, and she usually speaks French
as we'll as German.
THE Swedes are excellent ladies'
maids too. There is an increasing call
| for them because they have a talent
for massage, as the French have for
dress, and massage is becoming more
popular every day.
THE demand for ladies' maids of anv
nationality is increasing, too Ameri-
cans are acquiring wealth RAPIDLY and
| learning how to spend it, but give a
European woman and an American
woman the same income, and the Eu-
| ropean woman will have a lady's maid
| while the American will not
! The maid is a tradition over there
We are just getting around to her over
mere. That is the great majority of our
women who could afford maids are lust
| beginning TO indulge in the luxury.
1T is luxury. A good lady's maid
| can DO more for a woman's comfort
than anything else she can buy with
| money-but French German. Swede
English maid.
Train American girls for ladies'
maids? I'd never try it,"
ON the banks of the Hudson. fourteen
miles from New YorlSNcity, i'm what is
I known as Yonkers. stands the original
Manor House, built in 1862, In which
| dwelt fair Mary Phillipse, sweetheart
OF His ENcellency. George Washington.
The house, says the PHILADELPHIA Rec
ord. was quite old In Revolutionary
days. IL was built in the middle of
the seventeenth century for Frederick
Phillipse. lord of the manor Frederick
Phlllipse Manor stood In the midst OF
domain. with English park stocked
with tame deer and other game. The
gardens We're laid out like the eonven-
tional Dutch gardens. with shrubbery
clipped into stin formal figures. Tu-
lips ana other bulbs from Holland ana
ornamental shrubs made the vicinity
q the Manor Hone. 49, ....... a.. t..I.