Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1902-11-01
"OPEN SESAME"
Hints to Servants Who Answer the n.
Bell-Some Points in Ell
quette.

One might be forgiven for sunno.;-
that there could be but one way of o,'-s
ing 4 door. In this matter, as in OF Is
however, there is a right and 2 IS
way, and the latter is almost inva,i.ilS
The way in which the unframed SEE
proceeds to open the door. any
The visitor rings, and, after soma -.
hears sound as of galloping, then h.
breathing, and the door is opened fay
inches while the maid takes stock Of ~
intruder. If he does not appear danaa9
Gus the aperture is widened by e.
more inches, and the domestic holds nv
ley, clinging tightly to the portal rcaa-
while. This dislike to opening wida an
door is a marked idiosyncrasy agh ,Ie
women of the servant class-a surviDa77
perhaps, of the days when it was No.,
always safe to parley with strangers IN
the gate, or, perhaps, it is that. in IT,
social circle from which the general seru
ant springs, the visits Of irate creditors
may be feared; anyway, the fact remains
that almost all servants have To h,
taught to open the door.
The fate of the visitor in the charco
of an unframed domestic, when he a.,
at length gain access to the house il
varied. In one case a lady was aska3
by the maid If she would prefer to h.
shown into the dining room or the drorr
ing room; in another the caller was
thrust into the midst of 4 Christian Sci.
ence meeting. More often, however. tho
visitor is left in the hall until the higher
authorities decide what shall be done
with him. And these cOntretemDs. ara
not by any means limited to households
where the servants are confessedly of
an unframed type. Even parlor maids
and men servants who consider them.
selves experienced often need instruction
and supervision on this point.
In a large establishment where foot.
men are kept it is their duty to omen
the door and to take the visitors coat,
while the butler is in attendance to usher
the visitor into the presence of the host
ess. When a head and one or more
under-parlor maids are employed the
procedure is the same, for no matter if
man or woman servant is kept the
etiquette is Identical.
The first thing to impress upon the
servant is that he must never look uutidy
when answering the door. Even in large
houses the fOotman is sometimes seen
struggling into his coat as he traverses
the hall. In small house where the
servant may be engaged in dirty work
when the bell rings she should keep A
large clean apron in q convenient place.
put it on, and if necessary, wash her
hands before going to the door. The Wis
itOr who calls out of calling hours on a
friend not too well off must not be I'M
patient if kept waiting few minutes,
but where there is an ample staff Of DO
meStlcs delay is inexeusabie. On reach
ing the door the servant should open il
wide, and, when asked if the mistress is
at home, should answer distinctly, Yes,
ma'am" Tor "sir'), or merely say, mot
ut home"
What reams have been written with
that phrase for theme! What comic copy
it has provided for the funny" maya
zines. 1t has been put into sermons and
not long ago a Catholic priest gave an
amusing discourse anent whether Not at
home was ever pardonable lie. He
thought it was and went so far as to say
that II was an innocent and necessary
formula and quite harmless, because it
deceived no one and no one believes it!
Having settled it with ones social con-
science that consulting ones convenience
IS not always or necessarily sinful, mot
at home" may mean that the person re-
ferred to is out or merely unable to see
visitors. If the visitor is to be admit
ted, the servant should stand aside, take
coat umbrella, etc, and then precede the
visitor to the drawing room.
IL the visitor IS not to be admitted, the
servant should take the cards, placing
them at once on the hall table, and note
# the visitor merely left cards or asked
# the lady of the house were at home.
This is important, as rd-leaving is re-
turned by card-leaving and a call by a
call: The servant should receive the
cards in his hand, as it is now considered
oid-faShioned to use q salver for that
purpose.
SO far, the duties of the servant are
cut and dried. but the intricacies of sery-
ice can only be learned by experience
The mistress should avoid putting an in
experienced servant into difficult posi-
tions. She should state if she intends TO
be at home to visitors or not, and should
there be several reception rooms should
mention IN which she will receive
Only by experience can a servant learn
who should be shown into the drawing
room and who should be asked to wait in
the hall. Paste jewels often make mis-
takes on this point, and announce "a
gentleman in the drawing room" who
turns out TO be the gas bill collector, or
an agent for an encyclopedia that weighs
two tons and is heavy all the way
through.
Such people should be asked politely
to state their business, and the servant
must use his common-sense as to admit
ting them or not.-New York CONNER
cial Advertiser