The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-10-17
From the New York Evening Post.

From the New York Evening Post
 @HE difficulty of securing domestic \Op help is not new, and it is not
 peculiar to New York. A cen- tury ago, an English writer, William For dyce Mayor, in his Survey of Berkshire,' remarked patheticaily: Tt is greatly to be lamented that good servants every year become more scarce and difficult to com mand." Such also was the complaint of our own grandmothers and mothers; such is the complaint of our wives today. It is true, however, that servants are Houskeepers from one end of Manhattan to the other unite In a chorus of grief. which is echoed from Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx, from Westchester county and Rockland, and from the whole state of New Jersey. The trouble may be more acute here because population is more eongested, but if the newspapers of Philadelphia and Chicago are not de- ceived, the situation in those cities, and indeed in the whole country, is unusually distressing.
 Some of the reasons for the present plight are obvious There have been and must continue to be certain inherent difficulties in the problem. These have often been pointed out; long and irreg- ular hours, confined and often lonely routine, varying quantities of work. vagaries and caprices of mistresses, and the so-called ''social stigma" All these combine to draw women into factory em- ployment. with it's fixed hours, opportun- ities to be on the street in going and com ing. congenal companionship while busy, definite tasks formal rules for conduct, consistent supervision, and general in- dependence outside of hours of labor. For the many women to whom the kitchen and its duties are not positively attrac- tive, the factory will alweys be a strong magnet; and the growth of manufactur- ing must make even deeper inroads upon domestic service Various suggestions have been offered for improving condi- tions, but few or none of the remedies are practicable for people of moderate means who must continue to meet these inherent difficulties as best they may.
 ihtit oi ct iONCNCts 5Oilit htW ldtlOtS in the reckoning. The demand for the work of women is keener than ever be- fore. With the last decade a number of occupations have opened to them for the first time. Women are. for example, ac- ceptably filling positions as factory in- spectors and sanitary officers. Most of these new occupations are above the skill and intelligence of the horsemaid, but the women who are drafted into the higher service leave room in other callings for the better class of maids to enter. and thus drain off the household service from the top.
 The greatest demand for female labor is due to the era of prosperity. Our man. ufacturing has expanded enormously. With all our factories running full time and paying high wages, the nousekeeper is facing sharp competition at des- perate disadvantage. To add to her troubles, she must compete also with her own class. A few days ago the New York state department of labor, in its quar- terly bulletin, declared: Prosperity is so widely diffused that the servant-keeping class is larger than ever before, and has thus created demand that exceeds the supply" With families that kept no ser want now employing at least one. and wealthier families adding an extra nurse. waitress or laundress. the unfortunate housewife Is ground between the upper millstone of the factory and the lower