Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-08-13

| SOFA ana not Dy TeStlnB III H1CCDer
chair. The mistress, in spite of her
SELF Is an exemplar to the domestic
Very often when the housewife is find
ing fault with her servant she Is de
nouncing the malformed results Of hei
own evil life.
The housekeeper Is the domesttc's
model also in the matter Of sympat thy
If she wishes the servants to be sym.
pathetic with her troubles, then the
housekeeper must be sympathetic with
theirs. Her knowledge Of her servants
ought not to be limked to their serv.
ice. she should take an interest in their
personal concerns and give them coun.
sci and help in their difficulties. Trials
are the common lot of our race. The
trials Of the household Will be oil the
easier to bear II the housekeeper and
her servant meet them with clasped
hands. each calling the other her sister.
| Servants sometimes seem to have no
| sympathy with the wear and tear and
the sorrows and the sicknesses Of their
housekeeper's life. They seem to be
foreigners dwelling for a little while
under the roof Of home with nothing
| In common between themselves and
their mistress. Mr.. Beecher once de-
scribed summer jaunt through Ger
many. He said that 1t was one of the
strangest experiences he ever had, be-
cause up to that time he had never
placed his foot upon European soil. All
about him were men and women living
distinct life Of their own. They
bought and they sold. Travelled in rail
road trains and nte in hotels These
people lived alongside of him. Yet he
was thousand miles away from them.
He could not speak their language. He
had nothing with which to draw him
and them together. So some Of the
servants living under our roofs seem
to speak foreign tongue. They never
seem to become "familized" They do
not care what happens to lis in any
way. If death comes. or sickness
comes or great trouble comes. they
will heartlessly leave us at a moments
notice and let us get along the best
way we can.
"uNuhi oF"pRvny.
But, housekeepers, why should YOU
expect your donestics to sympa thizc
with you in your time of trouble? You
say that your cook left you during
that awful crisis when your husband
was lowering between life and death
on account Of typhoid fever. But have
You ever sympathized with your serv-
ant in her sickness? Tell me frank
ly. have you ever stopped for one mo-
ment to realize that You had human
being, an immortal soul, working for
you In the kitchen. or have you regard
ed her only as little cog in the dones-
tic machinery, which can be thrown
away as soon as it is useless? Your
eyes have been red with weeping from
sitting up by your baby's crib. Did
you think to ask why your chamber
maids eyes were red with weeping
on the day after she received that let
ter with foreign postmark? You have
had q hard financial struggle to get
along and make ends meet. You have
complained again and again because
the female help is so wasteful. You
say: "They will let the furnace go out.
and then YOU must start it up again
with extra coal and wood They will
not turn down the gas in the dining
room and the parlor and in the halls,
and they do not care if the bills run
up. They will throw away good meat.
because they are too indolent 10 cook
1t in another form" But, my sister.
did you ever stop to sympathiZc with
your servants financial struggleE
Some Of those girls are humble
heroines. We think of a heroine as
Grace Darling, rowing away from her
fathers lighthouse, in the teeth of an
awful storm, to save a shipwrecked
crew. Under the plain dress of your
humble domestic there may be beating
as brave heart as that Of the famous
English girl. Why is she working and
50 carefully economlzing? For herself?
oh, no. She is perhaps sending home
all her wages to support her old par
cnts or to help educate her orphaned
brothers and sisters. If you were to
90 into your servants room today per
haps you would find they did not have
sufficient clothes to keep them warm.
Why should your servants sympathize
with your troubles if you care 80 little
for theirs?
Duty of the HOusekeeper.
sympathy, God given, practical sym
pathy, can break down many barrier
which today separates the kitchen
from the parlor Christopher Colum-
bus life proves what we'll directed
sympathy can do. After the great
Genoese mariner had returned from his
voyages of discovery jealousies arose.
He was thrown into prison and man.
acled with irons. The effects Of these
was to make Columbus
heart as dead as stone. A popular
writer of that day described the new
world and stole away its rightful
name. The two continents which
should bear the title of Columbia are
called America. Columbus said moth
Ing. His enemies lied about him and
ralled him traitor. Columbus said
But one day he was brought
before the Spanish throne. He came
into the royal palace a stern faced
man. He looked up and saw the
eyes of Queen Isabella wet with SYM
pathetic tears. At once this strong
and sulen hero wavered. He knelt
before the throne and buried his face
n his hands and wept until his frame