The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1903-11-27

MINUS edcn cdllluG the Oluef Nef slHlcl.
Servants sometimes seem TO have no
sympathy with the wear and tear and
che sorrows and the siclnesses Of their
housekeeper's life. They seem TO be
foreigners dwelling for a little while
under the roof Of a home with nothing
in common between themselves and
their mistress.
But hOusekeepers. why should you
expect your domestics TO sympathize
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 n human
being. an immortal soul, working for
you in the kitchen. or have you regard
cd her only as little cog in the domes-
tic machinery, which can be thrown
away as soon as II Is useless? Your
eyes have been red with weeping from
sitting up by your baby's crib. Did
you think 10 ask why your chamber
maids eyes were red with weeping
on the day after she received that let-
ter with q foreign postmarkf You have
had a 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 20 out,
and then you must start IL up again
with extra coal and wood. They will
not turn down the gas in the dining
room and the parlOr and I'm the halls,
and they do not care If the bills run
up. They will throw away good meat,
because they are too indolcnt to cook
It i'm another form" But. my sister,
did you ever stop to sympathize with
your servants financial struggle?
Some Of those girls are humble
heroines We think of a heroine as a
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 a heart as that Of the famous
English girl. Why Is she working and
so carefully economizing? For herself?
Oh. no. She is perhaps sending home
all her wages to support her old par
ents or to help educate her orphaned
brothers and sisters. If you were to
20 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 so little
for theirs?
Sympathy, God given, practical sym
pathy, can break down many a barrier
which today separates the kitchen
from the parlor. Christopher Column
bus life proves what well 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
prosecutions 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
called him a traitor Columbus said
nothing. But one day he was brought
before the Spanish throne. lie 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 sullen hero wavered. lie knelt
before the throne and buried his face
I'm his hands and wept until his frame
shook with emotion. Sympathy, God
given sympathy, placed Columbus at
Isabella's feet; not the chains, not the
prosecutions. not the upbraidings. not
the fndiherences. SO, my sister, If you
expect your servants TO be sympathetic
with you. be as Queen Isabella, who
svmpathized with Columbus troubles.
You must stmpathize with theirs.
The housekeeper is the servants
model also I'm devotion 10 the home.
TIE servants will inevitably fail to
appreciate the dignity and nobility Of
domestic service unless their mis-
tresses feel that the highest honor any
woman can have Is to preside over and
dedicate her life TO her home.
Now. housekeepers, IS It right to ex-
pect your servants TO be proud to work
in the kitchen when you yourself are
ashamed 10 be found doing kitchen
work? Is II more OF an intellectual ac-
complshment TO be able to speak poor
French than II IS to cook good breadi
Lord Aberdeen. the governor general
Of Canada. did not think so. A few
years ago, in a public speech. he said
that the most pleasant experience OF
his soiourn in America was In the fol
lowing incident; lie was. in an official
capacity, travelling through one Of the
Canadian provinces and was stopping
at a prominent officials home. After
an elaborate meal, perfectly cooked
and perfectly served, he turned TO the
hostess and congratulated her upon her
cook. with that the lady's face light
ed up with pleasure, as she answered:
"AIy lord. thank you for your com
pllment. Your words Of praise sink
deep into my heart. This afternoon
our regular cook was taken sick and
so my daughter took her place. She
will be in presently from the kitchen
You can then, face TO face, congratu-
late her upon her success"
The housekeeper is her servants
model. Then she must give to them
her love as well as her sympathy. "Oh.
no." some housewife answers, Il could
not love my servants. I could sym
pathlze with them I'm their troubles, but
I could not love them. Why, If l loved