New-York tribune., 1903-02-08
g #. #. P. O. r. o. S. G..

The Servant Girl problem is assuming new
phase Once its appeal was to our 1ndlgnatloh-
Now it is to our pity. Hitherto its dominant
factor has been the Girls fickleness, her I'M
trustworthiness or her imperious autocracy.
Now it is her proneness TO sore bereavement
From being the airy and coquettish entertainer
of the policeman on the beat, or the stern ana
Rhadamanthine arbiter OF domestic sovereignty,
she has become the wan visaged consort of sor-
row and the next friend of grief. Wherefore
We who listen with credulity to the words Of the
Intelligence Office. and pursue with eagerness
the addresses of Situations Wanted advertise
ments: who expect that the cook will perform
the promises of her engagement and that the
waitress Of to-day will be serving you to-mor-
row-attend the history of Mr.. and Mrs. Cl1n-
ton Bedford, of Brooklyn.
The home of the Bedfords Is an attractive
and we'll appointed one, their tastes are simple
their family is small and their visitors are few
One would therefore regard 1t IS desirable
place for q domestic servant 1t is But If the
Evil One enters not that Eden in the guise OF
a serpent, he goes up and down outside it like
a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour
Early in December the Redfords engaged
servant one Angelica Macgrotty. She came,
and was pleased with the place, and the Bed
fords were pleased with her. She had no OBJ
On the fourth day after her arrival she went
out for the afternoon and did not return till
the next morning. 1t seemed that her aunt
had suddenly become insane and she had to
take her to an asylum That was q reasonable
excuse and sympatheticaly accepted. But
on the next Sunday she went to early mass, and
did not return till Tuesday noon. The asylum
people, it seemed, had discovered that her aunt
suffering not from insanity, but from
biliousness, and so Angelica had to go out and
fetch her home again. This excuse was like
wise accepted. and for another day all went
we'll But on Thursday Angelica took her "af-
ternoOn OUT not to return until Saturday,
when she reported that her brother had been
killed by falling out Of bed. At that Mrs. Bed
ford decided regretfully but firmly, that her
domestic economy required attention less dis
tracted by disaster; and Sour Angelique went
her ways. She was succeeded by Katrina
Frankfurter, who arrived on Monday, went out
for the afternoon on Thursday and returned in
time for dinner on Friday with the sad news
that her father had choked himself by Swal-
lowing, or trying to swallow, a beer stein. The
next week a similar absence was due to her
grandfather's having spraned his ankle i'll play
ing ping pong; whereupon the Bedfords, with
Christian fortitude. watched Katrina 90 "afay
in de Ewigkeit' Since then they have had
three other sorey stricken housemaids. Thel-
ma Thorsvalden was with them one week when
her stepsister fell i'll with mumps. Fifine La
jolie tarried three days, and tried to explain an
ensuing absence of two days on the theory that
her cousin CASTOR had been thrown from his
automobile and had his mustache unwaxed.
Finally, Jane Hepzibah Smith arrived on Mon
day, went out TO post letter Tuesday and
returned on Saturday with the narrowing ex-
nj bpd hpep
burned and both her parents. her three brothers
and four sisters and her oldest sisters best
young man and his pet bulldog had all been
consumed and she had been taking up the
ashes.
We have not hitherto felt inclined to propose
any addition to the number of societies, asso-
Citations, fraternities and orders which so
copiously adorn the community. But grave dis
eases require strong remedies. We have ascer-
tained by a careful canvass of "The HIP in
Brooklyn the Upper West Side in Manhattan