The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-11-10
LONDON SOLVES THE
DOMESTIC PROBLEM
Three Thousand Men Are Now
Employed in That City
as Maidservants.
ARE BETTER THAN GIRLS
Testimony From Titled Ladies' Prove'
That They Are a Success-Work
Harder Than Girls and Re"
qui-e Few Evenings OH.

London MALL: The London domestic
problem is being s~olved-by men. The
ever-growing scarcity of landmarks,
due mainly 10 the multiplication Of tea
rooms and cheap restaurants. where
the greater freedom and increased
matrimonial facilities attract girls, Is
bringing over to this country large
numbers Of MEN from Switzerland,
Germany. France and Italy, who 10 ex-
actly the same kind Of housework as
girls for the same money. They are.
In short, male "domestics."
The season for engaging the CONT
mental man "maidserVant' has just set
in. l will be at Its height In o
a fortnight's time. All the little res
taurants In the popular resorts or he
continent will be hen reducing their
staff Of walters, cleaners and assistant
cooks. Formerly these people sought
similar employment for the winter In
the larger towns of their own countries.
but work was not always obtainable.
Then a batch of the unemployed heard
from the British n foreign domestic
bureau, S5 Harst street, Bloomsbury,
that there vas q great dearth of fe-
male servants in England, and that
possibly they might fill some Of the
vacancies.
The suggestion was acted upon.
Within the past twelve months this
establishment has placed" 400 foreign
men as domestic servants In the homes
OF well-to-do English people. Other
agencies are also booking male gen
erals parlor maids and housemaids.
and al authority estimated that
there are &c" IL London alone 3,GH1
lnen who daily WELD the broom and
buster for a livelihood.
In some of the large houses, three
male "domestics" are kept--a parlor
maid. a house maid and a cook. They
discharge all the duties appertainIng
to their several positions just az girls
were wont to do. The house maid
he word might be changed to house
man'-makes The beds, sweeps the bed
rooms, cleans the windows and dusts
the furniture. The "parlorman's" par
ticular province Is the dining room. He
keeps that Apartment clean and tidy.
polishes the plate, and at meal times
waits at the table. In the intervals he
opens the door to callers.
Il have abundant testimony from
titled ladies and others that the male
domestics are a great success" said the
principal of the domestic bureau.
They work harder han girls, they do
not require so many evenings off,
they rise earlier. they look neater, and,
Of course, do not have followers The
only stipulation they make is that they
shall have half an hours rest In the
afternoon for a smoke"
The male domestic, It further an
pears. receives as a rule 5 shillings a
week and his laundry, while his most
serviceable age Is between nineteen
and twenty-three. In the MORNING
the 'parlorman" and "houseman" don
aprons, which they subsequently re-
move to assume dress clothes. THE
man GRrvn ntC a rn mara n ~ u 49,
female" added the above quoted au-
thority. They do not object to nder-
take a little washing. and they do It
remarkably well. The reason of their
hardness Is that most, II not all Of
them, have served in the army.