The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-24

too coarse for one, too soft for anoth- CT; or the light on the hallway outside her room must be removed SO 1t shall not shine through and disturb my la-
 dys repose. Every request fmagina- bIe, some very sensible, others quite unreasonable, must be met promptly
 and 1t is the head housekepers duty to see accomplished the somewhat ar
 fcult feat of removing the rose leai under the forty mattresses go a princess may sleep.
 Like other housewives this one Tn the Astor has her troubles in keeping things in repair. In the linen room there are half dozen clever seams- tresses who darn the lace curtains | when they get torn. make the maids l caps. receive the linen as 1t comes in from the laundry adjoining. keep a | check on it and give 1t out as 1t is re- | quisitioned. Every sheet, pillow case, l and napkin that comes in or goes out | is noted in account books; and three | times a day a gang of men replenish | from the main linen room the supply | with which each floor is provided, so the maids need never leave the special part of the house to which they are as- signed.
 In this tremendous mending depart
 ment as little as may be is done by
 hand but electric machines are used
 whenever it is possible. Each day.
 table cloths used at the banquets the
 night before are brought here with
 great holes burned through them
 where some one has been careless with
 a cigar. Of course, these damaged
 places must be darned. and the alarming
 is all done by machinery Tn a hotel like the Astor, which has become one of the great dining places of the city. this single item in the days work as- sumes pretty large proportions at
 times.
 Three of the great bugbears of homework are removed in the hotel so far as the women employees are con- cerned. though the housekeeper has washed, woodwork polished, and the sweeping done by men. Incidentally, the method of sweeping and dusting Is one of the most interesting details of this great system of houekeeping. By means of a compressed air hose ev- cry crevice and cranny about the chan deliers, cornices and the ornamental woodwork. is first cleares of dust. Then the pneumatic pipe is attached to a machine that looks a good deal like a dust pan with a very long ham, dle and the dust is literally drawn out of carpets and upholstery by suction. the draught of air being carefully reg 'A1ted so 1t shall not injure the most delicate silks or satins. Everything this dust pan collects is discharged through a pine connected with barrel or bin, leaving the room abolutely fresh and pure. The saving of time and labor thus made is incalcu1able, but any housewife can sum up It's economy of strength and nerves.
 The woman at the head of the "home economies" department of a big Amer lean hotel gets a salary of from s125 to s150 a month, according to the size of the house that employs her, the character of it's patronage, and the standard of qualifications sh emust meet Resides this. she has a little suite of room of her own. as attractive as any in the hotel where she lives in style that would require an income of s250 or $500 a month if she were down town business woman and had to pay as a guest for her room and restaurant service
 But the good hotel honsekeeper Is born s~eat and cannot s&'uire great ness or have 1t thrust upon her. She has done a large share in making our American hotels the most highly es- teemed in tn world; and the exiles who come under her care, though they may never think of her existence, would all agree. no doubt, that she is worth all she gets and as much more"