Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-04-14
Other Peoples Servants.

Other Peoples Servants.
Il have had playmates, / have had
companions, but | have never had
visitors like these before complained a
I0ug-suffering hostess. They don't care
how much trouble they give my serv-
ants. They are late to every meal, and
YOU know how that sets work back in
n modest suburban household. We can
not wait for them at breakfast for John
has to catch the $40 train, but ut din
ner we larry our young ladies' leisure
until my husbands temper breaks out
like a Russian revolution. So does my
cooks. | expect both of them to give
warning any day. Those girls ask for
something to eat at ) o'clock on wash
days, instead of being on hand at l
o'clock luncheon. They never put any
thing away. They throw my best towels
on the floor. My chambermaid spends
half her time hanging up their gowns.
Would you believe that they step out
of them and leave them like giant birds
nests on the carpet? My waitress is
sdeboard and gloves from the drawing
room chairs. They call her from an
Swering the door bell TO help them dress
They ask the cook to leave her dinner
and press out a lace scarf"
However large a tip those girls leave
beilIlu IHeul II VIII EuEuit compensate
their hostess servants for the trouble
they have given. And, by the way. have
you never heard people question the
obligation OF tipping other peoples serv-
ants? In England the matter is as set
tied as is proper dress for dinner.
So many and so large are the fees in
fashionable English society that but
Iers income from this source is said far
TO exceed his wages. London Truth re-
Gently published a letter from Il butler
who complained that an employer not
only would not pay wages, but demand
ed a commission of a pound a week from
the buffers fees. Perhaps this is Il
bury British joke, yet the burly British
fee is no joking matter.
In America we have so many different
scales Of living, all in professedly the
same status of society, that the question
Is still Opener at least ajar. You hear
people argue that servants wages should
cover all their duties; that the visitor
WHO pays for their services might as well
pay for his food.
Those who talk this way have never
kept house themselves. \ certain host
ess at summer cottage i'll New Hamp-
Shire ImpreSses upon her company that
they must on no account fee her maids.
Her maids are all farmers daughters
from the neighbOrhood; some of them
teach school in winter They do not
'iAlHtiNtdIlu IGelIlS, ana NOulu Ue rem
dered uncomfortable by it. She pays
them literally herself. Generally, how
ever, the vail" as our grandmothers
called the parting gift of money, is
proper. 1t helps to smooth the path of
the mistress. inasmuch as it renders her
servants reader to wait upon the next
conner. Yet a little money is not the
whole nor the main part of what we
owe them
When va ora coy,,nonv we ShOuld
nave on our company manners to the
employees as we'll as to the employers.
or, III sense we are also visiting them
and they generally feel that. in a sense,
they are our hosts. We are transients
where they are at home They are anX-
l0uS to make us welcome, to show us
their pleasantest side. TO have the house,
and, as it WERE the whole neighborhood,
put its best foot foremost. Really, IN
view of the extra trouble they have It
Is amazing how hospitabe servants are.
They are as naturally and spontaneously
hospltable as children. They like
break in the monotony, a new face at
the table Yet. below stairs as above,
some guests are more welcome than 9TH
erS. Every one in our house is glad to
see Clarissa," says our hostess, from
the baby in the nursery to the cook IN
the Kitchen" Could there be greater
compliment?
When Clarssa was a very little girl
and Il very pretty little girl-her aunt
brought her new frock from Paris, III
which she tripped forth triumphant
child TO Sunday school. On the way She
met the colored man who came daily to
clean her fathers shoes. And what do
you think, papa" she complained, that
horrid old darky said right out loud to
me. Good evening. Miss Clarissa Right
ont loud, right in the street. and me in
my new Paris dress,' And what did
you say to Joe?" Il didn't say any
thing. Joe said Good evening 20 YOU,
and YOU did not answer him, Clarissat |
%hI sorry to learn that my bo0tblack has
better manners than my little daughter
iarIssa never forgot that lesson. Nova
Gays she is exceedingly popular among
@H the lesser lights of our town. She
lows to the butcher. she bows to the
,Ht6er, she has nod and smile for the
roy who brings the groceries. That she
speaks pleasantly to the cook when they
ta'et IN the street might be ascribed to
lar hut She does the same by her
iehds Mattresses and housemaids.
strange that many people omit these
~iidI clvitieS -TIouSn beautiful