Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1906-06-02
GOSSIP FOR THE LADIES.

dred girls in a factory does not even
know their names, much less their indi-
vldual characteristics
She believes after n close study of
both sides that the only solution is 70
reconstruct domestic service along busi-
ness lines, where system will take the
place of confusion. She is not looking
for general houseworkers' union. buf
she does expect that an eight or ten
hour day will be i'll force before long
throughout the realm of the kitchen.
Some New York women who believe
that housekeeping is as much of a pro-
fession as law. have already tried this
| scheme with great success. When their
maids are off duty they are as independ-
| ent as If they We're living IN another
part of the city. They may go out, or
read and sew in their own rooms. as
they please, and no one calls upon them
Tor services. OF course the amount of
work varies. but the helpers understand
that and on busy days perform their du-
ties with greater dispatch. For big din
nefS or weekend parties extra help is
always brought in. These same women
do everything to encourage their domes-
tics to take an intelligent interest in
their work. The housekeeping maya
zines are eagerly read in the kitchen
One parlOr maid is making q scrap book
of clippings which bear on her work
and takes pleasure in trying the sugges-
uois and adopting or rejecting them ac-
Conling TO their merit. The cook in this
same family has a card catalogue in
which she keeps all of her recipes. She
takes as much pride in filling out a new
card as her mistress does in finding a
new feature for a luncheon. She now
boasts of larger repertory than any of
her colleagues and does her best to keep
up her reputation.
This same mistress appropriates part
of her housekeeping allowance to the
cause of modern equipment. She says
she would no more expect her cook to do
good work with worn-out or old-fash-
Toned tools than her husband would eX
pect his stenographer to turn out good
looking letters with a disabled type
writer.
The woman who is making a study of
the situation says that she finds the mis-
tress much more difficult to deal with
than the maid Given sobriety and hon
eSty, the domestic is generally amenable
to reason But the woman with an in
come of $1,000 a year expects her one
general houseworker to cook dinner, do
the chamber work, open the door, wait
on table in an immaculate cap and
apron. even do the washing, in exactly
the same style as the ten or dozen
servants of Il large establishment-thi
too, with very little supervision or as
sistance from herself, for she demands
all the leisure and Graves all the luxury
of milliOnaire's wife. When the mis-
tress is given over to extravaganza and
refuses to apply herself to domestic mat
ters it is no wonder that the maid proves
unsatisfactory.
The student of the domestic problem
says that some employment agencies by
enlarging the scope of their work are
meeting the situation. They insist that
their maids shall have excellent and
genuine references, and they keep track
of their work when they are in a place.
Moreover, when they become dissatisfied
inquiry is made into its cause. and often
the difficulties and MISUNDERSTANDING
are adjusted. They furnish classes in
cooking and laundry. and every am
bilious maid has chance to advance
in her profession. Aside from this in
struction in technical matters. some of
them form the girls into clubs and give
them recreation in their hours off duty
New York Sun.