The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1907-06-29

est struggle with the servant problem,
since their own minds and muscles are
involved in its solution.
There is felt keenly the lack Of
brain and gray matter, not of blind
willingness and bovine obedience in
the kitchen. That, as before said, is
the reason why. when Abigail sweeps
the floor dust taketh wings and flieth
to the picture frames and the ceiling;
why the meat is overdone or under
done; why the dishes are nicked and
the substance wasted. And there is as
much sense in finding fault and blam-
ing as in Tuning because one cannot
pick figs from thistles. The thistles of
life choke out the figs for the most
part. While there really are figs, they
never grow on thistles.
The one answer to the question as to
what shall be done in the case of in
adequate intelligence in the kitchen
seems to presuppose itself. Brains
there must be in the house or it will
fall. If there are none in the kitchen
| there must be some in the parlor, and
the motive power must extend to the
kitchen and supply the need there.
When the room is swept there must
the queen reign, her throne must be
| movable into the quarters where the
bread is made and the dishes washed.
She must pervade the house with
her superior intelligence and above all
she must be able to perform herself,
perfectly, in the manner which she ad-
vocates, the tasks which she sets the
| servant. She may not actually do
| them, but she must know how with
| head and hands. She must be trained
| like any teacher in the lessons which
| she gives before she can teach to ad-
vantage.
| But the mistress may have no more
fitness for her position than the maid
for hers. She may not only lack abil-
ity but the power to acquire ability.
What then? The chances are that
while two and two exist they can never
be combined, that while the household
remains there will never be peace and
order and work-well DONE And there
is still another contingency.
! THE mistress may be abundantly
able, she may have the knowledge
which gives her the right to teach, she
may have the power to enforce the
teaching by the authority of example,
and yet manifest duty may point out
another path for her willing but re-
stricted feet. There are cases in which
a woman would not save but sQuander
would not do right but wrong, in de-
voting herself entirely to the manage
nent of her household and servants
Sometimes the queen must go abroad
and work and war in sterner and
broader fields and forsake her closet
and her bread and honey. Sometimes
it is she who has to count out the
money.
What then? The problem remains
stated, its solution Indicated but i'm.
possible. Abigails come and go, and
the dirt and disorder and discomfort
remain. Ineficiency graduates with.
out laurels and the new aspirant takes
her place, until the end.
There is no way out which is in.
fallib1e, though many may be suggest
ed. Possibly the awakening of selfish
interest, which ignoble thing is, after
ALL powerful mind tonic for the mos
of us, might stir the sluggish nature
and rouse the dormant faculties to en-.
ergy. What that selfish interest shoulc
be could be proved by experiment
Possibly small new privileges or re-
wards, although those are always
doubtful; possibly a system of profit
sharing, or rather saving-sharing
might work we'll. But that is all sug.
gestion, and the first experiment might
prove the futility of it. Possibly the
caste of the domestic servant might be
elevated gradually by a careful and
judiciOus system until in time the po-
sition came to be considered more de.
sirable by the intelligent class capable
of skilled labor. That may seem tc
advocate the old New England system
Of having hired man and girl sit at the
table with the family, but it need not
necessarily involve that. The servant
might have her quarters made more
BETTING person in higher walk OF
life, her manner of dressing might be
improved and she might be made tt
feel that her work was her distinction
instead of her disgrace, and in time il
might all be better. But who knows?
The problem, although old as the
world and lightly spoken of, is serious
involving as it does the power an6
leisure to do lasting work of the best
workers in the world. Unless Abigail
serves we'll, the judge, the physician
the teacher, the scholar, the writer, are
in great measure powerless; but who
shall regulate the serving of Abigail?
The Poet and the Officer.
Carducci, the great Italian poet who
has just died, came near having a duel