The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-06

IN EOPIE i've more SlIlpiy lleiC. N The rich, who can afford ser
 wants, keep only a third as many as English or Americans do.
 In many ways the work is easier. Flats are almost universal in Stockholm. Car pets are seldom used and the hardwood floors are not continually and foolishly oiled as they are apt to be with us. There is not much upholstered furniture to gather dust in it's wrinkles. As for the bedrooms. Swedish woman said:
 we don't make such a business of our bedrooms as you do"
 I agreed with her. In the room I was then occupying I had to find place for my brush and comb between choice pieces of Sevres china and to hang up my towels and sponge bag in small dress cupboard which also contained the school books and playthings of the daugh- ter of the house.
 The truth is that the very high rents in Stockholm and the very limited bedroom accommodation necessitate a good deal or overcrowding. It is no unusual thing for the maid to sleep in the kitchen, and most Swedish sofas can be converted into beds at night, so that drawing rooms, dining rooms and smoking rooms may be made to serve double purpose. Early hours are prevalent, but if one forgets and sits up a little later than usual one often feels approached by a disconsolate looking object who Is en- viously looking at the sofa you are oc- cupying, wondering when it will be avail able for the nights rest. In such cases | as this the bathroom df it exists) is usually used as a general dressing room for the household, a plan which results in economy of labor, if not productive or | comfort.
 The Swedish maid is very different person from the neatly dressed, capped l and aproned maid so familiar at home. In Stockholm no costume in particular seems to be expected of the servant
 | She appears to be usually dressed in a different colored skirt and blouse, without a cap and often without a collar. In times of stress she arranges hand kerchief upon her head. and if cold wears | a little scarlet coat, which is more sug- gestive to the English mind of the golf course than of housework. She is, how | | dished up her dinner waits at table too.
 In Stockholm the breakfast is usually taken about Il; 80 and dinner at 4:30 or D. It requires little time for Eng 1 fish people to accommodate themselves ] to these hours but there are consola- tions. Either coffee or porridge, or both, l can be obtained early in the morning, and the long, dark evenings after the early dinner pass very pleasantly. Many I of the schools in Stockholm begin work at l S:30 a. m., or even earlier, but there is long break about Il o'clock, when the children come home hungry, cheerful and expectant of breakfast.
 1 As to the nature of the meal it is diff | cult to prophecy. It may consist of beef steak and onions or of eggs and pan cakes. Potatoes and sausage in some form or other are usual provided, and the beverage is always milk and sometimes tea as well. In most households coffee is served between 1 and 2, and this meal is often the occasion of pleasant little | gathering of intimate friends
 Between and in the afternono Is the usual time for formal calls and people | then return for dinner, which is generally served at 4:30 or 5. The preamble to q Swedish dinner is often rather confusing to the unnitiated. There is usually a small table laid with different kinds of cheese. savories, butter and hard bread | We all help ourselves and eat either standing or walking about the room. This done we return to the big table and the real meal begins.
 Well to do Swedes usually content 1 themselves with two courses, either meat and sweet or soup and a sweet as the case may be. Different varieties of stewed fruit are more frequently served with meat than with us. and remember dish which consisted of bacon. boiled paste and French pluns, which seemed to me a strange mixture at first
 At o'clock tea is usually served with bread and butter, cheese and cold meats.