El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-29

1 and growing unpopularity of such en-
! plOyment According TO the last cen
! sus report more than a fifth Of the
/ 100000 women employed in gainful
! occupations outside Of their own homes
/ are engaged in domestic service. The
( greater number Of white women ser
4 wants are foreign born During the
! present generation this class of work
! has become so unpopular that American
| women prefer almost any other field
/ Of activity. often at a much smaller
J remuneration and less comfort than
! would be assured them by taking ser
! vice in average American homes. The
J various causes which have brought
/ about this condition Of affairs have
I become the subject of study and con-
/ sideratiOn by the women of the entire
/ country. both privately and through
/ their numerous organizations
! Some Not Treated Kindly.
l The Investigations made by private
7 agencies have brought to light many
I facts showing conditions which need
/ to be changed both Tor the good Of the
servant girl and ner mistress. One
investigator reports that women ser
J wants in the Usited States are treated
with less kindness and consideration
/ than in any other country and she suS-
gests that it is Only a natural cOnse-
! Quence that in no other country are
servants as a class so inefficient and
unreliable Most Of the Investigations
tend to put the blame for these con-
ditiOns largely upon the mistress des-
Z
in which the maid is treated with all
the consideration given to another
member Of the family.
LOnIiness of Servants
Loneliness is the greatest hardship
suffered by the girl in the average
home in which only one servant is kept.
She has no social Intercourse with any
member of the family. She eats her
meals alone and spends her scant leis-
ure alone in kitchen, which generally
has little to make il attractive. Ere
quently, even on her DAY off she has
no friends 10 visit and no place to go
but on the street or to some cheap
theater She is debarred from admis-
sion to many of the social clubs which
furnish diversion for the leisure of
other working girls. What wonder is
II that too often she falls a victim to
the temptation of the policeman, the
grOceryman or some other man who
gives her an occasional friendly greet
ing, and thus joins the large army Of
unmarried mothers who annually ap-
ply to charitable Institutions for aid2
Reflection Upon Mistresses.
1t is reflection upon the mistresses I
more than upon the maids themselves 7
that by far the larger number of these
unfortunates are girls who met their
fall while in domestic service. The .
claim frequently is made that the maid
servant is protected by her mistress .
but this is not always the truth. An
instance recently was cited at a wOm-
ans club meeting of q mistress to 3
whom a young girl appealed for pro- I.
lection from the man butler in the same D
household Instead Of dismissine the I
man, the woman selfishly discharged .
the girl upon the ground that she .
could not be troubled with servants +
dlSagreements ana il was much easier 4
to secure a cnall 1ermaid than q COM
petent butler. The social distinctions
winch some mi>tssSscs attempt to raise
between thems el-es and ne girls who ;
are IN their employ and should he IN
der their protection, is one of the I
greatest dangers to tie safety Of the I
girl in domestic service.
Recreation. a Problem.
The rule that girl nay -Cceive no
callers at her place OF employ ment has
driven many virtuOuS girls to the
street, although considering TIE num-
Der Of servants who frequently are
IOund 10 De in league VITA thieves and I
burglars, mistceS ssS some times claim (
that such rule is necess ITv for their
own protection. The proper adjust
ment OF the need Of recreation and
companlOlS1iD for a Girl il domestic
employment, especially in houses
where only one servant is kept is in the
eyes OF many students of The subject,
the most important matter connected
with me servant + -olCuI
This problem. s n 81 dis cIssed in
the lager t'-Wns, and SET I must be
admitted that the woman in the city
does not suffer so much personal dis
comfort ana fatigue from her inability
to secure help in the work of the home
as women in the country or upon large
farms out Of reach OF the cOnYeniences
for Tightening their work.
Servants on the Farm.
It is quite usual for the wife Of a
prosperous farmer to have to perform
with her own hands all the labor OF
baking, washing and ironing, {
not only for her own family, but for
several extra men as well, in addition /
TO keeping the home clean and in or
Ter. She can not send her sOiled Z
clothes to the laundry procure her
bread and cake from the bakery and
-ely upon the delicatessen store for I
her cooked food, as can her sister in I
town. To her even an incompetent ]
.erVant Is better than none and there
are girls In such situations who are
sarning as much $40 month and .
having all the privileges Of a member
II the family in addition. While such Z
wages are not usual, the scarcity Of
domestic help, together with the awak- I
ned ambition OF women on the farm to I
get some pleasure out of life instead :
Il remaining continuous household
irudges, render them more probable 4
Servants May Become Mistress.
The fact that the servant of today {
nay be the mistress of tomorrow has a I
most important bearing upon AMERICAN (
Domestic Embellishments. The girl in Z
he kitchen may marry the grocer's :
Jerk and he may have special busf- Z !
ess capacity, which will enable him in [
wholesale D Y
merchant with an income sufficient to I +
'rOvide his wife the means of employ
ng as many servants as she desires I
'hese instances are neither impossible
or even infreQuent- Every American / r
trl of average educational Intelligence q
lways has before her the possibilitv 5
{ some day becoming a mistress her Z
elf. This makes her hesitate to place :
ersef in position where she is sub !
ect to the orders of another woman q
College W omen Work rs Servaufs 2
y number OF young college women / 2
TO economic organizations
gently have engaged themselves as +
ervants with the object of determin- +
~ by their own experience lust how P
he servant girls of this country are y
cling treated. The late Garcia VVoeris- +
offer. whose death has been so greatly n
egretted by philanthropists. was in
crested especially in such investfga- 2
ons Upon going to large seaside Z
esOrt several years ago. she was dis 4
DpOinted in meeting the friends she Z I,
ri expected. so instead of going to a 4 n
Otel alone she decided to solicit work. I 7
a plain skirt and a shirtwaist she !
ad little difficulty in securing a place Z &.
waitress with a woman who had Z
me boarderS and the usual difficulty
securing help. Miss Woerishoffer l C,
rived dinner that Saturday and as n
sted in washing the dishes afterward I bs
D