Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-10-14
DOMESTIC SERVANT PROBLEM
General HousewOrk Girls Increas-
ingly Hard to Get.
They Want TO ne Mattresses or Work
in Factories whe-e They Have
sundays and Know when
Their Duties Are Done.

servant In the suburbs.
"If I were tho only woman In my circle
OF acquantnnces who found it impos-
sible to get n good housomaid and keep
her, she writes. II might despair and
believe that the blame Is all my own.
On the contrary, however. all my friends
are In the same quandarv. We adver-
tise. We haunt the employment agcn-
cies. We get a likely girl. She works
n while and then she up and packs her
trunk and makes off. All of this in spite
OF the fact that we treat the girls well,
pay them amply and expect less and
less of them.
one hears so much Of girls being out
of work, of girls whose factory employ
ment Is difficult and underpaid Of
girls who want good homes, that It
amazes us to find It increasingly difficult
to get domestic help that really wants
n permanent place. Most OF us have had
a sufficient taste Of housework in the in
terregnum between Lizzie and Sally to
make u3 duly considerable Of the wom-
an We hire to perform that same work.
At the present writing many Of us arc
of necessity doing our own cooking
and most Of tho housework, waiting for
the rare person who will suit and DO
suited by US.
what are we to do when we have
work We want done and are led to be-
lieve there are hundreds of girls who
need homes and employment"
WAR MADE CONDITIONS WORSE
It is an old cry For years now the
difficulty OF obtaining maids for gem
hoc hna ato
creastng. writes Katherine Brooks In
the Boston Record. When the war broke
out the difficulty seemed greater, and
was attributed to war conditions, as
were many other things This fall we
have occasionally heard. as the woman
letter writer states. that the situation
Is better. that there are more girls to
be had. A canvass of the employment
offices. however. seems to contradict
this report. although at a private Of
flee the answer was hopeful
Yes said the young woman in
charge. I'VE have good number OF
girls for general work and are filling
such places every day There are
many moro applicants for general
work than there were a year ago"
And then she added the damper that
1uells rising hope in the breast Of the
housewife with small means:--"The
wages average about Sc or 81 a week"
These prices are not high, as the
market runs to-day: but to the woman
who used to get a good maid. some
two decades ago, for SO week and a
green girl" who, under her training.
developed into a model servant, for $3.50
command high wages, but II Is hard for
the average woman to correct the old
Impression that general maid ought
to be had for little money.
At two other bureaus the statements
varied little from those Of last year.
I'VE have some women registered for
general work. but most women prefer
the special work. They want to be
mattresses or chambernaids.
The war, It appears. has made a diff
ference In the Importation Of green
help"
IRISH GIRLS NOT COMING
1T was chiefly the Irish girls" said
the head OF one bureau. who went in
to domestic service, and they aren't COM
ing over as they used to. The American
consider 1t degrading, and would rather
work in factories. Just now the factories
are getting busy and taking on new
help. so the supply Of domestic servants
Is small"
I'VE have few general homework
girls" said the director Of the domestic
service department at the Y. w. C. A.,
but they are few In comparison with
the applications for special work The
wages range about Sc week"
In answer to the oft-repeated question:
why do women prefer factory work.
where they can barely earn enough TO
live on, to domestic service. where their
wages are all clear gain" the director
answered:
because they are moro independent
In housework, they are on duty 10 or
IA hours day; in the factory they
work only their eight hours and have
holidays and Sundays Yon don't real
lie the tyranny that many women ex-
ercise over their servants The ones
who are considerate, who g1vc them a
reasonable amount of time out, and lei
sure during the day, are very rare.
Most women expect their servants to
-" ""'NHS All the tifne ana to do sew
Ing In their odd moments, and to take
care of the children II the mistress wants
to go out In the evening There's n good
deal said about the girl getting her
living AMI being able to save her wages.
but That is only small part of the
question. a girl wants to be able to call
some e her time her own
The testimony of such authorities as
these Is interesting. and not to be con-
troverted; and yet there seems dis
crepancy between the situation as they
see 1t. and that which confronts the
housewife in search of maid The wom-
an who wrote the letter quoted, has
a different story to tell. and she is as
she says only one OF many Of her kind
The prejudice felt by many girls that
domestic service Is degrading Is n seri-
Gus problem, which Is being met by tho
now on foot In public schools
and among social workers to teach girls
not only the science. but the dignity. of
household accomplishments. This as
pect Of the work was especially empha-
sized in the summer classes held by the
National Civic Federation In the West
End and elsewhere; and the pupils of
the high school Of Practical Arts, Rox-
bury, are taught the same lesson. Do
Ing away with this prejudice Is the first
step, perhaps, I'm helping to solve the
domestic servant problem. There are
those however who believe that the
solution lies. not In the training of ser
wants for individual households. but in
n iaVplnnmapt hn,