davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17

Well the very first thing, of course,
put SO into my board-and room envelope.
| slip So into my carfare and lunches
envelope. | think a girl with my salary
ought to spend not more than 80 to 40
cents a day for lunch, even at war
prices, when she has d substantial dinner
waiting for her at night The rest Of
the money that / slip into this envelope
at the beginning Of the week is for car
fare. Then there's the clothes budget
! plan to lay aside SIS of my salary every
week for clothes"
"But you can't buy clothes, for S5--at
least not in New York." protested Lii
lian.
"Of course not" scoffed Marie, 'but
you don't buy clothes every week
figure that my So week means $3.50 d
year-which is just about what / ought
to spend for clothes. So | save my So
until 7 need it, and then / have it ready.
I've been able to buy quite few real
bargains since I started my budget that
| couldn't have taken advantage of before
because l shouldn't have had the ready
money. But one of the real comforts
of my clothes budget is that | can make
rather extravagant purchase out of it
once in a while without feeling poor in
every budget
THAT sounds good, approved Lillian.
go on
Il put $3.50 into my general cnve-
lOpe and set aside 80 cents each week
for church and charity. 1t isn't a large
sum, know, but at least it's regular
and something to depend on That leaves
Just 81 to put in my savings envelope.
That's one fund that l feel in honor
bound not to touch-except for invest
ments, and, of course, / consider M
Liberty bonds the best investment
could make"
Now, say it all over again, so I car
write it down." begged Lillian. "ism mo-,
going to spend cent of this weeks nav
until I've installed your budget scheme"
There's 50, or, putting it into per
cents, 80 per cent, for two meals and
room; So, or u per cent, for lunches and
earfare; 50, or 20 per cent, for clothes
$3.50, or II per cent, for the general
envelope; % cents, or 2 per cent, for
charity and a nice plump 81, or is per
cent, for savings and investment. That
what's IN my pay envelope every week" :"
she boasted.
And SIX months later it was the thrift
less Lillian who was passing on to A
friend that little budget plan. The
envelope method is the only way to do
II, sI'c sad. And it's so much
easier, when you know what's in your
pay envelope, she declared with an air
os os a:4uit,ihofity' Ito gct.what you want out
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17

courage later when | found that | WAS
by no means her first inuusitor, for it
appears that she gave two conferences
at Delmonlco's last winter on this most
interesting subject, and she has also re
lated her experiences before the members
of the Colony and Cosmopolitan clubs
and submitted to perfect storm of ques-
tions ON these occasions.
What about the expense Of EMPLOYING
these assistants compared with that of
keeping servants who live in the house? ?'
! asked.
Il have at present two very excellent
asslstants,' was the reply, for whose
services pay SIS a week, that is about
$50 month. Forty dollars per month
IS the average wage paid TO servants at
the present time; so far as the actual
salary is concerned the cost is the same
But take into consideration the fact that
they do not eat in my house, that do
not furnish them with bed linen and pay
for it being Numbered, that | have no
servants quarters to furnish, no kitchen
dishes to buy, that do not paw for the
soap and gas which they use in doing
their own private laundry, and you will
hnd that this arrangement is far more
economical. A friend of mine who en-
ploys three assistants told me the other
day that she saves $25 week in grocery
and provision bills alone; in fact, she
went and explained to her butcher the
reason that her bills were 50 small for
fear that he might think that she was
trading elsewhere
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Treaties of Peace
Domestic and Foreign

DO you cali them Miss" | asked.
YES. indeed" was the reply, that is
very important; to call chem by their
first names would put them in the SER
want class Immediately They are not
called by their first names in any other
business, why should they he in this"
There are all sort of combinations
which can be worked out in the schedule
for house assistants. For instance, the
other day | met another housckeepcr
who has quite a different arrangement
from that of the lady whom | have al
ready quoted. This woman has had I.
cook in her family for u long time whose
services she does not wish to lose, so she
is keeping her on in the house as a per-
manent fixture, and she has two as
sistants who take care of the rest of the
house and serve the meals.
1t would he wonderful thing,
wouldn't it. if peace were declared and
the servant problem solved all in the
same year? Sounds like the millennium
TO me.
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17

eat everything in the house each time you
enter the dining room? Of course not.
Then don't make museum hog of your
self. Nibble, wing at time.
Consider the different exhibits as deli
cate tidbits to be sandwiched in between
two sections of a walk The Indian mod
els, tepees, basketry, clothing and tools
in the west wing of the first floor seem
to me to combine especially we'll with
feeding the squirrels in Central Park.
Thus one avoids museum blindness.
A typical case of this affliction came to
my attention on the top floor one day
Two brave and weary women passed me
there. They had that peculiar and I'M
mistakable stare brought on by seeing
too much. They stalked in open-eyed
blindness among snakes with legs and
dragons incased in stone. Among all the
strange, monster bones one discovered
the skeleton of common horse.
cob, see the horse" she cried with
the same relief that one feels at meeting
familiar face in a distant city.
But the companion was too far gone
to recognize an old friend.
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
y Servant e S

Suppose you are i'll and need service
in the night, what can you do?" said ].
There is always the telephone, and
in case of real illness one must employ
u trained nurse. IF the doorbeu or the
telephone rings at night. the servants
are always deaf to it. 1t is always
member of the family who answers it.
Oh, the advantages of house assistants
outweigh the disadvantages a hundred
fold. Think what 1t means to have a.
young woman III the house who uses good
English, who can help the children with
their arithmetic lessons, who can sew on
a button or darn stocking just as well ss
she can bake pudding or sweep floor,
and who doesn't in the least mind turn
ing her hand to any kind of work.
had one once who used to write all my
business letters for me on the type
writer, and they often do my shopping.
You sec one of the great advantages OF
the eight-hour system is that the young
woman is never idle during that time,
she never leaves her work to make a cup
of tea or change her gown or lie down
for Il bit; she is doing some kind of work
every minute of those eight hours Miss
Hatch, for instance. who opened the door
for You, is an expert seamstress and in
her odd moments she makes frocks for
my little girl
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
49, New York Is Poor Folks CITY -

But don't suppose onl that account that
you can carry by the guard an umbrella
which you might stick through a paint
ing. Those guards must from sheer
force Of habit grab umbrellas from ladies
they meet in the streets. And as for
cameras-the Notifications of Gibral-
tar are not better guarded.
Paintings of every school and century
have been brought here from all quarters
Of the globe to~rnake my Sunday after
moons pleasant. They succeed in their
purpose each time | give them a chance
After | have looked at pictures for
about an hour, discover that | am be
ginning to grow captious, to fuss
because the early American school is so
stiff. ! use the disdainful phrase "aca-
demic"! Then | know it is time for me
to go to the restaurant in the basement
for cup of tea. I used to wonder why
all art is so scrupulously excluded from
that bare room. Now l realize that it is
to give me a chance to recover from too
much beauty.
After rest ] go back for another
hour with the pictures or I oiter through
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Observation-Disclosures
no Servants Need Apply
houses are to-day.

= There is no comparison between the
class of women who are filling the posi-
tions OF "house assistants" and their
predecessors Of the Servant" class, And
what difference their presence makes
in the atmosphere of the house. One
feels it directly the front door is opened
by the dignificd intelligent young woman
who answers the bell. She doesn't ask
YOU TO wait until she asks Mrs. Smith if
she is at home to you, she tells you di-
rectly, in Il ghtforward, intelligent
manner whether or not Mrs. Smith will
receive you What is even more sur
prlslng, she answers your call on the tele-
phone with the same intelligence, and
you may be sure that Mrs Smith will re-
ceiVe your message exactly as it was
given That in itself, it seems to me, is
worth the price Of admission.
The women who arc employing these
"house assistants are agreed on one
point. They much prefer for such a
post a girl who has never "lived out"
In fact, they usually put in clause to
this effect when advertising for an as
sistant. Such an advertisement usually
reads as follows;
"Wanted-A young woman to help
with housework, eight hours a day, six
days a week. Sleep home. Apply by
letter. No servants need apply"
Ninety-eight applicants answered the
last advertisement which the doctors
wife sent to a morning paper, and the
great majority of these were women Of
good education who had been employed
in some sort Of business.
hesitated at first about asking this
charming lady all the questions that
were on the tip of my tongue, but took
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
A Cure for Museum,
Blindness
By MARY ALDEN HOPKINS

H F IT'S ART you're wanting, why
4 art is as free in New York City as
IN drink of water. Exhibitions Of
paintings, sculpture, etchings, prints,
miniatures and water colors are adver-
tised in the daily papers. Many of these
are open on Sunday afternoons as we'll
as week days. Though you may not be
able to squint your eyes like a profess
sional you will find, in some of these
studios, pictures that were painted for
you, that talk to you.
Three museums especially are joy to
look at, the Art Museum, the Spanish
Museum, and the Natural History Mu-
scum. The first two are devoted to
paintings, porcelains and other objects
of art made by civilized hands; while
the last one is filled with rocks and shells
and meteors and other objects which
we don't consider "art" because God
made them, and with the pots and pans
and blankets and other lovely articles
of daily use fashioned by those whom
we contemptuously call savages. OF the
three museums, the one that / always
like best is the one I happen at that
moment to be inspecting.
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
What Is a
Menial Task

DO you find they rebel when it comes
to performing the more menial tasks"
asked, "such as scrubbing the floors or
blacking the stovc?"
"Never in all these. eight years. she
replied, ''havc | had one complaint about
the kind Of work that was required of
them
"How do you arrange to give them
each one day week?p was my next
query.
THAT would be rather difficult if there
were only one assistant but where there
arc two OF more they arrange the work
among themselves so that the family
does not suffer-
"But how about legal holidays, when
they are all off at one time?"
THAT is the one point on which the
housekeeper must make up her mind e
sacrifice. If she wishes she can always
get in extra helpers for these occasions
She viii gladly do anything that she can
when she realizes how her assistants ap-
preclate the privilege of having a holi-
day with the rest of the world. After
ALL it is the only fair thing to do
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
House Assistants Versus

Tor every year of service and extra nav
Tor extra work, the status of the "house
assistant becomes quite as good as that
Oh the assistant in the office or shup
domestic service becomes a dignified
sef-respecting occupation of which no
young woman need feel ashamed.
We have heard great deal about.
raising the status of domestic service so
that Il better class of young women
would go into it, but nobody seemed to
have very clear idea as to how this was
to bc accomplished. At last, however. If
would seem that we are on the right
track.
Although we arc just beginning to
hear about it, the idea of emplovinp
house assistants' is by no means q new
one. / know of one housekceper who has
been enjoying their services for the last
eight years. I fancy she was really the
pioneer of the movement in this city
She was so pleased with the success of
her scheme that she has written a book
ON the subject for the enlightenment of
other housewives, which she calls
anted-Young Women to Help with
HouSeWOrk"
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17

have my money changed into small bills,
and before l spend Il cent l slip into
each Of these envelopes the amount of
money that belongs to each 1t took
me a few weeks to find out just what
amount to set aside for my various
needs, but / worked it all out in in sur
prisingly short time and now [ stick to
my budget as you'd follow blazcd trail
after you'd been lost a couple of years
in the woods. Do you want to know
Just what goes into each envelope?
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17

and sunny; that will be the sickroom.
The second will be fitted up for the nurse
and the third one will be turned into a
kitchenette. The invalid will be away
trom the noise quite by himself, and the
nurse will have every convenience right
at hand without disturbing the people in
the kitchen or having to run up and
down stairs
refused to be sidetracked from my
questioning. 'lf your assistants have
had no previous training" ] persisted,
doesn't it take a great deal of time to
teach them, particularly when it comes
to cooking?'
1T might if they were not SO intelli-
gent, but as it is they learn my ways of
doing things in a surprisingly short time,
and AS fer the cooking, give a new as
slstant good cookbook and tell her the
dishes OF which we are particularly fond
and ask her to follow the recipes careful
~ and the result has been that we have
had far better meals cooked by these in
telligent young women than have ever
had from the so-calIed professional
cooks. You see many of these girls have
had a course of cooking in the public
schools, so they arc not entirely ignorant
in the matter
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17

exactly what's in it. There's first of all,
so much for board and room, and a def
mite sum for lunches and carfarc; then
there's SO much each week for clothes
so much for savings and my weekly con-
tribution to church and charity; and,
last of all, there's my general fund
This includes movies, gifts to my friends,
magazines, shines, ctc.-~all the little
odds and ends that take the pennies Of
a business girl like NE. With this gen
erap fund, too, manage to do as many
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Z ay Env velope

as I can of the things | really want to
do. Some weeks it's almost a pleasure
fund, though at times, of course, Incl
dentals take the biggest portion of it,
"But does it mean keeping accounts
and getting balances and writing down
every last cent you spend?' asked Lii
lian.
sit does not. If it did, it would never
do for me. couldn't be bothered,' said
Marie. 81 use six budget envelopes.
Every week when get my pay envelope
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Regular Shifts and
Six.Day Weeks

This clever woman, who is the wife Of
All uptown physician, has worked out
every detail of the system and found it
not only practical but infinitely moro
satisfactory than the old-fashioned style
Of housekeeping. She lives in d high
stopped house, call up and downstairs" :"
as the oldfashioned servant would dub
it, and her family consists of her hus-
band and two young children She en-
ploys only two assistants and she will
tell you that her house is far better kept
than when she had three maids who lived
in the house.
The first assistant comes at z o'clock
in the morning in time to get the family
breakfast, and she works until Ii o'clock,
when she takes an hour for her luncheon,
which she either brings with her or eats
at nearby restaurant. At IL o'clock
she is back at her post again and she
remains until 4 o'clock in the afternoon
The second young woman comes at II
o'clock and works until 3 o'clock in the
afternoon, when she takes her hour off.
She returns at 1 O'clock and works until
s o'clock in the evening. Neither of
these young women eat Or sleep in the
house. Their salary is SO per week for
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Spanish Treasures That
WererNot Sunk

The Spanish Museum IS one of group
of three interesting collections at Broad
way and 156th Street The Hispanic
Society, which is the dress-up name of
the Spanish one, is open on Sunday from
10 in the morning to ) at night You've
heard about the Spanish treasure? Well,
it wasn't all lost at sea nor buried.
You'll find plenty of it here
The Numismatic Society is open on
Sundays from / to 5. l warn you that if
you try to gobble it after the Spanish
building you'll find it dry feeding But
if you give it an afternoon by itself, the
battered old coins will fascinate you like
shining five-dollar gold pieces at Christ
mas time.
The map room of the Geographic So
ciety is open from . to 5 o. Sundays.
You can drop in there for a few mo-
ments when you are in the neighborhood
to examine the war maps
If you care to journey far for d rich
reward, the Brooklyn Museum, on East
ern Parkway, is free except on Mondays
and Thursdays, and is open on Sundays
from to 6 and Thursday evenings from
80 to 9:45.
Sometimes d rich man owns a whole
museum. Unfortunate chap, to have
only one, Poor folks possess every mu-
scum in the City of New York. We poor
folks are the rich folks.
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17

figured things out. That infect
ed finger gave me plenty of time to
think, you know. There were
lots of things | really wanted to do
with that salary of mine-important
wise things-that | never got around to
do because I was frittering my money
away. SO l decided to find out just what
was in that pay envelope Of mine. l
hundred dollars III the bank, better
clothes than I've been able TO have be-
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
By FLORENCE c. HAXTON


WHAT poor little purse of mine
surely was hungry" laughed
Lillian as she tucked three
fresh greenbacks-her weeks salary
away in the depths of her smart beaded
Tag. But, then, I'm always broke on
Sasurday, no matter how hard I tTy to
squeeze my pennies. I'm lucky if Pm not
'N'rowing lunch money by Wednesday
's0a. ! simply can't hang on to my
CASH.
Oh we'll" consoled Marie, moneys
made to be spent But you do spend
Yours all of d sudden don't you? Save
anything?"
Not a cent admitted Lillian, making
wry face. "I try to, but somehow
u doesn't work. | even had to drop my
Liberty bond / buy d thrift stamp
aOw and then, but that's about all. 1t
costs such lot to live these days
,and'--
Sof course it does," agreed Marie,
oat you're making more than you ever
GIG before, aren't you? Are you doing
anything special with the extra three
S0liars week you've been getting since
,aly. That war bonus has been regu-
'as godsend to mel"
Why, don't know" Lillian consid-
ssso. i guess it just goes-like the
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Money That's "Frittered"
and Money Spent

That's the secret of it right there, :"
'sseulated Marie. 'It just goes-all
L 1t just slips through your fingers
:, EASILY that you don't know how or
sh. Only at the end of every week
Nv le broke~-with nothing to show for
on, know. 7 used to be that way,
70, tntilv
onIil?' demanded Lillian. "Do you
ss' 70 tell me that you don't let your
~s'sy Slip through your fingers? Since
.'s:a ssa' You're always been a spend
s~sa', too. Have you been saving money
.nna ~ my back?" she asked Indignantly.
tea, have" Marie admitted, "and
~aseft said a word to you about it,
aaSe wanted to be sure that could
s.s, sss the scheme work. And you hon
~ haven't noticed how 'Scotchy' I've
~ s,,,. ne last three months?"
,..' my no, Of coursc not. hadn't no.
ssss ~ any difference. But what's tho
w. w. was this way" explained Marie.
- remember The time + was laid up
ns.4 ! week last spring? Well, have
t,s,',s ~ 70 INC bank right now as the direct
pa ~, .spa mat experienced was brought
"fs1 y start right then and there and
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Nv ELENE FOSTER

.o;d of al 1Oork, aohstker course or
Gae,
..ynant ,0I,o made service seem define.
r..onoj, ~ her each s'oons acos fair to look
upon,
r,s mirrors gIistened AID the brasscs
shore;
rse csry knocker on the outside door
:, ~ sas but passed tOas brighter than 6o-
fore"
yrSHEsE lines from Longfelows
Lady Wentworth have always
l. seemed shining example of the
,,,oth TO which poetic license could be
,.rTied. Can you picture such Il perfect
ING AZ the one therein described? Can
s,u imagine domestic servant who
.rsr went out on chilly winter morn
,,rs and rubbed up the knocker on the
inside door and didn't look at one
: ;f this was the crowning insult in a
I,no list of indgnities that had been
soaned upon her, or remark that she
should probably get her death of cold
Inf some folks never cared whether
tSejr help lived or died.?
n YOU are running your house on the
IA -honored plan and employing
,be old-fashioned kind of servant, then
sou will never III the world be able to
MIXTURE such treasure, but if, on the
other hand, you are an up-to-date house
keeper. conducting your house on the
same business principles on which your
husband runs his office, employing
house assistants" instead of servants" >"
ten you will need no stretch of the
Imagination to conjue up the portrait of
Martha Hilton. It's ten to one that you
have at least ono such household angel
nyour own home.
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
A Servant by
Another Name

In this case shakespeare to the con-
uary), there is a very great deal in a
name. There is as wide a difference
between "bouse assistant" and "ser-
want" as there is between the woman
who scrubs the Office floor and the one
who acts as private secretary to the head
Of the concern. The very name gives it
dignity and puts an entirely different
aspect on the question of domestic SER
vice. and when the young woman thus
employed has her working hours limited
to eight per day, with one day "off' each
week, good salary with Il sure increase
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
What To Do With
the Servants Quarters

do you know, by the way, what am
going to do with the vacant top floor in
my house, where the servants used to
Sleep" she went on. 81 am going to
fit the rooms up for sick quarters, a sort
of amateur hospital. There arc three
rooms and bath. The front one is bright
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Foreign Travel Within
City Limits

The Art Museum in Central Park,
with it's main entrance on Fifth Avenue
at Eighty-first Street, belongs to poor
folks. 1t is free every day but Mondays
and Fridays, open Sundays from TO 6,
and Saturday evenings. 1t is truly ours.
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Find Out. w hat Is In You

fore, and I don't know how many dol
lars worth of peace Of mind -
The Envelope System
of High Finance
"Just what is this wonderful plan?"
insisted Lillian.
Well" began Marie, "the important
thing about it Is that it is a plan. Spend
ing my weeks salary isn't a helter-skcl-
ter, chance affair with me any more. T
know when | get my pay envelope just
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Hoir TO AUoid Art
Indigestion

"We've two more rooms to do" she
replied.
New-York tribune., 1918-11-17

that positions of this kind will be quite
as eagerly sought as those in business
houses are to-day