Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-03
Melrose Park Woman Says
DomesticS No1U Demand
Privileges of Whole
House
Most Of Them Incon,pe.
tent, She Declares,
Though Insisting on
Highest Pay

with movement afoot to unionize
household servants for higher wages and
shorter hours Philadelphia housewives
are Fastening to present their side of the
question.
Eighteen dollars n week is an out
rageously high wage for most of the
present day servants, the housewives
say, because, they assert, many serv
ants are incompetent. uninteligent and
slothful.
A determined refusal to pay unrea =
sonable wages to maids who demand the
use of the drawing room. the automo-
bile and the family piano. or insist on
having private rooms and special baths.
is suggested by Mrs. Charles B. Kline,
of Asbury avenue, Melrose Park.
Mrs. Kline knows from personal ex-
perence and from the experience of
friends and neighbors what the domestic
servant problem really is today.
Housewives Must Act
eff the rich people would cease cater
ing to servants. there might be chance
for the average housewife to solve her
problem" said Mrs. Kline. Servants
of any class are scarce, and those
housewives who can afford it are offer
ing unheard of wages and permitting
all sorts of privileges that were hereto
fore unknown.
81 believe a maid is just as human
as any of us and should have. con
- .,,l ,lo /,
problem to solve-the problem of earn
ing a living wage these strenuous days
and of seeking position where she may
work and live among congenial sur
roundings and be comfortable.
"But when she begins to demand thu
privilege of the entire house and pre-
posterous wages, it is time the house
wives got their heads together and set
tied things.
1.-The day of the general maid ha
passed. Domestics, like the piece
workers in the factories. are specializ
ing, but their specializing doesn't meal
they are we'll trained and competent il
the work they apply for. 1t simply mean
they refuse to do more than one line o
work.
'If they decide to be cooks. they won
do any work outside the kitchen. /
they are mattresses, they refuse to d
any kitchen work, and one and all re
fuse to do any of the laundry work.
"When | advertised for a cook re
Gently one applicant demanded SIS I
week and refused even to take care o
the silver or look after the dining room
Another turned up her nose when sh
learned we were in suburb. I couldn ,
think of going back and forth in tn
hot weather. she said.
"There are only two in our famil.
) and pay $40 week for woman VIII,
5 cooks and takes care of the dining room
She has no laundry or cleaning, and sh
gets her room and board free, has he
day off and can have her company in he
part of the house.
"She has room on the third floor
! where there is virtually a private bath
S And yet, it has been hard to Obtain
= such maid. 1t has been easier mos
of the time to get women to come il
$ by the day, and they charge not les
than $3.50 for eight hours of poo
! work"
! Demanded Drawing Room
e One applicant for work at an EN-
ployment bureau here demanded th
{ use of the family drawing room Wed
nesday nights and the use of the auto
mobile at least once a week. and in
sisted on a rocker and table in tn
, kitchen, where she could receive an.
friends who might drop in during tn
+ day. Another said she wouldn't thinl
f of working at place where she couldn'
use the piano.
S 1--WE meet all sorts of new idea
e among the applicants. said Docto
=, Farson, head of the domestic servan
: department of the U. s. Employment
r Service, 25S South Twelfth street. Doc
f tor Farson believes that both the serv
g ants and the housewives sides of tn
@ question must be considered before tn
r problem can be solved. She sees bot
g advantages and difficulties in the pla
9 for unionzing domestic servants.
s "While SIS week, even with tn
maid living at her own house, seems
n shockingly high wage to pay, and
don't see how such minimum can b
II established, can readily see that tn
t union would tend to standardize tn