The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-09
The Address Courteous
Why Don't We More Iften Use It? 1t Must Be Matter of
 National Custom.

gT Is curious tsing what a differ
 ence the presence or absence of single letter in an oft-used word makes. Take, for instance, the "d' that makes madam" out of ma am. The green saleswoman who starts in her career in a big department store ,alling tinware in the basement or comes in just to help with the Christ mas rush is content with yes, ma'am" and mo, ma'am", when answering her customers. But the youhg woman who keeps her eyes open and has aspira- tions toward the more remunerative departments of the store soon gets the knack-if she has not always had it-- of addressing customers as madam. There is no affectation toward the use of French words in this, as madam with the accent on the first syllable is a we'll established English word and is, in fact, the word from which 'maam" was contracted.
 Strictly bred children in this coun- try a generation or so ago were in- structed to address strangers and their elders in general with "sir" and ma am Now well-bred children are taught to use sir and madam in addressing strangers, but they are not 0iiCOuTdSei III uSlhS tIlSS6 tSTIlo WHei addressing persons whose names they know. The curt "yes" and mo" is as much dislil1ed as ever. Therefore, you should teach your children to say NO, mother, or No, father "Yes. Aunt Mary, NO, Mrs smith, etc., as the occaSion may demand.
 Well trained and expert servants .make a point to use the "sir" and s"madam' always in addressing either strangers or their employers. The ex- perienced maid does not say Luncheon is served, Mrs. Smith, but Luncheon is served madam" Of course, you could not expect-or would not wish this of a servant who had been maid of all works in your family for years But it is the present usage in house. holds where several well-trained serv ants are employed.
 It is the most natural thing in the world for servants thus trained to refer to their woman employer therefore as "the madam. Of course, this is not correct. The English usage is to speak of the heads of the house as "the mis- tress" and "the master" and this usage is followed in many American homes. However, to most Americans it sounds too servile, and is too suggestive of the time when servants were slaves or serfs instead of members of we'll paid and highly useful profession. In that case then when your maid comes upstairs to tell you that your husband has arrived from business she would say not "the master is home', or your husband is home, but "Mr. So-and-So is home".
 An Englishwoman was commenting on the custom of addressing maids in France with the courteous madam oiselle. And pray what is the English custom?" I asked. What do you, in England, call the waitress or the maid?"
 Tn private houses," he said it seems to be something that sounds like I say and in hotels Hi, Mary"
 Needless to say, this was bit of an exaggeration, but the fact remains that there is no very well-defined custom in this regard either in England or America.
 In both England and America in houses where there are several serv- ants and where there is considerable formality it is never considered good form to call a maid or man servant bv his or her first name but rather by the last name. Thus Mary Dobbins becomes Dobbins and William Gray is simply Gray.