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Show BOYS BUTTON DRESS L creased cost of living, which has induced in-duced many people who hitherto had handmaids to endeavor to do without them, has been responsible for this. Custom Inaugurated When One Husband Injured His Hand. Messengers Called Upon Frequently in London Because Gowns Are So Expensive, Many Women Cannot Can-not Afford to Keep Maids. London. To many strange and unusual un-usual tasks have the boys of the district dis-trict messenger service been put. They will carry your messages, guide you across London,, look after school boys and girls crossing toyn on their way to or from school, or go round the world for you and all in answer to a simple telephone call. They are ubiquitous, capable, ready for anything. But their latest achievement, and surely the most unusual, is to act as ladies' maids. The other afternoon an excited man rushed into a district messenger office. "Can you send a boy at once to lace up a lady's dress," he asked, apparently appar-ently in despair and obviously expecting ex-pecting to be met with a scornful refusal. re-fusal. "Certainly, sir," was the calm answer. an-swer. "What address?" The address was duly given, and the harassed man walked off mopping his brow. "I told the man in charge I had heard ttfey could send boys to do anything," any-thing," he said afterwards, "but I thought that would be too much for them, but not a bit of it." "I was in a horrible fix. My wife's maid was taken suddenly ill, and we bad an important function that night, and I could not find a maid at such short notice. My wife's dress buttons or laces up the back I -don't know which. I have hurt ray fingers, and cannot help her, and she cannot do it herself, and there are no other servants ser-vants in the house." Later the lady who had been "buttoned "but-toned up" and the boy were interviewed. inter-viewed. Said the lady: "He was as quick and light fingered as my own maid. My dress is a particularly par-ticularly awkward one lo fasten, too. but in less than a minute he had got the hooks and eyes to meet, and a glance at myself in the glass assured i me that I was perfectly dressed. "The boy declared he had never i done a job like this before, but I can i hardly believe it. Afterwards, just to try him, I made him take down some of my skirts from a cupboard and fold them ready for packing. He did it beautifully." The boy, a fresh-faced youngster ot about 14, said he had never done this particular job before. "But often we get curious jobs, which we know very little about," be j said. "We soon get used to using our hrains and fingers on any emergency that may crop up." Inquiries elucidated the fact that this is not an isolated instance of a boy acting as lady's maid. A lady a few days ago. in much the same circumstances, arranged that a boy should be at her house at 6 p. m. to "button her up" at the back, and again at 11 p. m. to unbutton her. The fashion of dresses which button but-ton at the back, where no woman cau possibly reach herself, and the in ' |