| Show EDUCATED SERVANTS it is so often said that i he plan of engaging ladies as domestic serval servants its does not succeed that it is 18 satisfactory boryto to hear at least of one case where the plan has been tried most satisfactorily facto rily by FL a lady who has domestic establishment both in london and in the country the eternal servant question cropping up in a recent conversation with this lady writes a udy representative senta tive I 1 asked her how the plan of employing educated woman of the upper classes as servants had bad answerer answer ei it has been entirely successful p was the reply and my servants are now always ladies I 1 bave have one a housemaid a charming girl who is the daughter of a medical man and all of whose male relations are professional men and who does her work as thoroughly and as well as any ordinary servant ou ld bt expected to do it then you do not find that after the glamour of novelty is worn off the lady servants begin to find it rather unpleasant to do menial work not in the least inthey if they are real ladies and it is of course only in cases where they are that it can luco eed they will know that menial work does not lower them of cou course rs I 1 try to avoid giving them so called dirty work as much as possible for instance blacking grates is very unpleasant work and very ungrateful work too for the result is never lasting and never particularly effective I 1 therefore have only grates decorated with tiles as much as possible and with the smallest small eat part of ironwork requiring blacking again in order to avoid scrubbing I 1 have the floors covered with a wat material erial which only requires wiping A great many arrangements can be made in this way to make housework less hard and unpleasant and if we the stresses mistresses mi would only spend a little more thought on these matters I 1 am sure there would be fewer complaints from and about servants at the samo same time the lady went on 1 I always insist on my servants fulfilling every duty they have undertaken to perform if they the engage to black my boots they have to do it and do it regularly and will well but this does not prevent me frow from having thim in my drawing room after dinner and playing a game of whist or any other game with them their lives are even under the most favorable circumstances rather monotonous and w where here we can put a little color and brightness into them I 1 think thin kit it is our duty to do t 11 then do they take their meals with you to tco no As a rule 1 I find that they prefer to take their meals together separately and as they have tu to cook and serve s the meals this is a more convenient arrangement but otherwise I 1 treat them as equals and I 1 have not found that they abuse this treatment pall mau mall gazette |
