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diff --git a/43042-0.txt b/43042-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8db3766 --- /dev/null +++ b/43042-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2178 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43042 *** + +[Transcriber's Note: Underscores are used as delimiters for _italics_] + + + + + THE + EXPERT MAID-SERVANT + + BY + CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK + + AUTHOR OF "HOUSEKEEPING MADE EASY" + "WHAT TO EAT AND HOW TO SERVE IT" + "CRADLE AND NURSERY" ETC. + + NEW YORK AND LONDON + HARPER & BROTHERS + PUBLISHERS :: 1904 + + + Copyright, 1904, by Harper & Brothers. + _All rights reserved._ + Published October, 1904. + + + + + TO + A FRIEND IN NEED + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. Engaging the Maid 1 + + II. When the Maid Arrives 19 + + III. Mistress and Maid 36 + + IV. The Duties of the Maid-of-all-work 52 + + V. Duties of Two or More Servants 70 + + VI. Certain Problems of Service 88 + + VII. General Suggestions 104 + + VIII. A Recapitulation of Daily Duties 125 + + + + + THE + EXPERT MAID-SERVANT + + + + +I + +ENGAGING THE MAID + + +The most common method of engaging a servant is through an intelligence +office. There are nearly as many different kinds of these as there are +types of domestics who patronize them. An office with a high standing +should be selected. This is not only because a lower grade of employées +is to be found at the other variety, but also on account of the +methods followed in some of the cheaper offices. Such establishments +occasionally have unscrupulous managers, who make a business of +encouraging the maids they place to change often, in order that the +renewed fee of the employer may come to the office. This practice has +become common enough in some States to justify legislative intervention. + +In nearly every city or town there are reputable agencies, sometimes +conducted as business enterprises simply, sometimes run in connection +with church or benevolent societies, where a register is kept of the +references of servants for whom places are secured. These references +are usually held as confidential between the agent and the would-be +employer, and the latter is thus enabled to learn with some certainty +the qualifications of the maid she thinks of engaging. + +Once in a while a mistress is so fortunate as to secure a maid by the +recommendation of some other housekeeper or through a servant in her +own or a friend's employ. Maids engaged in this fashion are often more +satisfactory than those found at an office, from the fact that they +enter their new positions somewhat prejudiced in favor of the employer, +instead of holding the attitude of armed neutrality often found in +servants who seek places through an office. + +Wherever the maid is met and in whatever capacity she is engaged, there +should be a clear understanding from the beginning as to what her work +shall be. The mistress should begin the interview with the maid she +seeks to employ by stating what are the duties of the place she offers +and inquiring as to the capabilities of the maid for the position. Often +a few questions and answers will prove the unsatisfactoriness of the +situation or of the applicant. In this case, the affair should be +dropped at once. Never, no matter what the exigency, should the +housekeeper endeavor to persuade a domestic into taking a place for +which she is disinclined. It is a mistake almost sure to result badly. + +The housekeeper should come to an interview with a prospective maid with +an open mind, and not allow herself to be prejudiced by appearances. An +aspect of sullenness is frequently the result of shyness and does not +indicate unwillingness to work or a bad temper. The would-be employer +should speak gently and not ask questions with a manner of having the +maid in the witness-box. Such treatment will sometimes frighten a timid +maid into inability to answer intelligently, and the employer will +produce an impression of her own hardness and severity which she will +find it difficult to overcome later. The pert and self-sufficient maid +is likely to declare her nature within a very few minutes. Kindness will +not intensify these qualities in her, while it will enable a bashful +girl to appear to better advantage. + +Before interviewing a maid, the mistress should have clearly framed +in her own mind the outlines of the work required, and should know +definitely what queries she means to put. Each mistress probably has her +own way of learning the maid's capabilities and of explaining the work +she wishes done. The housekeeper who has had little practice in engaging +servants will do well to make up a formula of inquiries in advance. To +begin with, it should be ascertained what experience the maid has +had, what was her last place, how long she stayed in it, what were her +reasons for leaving it. Having thus learned if the servant seems to +be in the main satisfactory, so far as disposition and willingness are +concerned, the mistress should proceed to explain what is the work of +the house, putting such questions as will enable the girl to tell of her +competency. + +For instance, in engaging a maid for general housework, she should be +asked if she understands plain cooking of meats and vegetables; if she +can make bread, biscuit and muffins, soups and plain puddings; if she +can follow a recipe, etc. More elaborate culinary accomplishments can +rarely be looked for in a maid-of-all-work. She should also be able +to do washing and ironing, have some knowledge of chamber-work and of +waiting, and be willing to learn. There are so many qualifications +for the general-housework girl, who must be a sort of Pooh Bah in +petticoats, that it is no wonder the supply is usually inadequate to the +demand. + +There should be no attempt on the part of the mistress to make things in +the place she offers seem better than they are. A servant who is brought +into a house under false pretences is never likely to do well. If the +prospective mistress entertains a good deal, if she is likely to have +guests staying in the house often, she should give full notice of +her intention from the start, explaining at the same time that she is +willing to do all she can to lighten the burden of extra work. So far as +possible, the amount of labor should be put clearly before the employée, +so that if the place does not suit her she may know its drawbacks from +the beginning. Naturally, it should also be the part of the mistress to +point out what are the especial advantages of the situation, and to let +the maid see that the employer is ready to do anything in her power to +prevent unusual toil from being too heavily felt. No chance should be +left for misunderstanding upon any point, and from the first it should +be comprehended that a spirit of accommodation and kindliness will be +accorded by the mistress and expected from the maid. + +After the mistress and maid have reached some kind of an adjustment that +makes them feel the relation of employer and employed would be desirable +to both, it is time for the housekeeper to make special inquiry about +the maid's references. If the office is a reputable one it may be taken +for granted that the servants' characters are in the main what they +should be, but the mistress will wish to go into details and either see +the former employer or write to her. + +This matter of references is most important. The mistress owes it to the +maid as well as to herself to see that these are all they should be. No +matter how excellent is the written reference shown by the servant, +it should be verified by the prospective employer. In many cases the +mistress of a departing maid will write for her an uncandid reference +for the sake of saving herself an unpleasant scene or from a mistaken +kindliness. She does not wish to endanger the maid's chances of securing +further employment, and she prefers to stretch the truth to being honest +in the recommendation she bestows. A lamentable want of honor prevails +between housekeepers in this regard, and the woman who has not found +a maid in the least satisfactory while in her own employ will send her +forth with a reference which makes it tolerably sure she can obtain +a situation elsewhere without difficulty. On the other hand, the new +mistress is no less heedless and will take a servant into her employ +simply on the strength of a written reference without giving herself the +pains to inquire as to its accuracy. + +Too much stress can hardly be laid upon this necessity for honesty in +the references given. It is the protection of the maid as well as of +the mistress. So long as any servant can secure a good place by a forged +reference or by one granted to incompetency by easy good-nature, +she will not feel that her employment depends upon her merits. The +conscientious trained worker stands on precisely the same plane as the +careless, unqualified shirk. A good part of the reformation of the much +criticised domestic service lies with the mistress who deplores its +faults. When a maid understands that laziness, impertinence, dishonesty, +ill-temper, incompetency, will be mentioned in her reference just +as frankly as the contrary good qualities, she will take more pains +concerning the recommendation that will win or lose her a place. + +As a matter of course, there is always the chance that an unscrupulous +or bad-tempered mistress may take advantage of the power of the +reference. But this risk is small, especially in the present condition +of our domestic service. We have not yet reached the point attained by +the English, with whom a false reference--that is, one not written by +a genuine employer of the servant holding the reference--is punished by +fine or imprisonment. From present appearances, it does not seem likely +that we shall ever get to that. But the mistresses might at least have +the sense of mutual responsibility that marks "living-out girls." If a +place is once known as hard, or a mistress as unreasonable, unkind, or +a "driver," it is difficult to find servants to fill it. There is an +unorganized trades-union among servants which helps to protect them, +in a measure. The mistresses have too little _esprit de corps_ when +references are in question. + +It is difficult to describe to a prospective maid exactly what her +work will be, but she can have a general outline of it given to her. +Concerning her privileges it is possible to be more explicit, although +the privileges vary with the position the maid occupies in the +household. Where one servant is kept, it is customary to allow her every +other Sunday afternoon and evening out, and an afternoon and evening +besides on a week-day, once a fortnight--or else an evening every week. +When two servants are employed the same privilege is allowed to each, +and it is the general rule that one shall take the work of the other on +the days and evenings out of the latter. Thus, the second maid prepares +dinner as well as serves it, when the cook is out, while the cook does +the waiting and serving and answers the bell, in addition to doing her +own work, when the second maid has her holiday. In some households it is +the custom to have supper instead of dinner on the night when the cook +goes out, thus lightening the task of the waitress. The Sunday evening +supper is practically universal, as it gives the maids their heaviest +work in the early part of the day and lessens the labor of the afternoon +and evening. In the household where three women servants are employed, +it is the custom to have but one out at a time, except on Sundays. More +or less planning is required to divide the work satisfactorily +under these circumstances, and the method in which the division is +accomplished must be decided by the features of each case. Whatever the +peculiarities of the position, they must be made plain to the maid when +she is engaged, and not left at random to be decided upon later. + +The arrangements once made, it must be understood that the rules formed +are not to be lightly broken, either by mistress or maid. The employée +is to know that she can count positively on a certain day a week, and +the mistress must submit to great personal inconvenience sooner than +vary from this rule. If, for instance, it is more agreeable for her to +entertain guests on Thursday than on Wednesday, and the former is the +maid's evening out, the mistress should waive her own preferences +and convenience sooner than break in upon the maid's outing. The same +principle should be followed by the maid. Her day out is agreed upon +to be this or that. She should not feel that she can change it to suit +herself, merely by requesting the indulgence of her mistress. + +In other matters about the household there should be a fixed routine, +and this should be understood from the outset. Meals will be served at +certain hours, the maid will be expected to have them on time and the +family to be prompt at the table. Such system as this does much towards +simplifying the work of a household and gives a maid a feeling of +stability that helps her to do her work to better advantage. She knows +what she has to do in the line of work and what to depend upon in the +way of time, and as a consequence the wheels of the home move more +smoothly. + +Such a hard-and-fast rule as this cannot prevail, perhaps, in every +household. Take the case of a physician, for instance, of a newspaper +man, of some business-men. It is almost out of the question for them to +conform to an immutable regulation. If a doctor has been up all night +with a patient, it is rank absurdity to say that he must be on hand in +the morning for an eight-o'clock breakfast, or that if a commuter loses +his train he must stop in town and get his dinner sooner than derange +the times and seasons of the domestic economy. In such cases it is well +to remember that the house is made for the family and not the family for +the house. But instances like these are exceptions, and do not affect +the general application of the rule. + +On the other hand, it may be urged that there are happy and, in the +main, well-conducted homes where a different principle is followed. In +these the establishment is considered more as the home and less as a +piece of machinery. Concessions are rendered to the preferences of the +servants when they wish to vary their days out, and they in turn are +ready to accommodate themselves to the wishes of their employers when +a change of holidays seems desirable. Such liberties as these it is +not safe to advise. They are the exceptions, and, in the long run, the +stricter plan will probably prove more satisfactory to all concerned. + +At the time of engaging the maid, the mistress should make stipulations +as to the minutiæ of caps, aprons, broad collars and cuffs, and the +like. In some parts of the country there are maids who object to +anything that seems to suggest a livery or uniform, and, if there are +protests to be made and met, the process should be disposed of at the +start. + +Many mistresses and maids fail to grasp the fact that the engagement +between them is in the nature of a legal contract. Mistress and maid are +equals in the eyes of the law, and an agreement is as binding upon one +as upon the other. It should be perfectly understood at the beginning +for what term the maid is engaged and at what rates. In some places it +is the custom to pay by the week, and the servant is then engaged by +that term. In other localities she is engaged and paid by the month, +although she is frequently taken at first on a week's trial, with the +understanding that, if she gives satisfaction and is suited with the +place, she is to continue her services by the month. When the latter +period is the term of engagement, it is understood that the employer is +expected to give not less than a week's notice of discharge to a maid, +and that the latter should announce a week before her month is up her +intention of leaving. Should the mistress prefer, she can give a week's +wages in lieu of a week's notice, but the former method is in more +general use. + +When a servant is engaged by the week, two or three days' notice is +demanded on either side. The "month's notice" with which English books +have made us familiar is not common here, unless the servant has been +for a long time in the place. Immorality, drunkenness, dishonesty, and +absolute refusal to obey orders are sufficient causes for dismissing a +servant without warning or wages; but this is an extreme measure, and +should be resorted to only in circumstances of great provocation. Even +then, complications are often avoided by paying a servant something, if +not all of what is due. The servant who leaves without warning in the +middle of her term is not legally entitled to her wages, but in this +case, also, trouble is usually saved by paying her up to date. + +Among the stipulations incident to the engagement of a maid, it is well +to make mention of breakages. This may not be needful when hiring a +cook, but it is a safeguard when engaging a waitress or even a general +housework servant. Inquiries should be put as to the maid's carefulness +with china, and there should be an agreement that the maid is +responsible for breakages except in cases of unavoidable accident. Such +a proviso as this may deter some maids from taking a place, but the +careful girl is not likely to object to the rule, and the mistress would +probably be unfortunate should she engage a maid who resented such a +regulation. + + + + +II + +WHEN THE MAID ARRIVES + + +The first days of a servant in a new place are not easy either for +mistress or for maid. This should be recognized by the mistress, and she +should lay in an extra supply of patience for the emergency. She will +need it, in order to endure with equanimity the sins, negligences, and +ignorances of the new-comer--especially the ignorances. Yet, looked at +impartially, the blunders made by the maid are probably not so much the +result of ignorance as of unaccustomedness. The situation is much +harder for her than for the mistress. The latter is at least on familiar +ground. To the former the place is an unknown quantity. She does not +know where anything is kept. She is ignorant of the preferences of her +new employer. She is encompassed by novel surroundings and faces; and--a +fact that is not always recognized by employers--the very phraseology of +the new mistress is strange to her. The maid lacks the mental +training that would enable her to adapt herself quickly to the changed +conditions, the unusual expressions. Under the circumstances, the wonder +is not that she does things so badly, but that she accommodates herself +as readily as she does to the fresh environment. + +I have spoken of the diffidence that sometimes produces the impression +of sullenness. This same diffidence often takes other forms that are +even more trying than gloom. I have known of one maid who, during the +first fortnight of her stay in a new place, received every order with a +loud giggle--the fashion in which her embarrassment manifested itself. +Another was so much at a loss what to do with her hands when they were +not occupied with her work, that she slapped them together constantly as +she moved about the house or stood waiting for orders. Yet both of +these maids, after their first shyness had worn off and they had found +themselves and their relation to their work, became admirable servants +and overcame the defects that had at first tried the patience of the +mistress almost beyond endurance. + +In the average American household, where there is only a small domestic +force, the mistress should always show the servant what are her duties +or direct how these are to be performed. In large households, where +there is a housekeeper, the training of the new servants may be +delegated to her, but these establishments are too few to be weighed +in making up the main account. As soon as the maid comes the mistress +should direct her or show her to her room, and tell her to change her +street garb for her working-dress and then to report herself to the +mistress. She, on her own part, should be ready for the new-comer, not +only with a clearly framed idea of the work she will put her to first, +but also with the house in good order for the work that is to be done. + +Nothing is more discouraging to a servant than to come into a place that +is dirty from the carelessness of the former occupant, or untidy and +topsy-turvy. The maid is as susceptible to first impressions as the rest +of us, and the moral effect of bringing her into a dirty and disorderly +kitchen is distinctly bad. The mistress should have had the kitchen +and pantries cleaned by the outgoing maid--and it should have been done +under her own supervision or else thoroughly inspected after the work +is finished. Should the maid who is leaving not have done her task +thoroughly, it is better for the mistress to give her own time and labor +to cleaning closets and shelves, or engage a charwoman to do it, than +to permit the maid to come in before the work is properly performed. The +servant who finds dust in the corners, the stove unpolished, the cellar +and refrigerator uncleaned, is likely to draw the conclusion that the +places can remain as she found them, or may be suffered to drift into +the same condition again whenever she is too lazy or too careless to +give them proper attention. + +A word about the maid's bedroom. In some circumstances it is impossible +to make it very alluring. When all of a family are tucked away in dark, +inside rooms, as is the case in many city apartments, it cannot be +expected that the maid will fare better than her employers. But, +fortunately, all humanity are not cliff-dwellers. There are plenty of +homes where it is possible for the maid to have a light, airy bedroom, +which could be made attractive at a small expenditure of time and money. +Yet it is seldom that a servant's room has anything pleasing about +it. The mistresses defend themselves by saying that the servants are +heedless with good things, that they do not take care of what is given +them, and any mistress can cite facts to prove this position. + +Without disputing the truth of these statements, it may yet be urged +that it is hard for a servant to come into a room that bears plainly the +traces of its former occupant's untidiness. Possibly the new-comer has +in her the potentialities of neatness and cleanliness, and it is unfair +to check these at the start. The room cannot be refurnished for every +new maid; but the furniture it contains can be of a sort that is readily +freshened. The white iron cots are neat as well as comfortable, and +there should be a good mattress always. A hard-working maid has a +right to a comfortable bed. If there are two servants, they should have +separate beds. This should be an invariable rule. The mattress should be +protected by one of the covers that come for this purpose. This can +be washed as often as it needs it. The blankets, too, should be washed +between the departure of one maid and the arrival of another. A neat +iron wash-stand, a plain bureau that can have a fresh bureau-cover or a +clean towel laid over it, a comfortable chair, a rug by the bed, are not +expensive and add much to the comfort of a room. It is wiser to have the +floor bare and painted, or spread with a matting, than covered with a +shabby and worn-out carpet which gathers dust and dirt. The walls +are better painted than papered. The mistress can consult her own +preferences as to whether or not she shall put pictures on the walls, +but she should not make of the maid's room a lumber place for the old +engravings and chromos that will be tolerated in no other part of the +house, and do it under the impression that she is making the place +attractive to the maid-servant within her gates. The bed should, if +possible, be made up before the maid arrives, with a fresh spread, and +the room should have the absolute cleanliness that is always a charm. + +One more point should be looked after in preparing for the maid's +arrival. The mistress should make sure that the supply of china and +cutlery that the maid will use for her own meals is in decent order. +It cannot be pleasant for any one to have bent and tarnished forks and +spoons, cracked and stained cups, saucers, and plates for her food. The +cost of replacing these by new is very slight and pays for itself in the +agreeable impression given the maid by the fresh, bright articles. + +A list of the dining-room silver, linen, and china should be made by +the mistress and gone over by her with the maid the day of the latter's +arrival. By thus verifying the list the maid has a clear idea of +the property that is given into her charge and knows for what she is +responsible. If the china is nicked or cracked, mention should be made +on the list of each piece thus disfigured, and there should be a note +of linen that is worn or broken. By means of such a list the mistress is +able to keep track of her possessions and there is no possibility of the +maid's excusing a chipped plate or a cracked dish with the plea that +it was injured before she came. Such a list is also a safeguard to the +maid, who is by it enabled to prove that she is not to be blamed for +disasters that occurred during the stay of a predecessor. + +When the servant presents herself ready dressed for her work, the +mistress should tell her as simply as possible what this will be. The +instruction would better be given in broken doses. The workings of the +untrained mind are peculiar, and in mental equipment the average servant +is often on a level with a child of ten or twelve. Bestow too many facts +at once and you produce only confusion. So it is not well to make an +attempt to give the maid a bird's-eye view of what will be her whole +duty, but rather to acquaint her by degrees with her occupations. The +first step is for the mistress to show her where her work is to be and +the instruments with which she is to perform it. Should she be a cook, +she must be introduced to the kitchen, the management of the range +explained to her, the whereabouts of the principal utensils made clear. +If it is the waitress who is to be inducted into office, she should be +taken to the china-closet, the contents of this and of the silver and +linen drawers displayed, and the particular pieces pointed out that are +in daily service. When the waitress is also the chambermaid, there are +explanations required as to the upstairs work. But, as I have said, it +is better to supply these little by little. + +For example, if the cook comes into the house in the morning, give +her time to get used to her kitchen and her tools before too much +information is offered as to the preferences of the family in cookery. +Since the first meal she will have to prepare will be luncheon, tell her +about this, and do not burden her with the details of dinner until after +lunch is over. Still less try to give her at one fell swoop all she +will need to know about breakfast the next morning or what she will be +expected to do on washing and ironing day. + +These instructions may sound unnecessary to the trained and experienced +housekeeper; but the world is not entirely made up of these. The +majority of women are more or less lacking in sense of proportion and +in perspective, and this lack leads to a jumbling of their ideas which +makes life complex for those to whom the ideas are to be imparted. Of +course, once in a while one finds an intelligent servant who understands +herself well enough to slip at once into her place and do the work of +it smoothly, but she is the rare exception to the rule. The housekeeper +must plan for the average, not for the exception. + +This way of giving orders naturally confines the housekeeper more or +less during the first days of her new maid's arrival--but a domestic +convulsion of any sort is attended with drawbacks. The mistress must +appreciate the fact that she will have to sacrifice herself a little in +order to train her new maid properly, and that the result will be worth +the trouble. + +This does not mean that the mistress should stand over a servant and +dictate the way in which every duty is to be performed. The employer +should bear in mind that there is more than one right way of doing +nearly everything, and if the new maid has a special way of her own of +accomplishing this or that, she should be allowed to follow her custom +until she has proved that it is not so good as that of her mistress. +This may sound reckless, but it has common-sense to commend it. When the +maid is given a chance to prove or disprove the excellence of her method +and it turns out to be as good as that of the mistress, there is the +saving of just so much friction and effort in teaching and learning a +new way. + +In advocating this I am taking it for granted that the maid has some +idea of the manner in which her work is to be done. If she is absolutely +"green," she will have to be taught from the beginning, and then the +mistress has no option. Such servants are discouraging and tiresome at +the outset, but they often turn out the best in the long-run. In their +cases the mistress has no bad impressions to efface and she can implant +her own modes in virgin soil. + +When, however, the maid has some knowledge of her duties, the mistress +should show her where she is to work, give her directions for the +services that come next, and then leave her to herself. She will learn +her way about her domain much more quickly if she is unembarrassed by +the presence of an observer. + +The mistress must be prepared for blunders even after she has given +explicit directions. As I have said, it is quite possible the maid +may not understand the mistress at first, or, in the confusion of new +impressions, she may forget or confound directions. Should she serve +a dish in a different fashion from that in which it has been ordered, +reproof should be reserved until the mistress has made sure of the +reason for the variation. If the wrong china or silver or linen is +used, corrections should be made judiciously. The fault may have been +forgetfulness, it may have been misunderstanding, and, in any case, +fresh confusion will be the result if too many blunders are commented +upon at once. The maid should be directed to repair one or two +omissions, and the rest should be ignored for the time being, to be put +right later on. + +Occasionally a maid will be found who seems chronically unable to set a +table right. I have known of several who persisted in putting on crooked +the square of damask that was used at breakfast and luncheon instead +of the large cloth that covered the entire table at dinner. The square +would be laid in a slanting, to-one-side fashion that gave the whole +table a drunken look. The mistress finally hit upon a successful plan. +She put four chairs on the four sides of the table, each exactly in +the middle of a side, and then laid on the cloth with each of its four +corners precisely in front of a chair. The object-lesson worked to a +charm and crooked cloths became a thing of the past. + +Forgetfulness of some piece of table-furniture is a more common fault +and one more difficult to rectify. If it seems impossible to overcome it +in any other way, the mistress may make a ground plan of the table as it +should look when properly laid, or write a list of all the objects that +should go on it for different meals. It is not necessary to resort to +this, however, until several days' experience has proved the new maid's +inability to grasp what is required. + +A chambermaid will make corresponding blunders for a time. She will +have to be told more than once how the beds are to be made, will have +to receive repeated instruction never to put the blankets on with the +doubled end at the top, and to be careful about stretching tight the +lower sheet and tucking in the coverings properly at the bottom. At the +beginning the mistress should establish her standard about this sort of +thing as she does about sweeping, dusting, and other cleaning, and +she must never relax her requirements if she expects to have her house +properly kept. + +All this need not be told the maid the first day she comes, but even +then she may be made to understand that work is not to be slighted or +neglected. This principle, at least, she must have clearly in her mind +at the end of the first day's service, even although her thoughts may +be a trifle chaotic as regards details. Those it will be the work of the +mistress to make clear as time goes on and the maid becomes accustomed +to her work. + + + + +III + +MISTRESS AND MAID + + +There is a type of mistress who seems to regard servants as beings of an +inferior order. Her directions are given curtly--sometimes harshly. +She takes the ground that the servant is paid for her work and that +for anything beyond the business relation there is no need for +consideration. She may be called one extreme type. + +The other extreme is more common. In her desire to propitiate her +employée she is herself almost servile. She is in frank fear lest the +servant may leave her, and in order to retain her services makes almost +any concession. Such mistresses as these furnish materials for most of +the jokes on the servant question--jokes that are hardly exaggerated. + +Between these two extremes there is room for a mistress who unites +considerateness with self-respect. She speaks pleasantly to her +servants, but she does not spoil them by an ingratiatory manner or show +herself ready to make any sacrifice sooner than run the risk of parting +with them. She gives orders as orders, instead of asking services as +favors; but she issues her commands in a kindly way and with none of the +tone or manner of a dictator, still less of a shrew. When her servants +are to be reprimanded, she does it quietly, lowering rather than raising +her voice. If a servant cannot be managed in this manner, she feels it +is better to part with her. In the words of a veteran housekeeper of +this variety, "I will not have a servant in my house whom I have to +scold." + +Every one recollects the saying that in herding sheep it is necessary +not only to teach the dogs to drive the sheep, but to accustom the sheep +to obey the dogs. So it is as desirable for the mistress to learn +the proper method of dealing with the maids as it is for the maids to +understand the mistress. There are many kinds of manners in both. +But few are the servants who do not respond more quickly to a kindly, +gracious manner than to one tinged with severity. + +Mention has been made of the difficulty a maid sometimes has in +accustoming herself to the phraseology of a new mistress. To the girl's +hesitancy about asking for a repetition of an order, or an explanation, +are due some of the blunders she makes. The mistress should be sure she +is entirely understood before she sends the girl about her work. +Also, she should be clear as to the cause of a mistake or of apparent +disobedience before she finds fault. Always the mistress should be ready +to make explanations about the work. When the maid comes for instruction +she should be met patiently, and if there seems to be a difficulty of +understanding, a practical illustration will often do more than half an +hour of verbal directions. When the mistress can show the maid how +the table is to be set, how the beds are to be made, can give her an +object-lesson in sweeping or dusting or dish-washing, she will have +accomplished more than a dozen lectures would have wrought. Nothing +better in instruction has been devised than the Squeers method. "First +they spells it and they goes and does it." But it is the mistress who +does the spelling as well as the doing if she wishes the new maid to +grasp a novel mode of performing a household duty. + +The mistress should not shrink from reproof when it has to be +administered. There are very few employées in any walk of life who are +possessed of so large a supply of conscientiousness that they discharge +their duties as well without oversight as with it. To every gang of +workmen there is an overseer. In housekeeping the mistress is overseer +as well as planner. She must "follow up" her maids--not so obviously +that they feel she does not trust them, but closely enough to produce +the impression upon them that she takes an interest in their work and +means to see that it is thoroughly done. When it is not accomplished to +her liking she should call them to account, not unkindly, but decidedly. +If a ring of dust around the bric-à-brac shows where the duster has +been flourished about the furniture instead of being used to wipe each +surface carefully, the mistress should call the maid to bring her cloth +and point out to her the defects in that portion of her work. Should +there be dirt left in the corners of the room, finger-marks on the +paint, streaks on the windows, the same course should be pursued. When +this has been done a few times, unless the employée is exceptionally +slow-witted, she learns that it is less trouble to perform the work +properly in the first place than to have to go over it twice, and the +second time under the supervision of the mistress. + +All this the employer can do without joining the ranks of the fussers +or belonging to that class known as the "nasty particular" housekeepers. +The latter, who put the cleanliness of the house so far above the +comfort of its inmates that these feel they would rather have dirt with +peace than tidiness without it, are common enough to make a word of +warning in place. But it is possible to accomplish neatness without +sacrificing family concord, and in the desire to secure the latter the +housekeeper should not permit herself or her servants to drift into +carelessness. + +From the first the mistress should have it clearly understood that there +is no place in the house into which she may not penetrate. Her daily +inspection of the refrigerator and the pantries should be a matter of +course. Her presence in the kitchen should never excite surprise or +provoke criticism. Naturally, she should exercise tact in this as in +every other relation of life. For instance, she should not choose the +time for her morning visit to the kitchen when the maids are at their +breakfast. In fact, she should be punctilious not to call her servants +from their meals except in cases of absolute necessity. They have a +right to take their food undisturbed, and this right the mistress should +respect. Nor should the housekeeper choose the cook's busiest day for +doing cooking on her own account, if this is going to add to the sum of +the servant's labors. It is lack of consideration on these points that +gives a house the reputation of being a "hard place." When such details +as these are observed, servants are more likely to be contented, even if +the work is heavy, than they are in a lighter place where they feel that +their rights and privileges are disregarded. + +If a servant is to be reprimanded, it should never be done in the +presence of a third person. The maid is no less human because she is +in a subordinate position, and it is hard for any of us to take reproof +kindly when it is bestowed in the hearing of some one else. If the +mistress is inclined to be hasty, it is well for her to wait a few +minutes after the discovery of the fault before she utters her rebuke. +That will give her time to get the fault a little in perspective and +to see its true proportions. Then she should summon the maid to her and +deliver her words of warning or reprimand. Never should she go to the +kitchen to scold the cook. There the knowledge of the latter that she +is, so to speak, on her own ground has sometimes the unfortunate effect +of provoking an impertinent rejoinder, which would not be forthcoming +if the interview had taken place in the mistress's own room or in the +drawing-room. + +There is a peculiar sting in a reproof given for a fault that is due to +accident, to misunderstanding, or to some other pardonable cause. Very +often the request for an explanation will bring out facts that +the mistress had not known and which put a different face upon the +occurrence. When rebuke is essential it should not only be delivered +quietly, but there should be no mark of anger in the manner of the +mistress. Such demeanor as this is more impressive than the harsh tones, +the sharp words, for which the culprit might have been prepared. + +There are, of course, limits to which faults may be permitted to go. If +it is impossible to conquer them by reproof, it is better to discharge a +servant than to have to persist in fault-finding. Life is too short for +perpetual rebukes. + +Never should the mistress forget that there is as much demand for +courtesy in her terms with her servants as in any other relation in +which she is placed. This is a fact that is often overlooked. A woman +does not make herself less but more of a lady by prefixing "please" to +her requests to her servants, or by rewarding a service with a word of +thanks. This sounds so obvious that the injunction may seem absurd, but +a little observation of mistresses and maids will convince any one that +there is need for the advice. In many households not only the mistress +but the master of the home gives orders harshly and discourteously, and +the children are quick to take their cue from their elders. A degree of +rudeness is permitted by parents in their children that should not +be tolerated for an instant. The small boys and girls in presumably +well-bred families bully and "sauce" the servants in a fashion that +would do credit to a gang of hoodlums in a tough district. Sometimes the +parents do not know it, at other times they know of it and do not take +the pains to correct it. The children should be taught to show courtesy +to servants as well as to any one else with whom they are brought +into contact. The very fact that the employées are not at liberty +to retaliate in kind should be used as an argument to teach them the +cowardice of insolence and unkindness. + +When courtesy is given by the employers it seldom fails to be accorded +by the employed. A courteous order meets a respectful response, and, +as a rule, willing service is more likely to be granted. As a matter of +course, the service is in a way an obligation that is bought and paid +for, but the introduction of a little kindliness into the transaction +does much to diminish friction. Apart from that, however, the courtesy +is a duty the employer owes herself, quite irrespective of its effect +upon her servants. + +While reproof should be given where it is needed, the mistress should +never suffer herself to neglect the virtue of praise. It is a hard life +when one's shortcomings only are recognized and one's good deeds are +taken as a matter of course. If humanity were at its highest level the +thought that the work was well done would perhaps be enough to bring +satisfaction, but as it is, a word of commendation is grateful to all of +us. It is a little thing to praise the latest baking as remarkably good, +to commend the maid who has waited exceptionally well at a company lunch +or dinner, to say a kindly word when a fault of heedlessness or neglect +has been corrected; but such words as these are the oil that greases the +domestic machinery. Without them it runs hard and demands more power to +keep it in motion. + +There is always the possibility of such commendation being given so +often that it comes to mean nothing. This danger the mistress must guard +against. There is also the chance that the maid may be of the variety +with whom praise must be cumulative in order to produce any effect. I +have known one of that sort. If her biscuit were praised once as being +good, they had to be called excellent the second time, surpassing the +third, and so on, until the adjectives applicable to biscuit had been +exhausted and the mistress saw dark gloom on the servant's face, and was +asked coldly if the biscuit were not as good as usual. But such cases +as these are not common, and in any circumstances the housekeeper must +gauge the appetite for praise and administer it with judgment. + +Sometimes one meets a presuming maid who takes advantage of the kindness +of the mistress to force an undue familiarity. This, too, must be +watched for, but the possibility of this result does not do away with +the desirability of consideration on the part of the mistress to the +maid. Fully as often as one finds this trouble does one see a foolish +mistress who, taking a fancy to a maid, lets the latter drift into +a position of pseudo-intimacy which is hard to break off. It is not +probable that the latter would have put herself forward without a +certain amount of encouragement. Once in a blue moon one meets a pearl +of a serving-woman who is worthy of all the confidence and affection +that can be bestowed upon her, and who grants to her employers an +unselfish devotion that one rarely gets from one's next of kin. Such +cases are few and far between, and blessed among women is she who has +such a treasure in her household. The average housekeeper should not +be too ready to think she has drawn one of these prizes in the +domestic-service lottery. If she goes ahead too quickly on this +hypothesis, she may have an unpleasant awakening. When advances are +made by the mistress, and the maid presumes upon them, it is only the +mistress who is to blame if the maid "forgets her place." + +The mistress should avoid taking sides in any controversy between +servants. Often there is a good deal of jealousy between the employées +in a household, and if one maid is favored more than another there is +likely to be hard feeling. This pitfall must be kept in mind by the +mistress. Even without expressed preferences for one over the other, she +is sometimes in danger of being drawn into quarrels the servants have +between themselves. Almost always she is wise to decline to espouse the +part of either one. Occasionally, if she has good servants who seem to +misunderstand one another it may be worth while, for her own sake as +well as for theirs, to attempt to adjust differences between them. As a +rule, it is well for her to keep out of it after one trial has shown her +that her intervention has worked no good. Never should the mistress +be led into discussing one servant with another, or listening to the +complaints that a domestic makes of her fellow-workers. Class-feeling +is stronger than the relation of employer and employed, and the mistress +who takes up the cause of one maid against another is by way of finding +she has put her fingers between the bark and the tree. The two employées +are likely to make up the quarrel and combine in common cause against +the mistress. This does not bespeak any especial depravity on their +part. They are simply human beings, and the tie that binds them together +holds where that which attaches them to the mistress fails. They go with +their own as she would with her own. + +In order to avert complications it is safe for the mistress to give her +orders direct to her servants instead of sending them by one maid +to another. The latter course makes room for misunderstanding and +recriminations. When a maid has been in the same employ for a good +while, this rule may be waived, but when she is new to the place there +should be no go-between in the matter of giving directions. The mistress +should announce her own orders. + + + + +IV + +THE DUTIES OF THE MAID-OF-ALL-WORK + + +The general housework servant has already been referred to as a Pooh Bah +in petticoats. She takes practically all labor for her province. It +is an illustration of the value of specialization that as a rule she +commands lower wages for her services than does a maid who fills any one +alone of the functions the general housework servant performs. + +Since the duties of the maid-of-all-work are what they are, the mistress +should make a stipulation at the time of the engagement that the +employée should be ready to "turn her hand to anything." For it is fatal +if she once begins to say that this or that is not "her work." That +phrase is reserved for the use of the specialist. The general servant +should understand that one of the conditions of her position is +the necessity for making herself useful in every department of the +household. + +This does not mean that she is to be a domestic drudge of the London +"slavey" type. She needs no warning against this. Domestic service of +a good sort is too hard to secure in this country for there to be any +danger of the maid becoming down-trodden and imposed upon. The country +bound-girl may have to submit to imposition, but it would not be +tolerated for a moment by the ordinary independent serving-maid. If +there is domination on either side it is more likely to be found on the +part of the maid, who feels the advantage at which she holds her alleged +mistress. + +Putting aside extreme cases and turning to the average maid and +mistress, it may be repeated that it is difficult to define with +clearness the exact duties of the maid-of-all-work. She understands that +she is to do cooking, waiting, and chamber-work, and probably washing +and ironing. Should the family be small she will perform nearly all +these duties herself--that is, if the family live in a simple fashion. +Should the household be large, the maid may expect a helper with the +laundry-work, and the lighter house-work will devolve upon the mistress +of the house or her daughters. One pair of hands, even when backed by a +quick head and a willing heart, cannot accomplish everything in the work +of the house without neglecting or slighting something. The mistress of +one maid must recognize this and be prepared to take her share of the +labor when this is heavy. What her part is to be she must define as +clearly as possible at the first, in order that the maid may know just +what she has to do and be able to arrange her occupations to the best +advantage. When the mistress does something outside of the duties she +has assumed, she should have it thoroughly understood that her act is +an exception, performed for some specific reason. It is very easy to let +the exception glide into a rule, and what the maid received at first as +a favor which would spare her extra toil she regards later as a right to +which she is entitled. + +At the beginning, the mistress does well to lay out the routine of the +work of the day for the benefit of the new maid. After the latter +has learned the ways of the house, and finds that she can make slight +alterations which will render her work easier, she should be permitted +to do so if the mistress finds that the tasks are discharged as well +as under the earlier plan. Many a mistress gains good points from +a servant, and the intelligent housekeeper, knowing this, is on the +lookout for suggestions she may find of service. + +Certain regular duties are practically the same each day, no matter what +the other work may be. Early rising should be insisted upon. Six o'clock +is none too early for a maid to be up in a house where breakfast is +at seven-thirty or eight o'clock. By half after six the maid should be +dressed and down-stairs. If the care of the furnace falls upon her, her +first duty in winter is to open the draughts of the furnace and put on +a little coal. While this is kindling she can go back to her work +up-stairs. The kitchen fire must be lighted, the kettle filled freshly +and set to boil, the cereal put over the fire, before the maid goes into +the living-rooms to open the windows. While these rooms are airing she +may brush out the front hall and sweep off the steps, unless there is +a man engaged to take care of the outside work of the house and to look +after the furnace. When there is a gas-stove, the maid's work is +much simpler, and in that case she may open the windows and do the +brushing-up before she puts the kettle to boil. When the furnace fire +has come up, she may go down, put on more coal, and close the draughts. + +In most families where but one maid is employed the mistress of the +house dusts her drawing-room. When this is the rule, the maid has only +to air the rooms, straighten the furniture that is out of place, and +brush up any scraps or dust that need to be removed. If the floors +or parts of them are bare, she should go over them with a damp cloth. +Should the family be very small, consisting of but two or three persons, +it is possible for the maid to do all the dusting. If this does not +devolve upon her, there are other small duties she can perform at this +time, such as filling and cleaning lamps. When there is a sitting-room, +this, too, should be set in order. + +Whatever else may be postponed until after breakfast, the dining-room +must not be overlooked. It must be brushed up and thoroughly dusted. Few +things are more de-appetizing than to sit down to the first meal of +the day in a room which is still, so to speak, in curl-papers. If the +servant is brisk about her work she can look after the drawing-room, +halls, and dining-room, and set the table before she has to go back to +the kitchen. In households where a heavy breakfast is served, or where +the rooms are elaborately furnished, she may have to get up earlier +or leave part of the dusting to be done later. But the dusting of the +dining-room must never be omitted. The morning tasks may be lightened a +little by setting the breakfast-table overnight, and when this is done a +thin cover--a sheet of cheese-cloth is excellent--should be thrown +over the table after it is set to protect the dishes and other +table-furniture from dust. + +The preparation of the breakfast is the maid's next duty. The extent of +the work this involves varies, of course, in different households. In +some homes the old-fashioned American breakfast of hot meat or fish, +warm bread, and potatoes cooked in some form is still preserved. Other +families have adopted a modification of the Continental breakfast, and +find all they need for the morning meal in fruit, a cereal, rolls or +toast, eggs or bacon, and coffee. The latter breakfast simplifies the +work of the household, but it is not popular everywhere. Whatever the +breakfast, it should be in readiness at the hour appointed, if the +members of the family are on hand or not. It need not be served until it +is ordered, but it should be entirely ready. When all the persons in a +household can reconcile themselves to breakfasting together, it makes +work easier and saves time. Should they find it impossible to partake of +it in harmony as well as in unison, and each one eats alone, it renders +the meal a more prolonged function. Under such circumstances, the food +may be kept hot for the tardy ones and they may be granted the privilege +of getting it for themselves from the kitchen when they arrive, instead +of impeding progress by making the duties of the day yield to their +convenience. + +The fruit-course may be on the table when the family is summoned. At +breakfast they usually do for themselves such waiting as passing plates, +cups and saucers, and the like. A plate and finger-bowl may be in front +of each person, and the porridge-bowl and saucer may be close by also, +if it is desirable to simplify the service. Or these dishes may be on +the serving-table or sideboard, and the maid may put them on the table +with the cereal when she comes in to take out the fruit-plates. After +the cereal-dishes have been removed and the rest of the breakfast +served, the maid may be excused to go about her other work. The time +of her own breakfast may be settled by the mistress and herself. The +sensible course is for the maid to eat something and take a cup of tea +or coffee in the intervals of her early work, but there are few servants +who can be persuaded to do this. If the maid prefers she can take her +breakfast while the family is eating, but most maids and mistresses seem +to find it more convenient to dispose of the bedroom work as early as +possible. + +When this is the case the maid should go to the chambers as soon as the +substantial part of the breakfast is on the table. The occupants of +the beds should have stripped these on rising and opened the windows +on leaving the rooms. If this has been done the bedclothing has had a +chance to air. In order that such airing may be adequately done, the +covers should be taken from the bed and spread across a couple of +chairs placed back to back. The covers must not drag on the floor. The +mattresses should be beaten and turned back over the foot of the bed +that the air may reach them from both sides. To freshen them thoroughly, +they should be left thus, the windows open, for from fifteen minutes to +half an hour. While this is going on the rooms may be brushed or gone +over with a carpet-sweeper--not thoroughly swept: this comes at another +time. The beds may now be made and the dusting done. + +In a small family it is taken for granted that the maid should do this +work, but in a household of more than two or three it is customary for +the women of the family to look after the beds. In that case the maid +need only brush up the rooms, strip the beds, and empty soiled water, +leaving the rest of the up-stairs work undone while she goes back to +the kitchen. She may now take her own breakfast if she has not had it +earlier, and clear the table. After every meal the dishes should be +removed from the table as soon as possible. They should be carried into +the kitchen or the butler's pantry, the cloth brushed--never shaken--and +folded, and the dining-room put in order, the crumbs brushed from about +the table, the chairs put in their places, the room darkened, if it is +warm weather. If the mistress of the house dusts the chambers, the maid +may now wash the dishes; if not, she may scrape them and leave them to +soak in warm water while she goes back to her dusting and cleans and +arranges the bath-room. + +To clean the bath-room properly, there should always be a bottle +of household ammonia at hand, one of forty per cent. solution of +formaldehyde or other good disinfectant, a couple of cloths, a +long-handled brush, and a scrubbing-brush. It is also well to have a can +of concentrated lye or one of the preparations like it which will cut +accumulations in waste-pipes. The hand-basin, tub, and closet should +be scoured out each morning, the drain-pipes flushed twice a week with +water to which has been added formaldehyde or the lye. The former +is admirable for removing stains and deposits, but if these are very +obstinate the formaldehyde must be left in the basin overnight. +The long-handled brush enables the maid to clean the closet basin +satisfactorily. Ammonia on the cloth used in washing the tub and basin +will remove greasy deposits. The nickel fittings and woodwork must be +wiped off, the soap-dishes and tooth-brush racks washed. The vessels +used in the bedrooms must be cleansed in the same manner, the +water-pitchers rinsed out and filled fresh every day, and the slop-jars +and commodes scalded daily. + +The linen-closet should be in the charge of the mistress of the house, +and the maid should have nothing to do with giving out fresh linen for +the beds or towels for the bath-room. + +When the bath-room work is finished, the maid may return to the kitchen, +wash and put away the dishes, and get the kitchen and pantries in order. +The maid who takes proper care of her china, glass, and silver will +rinse her dishes thoroughly in one water and then wash them in hot suds, +the glass first, then the silver, and then the china, drying each piece +as it comes from the suds. The breakfast-dishes washed, the dish-towels +should be rubbed out. Once a day they should be boiled. + +This is the time when the mistress inspects the contents of the +refrigerator and decides what shall be the meals for the day. Either +before or after such inspection the maid must wipe off the shelves of +the ice-box, and three times a week it must be scoured out with hot +water and washing-soda. + +The general work of the house--of which more later--is undertaken now, +and after it comes the preparation of the mid-day luncheon. At this meal +little waiting is required. The table is set as for breakfast. If the +work is properly managed there should be no heavy tasks for the maid to +accomplish in the afternoon, except on washing and ironing days. She may +perhaps attend to some light work like the polishing of silver, but, +if her duties are arranged as they should be and she is brisk in their +performance, she ought to be able to have a little time to herself in +the afternoon. The preparation of dinner is seldom undertaken until +after four o'clock in houses where dinner is served at seven. + +The maid is expected to discharge the work of a regular waitress at +dinner, so far as serving the dishes, passing plates, and the like are +concerned. She is not required to remain in the room, but to come when +rung for. Her work of clearing away and washing dishes is practically +the same after luncheon and dinner as after breakfast. + +The usual costume of the maid-of-all-work in the early part of the day +is a neat wash-frock and white apron. While waiting at table she should +wear a cap. She should have a colored apron on when working in the +kitchen, but there should always be a fresh white apron at hand for her +to slip on when she answers the bell. When she dresses to wait at dinner +she should put on a black frock, white collar and apron and cap. Since +she must wear the frock in the kitchen, it is better to have it of wash +goods. The mistress should be in readiness to answer the bell when the +maid is dressing for dinner, or when she is at the wash-tub or doing +any other work it is difficult for her to leave. A great deal of +consideration is demanded of both mistress and maid when there is but +one servant and the family desires to live daintily and in accordance +with good form. + +A general outline of the daily work has thus been given, but each day +must have its share of the week's duties. By general consent Monday and +Tuesday are given over to washing and ironing, and on these days, unless +a laundress is hired to help, the mistress of the house must take charge +of the chamber-work and of all the dusting, and, if the wash is large, +will perhaps feel it well to wash the dishes after breakfast, and to +lend a hand in the preparation of luncheon. The plan practised in some +houses of having all the sweeping done on Friday is open to criticism. +Even if there is baking to be done on Wednesday, a portion of +the sweeping or other cleaning may also be accomplished then. The +dining-room or drawing-room, as being near the kitchen, may be cleaned +on the days when the maid must watch her cooking closely. + +This method of apportioning the work has much to commend it. Washing +windows is tiresome, and the maid will feel it less if she does a few +every day than if she gives a whole morning or afternoon to them. The +scouring of large pieces of brass or silver and the cleaning of paint it +is well to discharge all at one time, and this may be done on Thursday, +while the sweeping of the bedrooms and cleaning of the upper part of +the house may be reserved for Friday. The woodwork about the doorknobs +should be wiped off, the stairs brushed down, and the halls gone over +with the carpet-sweeper daily, and the house, from top to bottom, swept +well at least once a week. + + + + +V + +DUTIES OF TWO OR MORE SERVANTS + + +With specialization in the household come complications. The manual +labor of the mistress may be lessened when she adds to her domestic +force, but with every new maid she assumes more responsibilities. She +has to reconstruct the system to which she had become accustomed when +she employed but one servant, and very often the whole tone of the +establishment is changed from what it was in the days to which she +sometimes looks back as comparatively care free. + +Yet with the increase in a family or with an alteration in the mode of +living additional service becomes necessary, and, unless the housekeeper +is of the type who takes life hard, there is no reason why she +should not soon adapt herself to the new conditions. As in all other +circumstances where she must make plans for her domestics, she should +have her scheme of action clear in her own mind before she gives it to +her servants. Vacillation and uncertainty on the part of the mistress +shake the maid's confidence in the judgment of the ruling brain, and +dispose her to question decisions and to neglect the duties which she +thinks do not strike even the mistress as absolutely essential. + +It is hard to change the method of work when the former general +household servant is put into the place of cook or waitress and a second +maid engaged. The former factotum is likely to criticise the way in +which her late duties are performed, and perhaps to feel that the lion's +share still falls to her. So, unless it is an exceptionally competent +maid who has been doing all the work, it is usually well to begin a new +deal of this sort by getting two maids and dividing the work between +them from the outset. + +The duties assigned to the different domestics in a house where two or +more servants are employed are not easy to define explicitly. They must +be determined largely by the individual wants and conditions. The size +of the family, the arrangement of the house, the style of living, +the fact of there being small children in the home, all suggest +modifications of any general outline. Therefore, the schedule of +ordinary household duties following must be subordinate to the +conditions mentioned, and also to the capabilities of the individual +servant. In a household where more than one servant is employed it is +desirable that there should be from the beginning as clear as possible +an understanding of the duties to be discharged, since with the +specialization comes a disinclination to undertake any work outside of +the particular line for which the servant was employed. In the household +of more than one servant there is a strong probability that the +statement, "I was not engaged to do this kind of work," will be heard, +sooner or later. + +"It seems absurd that I should employ a man-servant besides the coachman +and the gardener," said a housekeeper to me the other day. "I have +plenty of maids, and, as nearly as I can make out, I took on this extra +man for the sake of having him sweep off the stone platform in front +of the porch steps. It was nobody's work. The waitress said she did not +hire to do outside work, and the coachman said it had nothing to do +with his work. It was not the gardener's business, and they were all so +strenuous about it that I told my husband I seemed to be the only one +to whose lot it really fell by rights to keep that platform clean. There +was so much discussion over it that I finally hired a houseman for the +especial purpose of having that platform swept. Of course, he looks +after the furnace and brushes off the porch and washes windows and +does other things of that sort, but they are merely incidents. The real +reason I keep him is so that my husband or I won't have to sweep that +platform!" + +Bearing in mind the possibility of such complications, the mistress +should tell her second maid when she engages her that she may have to +perform other tasks than those which lie exactly within an over-rigid +conception of her duties. If this is understood from the start it averts +later annoyance. + +In a family of adults where two maids are kept, these are usually the +cook and the waitress and chambermaid. Unless some special provision has +been made to that effect, the cook does nothing outside of the kitchen +in the early morning. She may perhaps take care of the furnace (this +would be her first duty when she came down-stairs), and it is also +possible that she may brush off the front steps and sidewalk, but +with that her extra kitchen-work ceases for the moment. She gets +the breakfast and should be up early enough to do this, brush up her +kitchen, and perhaps make preparations for cooking that is to be done +later in the day. After breakfast she may assist the waitress to wash +the dishes. This depends upon the work the latter has to do. + +Upon the waitress comes the work of opening and airing the living-rooms, +brushing out the halls, sweeping down the stairs, and dusting the rooms. +All this should be done before breakfast, and in order to achieve +this, the waitress must rise as early as the cook. As with the general +housework maid, the hour of rising should be not later than six when +breakfast is at half-after seven or eight. + +In most homes it is customary to excuse the waitress as soon as the +principal part of the breakfast has been served, that she may go about +her chamber-work and be ready to come down to her breakfast by the time +the family has finished. Before she goes to her own meal she clears +the dining-room table and takes the dishes into the kitchen or butler's +pantry. + +Even if the chambermaid is competent, it is well for the mistress to +make it possible to enter the bedrooms occasionally while work is going +on there to make sure that it is all being accomplished properly. It +is easy for the best employées to drift into careless habits, and the +details of bed-making are too often neglected. Under no circumstances +should the mistress delegate the care of her linen-closet to a servant. +She herself should lay out the linen that is to be used, taking it out +in a certain routine so that it may all be worn alike. On the days when +the beds are to be changed, she should select the sheets, pillow-slips, +spreads, etc., before she goes down to breakfast, that the chambermaid +may not be hindered in her work. Clean towels should also be given out +by the mistress. In a very large establishment, or in the case of an +exceptionally trustworthy maid, this work may perhaps be safe in the +hands of some one besides the mistress, but, simple as is the task, it +requires a discretion and familiarity with the household supplies that +only the mistress is likely to possess. + +After the waitress has had her breakfast she returns and finishes any +work she has left undone in the bedrooms. It is possible she may not +have had time to dust properly, or that the dust had not had a chance to +settle after she gave the room its morning brushing. The bath-room, +too, is attended to at this time. After this the waitress washes the +breakfast-dishes. Before she left the kitchen after her own breakfast +she should have scraped the dishes and put them in soak. This will +lessen the work of washing-up when she comes down. If there is a special +arrangement by which the cook washes the dishes, the waitress is free +for other work. Sometimes the dish-washing is divided, the cook taking +charge of the dishes in which the food has been served, while the +waitress looks after the glass, silver, and the finer china. It is not +easy to apportion the work in this fashion if the dish-washing is +all done in the kitchen, but where there is a butler's pantry it is +comparatively simple. In this case the fine tableware should never go +into the kitchen at all. This plan lightens the work of the waitress and +makes her responsible for the more delicate dining-room ware. + +A word here about the dish-washing. If the maid is open to suggestion +the time she takes to do her dishes may be shortened. The general +habit of servants is to leave all the dishes until the entire meal is +concluded and then attack the mountain that has accumulated. Much time +can be saved if they will wash the dishes as they come from the table. +As a matter of course, this cannot be done in a family where the +waitress is required to remain in the room during the entire meal. But +this is seldom the practice in the average home, when only the family +is present. There is a preference for what some one has called +"unexpurgated meals," and the freedom of conversation that is not +possible when servants are present. If this is the case, it is an easy +matter for the waitress to wash the soup-plates while the heaviest +course of the meal is being eaten, and to get some of the dishes of the +second course out of the way while the family is discussing the salad. +In a large family all the china may not be washed then, but the silver +at least and some of the smaller pieces may be clean and out of the way +by the time the meal is at an end. The science that is known as "making +the head save the heels" is not understood and appreciated by the +average maid, and if she could receive and apply a little instruction +along these lines she would find her hours of work shortened and her +toil lightened. If the butler's pantry adjoins the dining-room too +closely, it is not always feasible to wash dishes while the family is +eating, unless it can be done so carefully that unpleasant clatter is +spared. But a little thought and skill given to the matter will usually +lessen the labor of washing-up after a long meal. + +To return to the routine of work. Except when there is a great deal of +cooking done it is well to arrange to have the cook take a share in the +sweeping. What part this shall be circumstances must decide. She +may sweep the first floor, including dining-room, drawing-room, +sitting-room, and halls, once a week. Or there may be a day on which she +goes up-stairs and gives the bedrooms a thorough sweeping. Again, it may +be stipulated when she is engaged that she is to wash the windows. If +one set of these tasks devolves upon her it leaves the waitress more +free for her special duties. These vary, according to the size of the +family. When this consists of but two or three members, the second maid +should have time in a small house to keep everything in her domain in +perfect order and even to do a little of the mending. If the family is +larger she will have leisure for nothing outside of her regular duties, +and the case will be the same if there is a good deal of entertaining +done. + +One part of the daily work of the waitress is to take care of the lamps, +cleaning and filling these. When dusk draws on she should light these +and the gas, pull down the shades, and make the living-rooms ready for +the evening. It is also the work of the second maid to put the bedrooms +in order for the night, closing the blinds, turning down the beds, +removing spreads and day-pillows, and bringing iced water to each room +the last thing before she goes to bed herself. + +In point of fact, the work of the waitress is nearly as general in +its nature as that of the maid-of-all-work. She attends the door, as a +matter of course, answers the bells from the chambers or drawing-room, +brings hot water to the bedrooms in the morning, prepares and carries in +the afternoon tea-tray, and must be on the alert to see that the house +is in spick-and-span order. She has the charge of the silver, keeping it +clean and polishing the brasses. For each of these especial duties she +should have a regular time, and the mistress should see that the system +she put into practice when she had but one servant is followed out after +she has added to her household force. All the dusting falls to the care +of the waitress, unless the mistress prefers to reserve for herself the +handling of curios and choice bric-à-brac. The cook may sweep, but it is +the waitress who follows her with a dust-cloth and who scrubs the paint +and wipes off stray finger-marks from mouldings and window-panes. + +When there is a child in the house, and the second maid unites the +offices of nurse and waitress, her work must be divided differently. She +may do the chamber-work, but she cannot be expected to wash the dishes +unless the mother or some other member of the family assumes the care +of the infant while the nurse is otherwise employed. Nor can she be +held responsible for all the details that would fall to her were +she waitress, pure and simple. When a nurse is employed as well as a +waitress, her work is usually absolutely separate from that of the other +maid. She may do sewing and the baby's washing, help make the beds, and +lend a hand on the afternoons and evenings out of the other maids, but +she has little or nothing to do with the general work of the house. + +If the cook has thus far received slighter attention than the waitress, +it is because her work is so much more closely confined to one +department that it requires less minute consideration. She prepares the +meals, takes charge of the kitchen, cellar, and pantries, inspects the +latter and the refrigerator every morning in company with the mistress +of the house, and reigns supreme in the lower realms. In small families +where two servants are employed the cook usually is laundress as well. +In that case the waitress generally takes part of the cook's work on +washing and ironing days, preparing the luncheon on those days, washing +all the dishes, and keeping the kitchen in order. The waitress often +assists with the fine ironing on Tuesday. Cook and waitress relieve each +other on their days out. The cook waits on table when the waitress +goes out and attends the door, unless the mistress chooses to do this +herself. When the cook takes her holiday the waitress assumes her +duties. + +When the housekeeper has a force of more than two servants the +complications thicken, since with the introduction of each new maid +comes more specialization. Unless the new servant is engaged because the +family is so large that the work is too heavy for two maids, or because +of the need of a special servant, as a nurse, the addition is usually +due to increased elaboration in the way of living, and this, of course, +subdivides specialization still more as well as raises the scale of +wages. The "professed cook," who does nothing but cook and demands a +helper or scullery-maid, gets higher pay than the general cook who does +the washing and ironing or the one who may refuse to do laundry-work +but yet undertakes all the labor of the kitchen. The waitress who +understands the service of wines and is an adept at handling large +dinners and luncheons, demands--and gets--large wages and feels her +dignity to an extent that makes her cling tenaciously to the rights and +privileges of her position. + +The average American household which employs servants--and there is a +surprisingly large proportion of the sum total who keep no servant at +all--is contented with one, two, or, at the most, three servants. The +third may be a nurse, as I have said, or a laundress, who, besides her +washing and ironing, does the chamber-work and thus leaves the waitress +free for her especial tasks in the dining-room and for the duties of +a parlor-maid. The laundress may also wash windows or help in other +cleaning. Or the third servant may be seamstress and chambermaid and +have nothing to do with the dining-room or with the kitchen unless she +fills one of these places on the "day off" of the regular incumbent. + +In a book that deals with the work of the maid-servant it is not worth +while to go into the duties of the man-servant or to touch upon the +possibilities of change latent in the introduction of Japanese and +Chinese service. That all has its part in the domestic labor problem, +but this is not the opportunity for discussing this phase of the servant +question. + + + + +VI + +CERTAIN PROBLEMS OF SERVICE + + +The tendency to introduce the wearing of livery into domestic service +has grown within the past few years. There are still many protests +against it, and writers are found who declare the cap and apron of the +housemaid a badge of servitude. But the growth of the livery has been +universal, and implies no more degradation in one relation of life +than in another. The public servant, whether he be policeman or +street-cleaner or motorman or car conductor or what you will, takes his +uniform as a matter of course. The shop-girl, who often prides herself +on belonging to a higher social class than the "living-out girl," does +not feel disgraced if in the big department store where she works she +is expected to conform to the rules of the establishment and don a black +gown and a white collar. The trained nurse does not feel it an indignity +to wear a cap. In truth, there is a great deal of nonsense talked about +the livery of the servant-girl. I have known sensible young women--at +least they were sensible in everything else--who would flatly refuse to +wear a pretty and becoming cap, and would give up the chance of a good +place sooner than put one on. + +The girl who surveys matters with an unprejudiced view will recognize +a pretty little cap as an uncommonly becoming adjunct to her dress. She +will also appreciate the fact that she looks much neater with her flying +locks tucked back under a cap than she would with the stray tresses +wandering over a forehead that is heated by brisk work. Rightly +considered, the cap is no mark of servitude, and has a reason for +its existence in the added neatness and freshness it imparts to the +working-girl's garb. + +This, indeed, is the whole object of the livery. When the maid is +at work she should be dressed in a manner that is suitable for her +employment. In the morning when she is to be busy with her housework, +in and out of the kitchen, handling a broom and dust-cloth, her dress +should be a neat print. In houses where the mistress provides the +working-frocks of the maids, as is sometimes done, she can have these +frocks made all in one piece, but in the majority of homes, where +but one or two maids are kept, they dress themselves. Under these +circumstances they cannot be expected to conform to any especial color +or style, and will probably wear shirtwaists and skirts. It is a pity if +the skirts are dark woollen goods, because these gather dust and retain +the odors of cookery, but a large apron will protect the skirt, and +washing is saved to the maid if her whole gown is not of a light +material. She is wise if she wears a large sweeping-cap in the morning +when she is busy at work that is likely to make dust, but this can be +exchanged for a smaller cap when the rougher parts of her labor are out +of the way. + +For the afternoon, when it is feasible, the maid, whether she be the +maid-of-all-work who discharges the functions of both cook and waitress, +or the servant who is waitress and parlor-maid, should, if correctly +dressed, wear a black frock with white collar and cuffs, and a white bib +apron. The latter may be a little more elaborately trimmed than that she +has on in the morning. In fact, with a morning apron she may dispense +with the bib altogether and wear only a plain, large apron. Some +mistresses demand the broad collar, although the cuffs may be omitted. +I say "when it is feasible" the maid should make this change, because +it is not always the most convenient thing in the world for the maid who +has to do the cooking of the dinner before she serves it to be in her +black frock all the afternoon. She may look neat in her gingham waist +and skirt, and then, when she gets everything in order for the dinner, +she may slip away to her room for a minute and get into the black waist. +The waitress who has no kitchen work is usually expected to have on her +black waist soon after luncheon in order to be ready to answer the bell +properly dressed. The absolutely correct custom demands that she should +be in this garb before luncheon is served, but this rule is not followed +in the average household. + +There are many obstacles in the way of strict enforcement of various +regulations which are insisted upon as essential by those who endeavor +to make the social by-laws. To such rules the majority of housekeepers +would be glad to conform if they could. Like Lady Teazle, they would +be only too happy if roses grew under their feet and they could gather +strawberries all the year round. But domestic exigencies forbid many +indulgences, and the wise woman is she who adapts herself to things as +they are and does not make herself wretched over non-essentials. When a +woman keeps but one maid to do the work of a household of half a dozen +members, she cannot hope to have her establishment conducted as it would +be with a force of three or four maids. She may very properly insist +upon certain niceties of serving and waiting, but if she does this she +must make up for it in other ways. For instance, the woman who demands +candles for her dinner-table instead of gas must not expect the maid who +does all the work of the house to have time to keep the candlesticks in +order. The care of the flowers that brighten the table must also come +upon the mistress. She must take this sort of thing for granted as +much as she does the necessity for relying upon her own efforts in the +preparation of her more delicate desserts and salads. Such efforts are +the price she pays for wishing to live in a certain fashion, and, since +she has made her choice, she has no right to be dissatisfied with it. +Plainer modes of life and ultimate salvation are not incompatible, but +if she prefers the added daintiness to the lighter labor it devolves +upon her to do the additional work necessarily implied by the touches of +elegance. + +I have spoken of the habit of some mistresses of providing the maids' +working-dress. This is done in large establishments where a certain +livery is required, and in other homes, where the mistress feels it +worth while, she supplies the black frock to be worn in the afternoon. +Whether this is done or not it is customary for the mistress to provide +the caps and white aprons worn by her maids, and the collars and cuffs, +if she insists upon the latter. These belong to the mistress, and are +not taken away by the maid when she leaves. + +The laundering of these articles is generally paid for by the mistress. +That is, if the washing is put out or some one comes in to do it, the +aprons are included in the family washing instead of being done by the +maid herself with her own washing. In the average family, where two or +three servants are employed, each does her own washing and has a fixed +time for it, unless some other arrangement is made between the mistress +and the servant. In some cases the mistress provides also colored aprons +for the maid to wear at her heavy work, but this is not obligatory. +There is not the same reason for this that there is for the mistress's +purchasing the livery. It is taken for granted that the maid has enough +clothing of her own to enable her to look decent about the house. If, +however, the mistress has her decided preferences in favor of the maid +dressing herself in a special fashion, it is her business to provide the +raiment in which the maid is required to appear. Often it will be found +that the maid has adapted herself to her work and has purchased for +herself neat black waists or frocks to wear in the afternoon. In this +case the mistress is saved just so much expense and may esteem herself +fortunate, but she has no right to demand that the maid shall supply +herself with such a garb at her own expense. + +The social relations of servants is a matter with which some mistresses +exercise themselves over-much, while others, perhaps, give too little +attention to it. According to the ideas of some persons, the affairs of +a maid outside of working hours concern no one but herself. So long as +she conforms to certain rules of the household, her coming and going, +her associates and habits, are no one's business but her own, unless +they interfere with the proper performance of her work. In a way this is +entirely true, and a mistress has no more right to pry into the affairs +of her maid than the maid has to be overcurious about the business of +the mistress. But there is something to be said on the other side. Look +at it in as matter-of-fact fashion as one will, relations of domestic +service are different from any other business association. The mistress +and maid do not only meet in the morning and part again at night, after +having been together simply in the way of their work during the day; +they eat and sleep under the same roof. Often they work side by side for +an hour at a time. They see each other in bodily and mental dishabille. +They are by way of asking or granting little kindly services that were +never nominated in the bond. Without bringing too much sentiment into +the relation, it may yet be asserted that it is next to impossible for +them to meet on purely business terms. + +When this is admitted it opens the way for something more. Not +familiarity or interference, but a kindly and friendly interest. This +interest grows to be something very like a sense of responsibility if +the maid is a young girl far removed--as she often is--from the family +and associations amid which she was reared. The ties that used to hold +her have been loosened, and it would be no wonder if in the feeling of +irresponsibility that comes with novel freedom she should occasionally +make a mistake which she afterwards has to repent more or less bitterly. +In one sense it is none of the mistress's business. She is not her +maid-servant's keeper. Yet she could hardly help reproaching herself if +she thought that a kindly word, a query that showed her interest, +might have spared the girl a blunder, even if this did not amount to +wrong-doing. + +So, if the mistress can do it, she should try to establish some sort +of an _entente_ with her maid. It can hardly be an _entente cordiale_, +perhaps, until they have been together long enough to have broken down +the little class antagonism that generally exists at first between +mistress and maid and to convince the latter of the good-will of the +former. It does not take much trouble to bring about this state of +affairs. An interest in the girl's family, a question or two as to +whether she has any of her own people on this side of the water, an +inquiry as to her friends--not in a manner that seems to imply a +mere curiosity or patronage, but in a fashion that shows a genuine +friendliness is prompting the queries. The assurance of the maid that +she may feel free to have her friends come to see her, a pleasant word +of greeting to these if they come and the mistress happens to meet them, +all do their part towards making the maid sure that her employer is in a +measure her friend. + +When it comes to the question of "followers"--that vexed question in +so many households--the mistress is wise if she pursues the straightest +course. In the first place, she should recognize the fact that the +maid-of-all-work should be permitted to have her men friends come to +call on her. She did not enter a nunnery when she went into domestic +service. She is a human being, and she has the right to friends among +the opposite sex--just as good a right as the daughter of madam herself. +Bearing this in mind, the employer should allow "followers" subject to +the same rules which she would enforce with her own daughters. The +young men should come at a suitable hour and go at a suitable hour. They +should no more be granted permission to linger around the kitchen when +the objects of their attention are busy with the daily toil than should +the callers of mademoiselle be welcomed when she is at her music lesson +or occupied with her language teacher. To do the followers justice, they +do not often attempt it, nor do the maids encourage it. Of course, there +are the stock jokes about the policeman on the beat and the milkman +and the butcher's boy, but none of these--except the policeman--has +sufficient leisure to spend much time in the kitchen or the front area +during working hours. Even if there is violation of this rule once in a +while--well, we have all had little occurrences of the same kind in our +lives. Our chance meetings and partings out of canonical hours did +not take place in the front area, perhaps, but that was because our +employments did not lead either of us there. + +The responsibility of the mistress does not go so far as to make it +necessary for her to inquire into the antecedents of the young men who +visit in her kitchen as she would into those of the men callers in the +drawing-room. That is outside of her province. Yet she may let the maid +know that she feels an interest in her admirers and friends, and such an +interest is likely to be appreciated. + +Again I feel I must defend myself against a charge of sentimentality. +But I have seen these experiments tried with success. I do not mean by +this that the maids were models of unending devotion and fidelity. We +seldom find this sort of thing without flaw among our chosen associates. +But I have known instances where the casual friendliness of the mistress +was repaid tenfold in times of sickness or trouble by offices which +could not be compensated for in money. And it was done freely and +gladly, with no thought of anything out of the ordinary, with no hint +that sacrifices were being made. + +"Yes," says some one, "and those very maids will talk you over behind +your back." + +Quite true, dear madam. As the majority of us discuss not only our maids +but our own familiar friends behind their backs--as they do us when our +backs are turned. We are all of us as ready to resent criticism as we +are to offer it. When we find the habits of high life below-stairs, it +behooves us to ask ourselves what sort of an example along those lines +we had set the maid-servants within our gates. + +Without hope of any reward, except that of the comfortable sensation we +have when we have attempted to do the decent thing, let us try to make +our maids feel at home in our houses. If it is possible, they should +have a place in which to meet their friends. Where there is space, it +is becoming more and more the custom to provide a sitting-room for the +servants in which their visitors can be received. To many housekeepers +such an arrangement as this would be impossible. In such cases there +should at least be an effort to render the kitchen as pleasant as the +circumstances will permit. It may be clean and neat, there may be a +couple of chairs that are tolerably comfortable, and any little attempt +the maid may wish to make to add to the attractiveness of the apartment +should be encouraged. + + + + +VII + +GENERAL SUGGESTIONS + + +The mistress of a house must not look for bricks without straw. In other +words, she must not demand good work from her maids if they lack the +tools with which to achieve it. + +When women, in the course of discussions on domestic topics at clubs +and elsewhere, declare that housekeeping can be practised on the same +principles as those on which men conduct their business, when they +affirm that housekeeping may be run like machinery, they sometimes +forget what is meant by the management of machinery. The metaphor +pleases them so much that they fail to examine it too closely. But any +machinist will tell one that an engine does not go of itself. I do +not mean only that the fires must be kept up and the water which is +to generate steam must be provided. There is more to it than that. The +machinery must be watched and oiled and kept in perfect repair. If +any bit of it is injured it must at once be replaced. There must be a +regular inspection made to see that there is not so much friction on one +part as to make too much wear and tear, and that other portions +which are temporarily out of use do not become rusty so that they are +unmanageable when they come in demand. + +But what housekeeper takes such care of her home machinery as this? Here +and there one may be found, but the majority, having started the works +going, seem to have the impression that the wheels will continue to +revolve with no further attention. It is taken for granted that the maid +will pursue the even tenor of her way as if she were another piece of +clockwork that has been wound up--or, perhaps, as if she were a part +of the same big machine which comprises the household and all its +appointments. + +The difference, of course, between the machinery and the home is that +in the conduct of the latter the human equation has to be reckoned with +constantly. It is not enough for the mistress to see that all parts +of the engine are supplied, if this or that section is to be injured +through carelessness as soon as her back is turned. The head machinist +would probably drop a man on short notice who had proved himself to be +persistently careless of the portion of labor committed to his charge. +The fact that he could do other parts of his work well, that he was +kindly and good-natured and never spoke an impertinent word, would weigh +for little if he did not pay attention to his especial duty and take +proper care of that which was committed to his charge. With the domestic +servant matters are on a different footing. In counting up her good and +bad qualities the mistress must keep a debit-and-credit account and feel +that one positive virtue offsets many negative defects. + +Yet, even while she does this and puts up with shortcomings because of +some one conspicuous merit, the mistress should not relax her effort to +approximate, so far as she may, the performance of household duties to +the workings of the machinery to which it is so often likened. And to +do this she must see that everything necessary is at hand, to make the +wheels turn smoothly. + +It is a proof of the carelessness with which many homes are managed, +and of the slackness which maids take for granted, that the household +equipment is so often conspicuously poor. I have been in houses that +were well furnished above-stairs where I have seen the maids attempting +to do careful cookery with utensils that were utterly inadequate. There +were broken vegetable-graters, cream-churns, egg-beaters, flour-sifters, +coffee-pots with parts of their mechanism missing, bowls and dishes +with large sections gone from them, an insufficient supply of such small +items as measuring-cups, mixing-spoons, vegetable-knives, and the like. +I have also had a glimpse of the articles provided for keeping a house +clean--stubby brooms, worn-out brushes, half-bristled scrubbing-brushes, +a stingy provision of the detergents and cleansing fluids manufactured +for household use. In the midst of this dearth the maids worked as best +they could, accomplishing wonders when one thought of the means they had +in hand. + +"But," some one will say, "these things were doubtless provided at +first, and if they are lacking now it is because of the carelessness of +the maids that had them in charge." + +Precisely so. But the maids ought not to have been permitted to be +careless. If that consummation devoutly to be desired of making the +house run like a machine is ever to be brought about, the methods of the +shop must be introduced into domestic work. The maid should have given +to her the utensils that she will need in order to do her work properly +and then she should be held responsible for them--not responsible merely +by word either. It will be necessary for the mistress to keep her eyes +on these details just as the head machinist makes his inspection. She +will have to see for herself that the broom is hung up or stood on the +handle instead of on the bristle end, that the brushes and dust-pans +not only have their nails or hooks, but are kept on them when not in use +instead of being thrown into a corner of the kitchen and kicked about +by any one who finds them in the way. She will have to inquire if the +dish-towels are washed out after service, boiled once a day, and well +dried and aired--not thrown carelessly over a clothes-horse or a line +to dry with the grease and stains from carelessly washed dishes still +clinging to them. Once in so often the mistress must make an examination +of the contents of the pot-closet to ascertain for herself if the double +boiler has been left on the fire until the water has cooked away and the +bottom has cracked from dryness. She must see that her pans are scoured +when they need it, that no utensil is ever put away with part of the +contents sticking to the inside. + +Do some or all of these admonitions appear uncalled for? I hope they +are, but I am afraid that at least five out of every ten housekeepers +would find one of these defects in her pantries should she go there +seeking perfection. + +When the mistress neglects matters in this way the maid-servant is not +wholly to blame for her heedlessness. It must always be borne in mind +that our domestic service is not recruited from training-schools. +The maid comes to us from her own home or from a succession of other +persons' homes, where she has been taught to do one thing in half a +dozen different ways. From all these she has evolved her own method, +which may be good and may be poor. Such as it is, she is likely to +follow it, unless she is persuaded of a more excellent way or compelled +into it by her new mistress. In the latter case she will probably "go +back to the blanket" as soon as she is at liberty. + +I have already said that it is a mistake for the mistress to demand that +the maid shall change her mode of doing a piece of work, provided +the results are good. The mistress should allow time to discover the +advantages or disadvantages of the servant's system. But if she feels +that her own way is surely better than that the maid follows, she +should insist upon a change. She should recognize the possibility of the +employée's being a reasonable creature, and show her what she considers +the merits of the new plan at the same time that she makes it clearly +understood that, whether the maid sees these or not, the work is to be +done in the manner prescribed by the mistress. She pays for the work and +she has a right to say in what way it shall be performed. + +Sometimes one finds a maid who rebels against this sort of management. +In that case a mistress is wise to discharge her at the end of the +month--that is, unless she can be induced to do the work in the right +fashion. Of course, it is always upon the cards that the maid may have +so many other good qualities that they make up for this defect; but, as +a rule, it will be found that the maid who persists in refusing to adopt +a method of work ordered by her employer will be hard to manage in +other ways. Before giving up such a servant, however, it is well for the +mistress to think carefully of the question at issue and be very sure +that the way she desires possesses enough advantages to make it worth +while to raise an issue upon it. + +Sometimes a maid will come around to a new method of her own accord. +I knew of a cook whose mistress had purchased one of the admirable +bread-making machines. The housekeeper had investigated it thoroughly +and become persuaded that it not only saved time and labor, but that the +bread made from it was more wholesome than that mixed and kneaded in the +ordinary manner. So she installed the machine in her kitchen, explained +its workings and its virtues to the cook, and supposed that there would +be no trouble about it. But the cook was an obstinate conservative. She +had made good bread by the old way, and to the old way she would adhere. +She did not absolutely refuse to use the machine, but she calmly went +on making bread by hand. Excellent bread it was, too. The mistress could +find no fault with it--but that was beside the point. + +Being a sensible woman, she hesitated to raise an issue and possibly +lose a good cook and a trustworthy servant. She herself went into the +kitchen and made bread two or three times with the machine. Her daughter +did the same. In spite of herself the cook became interested in the +new-fangled notion. She saw that it saved time and toil. At last she +tried the machine herself. The results were so good and at so small a +cost of work that she became an ardent convert. + +"Sure, it was wicked I used to be about it," she confessed to the +mistress later. "When you and Miss Jane were making bread with it I used +to be just prayin' that it would turn out bad." + +There are plenty of maids of this kind, although once in a while one +finds a specimen of the other sort. Usually the latter kind is found +among the older women who have become "set in their ways" and object to +experiments of any nature. If the employer wishes to be mistress in her +own house she can hardly retain one of this variety in her service. But +if there are reasons that make her willing to waive her own authority +for the sake of comfort in other directions, she is perhaps prudent to +do it. This is a matter each housekeeper must settle for herself. + +To return to the first point for a moment. The mistress must give her +maids what they need to do their work well before she expects to receive +good work from them, and having done this shall demand that they keep +their tools in order. At the same time that she makes adequate provision +she should not encourage extravagance by overabundance. We all have a +tendency to be lavish when we see before us what seems like more than +enough. The maid should have what will suffice for the present need, but +no more. There is no sense in having half a dozen double boilers, for +instance, when the utmost need of the household does not call for more +than four. Keep two in reserve until accident or use has disabled one +of the others. The maid should not have so large a supply of kitchen +and china towels that she feels it makes little difference if she takes +proper care of them. Instead, she should have enough to wipe her dishes +without having to stint herself, and if extra towels are needed for +extra service they should be given for that time and then put away until +the next occasion arises for their use. She should not have three or +four dust-cloths in commission all the while, but should wash those +she has every day or two and use them until they are worn out. Her +cleaning-cloths--for lamps, bedroom crockery, and the like--should not +be so numerous that she feels it is easier to throw them away than to +take the trouble to rinse them after service. + +Not only the housekeeper is to be considered in the enforcement of these +rules. The maid is being trained in habits of thrift or of wastefulness, +and the housekeeper is preparing for her own kitchen or for the kitchen +of some other woman a servant who will be valuable or the reverse. I +have touched upon the responsibility of the housekeeper for her +servants in other respects, and this is another way in which she should +appreciate her duty to her neighbor. + +In some households the mistresses have slipped into the careless way of +permitting the maid to give orders to the butcher and the grocer. This +should only be done in unusual circumstances. The maid may be entirely +honest and conscientious. At the same time, the mistress is not only +putting her in the way of a temptation to extravagance, but is also +neglecting one of her own duties. The maid should have a pad and pencil +hanging in the kitchen. With these she should keep a list of what is +wanted in the line of household supplies. When she takes the last of any +kind of provision from its receptacle she should make a note of it on +the pad. By this method there is never a discovery at the last moment +that a supply of some desired grocery is exhausted. This memorandum the +mistress must go over every morning when she makes her daily inspection +of the kitchen and pantries. The slip she tears from the pad will serve +as her list of purchases when she goes to market. This, too, should +not be the work of the maid. Once in a while she can be sent out on an +emergency errand, but, as a rule, it is the mistress who should do +the buying. By following this plan she knows what is ordered, what +delivered, and is able at the end of the week to check intelligently the +record in her weekly book from the grocer or the market-man. + +In all that has been said there has been no attempt to consider the +large establishment where there is a housekeeper who assumes the duties +of the mistress of the home in the way of ordering meals, directing +servants, and looking after all the details of the household. Such +establishments are not plentiful enough to be considered in a book of +this scope. It is in the homes where but one servant or at the most two +or three are kept that problems of the sort we have touched upon present +themselves for solution. In such homes these problems are often matters +of daily or weekly consideration. The mistress desires to do all she can +to enable the maid to make the best of her place; the maid's intentions +are usually as good as those of the mistress, even if they are not quite +so clearly formulated. + +Something may be said concerning payment for extra work. When a maid is +engaged it is with the understanding that she is to do for a fixed +wage all the work in her particular line. If hers is the place of a +general-housework servant, the duties are, as already said, hard +to define, but there may be an approximate idea formed of what they +comprise. In other positions in the household it is a simpler matter to +lay down with some precision what the avocations of each servant shall +be. Except by special arrangement she should not be required to step +outside her round. But there are times in nearly every family when some +accident or set of unavoidable occurrences renders it necessary to ask +one maid to do the work of another. Sudden illness, the departure of one +maid before it is possible to engage another, the descent of unexpected +guests--any one of these things may make it needful for the housekeeper +to request a servant to do something besides her regular work. + +When this is the case it should be shown by the mistress that she +appreciates the consideration of the servant, and there should be an +effort made to compensate for such consideration--not necessarily by a +payment of money, but by a gift, the granting of an unusual privilege, +or by relieving the maid of a part of her own regular work. It is not a +good principle for the mistress to fall into the habit of bestowing tips +for any extra service. If matters were conducted on a purely business +basis this might be desirable, but, as I have said before, in the +relation of mistress and maid there are too many opportunities for +mutual accommodation for either to stand upon a point of a kindliness +granted by the other side. + +When it comes to tips from guests it is another matter. If a visitor +feels more comfortable to offer a gift to a servant on leaving, there +is no reason why it should not be done. I know of employers who say that +they pay their servants adequate wages and do not thank their guests for +feeling it obligatory upon them to supplement these by presents. This +is not quite the point at issue. The guest does not mean to question the +justice or generosity of his host, but he feels that he has caused extra +labor and has received services for which he would like to make some +return to the domestic. The gift is not taken by the servant as a +supplement to her wages, but as an acknowledgment of services given, on +her own part, and as a token of appreciation of these by the guest. +The matter of tips in this country has never assumed the importance +it possesses on the other side of the water, although it is by way of +becoming a more serious matter with every year. + +At least once a week the maid should go over the list of silver, which +the mistress should have put into her hands when she came first to the +house, and see that no pieces are missing. In the same way it is well +for her to keep track of the china. Whenever a piece is nicked, cracked, +or broken she should report it at once. Few mistresses are severe when +this is done, although they are rarely so amiable as not to be irritated +to discover such damages by accident. There will be mishaps in the +best-regulated household, but concealment of these or neglect to mention +them is a mistake. It shakes the confidence of the employer and saves +the employée no trouble, since the injury is bound to be discovered +sooner or later, and the reproof is much sharper in those circumstances +than it would be if the maid had made a virtue of necessity and told of +the breakage when it occurred. + +When there has been an accident of this sort there should be judgment +exercised on the part of the mistress as to enforcing the rule +concerning payment for breakages. If the maid is usually careful and +the accident was the result of circumstances she could not avoid, it is +better not to deduct the value of the broken article from her wages. If +she is habitually careless, she will learn a lesson by having to pay for +her fault. If there is a clear understanding on this matter at the time +the maid is engaged, there is no room for any feeling of being imposed +upon when the rule is put into practice. Justice should be tempered +with mercy, however, and allowances made for the first offence. The maid +should be asked just how the accident happened, warned against holding +wet china in slippery, moist fingers, crowding too many pieces into the +dish-pan at once, attempting to carry too large a number at one time, +and other methods of provoking casualties of this sort. Should she +persist in such habits after the warning has been given, the payment for +the broken articles should be insisted upon. + + + + +VIII + +A RECAPITULATION OF DAILY DUTIES + + +THE GENERAL-HOUSEWORK MAID + +Rise at six o'clock and have clothing in readiness, so as to be dressed +and down-stairs by six-thirty. Strip the bed and open the window before +leaving the room. + +If the care of the furnace is in your hands, open the draughts and put +on a little coal. + +Light the kitchen fire, fill the kettle, put on the breakfast cereal and +potatoes, or anything that requires some time to cook. + +Open the windows of rooms on first floor, brush up the floor and the +halls, and sweep off the front steps. Go over bare floor in dining-room +with a cloth and dust the dining-room. Put more coal in furnace, close +draughts, and give a look at kitchen fire. + +Set table for breakfast. If a large cloth is used, put it on over the +canton-flannel "silence cloth." If a square of damask or doilies are +employed at breakfast, lay them on _evenly_. Crooked spreading of a +table is an abomination. + +At each place put a plate, knife, fork, and two spoons, the knife and +spoons to the right, with the napkin beside them; the tumbler also +on the right. The fork must be on the left, and near it the +bread-and-butter plate. If fruit is the first course, there should be at +each place a fruit-plate with a doily, finger-bowl, and fruit-knife on +it. For oranges an orange-spoon should also be laid on the plate. When +a cereal is the first course, the porridge bowls or saucers should be at +each plate. + +Arrange the cups and saucers, sugar-bowl, cream-jug, and other +necessaries at the end of the table where the mistress of the house +sits. At the other end place the carvers and lay the heavy mat for +the hot dish the master of the house is to serve. See that there are +tablespoons, salt-cellars, and pepper-cruets, and the call-bell on the +table, a salt and pepper to every two persons, the tablespoons at the +corners of the table, the call-bell near the mistress's hand. + +Return to kitchen and prepare breakfast. Cut bread, fill glasses, +and bring in butter the last thing. Do not announce the meal until +everything is ready to serve. Put on a clean apron to wait on table. + +While the family is eating the last course of breakfast go to the +bedrooms, strip the beds, turn the mattresses, hang the bedclothing +over chairs, and leave it to air while going over the floors with a +carpet-sweeper. Empty soiled water in bedrooms. + +Go down-stairs and have your own breakfast. Clear the table, scrape +dishes and put them in water. Return to second floor, make beds, dust +and clean bath-room. + +Wash and put away dishes. Rinse out dish-towels and put them over to +boil. See what is in the pantry and refrigerator. Wipe off the shelves +of pantries and refrigerator every day. Scald out ice-box three times a +week. Clean and fill lamps. + +Go now to any special work, such as sweeping, washing windows, or +general cleaning. Stop this in time to prepare luncheon. Set the table +for this meal as you did for breakfast. Be sure that the dining-room +has been well aired and that there is no odor of stale food left from +breakfast. Observe the same rules as at breakfast about serving butter, +bread, and water. + +After luncheon clear table, darken dining-room, and finish any small +duties that have been left over from the morning. Plan your work so as +to have only light tasks in the afternoon. + +Change your dress, brush your hair, put on a fresh cap and a clean +apron, and be ready to wait on the door. If afternoon tea is to be +served at five o'clock, make the tray ready and carry it in at the +proper hour. Start to get dinner in time so that there will not be a +rush at the last moment. If possible, arrange the preparations so that +the cooking can safely be left half an hour before dinner-time in order +to set the table. + +Spread on the thick "silence cloth" smoothly and lay the table-cloth +over it evenly and without a wrinkle. Place the centre-piece in the +middle of the table with the vase of flowers or jardinière on it, lay a +carving-cloth in front of the master of the house, with the carvers. If +a mat is used under the meat dish, put it in place. At the other end of +the table lay the soup-ladle. At each place there should be a service +plate with the knife and soup-spoon to the right of this, with the +tumbler and napkin; the fork or forks, if more than one will be needed, +at the left. If butter is served at dinner, the bread-and-butter plate +may be at the left. If not, a piece of bread, cut thick, may be laid on +the napkin. In most households it is customary to give a clean napkin at +dinner. This should be folded plainly. The tablespoons, salts, peppers, +and call-bell should be in place as at other meals. If such articles as +olives, salted nuts, and the like are used, they should be on the table +before dinner is served. When soup is the first course the soup-plates +may be put on the service plates and the tureen be placed in front of +the mistress before dinner is announced. In houses where gongs or bells +are not used, the maid comes to the door of the room where the mistress +is seated and announces, "Dinner is served." + +If you have not dressed earlier, change your waist just before +announcing dinner. + +After the soup is served, dish the rest of the dinner and be ready to +bring it in when the soup has been eaten. Take out the tureen first, +then the soup-plates, carrying out two at a time, one in each +hand. Carry in all the hot dinner-plates at once, put them on the +serving-table, and as you take up a service plate from the table put a +hot dinner-plate in its place. Bring in the meat dish first and put it +in front of the carver, and then bring in the vegetable dishes and place +them on the serving-table or dinner-wagon. Pass meat and vegetables and +see that every one has bread and that the glasses are filled. Return to +the kitchen and wash the silver and china of the first course. + +When clearing the table after this course, take out the meat and +vegetables first and then the soiled plates. If salad is to be served +next, put down a salad-plate in place of the dinner-plate removed. Set +the oil and vinegar cruets and the bowl for mixing the salad-dressing +in front of the hostess, and pass the salad first and afterwards the +dressing. The dishes of the preceding course may be washed during the +salad course. + +If a sweet comes next or in place of a salad course, clear the table, +removing salts and peppers, unused silver, and everything except +glasses. Brush off the crumbs into a plate with a folded napkin, take +off and fold the carving-cloth. Put the plates and finger-bowls on the +table. Bring in the sweet. When this has been finished, take out the +dish that has held it, remove the soiled plates, and bring in the +coffee. + +Return to the kitchen, have your own dinner, and finish washing the +dishes. By this time the family will have left the table. Clear this, +remove the cloth, folding it in the creases, put away the china, and +darken the room. Finish putting the kitchen in order for the night. + +On Monday morning rise early enough to get a good start at the washing. +Any work of this sort that can be done before breakfast is just so much +clear gain. Proceed with other work as on other days, except that the +dusting of the rooms and the care of the chambers will probably be +assumed by the mistress. Wash the sheets and other heavy pieces early +in the day in order that they may have a chance to dry. Do the flannels +early and follow them with the fine clothes. The second water from the +flannels may be used for the first rinsing of the cotton clothes. If +the worst-soiled pieces can be put in soak overnight it will lessen the +labor on Monday morning. + +On Tuesday morning it is also well to get an early start in order to +make a good beginning on the ironing. The same rule of early rising +will be found helpful when there is any piece of extra work to be +accomplished. A prompt beginning gives time for rest in the latter part +of the day. + + +THE COOK + +Rise at six o'clock and be down-stairs by six-thirty. Open draughts of +furnace and put on a little coal. Fill the kettle and put the cereal +over the fire. Make ready the materials for the breakfast. When the +furnace fire has come up put on more coal and close draughts. Open the +windows of the cellar, air the pantry, and see that the kitchen is in +good order, the stove blacked, etc. After the family and the kitchen +breakfast inspect the contents of the pantries and refrigerator and plan +with the mistress for the best use that can be made of left-overs. If +soup is to be made it should be put over now, and desserts that are to +be served cold should be prepared. The ice-box must be scoured out with +hot water and soda three times a week, the shelves of the pantry and the +refrigerator wiped off every day. + +Each morning see what is wanted in the way of groceries and other +provisions, and make a list of what is lacking, to be handed to the +mistress before she goes to market. After the luncheon and dinner are +planned there will probably be time to do a little work outside of +the kitchen before the hour for making ready for luncheon. Never be +behindhand in such preparations so that the waitress is delayed in +serving. Keep the luncheon hot after it comes from the table, and have +the kitchen table set ready for the maids. + +In the afternoon there is usually time for resting and changing the +dress. The beginnings of the dinner should be made in season and the +utensils used should, as far as possible, be washed as fast as they are +done with in order to prevent a clutter of work when the meal is over. +Wash the pots and pans in which the dinner is cooked as soon as the food +is out of them. Scalding water should be put into a vessel as soon as +you have finished using it. Scald out towels and fish and jelly cloths +as soon as you have done with them. Keep the sink clean, and wash it out +thoroughly after each meal. + + +THE WAITRESS AND CHAMBERMAID + +Rise at six o'clock and be down-stairs at six-thirty. Open and air the +rooms on the first floor, brush off the steps, sweep out the halls, and +brush down the stairs. Brush up the drawing-room or go over the floor +with a carpet-sweeper, wipe up the hard-wood floors, and dust the rooms. +If the woodwork is painted, spots must be wiped from it. Take hot water +up to bedrooms half to three-quarters of an hour before breakfast, +according to directions previously given by mistress. Wait on table +during the early part of the meal. Pass the fruit, offering it from the +left side. Take off fruit-plates from the right side, putting porridge +service in the place of the plate removed. Offer porridge, as sugar and +cream, from the left side, remove soiled porridge service from right +side, putting hot plate in its place. Offer other dishes from left side, +or if the plate is served by the carver, put it in front of the guest +from right side. Place cup and saucer on the right, offer sugar and +cream from the left. + +When dismissed after the service of breakfast, go up-stairs to the +bedrooms and proceed with them as directed previously in duties of +"General-Housework Maid." Have breakfast when summoned by cook, clear +table, and prepare dishes for washing. Return to the bedrooms, finish +the work there and in the bath-room, and then wash dishes, put them +away, and despatch other work of the dining-room. See if silver needs +cleaning and that table-linen is in order. Polish brasses, rub off +furniture, wash windows, or attend to other work of this sort. Make +butter-balls for the next meal. Clean and fill lamps. + +Set table for lunch according to previous directions. Wait as at +breakfast. Be careful that no glass is allowed to become empty, and keep +a watch on the plate of each guest, offering to replenish it as it is +emptied. + +After luncheon clear the table before going to luncheon in the kitchen. +Wash dishes and dress for the afternoon, requesting the cook to answer +the bell while you are in your room. Be in readiness to attend the door +during the afternoon. Make the tray ready for tea at five o'clock, and +carry it in at the appointed hour without waiting for the order. If the +salad is in your care, prepare it in time and see that the mayonnaise, +if this is needed, is made in season. Set the table according to +directions already given. At dusk draw down the shades and light gas and +lamps in hall and drawing-room. + +In passing the soup do not use a tray, but put the soup-plate down in +front of each guest, from the right. Remove the soup-plate from the +right, leaving the service plate untouched. When the hot dinner-plates +are brought in, take up the service plate, substituting the +dinner-plate. Bring the meat to the table first, then place the +vegetables on the serving-table. Stand back of the carver, a little to +the left. Take each plate as he serves it and put it down in front of +the guest, from the right. Pass vegetables, etc., from the left. Follow +the same plan as has been outlined earlier in serving salad, sweets, and +coffee. + +Should you be expected to remain in the dining-room throughout the meal, +the soiled dishes must remain untouched until after dinner. If you are +permitted to wait in the pantry, many of the soiled dishes can be washed +during the meal. + +When coffee has been served, go up to the chambers, remove spreads, +shams, etc., turn down beds, and close the blinds. Come down to your +own dinner, and then clear the table, wash the dishes, and put the +dining-room in order for the night. Be ready to answer the bell during +the evening. About ten o'clock take iced water to the chambers. If up +later than the members of the family, turn out lights and lock up. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Expert Maid-Servant, by +Cristine Terhune Herrick + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43042 *** |