THE "SERVANT GIRL PROBLEM."
By Elsie M. Tade
LET me make my contribution in the form of an incident. "Mrs. Archer, how do you manage so well with your help?" said Mrs. Maxwell, as she took the offered seat on the veranda. "I have had an uncomfortable time this morning," she continued, as she saw Mrs. Archer's look of inquiry. "Jane is so saucy and disagreeable that I shall have to let her go soon, and she is the third girl I have had within the last six months. This morning the steak was underdone and the oatmeal burned, and when I spoke to her about it, she snapped out something saucy and slammed the door as she went out. Harry certainly ought to start off with a good breakfast these warm, trying days, and, although he didn't say anything, I knew he didn't enjoy the bill of fare," and tears stood in Mrs. Maxwell's eyes as she spoke. "My dear," said Mrs. Archer, "there must be some way out of this terrible difficulty. I do not believe it is so bad that it cannot be remedied;" and her low laugh was very comforting. "Will you let me be your mother confessor and ask you a few questions?" "Well, then, where does Jane sleep?" "Sleep?" Mrs. Maxwell's eyes expressed astonishment. "Why, in the little attic room with the dormer window!" "When do you have your dinner?" continued Mrs. Archer. "At five o'clock, when Harry returns from the office." "Does Jane ever have any company?" "No, I told her I didn't allow her followers, much less to receive company in my kitchen, and her family lives some distance in the country." "Now," interrupted Mrs. Archer, "you've given me material enough for any number of sermons, but I don't think I can help you more than by giving you my own way of working, and I have learned much of it by sorry experience. "In the first place, I try to give my servant a good room, one that I should not hesitate to sleep in myself if necessary. It is on the second floor, at the head of the kitchen stairs. Just before Mary came, it received a thorough renovating with the rest of the house. A few simple pictures, a rug, an ornament or two besides the ordinary furnishings, made the room wonderfully attractive, and when Mary fully realized that it had been prepared for her, and that even the vase of flowers had a welcome, tears came into her eyes and her eloquent thanks followed me all the way downstairs. "During these summer days we have our dinner in the middle of the day, for that gives Mary a little time in the afternoon and does not necessitate a hot fire in the kitchen range for getting tea. We find we all enjoy it just as much, for my husband gets a regular dinner at the restaurant, as does yours. Of course for the winter we alter our plan. It seems best, as the children are at school. "Mary has one evening in the week as her own, on which she may either receive a friend or go out to spend the evening. I find that usually a word from me will stop any acquaintance that is undesirable. Sunday evening she usually gets out to church, for I consider that a privilege no servant ought to be denied. We all try to respect her rights; even Rob and Nellie think twice before they step on her newly-mopped floor, but she'd excuse most anything in 'thim blissid children,' I think. "When the hard work of the week comes, I try to make the extras as light as I can, and I think she sees and appreciates it. Now, to sum up my sermon," laughed Mrs. Archer, "I try to bear in mind that my servant is made on the same immortal plan as myself. Of course I cannot make a confidant of her, or invite her to meet my friends or discuss Dante in my parlor. Her education has not been such that she would enjoy it. But I try to make her feel that I am her friend, and that I am alive to her best interests; that when she is doing my housework she is doing me service in the best sense of the word. If I am interested in her welfare it will naturally follow that she will be interested in mine. "Of course things do not always go smoothly, but it makes such a difference if a little patience and a gentle word of praise are used to lighten a hard day's work. I want my servant to feel that I trust her; that is an education. In short, as the great mainspring of it all, I try to observe the Golden Rule."
-The Voice.