Mistress and Maid.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 9, 5 October 1907, Page 3

Mistress and Maid.

In tluose days wh,tfn so ma'njj women are eager to becomojwape-earncrs it is only right that g*v(ir|^i'aoi 1 ijEy should ' be given them td^it'jStift? r iiS'"psperts.. Technical kno\vledgQ."'iis :'6'ssential to success in every jork, whether it be typewntih'g,~te"aclung, or domestic (says Jlie'3!JXelbourno Argus") '00 po'iv cent A : of'-Jbo

;;irls who enter domestic service never dream of making any preparation for it. In this, housqjyorkjljfijers frontal];' otlier occupations. If a girl decides to become a' factory hand she lias to begin at. the loweisl; ning' of the lacldor to learn her trade, and dressmaking, telegraphy, shorthand, nursing or teaching need diligent ' training. Alnnoy is spent for the purpose by the girl herself, or her parents, who sometimes deny themselves in every way. in order that their daughter may become qualified in' : "tb'o Twork shni has seeleted as congenial. But in domestic service girls without- .any right;.notion of organised housework 'take situ- . ..ations with.the. idea" of ■grbwmg.'li'rito ' work. It makes the lives such girls "in .their, first "places" so hard,' and often'ca'uses a good mistress to' despair! ' Many a girl comes into a family with evory dosire to please, but sho fails because sho has no rudimentary knowledge. Even if she has been used to helping her mothor at home, y the conditions ;are different. When "such a girl tal.es her first situation it is usually as a "general," and the feeling which oppressed her at the start is the sense of loss of liberty and the utter loneliness of her position. It is dull to live alone, and eat alone, and who can blame her if she demands many nights a week out which .she;;can,;.spond ,in>„ congenial company-,:.•when-:the--alter-native is sitting in the kitchen by herself. Where there are children the dull aspect of the case is , brightened somewhat, for they afford companionship, and an /afPcc"- ; tion a to': 1 ink b ctweon i flie''s v/prkori -ahd> ' her mistress. ' ~' "?' "•''*'' ,t We hear more ofi.'lhe>-failings and shortcomings of domestic helpers than ■'of those .of any other .class. ;of workers, but that is mainly-, because l they-i can make or nmr : house-hold.-comfort, i In a factory or work-room a badlybehaved or lazy girl pays the penalty. She is either fined or dismissed. In a household, the faults-and'shortcom-ings of the worker 1 put the house, and interfere,with the general peace which is tho fundamental condition of a happy home. Of course, it often happens that the example of the mistress has much influence with the maid. If a girl sees that her employer, only! looks, after her house and children by fits and starts, and neglects the details, ,it. is not to be wondered at that- sh'e.thuiks such .methods, aro good; enough ; for her. Thus shiftless habits aro'ac-' quired which aro hard..to,eradicate. It is impossible to lay down "arbitrary rules for domestic-manageinciit,~whet-hcr it be housekeeping /or <;the-main-tenance of a pleasant'rcli'tionsliip between employer and employed. So much depends on temperament, and when a girl finds. a : home with .'it'mis:- v tress for whom sho''"has' porsoh'siPaffection, and who iii'lief'turn'regards ' the girl-as an interested friend, all goes well and happily.,,,But„when,..np„ effort is made towards, ;a. mutual,.understanding,- all goes wrong';' Th'i'js,. of courso, applies to.'/liotiseliolicls f Vrliefe •. the "general" is tho.',only, qutsidei help'', employed, and, after all, they .'.'are.'.' vastly in the majority.- ; >. .-,;;,-/■-;? "•'•'•'> MUCH- WASHED /JAPANESE.'. '.'" With Western nations a .batli'is-ah , evidence of luxury',' and'only'tli'e'well- 1 to-do and leisure .classes have the habit of bathing dailjv Among tho poor tho bath is •56 ;, -uncommon that as a class they .'have'it been* j rightly called . "the gre&t*' urfwashcbV' lii Japan it is not so. There everybody, from the. least to the greatest, has a hat bath every day, and. many -bath several times a Japa'ii'cs'iiv have beon reproached with;-bathmg;EiUi; in the same tubj bW before they stepinto tho hot bath, the body is thoroughly scrubbed with-.',s6ap. and' hot water, rinsed "off''with cold. The people regard foreigners'as s'uch v dirty;* creatures that usually- they -are''iiotv ' permitted to use' trie'" public '''b'a't'h-' ' houses. ' :', y \ Mrs. Catherine Williams, eighty-five •jcars old, of Copenhagen Street, Isling.ton (Loudon), swallowed her false teeth cturiiifr a violent fit af,,coughing n ,ancl-.. was suffocated. 0., ..,;,. ,;.,.,:;. "That policeman' was -like'-i-Sidliva'n'-' '■ and Covbett rolled into; one,'V was -the" compliment paid to • of Ipswich. EriiSlaud..;. i;y<,Jamcs' -Miick, -Phelan, who -resisted arrest on a charge of'disorderly conduct) and- ; was .subdueu ;r .by 'lie Holiciniim.' ~ " '„. ' „",~,... ; ( Workmen 'who ■4 - c'i'e"'-r.itp'airm : (»>-"4lie : '" roof of a houss afiPelaw-on-Tvue, recently, discovered a "hidden wiik dated- • May 1-1. 1827.