A Woman's Experiment.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 81

A Woman's Experiment.

The long-standing difficulty ,' experienced in middle-class households, oi obtaining good, "general" and other v servants , at moderate wages continues ,to be a. source' of worry and- perplexity to the^housewife, although the theme has not been so freely ventilated of late as of- yore. The attempt of ladies to taie the place of servants and so fill, the breach has not met with much success, " for the reason that the scheme "has not been undertaken •with method. It is not the housework that is disagreeable, s but the association with inferiors. _ The lady domestic can only be a success where those, or nearly all, who share her. work are those .of her own class ; but, as it is, in her enthusiasm for a new -vocation, she- has sought to put up with what has proved impossr'ble of endurance, and has consequently failed in -a branch of- work that she is perfectly well able to 'manage. There ' are scores of gentlewomen who are better suited for domestic work than for anything else; and who find., real pleasure in cooking and. other domestic arts, but who are yet unable- to turn their talents to profitable, account. An experiment tried by a lady who is necessarily a breadwinner herself, and has at heart the interests of other women situated in a similar way, • has" answered very well. She- took, a private house in a convenient suburb, furnished it "simply bift liicely, and started -a bparding-house, engaging no servant -to live m, but having about her_one or two friends inreducbd circumstances, who, like herself, share the work of the house, with the exception, of .the assistance given in. the mor& menial duties — window-cleaning, boof-cleaningi, etc. — by a respectable young girl, who comes .daily. AU the women work tosether in the happiest- ,manner,,' arrange their " hcrass off " in a way most convenient to all — just as it suits them,— and find life, yer# pleasant^ - * ■ -

Why should not this excellent scheme become" widespread? It,. offers a satisfactory answer, to the problems of how to help the poor relation,' and how to 'lrve in a congenial environment, while y-t being, to a great extent, ""mistress of .ineself. The letting of furnished rooms* in lieu of the boarding-house scheme, might ' suit some people _ 4 better* • and could b.e carried out. in an equally pleasant manner. With congenial companionship and chatter , even the uninteresting task of " washing up" cups. and ;dishes has compensations. — Ida Meller,-in-.the L^rerpodl Mercury.