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  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 employees
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