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 |
I
ENGAGING THE MAID
The most common method of engaginga servant is through an intelligenceoffice. There are nearly asmany different kinds of these as thereare types of domestics who patronizethem. An office with a high standingshould be selected. This is not onlybecause a lower grade of employées isto be found at the other variety, butalso on account of the methods followedin some of the cheaper offices. Suchestablishments occasionally have unscrupulousmanagers, who make a businessof encouraging the maids they place to change often, in order that therenewed fee of the employer may cometo the office. This practice has becomecommon enough in some States tojustify legislative intervention.
In nearly every city or town thereare reputable agencies, sometimes conductedas business enterprises simply,sometimes run in connection with churchor benevolent societies, where a registeris kept of the references of servants forwhom places are secured. These referencesare usually held as confidentialbetween the agent and the would-beemployer, and the latter is thus enabledto learn with some certainty the qualificationsof