NATION OF SERVANTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 28, 3 February 1938, Page 19

NATION OF SERVANTS

A writer in "Women in Council," the official paper of the National.Council of Women (England), gives an interesting account of the native servants ■in Nprth Africa, as follows:— "Residents in Egypt, whose English leave has been made hideous iby the scarcity of the English servant, often claim that in their more favoured land 'the servant problem does not exist. It may afford some consolation to the unfortunate majority .who do riot live in Egypt to know how such' a system actually works. . The housekeeper in Egypt starts with the unique advantage of having at her disposal not only an unlimited supply of servants but an entire nation, the Berberines, whose chief profession it is to be servants. This people, whose home is far south '.of Assuan, and who have no • literature nor even a written language, sends the greater number of its sons north to Cairo and Alexandria to engage in domestic service. They arrive as small boys, usually with no knowledge of the Arabic tongue, and apprentice themselves to an uncle or other relative who already has a position as house.boy or copk. Under the supervision of this experienced relation they do all the work of the house for practically no wages, learn Arabic, and are eventually judged worthy of ending their apprenticeship and seeking positions of their own. Since a mutual contempt exists between the Berberines and the people of Egypt it-is'iiatural.that, the Berberine' colonies in Cairo and Alexandria should /form a .closely-knit community ,"■arid should sperTd their leisure in gossiping and exchanging inforniation about professional openings. For this reason no such establishment as a registry office'exist's'in'Egypt, since any lady who wants a servant has but to make her requirements known to the- head- boy of one, of her friends and, the post is immediately filled. . :But, although domestic service is the national profession of the Berberines and although of all positions service in an English household, is - the most esteemed among them, that is not to say that all Berberine seryants are good, nor even that the English inevitably obtain the best of them. In selecting one, certain general rules are usually1 observed by the cautious. If the applicant has an oily manner , and during the course of the interview admits coyly that'' he is ■■a ' Christian convert, it is certain that besides losing the Moslem virtues he has also acquired the few vices that were un'known to him before. "Next in order of undesirability conies the .suave, confident candidate who has had a wide .experience of service in hotels'and talks English with an easy, fluency.' Constant'.intercourse" with tourists will have made him grasping, dishonest, and familiar. It is'-not'his fault, but he;is' better left to the service bt the tourists who have made^him what "he'is." Above these two categories it becomes more difficult to form a superficial ■ opinion, but in, general it, is true that the less English a servant' knows the less practice he will have had in taking advan-

COMFORT IN EGYPT

SUPERVISION VERY NECESSARY

tage of an inexperienced mistress; and that, among the Berberines, honour is the result less of conscience than of stupidity. "Having acquired servants whom she believes to be good, the mistress of the house now settles down to the task of keeping them good. The house boy, unless he. drinks or steals, which are rare faults, is not a very difficult problem. He is usually a good-natured, simple-minded fellow, and, if he has been well trained, is one of the, best servants in the world.

The cook, however, is a different matter, for.it is'the cook who does

"Sport and General"1 Photo;

Charming evening dress-in white ■ silk taffeta, with square neckline, built-up shoulders, and full-flared skirt. It has a novel panel effect in pale blue satin doivn the centre of front. " the marketing for the house, and;in any transaction in which the magic commodity money is involved it is the inevitable instinct of the Berberine to overreach —and not to overreach ■sometimes, but every day. Since most cooks run a* small Berberine restaurant in their spare time, they have'a double' incentive to overcharged ■' All cooks, therefore, overcharge in proportion to their' estimate of what, their mistress will stand; and as they constantly subject the validity of this estimate to the test of an increased ' overcharge, , it follows that the English housewife in Egypt can never afford to let her vigilance relax.