THE SERVANT GIRL QUESTION.

Hastings Standard, Issue 67, 14 July 1896, Page 2

THE SERVANT GIRL QUESTION.

[To THE EIMTOB.] Sib, —In your issue of the 11th inst. appears an article re Mr Kelly's Bill and the drudgery attached to the life of a country housekeeper. It ccme i so very close to my own experienca whilst acting in that capacity lately, that really I cannot allow it to pass unnoticed. I had not only to feed the plough horses, do the cow spanking, draft and dip the sheep, cut all the firewood required by the house, but I had occasionally to assist in cutting the chaff. Had I not done the cow spanking I should have had to go without either milk or butter, or else buy them from my private resources, as there was no jam or anything else on the station which could be used as substitutes. If by chance a half dozen tins of jam were bought, or if, as happened once during my stay, a dozen of salmon were procured, they were put aside for the exclusive use of the boss's sons, and no one else dared touch them. Besides this I had to listen to language of the very roughest description ; and on one occasion when I tools a much required trip, I found on my return that my box had been opened by a duplicate \ key, my private correspondence ran- ~ sacked, and my clothes upset. These are a few of the disabilities under which a country housekeeper labors, and, unfortunately, people of the class I refer to can always obtain servants, as they take the precaution to advertise for them in the large centres where they are not known. Trusting you will pardon my intrusion on your valuable space.—l am, &c, A QIJANDAM HoUSEKEEPEB.