SOCIAL ASPECT OF SYDNEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2426, 12 September 1900, Page 61

SOCIAL ASPECT OF SYDNEY.

BY CIGAIiBTIE.

THE SERVANT GIRL QUESTION.

"Wanted, a general " is the .daily cry in the advertising columns of Sydnej''?. morning papers ; then follow frequently special inducements, such as '' No shirts, gas stove, all holidays given, no children, only two in family, wages 10/' ; but notwithstanding all these attractions, ihe domestic servant will not apply, and in desperation the mistress of the house hies her to the registry ofnee, there to await what the Fates may send her.

-The keeper of the registry office is, as a rule, a woman oi part". It is hoi role to be "all things to all women." Hhe rcc.eives you with a winning smile, be you mis-tres*- or maid, and sympathises with tho short-comings of either. "Well, J am disappointed in the girl; I thought she would have suited you to perfection," slie says in a sympathising tone to an elderly spinster who is complaining of the list consignment; ILeii in whispered colloquy out-.idc tho door a keen-cared listener catches; "No, no; she's a fidgety cl<l piece — you won't do for her. I Mi«s Brown last week, and she only staj-ed two day?." Then with a beaming smile she brings forward o toothless old woman with suspiciously sodden looking features and bleary eye-\ "1 am sorry young gene. alb arc very scarce just now ; but if yoti v, ill try ;ui clJerlv woman, lam sure she will give yaw cieiy satisfaction.'" The ancient ie'iialo states her accomplishments, and adds iiisinuatiiig compliments, " Sure an that's not your daughter, mem ; you're too younglooking to have one that size ! " One after another the different applicants are "suited," pay their half crowns, and file out. Some registry offices supply two servants for one half crown — that is, if the fiist leaves within the month.

Sydney servant girls never bring their boxes to a new place ; they arrive with a small brown paper parcel, view their surroundings with an all-seeing eye, and, if these are unsatisfactory, are "missing" next morning. Some stay £> week, and* as soon as their wages are paid, walk off. For three '■hillings they get a room in town with a fireplace, -where they make innumerable cups of tea or cook an occasional chop, and not until their kinds are exhausted will they seek lor another place. There are always plenty of places* to be had ; it is the servants who can pick and choose. Sydney dancing saloons have a great deal to do with spoiling domestic servants. When engaging a mifctre.-ss, one of the examination questions frequently asked by the girls is, "I suppose I may go to my social once a week? " The social means the dancing saloon, and when the important day arrives, Mary Jane's curling pins are left in all day, the work is rushed through, the meals tread on each other's heels in desperate haste, the crockery falls fiom her hurrying fingers, and eliao^ reigns in the kitchen. Dancing domestics never ha-\ o any decent clothes. All theiv money goes on finery and evening shoes.

Dishonesty is very rare amongst servant girls in Sydne3 r ; but thrift is almost unknown. Their money melts away as fast as it is earned ; but they are always ready to hold cut a helping hand to a fellow servant in distress From a mistress's point of view, the mo=t desirable domestic is the "country girl." A more hard-working class it would be difficult to find — washing, cooking, ironing, cleaning, arc child.) play in a s-mill family to a country girl who has- had perhaps to "do lor" p dozen men in tho country at busy seasons. But country girL are foon snapped up, and the demand iar exceeds the supply. They know their worth, ioo. and are particular about the places they take. "1 won't let my sister come down to take that old lady's place," said one. "'Why, she won't allow any visitors in the kitchen, and only one clay out a week ; and every Sunday she'd have to go to church ! "

The country girl's greatest treat is a ''night at the play " — in fact, all Sydney servant gills have a weakness for the theatre. There is no doubt that recreation is a necessity for servants, for tlie lftonotony of domestic work is such that if unrelieved with occasional outings, it is apt to become intensely depressing ; and perhaps one of the reasons for the scarcity of good servants is that no efforts are made by mistresses to amuse their servants. lii all other occupations some spice of amusement can be found. There is freedom for the factory girl after her work is done ; tho stpp girl can laugh with her fellow-workers o\-£" the vagaries of her customers ; apprentices gossip together over their toil ; chorus-girls are content with the glamour of the stage ; but where is the humour of the kitchen? If a man could commit suicide through being "tired of buttoning and unbuttoning," surely sufficient reason might be found in the "weariness of washing-up."