“BOY!”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 20075, 11 October 1920, Page 9

“BOY!”

War brides arriving out East soon learn that the great call of the East is/ ’Boy!” The servant problem they leave at home. It never arises at afternoon tea in their new quarters, for tho quiet, white-clad “boys” have proved themselves that rara avis of the West—the ideal servant. Apart from tho ayah (nurse), Chinese “ boys 1 staff the homes of Europeans in the East. Eacli morning, soon after davlight, the cook goes down to the market to purchase tho fresh food—meat. fi&i. vegetables, fruits—required for the day, paying cash with the money his mistress hands him overnight. Meantime the boys are busily denning, their bare feel making no clatter as. they swiftly polish and sweep. They are quick, capable workers, doing their job well without supervision, and possessing a. natural neatness of figure and apparel that prevents, even in humble bungalows, that depressing appearance of slatternly domestics. At allernoon tea the “ boy ’•* appears nt his best and smartest, every hair inplace on Iris black glossy head, wearing special felt slippers, the bottom of bis white trouser?, being tucked into his soc’m and neatly bound into place with 1 ft scarlet or other coloured ribbon Tt is rarely the bungalow mistress iif worried about her staff, because staff food—tlm big hone of homo contention —is not her affair. She pays her cobk : boy about thirty dollars and tho “house” boy about twenty, and they provide all their own food, which' ib prepared as they please in the staff accommodation—quite separate from the bungalow. The war has raised wages here as elsewhere. The “boy” class is a special brand of Chinaman. Ho comes either from Canton, Swatow, or Hyhnn, and' is easy to train, with a, natural aptitude for household service. Ti.c term “ hoy ” is no criterion of age. "While the servants mostly appear to bo young, their actual years arc difficult to guess. At tlm end of twenty years’ service they are still “boy ” and show little change in appearance. Domestic staff “scenes” are an .unknown thing Jbi it.liq Ebst; beda-usfe “bov” is permitted no argument. Ho is told what to do and does it. if a sullen or unsuitable boy is engaged, dismissal is easy, as new boys can quickly be procured. Usually, however, the boy is a cheery individual uniformly respectful, making an ideal servant. Naturally be has a few idiosyncrasies —a passion for gambling, which, however. docs not interfere with his work, and a predilection for cigarettes belonging to his master. At the iatttr one winks, also at tho fact that be makes a small commission on various orders; but even allowing for that, be arranges matters at a lower figure than if one bargained oneself. On the whole, this house-boy of the East is a decided treasure. Small wonder that the Mem returning East sighs with pleasure and relief as she sits on her verandah and Avitlv a mere clap of tho hands summons her deferential and capable “hoy.”—(By Hilda M. Love in “Tire Daily Mail.”)