" People should hire servants who do not break things,"
said Lydgate, the young physician in "Middlemarch," just
before his marriage to the fair Rosamond. Certainly no
man, after a few months^ experience in housekeeping, would
have given utterance to anything like it.
One of the greatest annoyances we are subjected to
through the stupidity and heedlessness of those we hire is
the injuries inflicted upon our pet dishes. I have in mind
now some Majolica butter plates shaped like grape leaves
with nearly every point broken off, the beauty gone for
ever ; in fact, they are a sort of aggravation, being too good
to throw away and not good enough to use. When I had
kept house three years I made this resolve : that if it were
possible I would never care very much for, or take very
much pride in, any piece of crockery, or anything which
could be nicked, cracked, or broken. I would set my heart
on things above, where hired help are not supposed to
enter without conclusive evidence being given of their re-
generation.
There is now and then a girl who, if she breaks anything,
announces that fact with appropriate expressions of regret,
and with explanation? as to how it happened ; but usually
you find some day, when, in her absence, you are taking an
inventory of your kitchen and table belongings, the hidden
fragments of broken dishes tucked away in a corner until
she can effectually dispose of them. It is not only annoy-
ing, but one can not help feeling bad over it, and asking
why she could not have been frank about it ; why she could
not have been honestly careful of things which do not be-
long to her ?
*^ You do not seem to care very much for fancy dishes on
your table," said one lady to another. "It is because I do
care for them that I do not have them ; it hurts me too
118 HOUSEHOLD HINTS.
much to have them broken," was the reply. "I thought
just as all young women do, that when I kept house I
would not keep my china and prettiest things for company,
but we would have the good of them ourselves. I had a
theory about it too. • I believed in it, but I soon found out
that, unless I washed them myself, thereby invariably mak-
ing the girl angry and more careless about other things, in
a little while I should have no china either for ourselves or
for company."
The experiment has been tried of obliging the servant
to pay for what she breaks ; this sometimes operates well,
and sometimes is the cause of your girl leaving when you
need her most.
This is one of those apparently hopeless questions which
puzzle the brains of multitudes of thoughtful women ; it is
painful to ponder upon the amount of energy lost in conse-
quence of the fatal mishap in the kitchen. I know of no
way in which one may succeed in impressing the need of
care for your things upon help. My own way is to tell each
one of the long line of incompetent girls who have passed
through my kitchen — somewhat after the manner in which
a cyclone passes through a Western village — ^that I have
special reasons for setting a great value upon my dishes
and silverware; and I say that I have always been very
careful of them, and hope that she will be.
It can not be truthfully said that this treatment has
met with marked success. The dismembered tea sets ; the
dinner service, once cordially welcoming a dozen guests to
our table, now by degrees contracted to the requirements of
two people with an odd plate for the small boy ; pretty gifts
in the form of Majolica pitchers, vases, fancy cups and sau-
cers — all tell a mournful tale of the uncertainty of earthly
possessions.
Still, I know of no way to prevent the trouble except to
repeat what has been already said, and I can only try to
TALKS UPON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 119
Household hints
1881Page 59
Presented as published in 1881. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
" People should hire servants who do not break things," said Lydgate, the young physician in "Middlemarch," just before his marriage to the fair Rosamond. Certainly no man, after a few months' experience in housekeeping, would have given utterance to anything like it.
One of the greatest annoyances we are subjected to through the stupidity and heedlessness of those we hire is the injuries inflicted upon our pet dishes. I have in mind now some Majolica butter plates shaped like grape leaves with nearly every point broken off, the beauty gone for ever ; in fact, they are a sort of aggravation, being too good to throw away and not good enough to use. When I had kept house three years I made this resolve : that if it were possible I would never care very much for, or take very much pride in, any piece of crockery, or anything which could be nicked, cracked, or broken. I would set my heart on things above, where hired help are not supposed to enter without conclusive evidence being given of their regeneration.
There is now and then a girl who, if she breaks anything, announces that fact with appropriate expressions of regret, and with explanation? as to how it happened ; but usually you find some day, when, in her absence, you are taking an inventory of your kitchen and table belongings, the hidden fragments of broken dishes tucked away in a corner until she can effectually dispose of them. It is not only annoying, but one can not help feeling bad over it, and asking why she could not have been frank about it ; why she could not have been honestly careful of things which do not belong to her ?
*^ You do not seem to care very much for fancy dishes on your table," said one lady to another. "It is because I do care for them that I do not have them ; it hurts me too
much to have them broken," was the reply. "I thought just as all young women do, that when I kept house I would not keep my china and prettiest things for company, but we would have the good of them ourselves. I had a theory about it too. • I believed in it, but I soon found out that, unless I washed them myself, thereby invariably making the girl angry and more careless about other things, in a little while I should have no china either for ourselves or for company."
The experiment has been tried of obliging the servant to pay for what she breaks ; this sometimes operates well, and sometimes is the cause of your girl leaving when you need her most.
This is one of those apparently hopeless questions which puzzle the brains of multitudes of thoughtful women ; it is painful to ponder upon the amount of energy lost in consequence of the fatal mishap in the kitchen. I know of no way in which one may succeed in impressing the need of care for your things upon help. My own way is to tell each one of the long line of incompetent girls who have passed through my kitchen — somewhat after the manner in which a cyclone passes through a Western village — ^that I have special reasons for setting a great value upon my dishes and silverware; and I say that I have always been very careful of them, and hope that she will be.
It can not be truthfully said that this treatment has met with marked success. The dismembered tea sets ; the dinner service, once cordially welcoming a dozen guests to our table, now by degrees contracted to the requirements of two people with an odd plate for the small boy ; pretty gifts in the form of Majolica pitchers, vases, fancy cups and saucers — all tell a mournful tale of the uncertainty of earthly possessions.
Still, I know of no way to prevent the trouble except to repeat what has been already said, and I can only try to