_Domestic Service_
When Marie was about fifteen years old, her mother took her away from
the factories and put her into domestic service. Factory work was
telling on the girl's health, and the night freedom it involved did not
please her mother. The young woman for some time had felt the charms of
associating with many boys and girls unchaperoned and untrammelled. She
liked the streets at night better than her home.
"When I got into the street," said Marie, "I felt like a dog let loose."
Of course, she hated to go into domestic service, where the evenings
would no longer be all her own, but her mother was still strong enough
to have her way.
"At that time," Marie wrote me, "I was a poor, awkward girl, somewhat
stupid, perhaps, but who would not be at my age and in the same
environment? I had received most of my education in the factories and
stores down-town, which was perhaps beneficial to everybody but me.
Even my mother, who in some ways was stupid and hard, noticed that this
sort of education was likely to have what is called a demoralizing
effect on me. So she induced a kind-hearted, philanthropic woman, Mrs.
Belshow, to take me as servant girl. Mrs. Belshow was high in affairs of
the Hull House Settlement Workers, and generously paid my mother one
dollar and a half a week for my services.
"Mrs. Belshow had a beautiful house. At first these fine surroundings,
to which I was entirely unused, made me more awkward than ever. But soon
I got accustomed to the place and became very serviceable to my
employer. I was lady's maid as well as general housekeeper, and my fine
lady duly appreciated my work, for she never asked me to do service
after half-past nine at night or before half-past five in the morning.
Besides, she allowed me Sunday afternoon free, but only to go to church
or Sunday School. For the honourable lady told me very kindly that she
did not wish to interfere with my religion in any way whatever. This
advice I accepted meekly, as I was greatly in awe of her, though I
should have much preferred to spend my half holiday in my home locality
and to dance there with other stupid boys and girls in Lammer's Hall,
where the entrancing strains of the concertina were to be heard every
Sunday afternoon. The young folks out that way were not strong on
religion; or, if they were, they would receive all the soul's medicine
necessary by attending church in the morning, no doubt thereby feeling
more vigorous and fit for enjoying the dance afterwards.
"But I, poor stupid, had learned from my mistress that dance-halls were
vile and abominable. Of course, I believed all that Mrs. Belshow told
me. I had not the slightest idea that she did not know everything. Why,
she belonged to Hull House, that big place in Halsted Street, which had
flowers and lace curtains in all the windows, and big looking-glasses
and carpets and silver things on the inside; and many beautiful ladies
who wore grand silk dresses and big hats with feathers came to see my
mistress nearly every day, and they all talked a great deal about the
evils of dance-halls and saloons and theatres. I had always stupidly
thought that those places were very nice, especially the dance-halls,
because I always enjoyed myself there better than anywhere else. I had
never been in a theatre, but I had often been in the saloons to rush the
can for my father, and I had noticed that people seemed to enjoy
themselves there. There were long green tables in the saloons on which
men played pool, and there were books scattered about in which were
jokes and funny pictures. And the men played cards and told stories and
danced and sang and did about anything they wanted to. This seemed to me
good, and I felt sure at the time that if I were a man I should like to
be there, too.
"But now I learned that these were terrible places, dens of vice and
crime. What vice was, I did not know, but crime meant murdering somebody
or doing something else dreadful. I thought about what I heard the fine
ladies say until my poor little head became quite muddled. Left to
myself, I could not see anything so terrible about these places, but if
these finely dressed ladies said they were terrible, why they must be
so. They knew better than I did. But I wondered dreamily if all terrible
places were as nice as dance-halls.
"After the novelty of the situation wore away, life became rather
wearisome to me, and I sometimes wished I were again working in the old
factory. I thought of the evenings, when my day's work in the factory
was done and I was walking in the streets with my chums, telling them,
perhaps, of the small girls who worked with me in the factory, and of
the guys who waited for them on Saturday nights and took them to the
show. And one of the girl's guys always used to give her a whole box of
the swellest candy you ever tasted.
"Dreaming thus one day of all the happy times I had known, I loitered
over my work, as I fear I often did, and was sharply reprimanded by my
mistress, the honourable lady, who wanted to speak to me as soon as
possible on a matter of grave importance. I finished making the bed in a
hurry and went into the presence of Mrs. Belshow, who said to me:
"'My dear child, how old are you?'
"'Past fifteen, ma'am.'
"'Fifteen! H'm, you're quite a big girl for your age. I'm astonished
that you have no more self-respect, or your mother for you! How is it
that she allows you to go about with such short dresses? Why, it is
shameful; I am surprised, for your mother seemed to me a sensible sort
of a woman. I declare, I never would allow my daughter to expose herself
in such a shameless manner, and I certainly will not allow anyone in my
employ to do so. Only the other day my attention was called by some of
my friends to your most careless condition. They said they could not
help noticing it, it was so dreadful. It is this kind of thing which
causes a great part of the vice and immorality with which we are
surrounded. Unless a mother has common decency enough to clothe her
child properly, it seems hopeless for us to accomplish anything. Now, my
dear child, I want you to go home this very night and tell your mother
you must positively have some long dresses, or no self-respecting person
would care to associate with you. And you must try to have at least one
respectable garment by Sunday, for I am ashamed to have you seen going
out of my house in your present condition. Run along now and don't be
home later than ten this evening.'
"During this long harangue I stood gazing on the floor, blushing
painfully. I wanted to tell my mistress why I had no longer dresses,
but could only stammer 'yes, ma'am' and 'no, ma'am,' and was very glad
to escape from the room as soon as my lady had finished.
"When my mother heard about the affair, she was very indignant, and
demanded why Mrs. Belshow did not buy the dresses for me. 'For my part,'
she said, 'I have no money to waste on such trash. I'm sure, what you
are wearing now is all right. It's not so short, either, nearly down to
your shoe tops. But I suppose I must get you something, or she will fire
you. I'll give you a dress that'll be long enough all right--one that
goes right down to the floor, and if Mrs. Belshow doesn't like it,
she'll have to lump it. I can't afford to get you new dresses every year
and you not through growing yet. Gee, that Mrs. Belshow must think we're
millionaires!'
"When I made my appearance the next Sunday morning in a neat long skirt,
the honourable lady praised me very highly, saying that now I looked
like a respectable young woman. 'Why, you actually look pretty, my
child,' she said. 'You must get a nice ribbon for your neck, and then
you will be fine.' This remark made me very happy, for I had been
secretly longing for a dress of this kind. Now, at last, I was a real
grown-up lady. Perhaps I might soon have a fellow, who would take me to
the show, just like the girls in the factory. I thrilled with joy. Later
I looked into the mirror a long while, admiring myself and dreaming of
the afternoon, when I would be free. I decided that I would go to the
dance, and pictured to myself how surprised and envious the other girls
would be, when they saw me looking so fine. I would certainly not miss
one single dance the whole afternoon, for I was sure the boys would be
fascinated and that the swellest among them would see me home in the
evening.
"These joys made the morning an unforgettable one; but soon it was time
to get ready to go. I went to my room and curled my hair, and then was
more pleased with myself than ever. I really looked pretty! Oh, the joy
of it! I do not need to explain, even to a man. Briefly, I looked
sweller than ever. The only thing needed to complete my toilet were some
bright ribbons to fix in my hair and around my throat. I recollected
having seen some very pretty ribbons in my mistress's scrap-bag which
would do admirably. So I brought the scrap bag from the store room and
dumped the contents on my bed, and soon found just what I wanted--two
beautiful bits of silk. I hastily stitched them together, and was all
ready to go. I could return the silk to the bag the next morning and my
mistress would never know they had been gone. I thought regretfully what
a shame it was to throw such beautiful things into a scrap-bag.
"Poor, vain little me! I came home later than usual, that
never-to-be-forgotten night!--very tired, but very happy. And I had been
escorted all the way by the grandest young man I had ever known. I lay
awake for a long time, reviewing everything that had happened. I had
never dreamed it was possible to be so happy. It was because I was now a
grown-up lady! I should never forget that all my happiness was due to my
mistress, for it was through her that I had my long dress. I decided to
be more serviceable than ever, not dream and dawdle over my work, and
never to be angry when my mistress scolded me. I would disobey her only
in one thing--about going to Sunday School. At least, I would not go
every week, perhaps every other Sunday, so she would not notice. In the
midst of these good and delightful thoughts I fell asleep, and slept so
soundly that the alarm bell in the clock did not awaken me at the usual
hour.
"It did awaken Mrs. Belshow, however, who was just about to drop off to
sleep again, when it occurred to her that she had not heard me moving
about as usual, so she went to my room and aroused me in the midst of a
beautiful dream about the handsomest boy you ever saw just as he was
paying me the greatest attention!
"Jumping out of bed, I was horrified to find it was six o'clock, fully
half an hour late. I rushed about my work, dreading the moment, yet
wishing it were over, when my mistress should summon me for the scolding
I was sure would come, for if there was one thing Mrs. Belshow hated
more than anything else, it was being late. All too soon came the
dreaded moment. Breakfast was scarcely over, when I was requested to go
to my room. That was rather surprising, for, as a rule, I received my
scolding in the lady's room, while I was assisting her to pull on her
stockings or comb her hair.
"I had scarcely crossed the threshold of my room when my knees knocked
together and I nearly fell over, for there, standing in the centre of
the room, with a piece of silk in her hand and an ominous frown on her
face, stood my mistress. She pointed an accusing finger at me and asked
coldly, 'Where did you get this?' Receiving no answer, she continued,
'Don't tell any lies, now, to add to your other crime.' I stood there,
as if glued to the floor and could only gaze at her dumbly and
appealingly. I tried to speak in vain; but even if I had been able to,
she would not have given me a chance. She brought all her eloquence to
bear upon the stupid girl before her; she wanted to make me see what a
very evil act I had committed.
"'Oh, how sorry I am!' she cried, 'that this thing has happened. But you
are very fortunate that it has occurred in my house, rather than in
somebody else's, for I know what measures to take to cure you of the
propensity to crime which you have so clearly shown. I shall, of course,
have to send you away immediately; for I could never again trust you in
my home, for although it is only a trifle that you have stolen,--yes,
deliberately stolen,--yet anyone who takes only a pin that belongs to
another, will take more when the opportunity offers. So, in order to
cure you of this tendency, I myself will conduct you to your mother and
impress upon her the necessity of guarding and watching you carefully,
as a possible young criminal. I never should have expected this of you,
for you have quite an honest look. Now, dress yourself quickly and
bundle up whatever belongs to you. I will remain in the room while you
are packing. Are you sure you have taken nothing else which does not
belong to you?'
"This question loosened my tongue, which hitherto had clung tightly to
the roof of my mouth. Dropping on my knees before my mistress, I
fervently swore that I had taken nothing, that I had not meant to take
anything. I had meant to wear the pieces of silk only once and then put
them back where I had found them. With tears rolling down my face, I
begged her not to tell my mother.
"'I will work for you all my life without pay,' I cried, 'if you will
only not tell my mother. Indeed, I did not mean to steal, so please
don't tell my mother!'
"This I urged so vehemently and with such floods of tears that finally
my kind-hearted mistress said: 'My dear child, if you will promise me
faithfully never to do anything like this again, I will not tell your
mother. But let this be a lesson to you; never to take anything again,
not even a pin, that does not belong to you. You can never again say,
with perfect truthfulness, that you have not stolen. I am glad to see
that you have such respect for your mother that you do not want her to
know of this, and for your sake I will not tell her. I have a meeting at
Hull House to attend in half an hour, and before I leave I wish you
would scrub up the kitchen and your room and then you can go.'
"So saying, the honourable lady left the room quite satisfied with
herself for having (perhaps) rescued another human being from the paths
of vice and crime. I went about my work with a heavy heart. Forgotten
were all the joys of yesterday! Now, just as I was becoming used to my
place, I must leave it. And I must tell my mother some reason for it.
But I could not tell the truth. Ah! yes, I would say that my mistress
was about to close up the house and go South for the winter. That would
be a fine excuse. I had heard and read that many rich people go South
for a time in the cold weather, so surely my mother would not doubt it.
I went away, feeling easier in my mind, and never saw my honourable
mistress again.
"Many days have passed since then, and I have been serving several
different ladies. I learned a lesson from each one of them; but I shall
never forget what I learned from the kind-hearted, philanthropic Mrs.
Belshow, a prominent settlement worker in a large city. It's a lesson
that Mrs. Belshow will never learn, or could never understand. All of
which shows, perhaps, that I was simple at the time rather than stupid;
for I find that I am still receiving my education--not from books, but
from the way people treat me, and from what I see as I pass through
life."