CHAPTER V.. Routine of a Servant’s Duties—Importance of the Mistress’s

Routine of a Servant’s Duties—Importance of the Mistress’s Example.

Early rising is indispensable, if a servant would do her duty; it is not possible that the rooms can be dusted, the fires lit, the breakfast got ready, and all the little incidental trifles done, unless a servant is down stairs at least two hours before breakfast-time. We should fix six o’clock as the proper hour at which work should begin all the year round; for in winter even more has to be done than in summer, and few things are more unpleasant than to have servants muddling about their work all day, instead of getting through the chief and dirtiest part of it in the morning hours. If we make a call, which gives us the most favourable impression of the family,—to see a tidy-looking, clean servant, answer the door; or to have it opened by one who looks as if she had deemed it necessary when blacking the stoves to black her own person also?

A servant should be trained to rise about half-past five, throw open her bed, and her window, too, when the weather permits; unclose the shutters of the staircase and dining-room, open the windows of this latter to air it; pass into the kitchen, and open the shutters and windows there; light the kitchen fire; well rinse the kettle, and fill it with fresh water; see that the boiler is well supplied with water, and then proceed to prepare the room required for breakfast.

The rug must be folded up and removed, and the proper cloth laid down in front of the fire-place before the grate is touched (we are supposing that it is winter); the box containing the black-lead and brushes for a black stove, or the emery paste, and leather, brushes, cloth, &c., for a polished stove, and the scuttle containing coals, wood, &c., must be brought up. Once a week, at least, the soot should be gently swept down from the chimney into a shovel, as it otherwise gathers all round the lower ledges, and is very apt to take fire; the stove must be polished with a brush or a cloth, according to its nature, every morning, and thoroughly cleaned at least once a week. The fire may then be laid and lighted, and in doing this there is some art. Where one girl will light and re-light the same fire three or four times over, consuming in each attempt a quantity of wood and paper, another will, with a quarter of a bundle of common wood, or one wheel of the patent wood, kindle a brisk fire at once. Success lies in obtaining a perfect draught of air through the pile of materials, and placing those in juxta-position which are most combustible in nature. Where this is properly done there will be little smoke, and great saving of fuel; but fire-lighting requires the use of one’s senses and some skill, common-place a matter as we may think it.

This much having been done, the sweeping comes next. Now, it will not be requisite thoroughly to sweep the carpet all over above once a week; on the other six days, only those parts of the room chiefly used, will require sweeping, and this may be done with a dust-pan and a soft hand-brush. Then comes the dusting, and in doing this a feather brush should be used for the frames and chair-covers, and a duster for the furniture. On the cleaning day the carpet must be well swept with a carpet-broom and tea-leaves, the furniture well cleaned and rubbed, the mantel-piece and ledges washed, the inside of the windows cleaned, and every ornament well dusted.

The street-door steps should be cleaned, the mats shaken, the passage swept, and the brasses polished before the family come down.

The breakfast is then to be prepared; the cloth laid, the breakfast service properly arranged, the ham or eggs, or whatever it may be, cooked, the toast made, the butter set in clear, fresh water, the coffee prepared, and the milk boiled.

The servant next proceeds to the bed-rooms, opens the windows, lays the bed-clothes back to air, and turns up the mattresses or feather-beds in each room, then empties the slops, cleanses and rinses all basins, jugs, bottles, &c., wipes up all slops, and brings fresh water to supply the wants in each room. The beds are then to be made, and the rooms dusted. On cleaning day, which should come for each room once a week, the chamber utensils must be well washed in warm water, the carpets taken up and shaken, the floor scrubbed, the curtains shaken, and the furniture cleaned. During the summer the floor under the bed should be washed over three times a week at least, to remove all dust and flue.

Before all this can be finished, the breakfast will have had to be removed, and this should be methodically done; the china being gathered on to a tray without either fuss or rattle, the crumbs brushed from the cloth, and this latter doubled up in its original folds, and any crumbs which may have fallen on the floor swept up into a dust-pan.

The servant will now get her own breakfast, and then wash up and put away the breakfast-things, having first set aside the eatables, giving the scraps to the cat, and taking care that nothing is wasted.

The upstairs-work having been done, the candlesticks and lamps should be cleaned and trimmed; and then the knives cleaned. Where only one servant is kept, she will ere this have had to think about dinner, and manage so as to make the earlier preparations for that important matter between whiles. A mistress should always early inform her domestic what she intends having for dinner, otherwise the servant cannot possibly arrange her daily duties in a proper manner, so as to attend to the cooking; and the mistress should, as far as possible, endeavour to arrange her dinner so as to suit the household duties of the particular day for which she is catering. For each day should have its special duties; as, Monday the wash for towels, dusters, servants’ clothes, &c., and looking up the clothes for the laundress; Tuesday, cleaning the attics; Wednesday, the best bed-rooms; Thursday, the drawing-rooms; Friday, the dining-rooms and plate; and Saturday, the hall, staircase, and kitchens, and covers, &c. Such regulations once laid down, the servant will know what each day requires of her; and the mistress, being aware what has to be done, will be able to give her orders accordingly,—for nothing can be done without good management in a small household. Both mistress and servant must exercise forethought, or the whole day will be one scene of hurry and discomfort.

The next thing, then, is dinner, and this meal having been served and removed, the servant must, if the family are in the habit of retiring to the drawing-room, run up and see that all is right there; the fires burning and curtains let down, if in winter, or any little customary summer arrangements made. Then comes washing up the dinner-things, and preparing for tea, and serving that at the proper hour.

While the tea is in the sitting-room is the best time for the servant to go up to the bed-rooms, turn down the beds, close windows, light fires, or perform any other customary or necessary duty.

The tray has to be removed, and cups used at that meal washed up and put away. The tea-leaves should be squeezed tolerably dry, and put away in an old dish or basin, for sweeping. All window-shutters should be closed and doors bolted at dusk, both in winter and summer. If supper is taken, it is usually carried up on a tray covered with a cloth; after that comes the putting out of all fires and lamps, the fastening the hall-door, and then to rest.

Any one who takes the trouble to reflect upon the multifarious occupations of a female domestic, in a family where but one is kept, cannot but perceive the absolute necessity of a regular plan of proceedings, and also of the need there is for consideration, and patience, and kindness. With all the activity and good-will in the world, it is physically impossible that a girl can be in two places at once; and yet she may be just performing some nice operation in cookery, while a visitor may be knocking at the door, and her mistress ringing impatiently to have something done towards tidying herself or the apartment. How is this to be managed? It can only be settled quietly by the mistress bestirring herself, and aiding in smoothing the difficulty. Where two or more servants are kept, one should always be tidy and ready to answer the door, and the lady of the house and her apartments should always be mis à quatre épingles, or, in other words, in such order that a visit from royalty itself would scarcely create any bustle. Indeed, the test of a well-arranged establishment is the absence of all fuss. The advent of relatives from the country, bent on finding a home and a bed there, the arrival of unexpected guests to dinner, or any such like unexpected events, will, of course, slightly derange the economy of a household, especially if it be a small one; but our housewife will not allow this to be visible. Quietly and without fuss she will take opportunities of giving the necessary orders; and if her servants are regularly trained, they will comprehend and second her at once. In every house spare sheets, blankets, and bed-clothes should always be kept aired, in case of their being required on any sudden emergency, and this can be done by laying them between the palliasse and mattress of any bed in regular use. We have before spoken of the advantage of always having the store-closet well supplied. It is a great mistake to fancy that anything is saved by purchasing articles that will keep in small quantities, and certainly the loss of time incurred by having constantly to send out for trifles, is both a great waste and a great inconvenience. No servant can get through her work properly if she has repeatedly to run out on errands, or if she is called off frequently on some frivolous pretext. A mistress is quite right in exacting from her servants a regular and proper fulfilment of all their duties; but on her part she must give them time and opportunity to do this. If she sees they want method, she must try to teach them; and, through all this, must remember how defective their early education has too often been, how little preparation they have received for the path of life they have to follow, and be patient with them.