PLATE V
A LONDON DINING-ROOM SHOWING DRAWING-ROOM BEYOND
This picture shows how a gas fire may be fixed in an antique grate without disturbing the old fire-place. When alight the effect is of red-hot coke.
Too many Governesses, Secretaries, and Companions in Normal Times.
And yet there is a glut of women who wish to become governesses, secretaries, companions, and shop-assistants, in spite of the fact that such work is not well paid, that it is uncertain, and that those girls who must take lodgings or "live in" are generally badly housed and badly fed. Except in a few shops, girls living "in" live very roughly. Nurses in the generality of nursing-homes do the same, and women workers who earn under 30s. a week and live in a bed-sitting-room in a lodging-house are in no better case, though the latter do have the luxury of a room to themselves. In many houses, however, this luxury could be granted to the servants.
The life of a servant in a good situation is healthy; she can enjoy cleanliness, good food, and warmth, she can take her pick of situations, and leave one which is undesirable, knowing full well that she can obtain another for the asking. A girl earning good wages in service can save, and she is not dogged by the terror of being suddenly thrown out of employment and finding herself penniless and unable to obtain another post.
So much for the advantages of domestic service as a profession. What are its drawbacks?
Lack of freedom and the fact that the profession of a servant is not considered genteel! The girl who adopts it does not rank as a "young lady."