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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35066-8.txt b/35066-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4f17165 --- /dev/null +++ b/35066-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2939 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Guide to Hotel Housekeeping, by Mary E. Palmer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Guide to Hotel Housekeeping + +Author: Mary E. Palmer + +Release Date: January 25, 2011 [EBook #35066] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUIDE TO HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + GUIDE + + TO + + HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING + + + + + BY + + MARY E. PALMER + + 1908 + + + + + Copyrighted 1908, + + BY + + MARY E. PALMER + + + + + THE TRIBUNE PRINTING CO. + Charleston. W. Va. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CREDIT TO THE HOTEL WORLD. + + +The greater part of the contents of this book was published, in +instalments, in The Hotel World, of Chicago. + + + + +A FOREWORD. + + +My chief purpose in writing this book was to place a few guide-posts +along the route of hotel housekeepers to warn them against certain +errors common to women engaged in the arduous and difficult occupation +of keeping house for hotels. + +If anything that I have set forth herein shall make the work of hotel +housekeepers easier, more inviting, or more efficient, thereby +contributing to the satisfaction of proprietors and to the comfort of +patrons, I shall feel amply repaid for writing this book. + + MARY E. PALMER. + + Hotel Ruffner, + Charleston, West Va. + March 1, 1908. + + + + +THE MANAGER AND THE HELP. + + +The average hotel manager is only too prone to complain of the +incompetency and the inefficiency of hotel "help." + +It is true that it is difficult to secure skilled help, for there is no +sort of institution that trains men and women for the different kinds +of hotel work. Each hotel must train its own help, or obtain them from +other hotels. + +Thus there is no uniform and generally accepted standard of excellence +in the different departments of hotel-keeping. + +A good word should be said in behalf of the Irish-American girls, who +constitute a majority of the laundry help, waitresses, and chambermaids +in American hotels to-day. + +With a high regard for honor and rectitude, handicapped by poverty, they +find employment, at a very early age, in hotels, and perform menial +duties in a manner that is greatly to their credit. + +The Irish-American girls are not shiftless, remaining in one place for +years until they either marry or leave to fill better positions, which +is the privilege of every one living under the "Stars and Stripes." + +Some improve their spare time in study, thereby fitting themselves to +become stenographers and bookkeepers. Some adopt the stage as a +profession, one instance being that of Clara Morris, who takes delight +in telling of the days when she washed silver in a hotel. + + +_An ex-Governor Peeled Potatoes._ + +Ex-Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, boasts of the time when he peeled +potatoes in a hotel. + +The success of hotel-keeping depends largely on the manager. He should +possess patience, forbearance, and amiability. He should know that the +best results are obtained from his help by kindness, and that good food +and good beds mean better service. + +The manager should realize that the working force of a hotel is like the +mechanism of a clock: it has to be wound occasionally and set going. No +novice can operate this wonderful piece of mechanism; it requires a +skilled mechanic. + +The proprietor of a hotel should be a good loser; for there are periods +of the year when the employes outnumber the guests, and the +balance-sheet shows a heavy loss. + +One of the most successful hotel men of the writer's acquaintance is Mr. +Louis Reibold, formerly of the Bates House (now the Claypool), +Indianapolis, Ind. Mr. Reibold's fame rests in his liberal, kindly +treatment of his help. He never called them "help," but always referred +to them as "employes." Reception, reading, and writing-rooms were +furnished for their use, and he himself saw that good food was provided +and that the tables were spread with clean, white table-cloths once a +day. + +He remembered his employes at Christmas, each one receiving a gold coin, +some as much as $20. + +When a girl in his employ lost her arm in a mangle, he presented her +with a house and lot, provided her with ample means to furnish the house +and to keep her the remainder of her lifetime. + +Mr. Reibold is a multi-millionaire, and he has the admiration and love +of every woman and man that ever worked for him. + + + + +FEEDING AND ROOMING THE HELP. + + +Employes, such as housekeepers, clerks, cashiers, stenographers, +stewards--though few stewards use the privilege--and bartenders, are +permitted to take their meals in the main dining-room. + +Other office-employes take their meals in the officers' dining-room, +from the same bill of fare used in the main dining-room. + +Chambermaids, bell-boys, and other "help," are served in the "helps' +hall," from a separate bill of fare. Their food is good, as a rule; when +it is not, the fault usually lies with the chef in the kitchen. All +proprietors want their help to have good food. + +The housekeeper can do much to make the help comfortable. She can see +that their rooms are kept clean and sweet, and free from vermin. She can +give them soft pillows and plenty of warm covering. It is her duty to +add to their comfort in every way she can. + +In a majority of hotels, the help are roomed and fed equally as well as +are the patrons. + + + + +REQUIREMENTS OF A HOUSEKEEPER. + + +Every profession or trade is made up of two classes: the apprentice and +the skilled workman. The young woman looking for a position as hotel +housekeeper should not forget that careful training is fully as +important and necessary in her chosen vocation as it is in medicine or +cooking; that she must learn by slow and wearisome experience what it +has taken years for the skilled housekeeper to acquire. + +The apprentice may stumble on the road to success and may even fall by +the wayside. In order to succeed, she must give her time wholly to her +occupation. She must be thankful for the successes that come to her and +not fret over the failures, remembering that hotel housekeeping, like +all other occupations, demands experience, patience, and perseverance, +as well as skill, in its followers. + +The profession is overcrowded with novices to-day; they are the ones +that have demoralized the profession--if the word, profession, may be +applied to hotel housekeeping. The failure of many housekeepers is due +to the lack of proper training; it is only the skilled housekeeper that +wins lasting approval. + +A trained nurse must remain in a training school at least three years, +possibly four, before she is given a certificate to care for the sick. +The chef of the hotel kitchen, in all probability began his career as a +scullion, serving at least ten years' apprenticeship in minor situations +in the kitchen. The housekeeper must not be above gaining knowledge in +the laundry and the linen-room. A woman that is ambitious to become a +good housekeeper should first serve as a chambermaid. If she is wise, +she will secure the good graces of the linen-woman by offering to help +her mend the linen, hem the napkins, sort the linen, and mend the +curtains. + +In this way, a clever chambermaid may learn many useful things that will +help her to a better position. From the linen-room, it is only a step to +the position of a housekeeper. When a housekeeper leaves on her +vacation, or is called away to fill another place, or drops out on +account of illness, the linen-woman may seize the opportunity of showing +her executive ability. After she has worked faithfully in the linen-room +for three years, there is not much danger that a linen-woman of ability +will fail to find employment as a housekeeper. If she should have any +trouble getting a situation, one way out of the difficulty is to offer +her services one month on probation to a hotel man in need of a +housekeeper; and, if she is granted a trial and mixes brains with her +enthusiasm, she will receive a housekeeper's salary at the end of the +month. + +Just what a housekeeper's work should be is a vital question. We hear of +housekeepers meddling in the steward's department and with the affairs +of the office. This is, at least, no less wrong than the idea that the +housekeeper owes servile obedience to all other heads of departments. + +The essential requirements of a housekeeper are the same, whether she is +in a hotel with the capacity of a thousand guests or in a hotel of two +hundred rooms. The young housekeeper, looking for a position in a +first-class hotel, should read the following requirements, which were +submitted to the writer by the manager of a first-class Western hotel a +few years ago: + + +_A Housekeeper's Requirements._ + + Must be morally correct. + Must have a dignified and respectable appearance. + Must have executive ability. + Must have a good disposition and try to get along with the help. + Must be a good listener and not a talker. + Must be quiet, giving orders in a firm but low tone. + Must be loyal to the management. + Must be courteous to guests. + Must not worry the management with small matters. + Must refrain from gossiping. + +Neatness in dress is essential to the success of a hotel housekeeper. +She should take great pains to be always well groomed, and neat in her +attire. If she finds herself growing coarse or commonplace-looking, her +fingernails in mourning, and her hair unacquainted with soap and water, +she should at once set about to remedy the defects. It is her duty, as +well as her privilege, to dress as well as she can, not by donning all +the colors of the rainbow or by useless extravagance, but by modest and +harmonizing shades and by appropriate apparel. It behooves the woman to +make herself as good-looking as possible, for good looks pay. Obliging +manners are also a stock in trade. Grit, grace, and good looks can +accomplish wonders, especially the good looks. + +Ignorance and ambition make an unprofitable combination. There are +housekeepers filling positions to-day that have never been taught to do +a single useful thing correctly; they can not darn the linens, they can +not sew, they can not upholster a chair, they can not wait on the sick, +nor can they settle the slightest dispute without sending for the +manager. The housekeeper should know how these things are done, in order +to impart her knowledge to others; for any housekeeper that has any +respect for her calling considers herself an instructor. + +There is no special hour set for the housekeeper's appearance in the +morning. It is safe to say that she will make a greater "impression" and +last longer by rising at 6 o'clock. Late rising is one of the rocks on +which many a housekeeper has been wrecked. + + +_Cheerfulness and Good Manners._ + +Every housekeeper should make the "good morning" her bright keynote for +the day. She should not say, "Hello, Mollie," to a girl named Mary. +Though the girl may be only a scrub-girl, she knows a breach of +etiquette; and a girl that bears the beautiful name of Mary does not +want it changed to "Mollie." + +A cheerful "good morning" should be the beginning of each day, by the +housekeeper. It makes everybody feel pleasant, and the maids can work +faster and easier when their hearts are full of pleasantness. + +The successful housekeeper does not win her laurels by merely perfecting +herself in her work, but also by careful study of the lives of others in +her charge, and how to promote their happiness. + +Getting along with help requires tact, poise, and balance. The +housekeeper should bestow praise where it is due. She may give a gentle +pat on the back to some faithful employe, and yet keep her dignity. A +hard task may be made lighter by it, and monotonous labor robbed of its +weariness. The old and persistent notion that housekeepers are an +irascible tribe--if it was ever true--is not true now. + +The question here arises--What qualities of mind and heart should a +housekeeper possess to be successful? + +Nobody has discovered a rule--to say nothing of a principle--whereby a +housekeeper's success may be determined. It is reasonable to claim that +the permanent success of any housekeeper lies in her skill and in the +confidence and esteem of her employer. She has learned that skill is +acquired by serving an apprenticeship, and that esteem and confidence +are won by character. Everybody who touches a sterling character comes +at last to feel it, and the true hotel man has come to know that the +housekeeper of skill and character is his friend. After the relation of +friendship has been established between the manager and the housekeeper, +a "go-between" has no place; to speak plainly, there is no legitimate +function for a tattler. + +The young housekeeper should not become discouraged, excited, or +worried, but learn to "manage." She should sit down quietly and think it +over. She should have a system about her most ordinary duties, and never +put off till to-morrow what may be done to-day. Tomorrow may never come, +and, if it does come, it will bring other duties equally as important. +Every field of labor has its drawbacks. The greater the work, the +greater the hindrances and the obstacles seem to be. + + + + +THE HOUSEKEEPER AND THE "HELP." + + +It is a truism that there should be no hostilities between the heads of +the different departments of a hotel. Everything works more smoothly and +satisfactorily when pleasant relationships exist between the different +departments of any business. + +A housekeeper feels stronger if she thinks that she is of sufficient +importance to her employer to have her views receive some consideration. +She takes up her daily tasks with an added sense of responsibility, and +with a desire to do still better work. + +No housekeeper is perfect. It cannot be wisely assumed that any +housekeeper will possess all the requisite qualifications for successful +housekeeping, nor can she develop them all, no matter how ambitious, +industrious, and naturally fitted for the work she may be. But +"Knowledge is power," and she that has the most of it, coupled with the +greatest ability to utilize it, enjoys advantages that will contribute +largely to her success. + + +_Keeping a Position._ + +A housekeeper studies not only to secure a good situation, but also to +avoid losing it. "Good enough" is not her motto; "the very best" are her +constant watchwords. Some one has said: "A housekeeper is born, not +made." The "born housekeeper" is a spasmodic housekeeper. As a rule, she +is not evenly balanced. A housekeeper with plain common sense, +susceptible to instructions, willing to obey orders, is the housekeeper +that leaves the old situation for one of better pay. There must be, of +course, a foundation on which to build. The stones of that foundation +should be self-control, self-confidence, education, neatness in dress, +and cleanliness. None of these is a gift, but an accomplishment that can +be developed more or less according to the individual. + +Good manners are very essential. Politeness alone will not bring about +the desired results in any profession, but it has never been known to be +a hindrance. Manners that will be accepted without criticism in one +woman, will be odious and objectionable in another. Too much familiarity +breeds contempt. An employer would better be approached with dignity and +reserve. + + +_The Charm of Neatness._ + +Few housekeepers realize the charm of the neatly dressed woman. The hair +should always be neatly arranged and not look as if it was about to fall +on her shoulders. The binding of her skirt should not show ragged in +places. These are little things, but they weigh heavily in the general +results. The well-groomed woman knows that the neglect of these things +is full of shame to womankind. + +In regard to "bumping up against" the bell-boys, clerks, stewards, and +stenographers, the wise housekeeper is shrewd enough to "stand in." She +"turns the other cheek," which may sometimes be a difficult task to +perform. + +Remember that no one on earth can ever succeed in life and hold a +"grudge." The inability to forgive his enemies lost James G. Blaine the +White House. + +If a bell-boy is caught doing something detrimental to the success of +the management, the housekeeper should write a note to the clerk, or the +captain of the watch, and inform him of the bell-boy's misdeeds. This +will be sufficient from the housekeeper. + +On assuming the duties of a new field, the housekeeper may remember +merely a few important duties; for instance, she must carefully +scrutinize the time-book and learn all the maids' names and stations. +Next learn the location of rooms and become familiarized with every +piece of furniture in them. Then, step by step, she should build up the +general cleanliness of the house. This is by far the most important of +all the requisites pertaining to hotel housekeeping. Guarding against +difficulties encountered with the employes and with the managers' wives +is secondary. + +A housekeeper that can not take orders is not fit to give them; if the +manager asks for the removal of an offensive employe, the housekeeper +should immediately get rid of the objectionable person. If the +housekeeper fails in deference to the manager's wishes, is not that good +evidence that she is not a good soldier? She should be eager to maintain +the dignity of her position--must maintain it in fact--and do as high +service as possible for the management. Yet she can not always carry out +her own ideas. The manager has his ideas about matters, which right or +wrong, must be respected. The housekeeper carries out the manager's +orders. If the hotel fails to bring a profit or give satisfaction, the +manager alone is held accountable. + + +_About Hiring Help._ + +To dismiss a maid is a very easy matter; to obtain a substitute that +will perform the duties assigned her in a manner that will prove more +effectual, is not so easy. + + To fire or not to fire, that is the question + Whether 'tis easier on the impulse of the moment + To suffer the terrors and exactions of the haughty maids, + Or take up arms against their impudence + And with pen and ink end them. + To lie, to sleep-- + + Worry no more, and by good management to dispatch + The cares and thousand little details + Housekeepers are heir to--'tis a consummation + Devoutly to be wished. + +The employment-agency is the housekeeper's recruiting station. She gets +most of her help from this place. The housekeeper should always consult +the manager when other help is to be hired. Everyone knows that old +employes are always best, even if they do spoil the new ones. The +housekeeper endeavors to keep the help as long as she can, using +persuasion, kindness, and forbearance, striving to teach them the best +and easiest way to do their work, bearing with their imperfections, +overlooking a great deal that is actually repulsive, not expecting to +find in the hard-working individual the graces of a Marie Antoinette, or +the inherent qualities of a Lady Jane Gray. + +The housekeeper should not only be scrupulously honest herself, but +should insist that the maids be honest. It is true that almost +irresistible temptations and opportunities to steal are constantly +thrown in the way of the maids; and those that are steadfastly honest +deserve great credit. + +If a maid is neat and clean in appearance and does her work well--these +qualities cover a multitude of sins. From the standpoint of many +housekeepers, too much curiosity and gossiping are the chiefest and +quickest causes--next to the neglect of work--for a maid's dismissal. A +housekeeper is usually disliked by the maids that do not want to do +their work, just as a stepmother is hated by some stepchildren, +regardless of her kindness and her consideration for their welfare. +Employes in any business prefer to take their orders from the person +that pays them their money. For this, they are not to be blamed; but if +the proprietor or the proprietor's wife wishes to retain the services of +a good housekeeper, and be relieved of the trying ordeal of training the +help, he or she will not encourage tattling from the housekeeper's +inferiors. + + + + +THE HOTEL PROPRIETOR'S WIFE. + + +Implicit confidence should exist between the housekeeper and the +proprietor's wife. This does not mean that the proprietor's wife should +take the housekeeper automobile riding. Any proprietor's wife that +enters into such a degree of intimacy with any of her husband's employes +distinctly displays the hallmarks of plebeanism. The writer does not +want to become an iconoclast, but she believes that all business should +be conducted on a business basis. There must be an unwavering loyalty to +the interests mutually represented, at all times and under all +circumstances. + +The proprietor's wife that goes to the help's dining-room or to the +laundry, presumably to press a skirt or a shirt-waist, but in reality to +see what she can see and to hear what she can hear, is disloyal to the +management. She will always have poured into her ears stories that will +annoy her and keep her worried. There are maids in a hotel always ready +to "keep the pot boiling." Such a proprietor's wife not only encourages +malicious slander and tattling, but she will soon be asking questions of +the inferior help about the housekeeper's management. Soon the +inferiors will be giving the orders instead of the housekeeper, and the +discipline will be spoiled. Besides, the proprietor's wife will be told +imaginary wrongs, and exaggerated stories concerning some maid employed +in the hotel, which will necessitate the maid's discharge. Whether the +story is real or imaginary, the proprietor's wife is not benefited by +the stories she has heard. She should ask herself: Is this loyalty? +Isn't it unmistakably the earmark of commonality? + +No housekeeper will object to taking orders from the proprietor's wife. +The progressive housekeeper is always polite to her employer's wife, +though not to the extent of being deceitful. The housekeeper must bear +in mind that what is of vital importance to the proprietor of a hotel is +of equal importance to the proprietor's wife. The housekeeper tries to +work in harmony with them both, which means success of the highest +order. To do this, the housekeeper must retain her dignity, often under +the most exasperating circumstances. The proprietor's wife is privileged +to frequent any part of the hotel she may choose to, but how must a +housekeeper feel to see her conversing in the most familiar tones with +the waitresses and the chambermaids, and to know that she is listening +to malicious slander of the lowest kind. A housekeeper can have no +control over the employes where the discipline is thus ruined, or where +there is so much unpleasantness arising from unwise interference over +trifles, by the proprietor's wife, or from officious meddling by the +families of the prominent stockholders. + + +_Tact Can Not be Taught._ + +"Bumping up against" the proprietor and proprietor's wife or family is +one of the most perplexing problems that the housekeeper has to solve. +The ability to combat with such a problem can not be imparted by +teaching. It has to exist in the housekeeper herself, in the peculiar, +individual bent of her nature. No amount of preaching and teaching can +ever endow a housekeeper with the ever ready wit characteristic of the +"Irish tongue." + +The savory reply, "O, Mrs. B., you are a dream of loveliness!" would be +sweet to some ears while to others it would be a "harsh discord." It is +impossible to teach which ear would or would not be the receptive one. +Any attempt on the part of the housekeeper to work up these qualities, +"by rule" would only be a failure Even the "Golden Rule" fails sometimes +to bring about desired results. The better plan, perhaps, for the +housekeeper to adopt is to live her own life, and not try to imitate +others. If she tries to be great, she will be nothing; if she tries to +be plain, simple, and good, she may be great. + + + + +CHARACTER IN THE HOTEL BUSINESS. + + +There is no royal road to success for the hotel clerk, steward, manager, +or housekeeper. The hotel business is peculiar in many respects; it +teaches conspicuously the great importance of character. + +There is no ingenious system that the housekeeper may adopt to insure +her success. Getting into trouble or keeping out of it is largely a +matter of luck, influenced by the kind of help that she is able to +secure. But, first and last, her success depends on her character--her +own energy, industry, intelligence, and moral worth. + + + + +ROOM INSPECTION. + + +When inspecting rooms, the housekeeper will notice that the room is +completed with the following necessaries: One bed, one foot blanket. One +rocking chair and two straight chairs. One writing table and a scrap +basket. One cuspidor. One dresser. One clothes tree or wardrobe. One ice +water pitcher and two glasses on a tray. If there is no bathroom, or +stationary hot and cold water, there must be a commode, a wash bowl and +pitcher, soap dish and clean soap. One slop jar, one chamber. Four face +towels. If there is a bathroom, one bath mat and toilet paper in the +holder. One small mirror. One cake of bath soap and two bath towels are +needed. On the dresser in every guest room should be a box of safety +matches and a candle. Candles are so cheap, and candle holders may be +purchased for a trifle, which will answer the purpose as well as silver. +No one who has lived in hotels but knows how annoying it is to be left +in total darkness for half an hour, on account of a burned out fuse, +when they are dressing for the theatre and in a hurry to complete their +toilet. + +The clerk in the office with the room rack in front of him has no +conception of the rooms except that they are in perfect order. Perfect +order does not only mean that the bed is neatly made, the floor clean +and all the furniture dusted; soap, towels, matches, candles and glasses +in their places, but everything must be in perfect working order. Let +the housekeeper's inspection begin then with the door. The lock must be +in order, and the key work properly. It is embarrassing to the clerk to +have to listen of a morning to such complaints as "my door would not +lock, and I was compelled to push the dresser in front of it to insure +safety." But this "kick" is often heard in first-class houses. The +transoms next should receive attention--see if they will open and close. +Next the electric lights; they must all be in order and burn brightly. +The dresser drawers must move readily, and be perfectly clean. The +windows must be carefully examined to see if they open and close easily, +and they must have no broken cords. A housekeeper's intelligent +attentions to these details will greatly aid the clerk in prompt service +to the guests, and will insure to the hotel the service that will be its +own best advertisement. + + + + +GOSSIP BETWEEN EMPLOYES. + + +There are only two classes in a hotel among its employes; one class is +quite perfect and pure as angels, while the others are black sheep and +altogether unspeakable. There is no transition, no intermediate links, +no shading of light or dark. A hotel employe is either good or bad, and +this rigid rule applies not only to moral character, but intellectual +excellence also is measured by the same standard. In a large hotel of, +say 250 employes, everybody seems to know everybody and everything about +everybody. Everybody knows that he is watched, and gossip, both in the +best and worst sense of the word, rules supreme. Gossip is, in fact, +public opinion, with all its good and all its bad features. Still, the +result is that no one can afford to lose caste, and everybody behaves as +well as he can. The private life of hotel employes is almost blameless. +The great evils of society do not exist; now and then a black sheep gets +in, but his or her life soon becomes a burden, everybody knows what has +happened and the employes, being on a whole so blameless, are all the +more merciless on the sinners, whether their sins are great or small. + +What most impresses one in hotels is the loyalty among employes. No one +tells them what to do or what to say, or what not to say, or what not to +do, yet you will observe that one who professes to be your friend will +not say unfriendly things behind your back. This condition is noticeable +among those of inferior rank, as well as among managers, stewards, +clerks and housekeepers. As a rule, one table in the main dining room is +reserved for the officers, clerks, stewards, cashiers, bookkeepers, +checkers, stenographers and housekeepers. Most of them have been taught +a few rules of life wisdom by their seniors. At any rate, few of them +are seen with their elbows on the table. They are observant enough of +social forms to eat pie with a fork, and their teaspoon is always in the +saucer; they eat slowly and take time to triturate. There is always one +"wit" to make one sorry when the meal is ended. Many hotel employes +possess intellectual powers to a great degree. Many clerks are college +graduates. The housekeeper is not, as some have said usually a member of +the broken down aristocracy, some one who has seen better days, whose +duty it is to walk through the halls with a "persimmon" countenance, in +search of the evildoer; never was a statement more false. Hotels employ +a house detective to look after its morals. A housekeeper is more apt to +be an assistant, who has been promoted to the very responsible position +of housekeeper. + + +_Relationship Between Housekeeper and Women Patrons._ + +A simple acquaintance is the most desirable footing with all persons, +however desiring. The unlicensed freedom that usually attends +familiarity affords but too ample scope for the indulgence of selfish +and mercenary motives on the part of the women patrons. It would be safe +to say that the housekeeper owes to all women patrons the courtesy and +consideration due one woman from another. It has been said that woman's +inhumanity to woman makes countless millions mourn. But this condition +is happily fading away; within the last decade women have been improving +in manners and morals toward each other. The housekeeper should take the +initiative, consider the "roof as an introduction" and assume a kindly +interest in the welfare of the women guests. + +Politeness is the sweetener of human society and gives a charm to +everything said and done. But a housekeeper may be called on to +sacrifice her duty to her employer. In this case she must not let any +weak desire of pleasing guests make her recede one jot from any point +that reason and prudence have bid her pursue. + + +_Birds of Passage._ + +One of the most striking conditions in modern hotel life is that few +hotels retain their heads of departments any great length of time, while +the inferior working class remains in one hotel for many years, and +often for a lifetime. This significant state becomes more marked from +year to year, and the question arises: What has brought about such a +changed condition? The traveling public surely is gratified to see a +familiar face behind the desk, in the housekeeping department, and also +in the dining-room. In days past, clerks, stewards, and housekeepers, +were identified with the same hotel until a retirement from all active +life would see them replaced by others. But of late they seem to have +earned the title, "birds of passage." + +Temperament creates the atmosphere of your surroundings, and if you +would remain in a fixed place, you should cultivate the respect of all, +and, if possible, their love, also. A nervous man or woman speaks in +haste and uses a sharp tone of voice over mere trifles, which, to an +ignorant mind, may have a tendency to create dislike, causing results +that may prove distinct barriers to his or her success as a manager or +housekeeper, whereas a placid man or woman could bring about the same +result with gentler tones, thereby preventing useless friction and +hatred. + + +_Directing and Commanding._ + +Heads of hotel departments should cultivate their talents for directing +and commanding. Politeness, which belongs to all persons of good +breeding and is essential in the ordinary transactions of life, is so +minutely cultivated by the heads of hotel departments as to be +conspicuous in its absence; some are not even civil, which is the very +least that one person can be to another. + +I do not mean to infer that an employe is to be forgiven if he gets +intoxicated and is late to his work every morning, nor that a sneak, a +thief, or an agitator should be excused. To handle help on the forgiving +plan in such cases, employers would become sentimental reformers and the +worst kind of failures. Sentiment may be comforting, but it is silly +when employed in business, under these conditions. Those that desire may +practice forgiveness, but when it costs time and money and brings gray +hairs to those that are doing the forgiving, it is better to keep as +near the line of sternness as possible. Everyone employing labor should +be very careful of his manner in expressing his disapproval of the +actions of subordinates. A reprimand should never be made in anger. If a +grave offense has been committed, reprimanding should be done with great +coolness and reserve, if you would look to future events and their +probable consequences. Impertinent and forward people may be checked by +cold reserve. Often the faculties for transacting business and the +talents for directing and reprimanding are considered by fond admirers +to be the gift of nature, when, in reality, they are the outcome of +self-control and education. + +Chesterfield says: "If you are in authority and have a right to command, +your commands delivered in _sauviter in modo_ will be willingly, +cheerfully, and, consequently, well obeyed." + + +_Attention to Details._ + +Hotel housekeeping is a science. The crowning excellence, as all +acknowledge, lies in giving strict attention to small things. Successful +hotel-keeping is an artistic achievement in which everything is in its +right place, is of the proper grade, shade, quality, and cleanliness, +harmonizing in every particular. + +Details are repulsive to the lazy or the listless. Let the housekeeper +feel the greatness of her position and the importance of her duties, if +she so desires to succeed. Enthusiasm is an element that can least be +spared--one that must accompany the housekeeper at every step. + +The question has arisen whether the housekeeper should learn without +rules, by blundering experience, or should she take what the approved +experience of others has found to be the best. No one doubts the answer. +The true way is to submit to rules and regulations and methods of +experienced and practical hotel housekeepers that have made their +profession a life-long study. + + + + +THE PROGRESSIVE HOUSEKEEPER. + + +The ocean is an everchanging wonder of kaleidoscopic views and no eye +ever wearies of its beauty. The earth arrays herself in such gorgeous +costumes so pleasing to man's sight that few there are who want to leave +her to try another. The child tires of the old ragdoll and cries for the +"Teddy bear." Put a new dress on the old ragdoll and it will again +become the favorite. + +If a housekeeper is not progressive, her employer will tire of her. The +onward trick of nature is too much for the average housekeeper, and +gladly would she anchor, but to do so means to sink. She must keep up +with the times, she must travel the pace of progress. + +There is nothing new under the sun, but there is constant metamorphosis. +Time brings changes. Competition is strong and housekeepers must be on +the alert for any accomplishment that will aid in their calling. + +In America, life is a universal race for exalted positions. Then get out +of the rut and keep up the long list of illusions, of which a rapid +succession of changes and moods and styles and ideas is the secret. + +You must keep busy. There is only one sin that you can commit; that sin +is idleness. Polish the old things and make them look like new. Do not +let your footsteps become so narrow that they will end in a +turkey-track. Keep up your practice of thoroughly cleaning rooms, +overhauling furniture, and sending out a mattress now and then to have +it repaired. Take up a carpet and have it cleaned. Give the radiators a +coat of bronze. Have the ceiling lights cleaned. Paste up the wall-paper +that is hanging from the wall. Polish the brass on the stairs. Put in an +order for some new material of which to make dresser covers. + + +_Decorative Dresser Covers._ + +The writer has just completed some very pretty dresser covers for the +parlor floor rooms, en suite. The work is fascinating, and the +linen-room girls and parlor-maids can lend a hand at making them. Any +kind of linen material can be adapted that can be laundered with ease +and success. Plain white linen is a well-deserved favorite and makes +thoroughly useful, as well as fashionable, dresser-covers. A cheaper +material can be found in linen toweling--just as pretty and just as +durable as the plain white linen. + +The dresser cover just covering the dresser and not allowed to hang down +is the favorite mode just now. It can be simply hemmed; but a charming +and more attractive pattern is with scalloped edges and elaborated +ends. These scallops are made with a spool, medium size, No 50 being +especially suitable. Put the spool on the edge of the material and with +a lead pencil, draw a crescent and then another, clear across the end. +Pad the scallops with common white darning-cotton, using the old +fashioned chain-stitch. Before putting the work in the embroidery-hoops, +sew a strip of muslin, about six inches in width to the edge of the +dresser cover. This will aid in getting the work placed in the hoops and +will enable you to do smoother and more satisfactory work. + +Embroider the scallops with linen embroidery floss, size "D," using the +buttonhole stitch. An eyelet at the termination and just above each +crescent will add materially to its effectiveness. Rip off the muslin +and launder before cutting out the scallops. This will prevent the ugly +fringe seen on so many embroidered dresser-covers. + + + + +THE HOUSEKEEPER'S SALARY. + + +Too many housekeepers of the present day neglect the small things. They +want to draw large salaries and let the house take care of itself, while +they visit with the guests and gossip and have a good time. The clerks +are kind and do not report to the manager the little complaints that +come to the office every day; but the housekeeper's conscience should +tell her that she is not earning her money. + +The housekeeper that is above her profession, is not interested in her +work, and that is trying to get into some church society, had better not +engage in hotel housekeeping, for her housekeeping duties will require +her constant attention at the hotel. There will be some difficulties to +settle at all times, which will require her presence. Maids work better +when they are conscious of a vigilant overseer. They take more pride in +their work when they know that every nook and corner is being inspected +by the housekeeper. Especially is this true if the housekeeper is +successful in commanding the respect of her subordinates. + +The housekeeper that lays the blame of some grave mistake on her +assistants is not worthy of the name of housekeeper. Had she been there, +attending to her affairs, it would not have happened, for she would have +prevented or stopped it. + +The housekeeper, by diligence, attendance to her duties, and by +economies, figures greatly in the success of a hotel, and makes her own +position. The position does not make her. Then it is fairly reasonable +to suppose that such a housekeeper should make her own salary; that she +should command and receive her price; that she should be paid according +to the amount she is really worth, and not the fixed scale that the +hotel pays. If a housekeeper can show by her books, by her management, +and by her economies, that she is worth more than her predecessor, she +is entitled to more pay, and by all means should receive more pay. The +average salary paid a housekeeper is not enough to properly clothe a +housekeeper. After her laundry bills are paid, what has she left to lay +up for the "rainy day," to say nothing of an old age, when parsimony and +incompatibility of temper and "set ways" make her, in any place, an +unwelcome personage. + + +_The Faithful, Efficient Housekeeper._ + +The housekeeper that sticks to her post and is always looking after her +work is surely worth more to her employer than one that has worn the +carpet threadbare in front of her mirror, or one that puts in a great +portion of her time at the bargain-counter, or the theater, or with a +novel in her hand. Surely, the hard-working housekeeper, the one that +makes her occupation a study and is always at her post, is worth more to +her employer than the housekeeper that is trying to do society "stunts," +to ring in with people of fashion, to "out-dress" them. But the majority +of hotels pay much the same salaries to housekeepers, good, bad, and +indifferent. + +The progressive housekeeper that thus looks after her employer's +business every day, always at her post in the linen-room, is +uncomplaining, shoulders the blame, and is not always knocking on his +private-office door and entering complaints about this or that, is +surely worth more than thirty dollars a month to any hotel man. If he +does not think so, he should not blame the progressive, faithful, +reliable housekeeper, if she promptly accepts a position with better +pay. + + + + +INSPECTION AND CLEANING OF ROOMS. + + +The housekeeper, or her assistant, should go through every room twice a +day. In the morning, the housekeeper should take the house-plan, inspect +every room, and check up the rooms that have been occupied. If the bed +in a room has been used, and if there is baggage, she should check this +also, and should turn the report into the office by nine o'clock. Then, +in the afternoon, when the maids are supposed to have finished their +work, the housekeeper should take her pencil and pad and thoroughly +inspect every room and the maids' work. She may find a ragged sheet or +pillow slip; if so, she should make a note of it. Some room may be short +of a towel, soap or matches; she should make a note of this also. Around +the gas-jets and in the corners, she may find "Irish curtains" +(cobwebs); in the commode, she may find a vessel that was forgotten; in +a dresser drawer, a man may have left his cast-off hose, and suspenders. +Some maid may have swept the center of the room, while under the bed and +under the dresser there may be dust of two weeks' standing; in another +room, the housekeeper may find a bathtub forgotten--all of which she +should write on the pad. This work will occupy two hours of her time in +a two-hundred-room house. When the maids come on watch at six o'clock, +each one should be given instructions to go back and finish her work. In +some hotels, the maids do not go off duty of an afternoon, but continue +working until six o'clock. In this case, the housekeeper should issue +her instructions at once. + + + + +HOW TO CLEAN A ROOM. + + +There are many ways to clean a room, but there is just one best way to +clean it thoroughly. "Dig out the corners" should be the watchword of +every successful housekeeper. She would rather the maid would leave the +dirt in a pile in the center of the room than fail to clean out the +corners. + +If one word could be selected that means the most and needs the most +emphasis in the science of housekeeping, that word would be +"cleanliness." The first desideratum, therefore, of the chambermaid, is +the scrub-pail and a piece of oilcloth--some maids use a +newspaper--under it to protect the carpet. The first thing to do is to +clean the small pieces of furniture. If the furniture is new, it should +be only wiped with the dust-cloth. If it is old and marred, it should be +washed with warm water and soap, and oiled with a good furniture-polish. +It should then be set in the hall. The dresser drawers should be washed +and the marble cleaned with sapolio; the mirrors should be polished, the +windows washed, and the shutters dusted. The crockery should be cleaned +and put in the hall. The bed should be covered with a dust-cover. The +cobwebs should be swept down with a long-handled broom. The lace +curtains should be shaken, and either taken down or pinned up. The +closet should be swept out. The toilet-bowl should be scrubbed inside +and out with the toilet-brush, and a disinfectant powder put in. The +stationary wash-bowl should be scrubbed with sapolio, and the faucets +polished, not forgetting the chain. The bathtub should also be scrubbed +with sapolio, and the floor washed. + +The door should now be closed and the sweeping begun. A very good plan +is to scatter wet paper over the floor to keep the dust down. The +corners should be dug out and the dirt swept to the center of the room +and taken up in the dust-pan. If the carpet is old, it should be sponged +with warm water and soap, to which a little ammonia has been added. The +carpet will look like new after this process. After the dust is well +settled, all the wood work in the room should be washed; the bed and +dresser should be washed and oiled, and all the furniture should be +symmetrically arranged, and the windows closed on account of storms. + +One chambermaid can successfully look after eighteen or twenty rooms a +day. Not all of the rooms are occupied every night. The maid should take +advantage of the dull days to clean her rooms thoroughly; she should +clean one room every day. + + + + +THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD BEDS. + + +Competition is great, and success will come to the best and cleanest +hotel. The traveler loves to slip into a bed with perfectly laundered +sheets that do not look as if the maids had sprinkled, folded, and +pressed them between the mattress, as chambermaids ordinarily do in +hotels where there is a scant supply of linen. + +Sometimes the chambermaid will ask the laundryman for a pair of sheets +to make up a sample-room, as the guest wants to receive a customer. The +laundryman replies: "Well, just as soon as the machinery starts again, +you may have them." There has been a breakdown; the belt is off; or +something has gone wrong, and they have sent for the engineer to fix it. +Then the housekeeper must go to some unoccupied room and strip the bed +and use the linen for making up the bed in the sample-room, while the +guest walks the floor and frets over the delay. Much time is saved if +the hotel is supplied with plenty of linen. + +Sheets that cover only two-thirds of the mattress do not add to the +cheerfulness and comfort of the guests. Many well grounded complaints +are entered about this. Special laws have been enacted in some states, +within the last year, regarding the length of sheets. + +Occasionally a guest finds it expedient to make his bed over, if he +would have any comfort. The maid has put the double fold of the blanket +to the top; it is a warm night, yet he fears to throw the blanket +off--he might take cold. So he concludes to make his own bed, putting +the single fold to the top, that he may throw some of it back. + + + + +HOW A BED IS MADE. + + +Good bed-making is the one trait par excellence in all good chambermaid +work. To make a bed artistically is one important feature, and to make +it so that the guest may rest comfortably is another, and, finally, just +how is the best way to make a bed is a question worthy of consideration. + +In our big country of America, the traveler from Maine to California +sees many styles of bed-making. In New Orleans is seen the picturesque +canopy of pure white mosquito-netting tucked in neatly all around. In +Kansas City is seen the snowy spreads plaited half way to the foot with +numerous little folds. In New York is seen the pure linen hemstitched +sheets, turned back with a single fold. + +To begin to make a bed, first, the mattress should be turned. The bottom +sheet should then be tucked in carefully by raising the mattress with +one hand and smoothing the sheet down with the other. The large hems +should always be at the head, in order that no one may be compelled to +lay his face where some one's feet have been. After the bottom sheet +has been tucked in at the head, it should be tightly drawn and tucked in +at the foot in the same way. Sheets should be long enough to tuck in one +foot at the head and one at the bottom. If it is a brass bed, the sheets +should be left to hang down. + +After the bottom sheet is on perfectly, it is easy to make a pretty bed, +and one in which the guest may rest well. The top sheet should be put +on, and tucked in at the foot only. The blanket should be put on with +the single fold at the head. If the guest should get too warm, he can +throw half of the blanket to the foot and yet have sufficient covering. +After the spread is put on, a single fold as large as your hand should +be made, then another fold one foot in width should complete the +folding, and the spread should be neatly tucked in. The pillows should +now be smoothed evenly and placed up aright, and the bed is made. + + + + +HOW TO CLEAN WALLS. + + +To clean a painted canvas wall does not require so much skill as +patience. + +A painted canvas wall is very easily cleaned. Many housekeepers have +them washed with ivory soap and water, and obtain good results. Others +add a little ammonia to the water, and still others use the powdered +pumice. + +The cost of painted walls are great, and it is a great saving to any +proprietor, if the housekeeper can successfully clean a painted wall +without calling the decorators. + +Perhaps the most practical and most economical way to do the work and +obtain the best results is to wash the wall with water, in which has +been dissolved a cake of sapolio. + +To proceed to clean the parlor walls: first, take out all the +bric-a-brac and tapestry and furniture; then take up the carpet. Have +the carpenter erect a scaffolding for the houseman to stand on. Have two +pails of hot water, and in one let a cake of sapolio dissolve. Keep the +other pail of water for rinsing. Have two large sponges, one for +cleaning and the other for rinsing. Souse the cleaning-sponge in the +pail in which the sapolio has been dissolved, then squeeze the water out +of the sponge. Then begin on the ceiling or in one corner, cleaning only +a small square at a time. After cleaning, rinse with the sponge from the +clean pail, not making the sponge too dry. Do not wipe the wall with a +cloth, but leave moist, after which have ready a pail of starch, and +with an ordinary paint or white-wash-brush, starch the square that you +have cleaned, before it is thoroughly dry. The starching-process is very +necessary. It will leave a gloss on the paint, and also preserves it the +next time it is washed; for, in this case, it will be the starch that +will be washed off instead of the paint. To make the starch take +ordinary laundry starch and dissolve one cupful in one pint of cold +water. Into this pour boiling water until it is as thick as cream and +let boil, stirring constantly. + +The following is an excellent preparation for cleaning wall-paper, and +perhaps it might serve as well to clean walls hung with burlap: + + 2 pounds of rye flour. + ½ pound of wheat flour. + 1 handful of salt. + +Mix well together with water and bake one hour in the oven. Then peel +and work back into a dough, adding ½ ounce of ammonia and ½ ounce of +gasoline. + +This is not an expensive preparation and will clean papered or burlap +walls very nicely. + +Calcimined walls will have to be re-decorated. + +A good way to clean hardwood floors in halls where the carpet does not +entirely cover the floor, is to take a can of linseed oil and a small +woolen cloth and dip one end of the cloth in the oil, being careful not +to spill the oil on the carpet, or touch the edge of the carpet while +cleaning; this will remove the dust and dirt, after which the floor may +be polished with ordinary floor-wax put on with a flannel cloth and +polished with a brick, over which has been sewed a piece of Brussels +carpet. + + +_How to Scrub a Floor._ + +What is prettier than a hardwood floor after it has been properly +scrubbed? To scrub a floor and get satisfactory results is a science. To +change the water frequently is one secret of success. "Elbow grease" is +another. Mops are impossible, and this is another subject on which the +housekeeper can wax eloquent. What is more disgusting than to see the +baseboards of a room smeared, or the dirt shoved in the corners with an +old dirty mop? + +Before commencing to scrub, place every article of furniture on the +table and then sweep. Beginning in the rear of the door so as not to +track over the clean part until it is perfectly dry, scrub with a brush +a small section at a time; first wipe up with a damp rag and then with a +dry one. The New York Knitting Mills, of Albany, N. Y., furnish remnants +of cloth that are indispensable for scrubbing. Enough of these remnants +can be bought for $3 to last six months. + +A little ammonia in the water will help to whiten the floors. The modern +skewers from the kitchen are very useful in getting into the corners of +the window sills and into the corners of the stair steps. A weak +solution of oxalic acid and boiling water will remove the very worst +kind of ink-stains from the floor. + +Pads for kneeling on are made of burlap, and one is given to each +scrubber. The unnatural position that the scrubber assumes makes the +work laborious; the scrubber may change her position frequently by +getting clean water. + + + + +HOW TO GET RID OF VERMIN. + + +The worst kind of house-pests, if you do not know how to get rid of +them, but not the easiest to exterminate, are bedbugs. They do not +confine themselves to any section of the country, though the +International Encyclopedia gives the belief "that up to Shakespeare's +time they were not known in England," and that "they came originally +from India." + +In Kansas, the bedbug is improperly called the chintz-bug, and is +believed to dwell under the bark of the cotton-wood tree. There is no +authentic truth for this belief. + +The spread of the bedbug is mainly due to its being carried from place +to place in furniture and clothing. It has the power of resisting great +cold and of fasting indefinitely. The eggs of the bedbug are very small, +whitish, oval objects, laid in clusters in the crevices used by the bugs +for concealment; they hatch in eight days. Under favorable conditions +and slovenly housekeeping, their multiplication is extremely rapid. The +greatest trouble lies with the housekeeper who allows the bugs to +increase unchecked until they are so numerous in the floors and walls +that it is nearly impossible to kill them off. + +It is useless waste of time to try to exterminate with Persian insect +powder, or sulphur candles. These remedies have been recommended by the +International Encyclopedia, but have not demonstrated their worth when +subjected to tests by careful experimental methods, by the author. + + +_Scientific Way of Extermination._ + +The only scientific and practical way to get rid of them is to clean +thoroughly, religiously, and scrupulously the room and every article in +it. Bedbugs are exceedingly difficult to fight, owing both to their +ability to withstand the action of many insecticides and owing also to +the protection afforded them by the walls and the woodwork of the room. + +If the mattress is old, it should be burned. The bed should be taken +apart, the slats and springs taken to the bathroom and scalded, and then +treated with a mixture of corrosive sublimate and alcohol, liberally +applied, after which a coat of varnish should be given to the entire +bed--slats, springs and all. The carpet should be taken up and sent to +the cleaners. The paper should be scraped from the walls and sent to the +furnace and burned, and the walls should be left bare until the bugs +are exterminated. The holes in the walls and woodwork and the cracks +and crevices in the floor should be filled up with common yellow soap. +This is better than to fill them with putty; it is more practical and is +easier to handle. Use the thumb or an old knife to put the soap into the +holes; the workman should get the stepladder and go over the entire +ceiling, getting the soap into every crack and crevice. After this is +done, it will be impossible for the eggs to hatch or the bugs to get +out. This is the most important part of the extermination of bugs. The +floor should then be scrubbed, after which it should be well poisoned +with the mixture of corrosive sublimate and alcohol. Every piece of +furniture in the room should be washed and poisoned, and given a coat of +varnish. + + +_Treating the Mattress._ + +If the mattress is too good to be thrown away, the following will be +found a good method to destroy the vermin in it: dissolve two pounds of +alum in one gallon of water; let it remain twenty-four hours until all +the alum is dissolved. Then, with a whisk-broom, apply while boiling +hot. This is also a good way to rid the walls and ceiling of bugs. +Getting on the stepladder, the workman should apply the wash with the +whisk-broom, never missing an inch of the entire ceiling and walls, +keeping the liquid boiling hot while using. It should be poured in all +the cracks of the floor, in the corners, over the doors and over the +windows. The operation should be repeated every day for two weeks, after +which the woodwork should be painted and the walls papered. + +A strict watch should be kept on all the help's rooms, and any signs of +bugs should be promptly treated with the mixture of corrosive sublimate +and alcohol. + + +_Cleanliness a Necessity._ + +Cleanliness is a prime factor in ridding rooms of vermin. In many of the +hotels there is one woman appointed to look after the bugs, and she has +no other duty. + +A good night's sleep is necessary to health and happiness. It can not be +found in a room with vermin. The housekeeper should keep up the +continual warfare against the standing army of bugs, and never allow the +enemy to take possession. + +Roaches, or water-bugs, are easily exterminated. Hellebore sprinkled on +the floor will soon kill them off. It is poison. They eat it at night +and are killed. Some people object to having poison around. In that +case, powdered borax will prove an expedient eradicator. + +A good way to keep rats from a room is to saturate a rag with cayenne +pepper and stuff it in the hole; no rat or mouse will touch the rag, not +if it would open a communication with a depot of eatables. + + +_A Nauseating Subject._ + +Of all the obnoxious being that get into a hotel, the one whose feet +smell to the heavens is the worst. Every housekeeper in America--heaven +bless them--if she has a normal and simple mind as fits her calling, +finds smelling feet an intolerable nuisance. + +Health requires at least one bath a day for the feet, and when they +perspire freely they should be bathed twice a day. What must be said of +the maid who, on entering a room, compels you to leave it on account of +the sickening odor from her feet. In a case like this, the housekeeper +must "take the bull by the horns," tell the maid that "her feet smell" +and that "she must keep herself cleaner." The maid's feelings are not to +be spared in the performance of this important duty. After washing the +feet carefully twice a day for a week a cure will be effected. Clean +hosiery should be put on every day. A very good remedy for offensive +feet is a few drops of muriatic acid in the water when bathing the feet +before retiring to bed. + + + + +THE SUPERIORITY OF VACUUM CLEANING. + + +This is an age of surprises and scientific researches. The up-to-date +vacuum-cleaning machine is a huge debt to an ancient past. It is a big +improvement over the methods employed in days gone by. As a preventive +for moths, it has no equal. In hotels where this labor-saving device has +not been installed, carpets must be carried to the roof to be cleaned, +or sent to the regular carpet-cleaners, and soon converted into +ravelings. Carpets are very expensive, and, if you want your money's +worth from them, you must preserve them from moths. In order to do this, +they must be either vacuum-cleaned or taken to the roof every six months +and given a beating. After the moths get a start in a carpet it is +surprising to learn what vast inroads toward destruction they can make +in a few weeks. Moving the furniture and thoroughly sweeping and +brushing the edges with turpentine are good preventives. But nothing +will so effectually destroy them as does the vacuum-cleaning process. + +In order to secure detailed information regarding the workings of the +vacuum-cleaning system for hotels, I wrote to a gentleman in Milwaukee, +who is probably the best informed man on that subject in the country. +Besides being in the vacuum-cleaning business, he is a hotel man himself +and therefore knows how to meet the needs of the hotel housekeeper. I +quote a part of his reply: + + +_System Explained by an Expert._ + +"The vacuum-cleaning system in a hotel will pay for itself every year by +reducing the cleaning force and by increasing the life of carpets, rugs, +hangings, upholstery, and decorations, whether paper, fresco, or paint. + +"In hotels where this system is in use--and their number is increasing +every month--carpets and rugs are cleaned on the floor. Right here is a +big saving. First, taking up and relaying carpets is expensive. There is +nothing that wears them out quicker than this sort of handling and the +beating and "tumbling." Vacuum-cleaning not only saves this, but saves +the daily wear and tear of grinding in the dirt and wearing off the nap +with a broom. Third, with the vacuum-system, valuable rooms are never +put out of commission while the carpets and rugs are away being cleaned. + +"Not only are the carpets and rugs kept cleaner by the vacuum-system, +but everything else is cleaner because dust is kept down. The +housekeeper of a certain hotel told the owner that since he put in the +vacuum-system, the transoms had to be washed only one-fourth as often as +before. Now, the dust on those transoms came out of the air. It settled +everywhere, but it showed plainly only on the transoms. With the +vacuum-system, there is only one-fourth as much dust to settle on the +walls and decorations, and even that little is quickly removed with the +vacuum-wall-brush. Dust on the walls is what causes the unpleasant, +musty smell of many hotel rooms. Keeping walls clean means less frequent +redecorating. + + +_Purifies Nearly Everything._ + +"Upholstered furniture is quickly and thoroughly cleaned by the +vacuum-method. Dust is removed not only from the surface, but also from +the folds and creases and even the interior of the cushions. Moths and +their eggs are sucked out from their hiding places under the upholstery +buttons or in the corners. + +"Mattresses and pillows are kept clean and sweet by vacuum-treatment. +Passing the cleaning tool over the surface prevents dust from +accumulating and sifting in. It sucks out the stale dusty air inside and +draws in fresh air, thus preventing that unpleasant musty smell which +hotel beds sometimes have. + +"By the vacuum-method, tapestries and hangings are kept fresh and bright +without the trouble and expense of taking them down. One hotel manager +told me his vacuum-system saved him $10 every time he cleaned the +hangings in his dining-room, for it used to cost him that sum to have +them re-draped. + +"By means of a special brush, wood and tile floors can be cleaned +without the dust of dry sweeping, or the muddy aftermarks of sawdust. + + +_Vacuum Always on Tap._ + +"The most and recent important improvement in vacuum-cleaning consists +in having the vacuum or 'suction power' always 'on tap' on every floor. +At convenient points in the corridors, nickel-plated taps are placed. To +these, the housemen or maids can quickly attach the rubber hose +connected with the cleaning-tools. Opening a valve turns on the suction +or vacuum. Then, as fast as the tool is moved over the surface to be +cleaned, dust and dirt are sucked through the hose into the pipes and +away to an air-tight dust-tank in the basement. The 'on tap' vacuum is +always ready for use. No need to telephone or send word to the engineer +to start that pump or to stop it when the work is done. + +"Although the vacuum, or suction, is kept on tap all the time, +practically no power is consumed except when the cleaning is going on. +Even then the amount of power used--whether it be steam or +electricity--is automatically proportioned to the number and the size +of the cleaning tools in use. Whenever you lay down the sweeper to move +a chair, just so much less power is consumed while the tool is idle. If +one sweeper is in use, only one-tenth as much power is needed as when +ten sweepers are working. The little upholstery tuft-cleaner consumes +only one-ninth as much power as the carpet-sweeper. This means a great +saving of power and is a great improvement over the old vacuum-methods, +by which it was impossible to keep the vacuum on tap and by which, once +the apparatus was started, full power was consumed, no matter how many +sweepers were at work." + + + + +THE LINEN-ROOM AND THE LINEN-WOMAN. + + +The linen-woman has in her care all the beautiful and expensive linen in +the hotel; if she is careless in counting it when sending it to the +different departments, careless in counting it after it has been +returned, there will be a deficit in the "stock-report" at the end of +the month. The linen-room is a position of trust. The linen-woman should +be as accurate in counting her employer's napkins and table-cloths as +the cashier is in counting his employer's dollars. + +The following set of rules and essential requirements are suggested for +the management of the linen-woman: + +1. She must be prompt to open the linen-room at 6:30 a.m. + +2. Must not leave the linen-room without notifying the housekeeper. + +3. Must sort the linen. + +4. Must see that no damaged article of linen is sent out to the +guest-rooms. + +5. Must mend all the linen. + +6. Must keep track of the linen. + +7. Must keep the linen-room books. + +8. Must mark the new linen before sending it out. + +The linen-room is the housekeeper's pride. What is more pleasing to a +housekeeper than to look into a well-kept linen-room. This room is the +housekeeper's "stock-exchange," the room where all her business +transactions take place. It is also her home. She has her geraniums in +the window and her desk in one corner. She has her sewing-machine, and +telephone, and a bright rug or two on the spotless floor. The linen-room +is the place where the housekeeper is found or her whereabouts made +known. + +The room should be thoroughly cleaned every Saturday, and swept and +dusted every day. It requires skill and labor to keep a well regulated +linen-room looking neat and pretty. Linen-shelves are scrubbed, not +papered. All heavy articles, such as spreads, blankets, pillows, and +table-felts should be kept on the top shelf. The water-glasses, +ice-water pitchers, extra slop jars, washbowls and pitchers, should also +be kept on the top shelves, and covered with a dust-cover. The other +shelves should be scrubbed, and the sheets, slips, face-towels, and +bath-towels used for the guest-rooms, put on a shelf by themselves. The +helps' linen should be put on another shelf. The table-linen should be +placed by itself, and so on--a place for everything and everything in +its place. + + +_How Linen is Mended._ + +The table-cloths should be mended first before they are sent to the +laundry. The best way to mend table-linen is first to fill the holes +with darning-cotton, just as you would if you were darning a stocking; +then loosen the presser-foot of your sewing-machine and darn it down +neatly with the machine. If the hole is very large--say as large as your +hand--the better way is to cover the hole with darning-net before +filling it in with the darning-cotton; then it may be finished on the +machine. + +When the table-cloths are too bad to mend, the large ones can be cut +down into small ones and the small ones into tray-covers. Old napkins +can be sewed together and used for cleaning-cloths. Table-linen is very +expensive and the careful housekeeper will easily save her salary above +that of a careless one by properly taking care of the linen. + + +_How Coffee Bags Are Made._ + +The coffee-bags should be made from the stewards' dictation. No two +stewards will have them made the same. Bath-towels, when damaged, may be +made into wash-cloths, and used in the public baths. The cases for +hot-water bags are made of white flannel. + +A supply of soap, matches, toilet-paper, and sanitary powder, should be +kept in the linen-room, where it is convenient for the maids. + +The progressive housekeeper will not allow the stock of linen to grow +too small. She will see that it is replenished each month. + +The linen-room should be opened at 6:30 a.m. and closed at 10:00 p.m. If +it is a commercial hotel, the linen should be portioned among the maids, +in the morning. The linen issued in the morning should be charged to +each girl on the slate. The maids should count the soiled linen on their +floor, pin the count to the bundle, and bring it to the linen-room, +where the linen-woman again should count it and give each maid credit on +the slate. The linen-woman should deduct the clean linen issued in the +morning from the soiled linen returned, and, if the linen-room owes the +maid, she should be given her linen at once. After that, the maid should +get only one piece of clean linen for one of soiled. If the maid brings +in no soiled linen, she should not get any clean. In this way, the +linen-woman will be able to keep track of the linen. She will be able to +tell the manager where every piece of linen is at any time of the day. + +The dining-room linen should be issued in the same way. The linen-woman +should be able to tell by her books how many napkins are in the +dining-room, how many are in the laundry, and the number that are on the +shelf in the linen-room. + +It may not be an innovation, but a blackboard in the linen-room will be +of great assistance to the housekeeper in copying the changes that are +sent up from time to time during the day. The board may be freshly +ruled every day, with as many columns as there are maids, and the maid's +name, or number, should be written above her column. + +As the changes are sent up on a pad by the clerks, the linen-woman +should copy them on the board, putting each maid's changes under her +name. The maids should take the chalk and draw a straight line through +their changes, indicating that the rooms have received proper attention. +As there are few hotels that have not had some trouble about reporting +changes, it would be a splendid idea for the clerk to insist on the +housekeeper or the linen-woman signing for the changes. The fact that +the clerk can produce his duplicate, showing the time to the very minute +he sent the change, is not proof that the change was received in the +linen-room. The bell-boy may be a new boy, and may have taken the +change-slip to some other part of the house. But if the housekeeper, or +the linen-woman, signs the pad on which the changes have been sent up, +and the pad is returned to the office, the housekeeper or the +linen-woman will have to furnish some other excuse for the room being +out of order, than that she did not get the change. + +The housekeeper should see that an accurate account is taken every month +of all the linen, and correctly entered on the linen-room stock-book. +This account should show the new linen purchased during the month. The +following form is suggested for the stock-book for the linen-room: + +Inventory of Linen-Room for month ending January 1, 1908. + + ================+============+=====+=====+====+======++========= + |Total No. | Plus| | | || + Jan. 1, 1908. |last count | new |Grand|Worn| || + |Dec. 1, 1907|stock|Total|out |Stolen||Net Total + ----------------+------------+-----+-----+----+------++--------- + Sheets | 800 | 50 | 850 | 25 | || 825 + Slips | | | | | || + Spreads | | | | | || + Face-Towels | | | | | || + Bath-Towels | | | | | || + Table-Cloths | | | | | || + Napkins | | | | | || + Side-Towels | | | | | || + Tray-Towels | | | | | || + Tops | | | | | || + Kitchen-Towels | | | | | || + Glass-Towels | | | | | || + Roller-Towels | | | | | || + Bar-Towels | | | | | || + Wash-room Towels| | | | | || + ----------------+------------+-----+-----+----+------++--------- + +Paradise, indeed, to the housekeeper, is the hotel that has its +reserve-linen closet, where, in case of accident in the laundry, she may +find linen to put the rooms in order. On the other hand, how very +discouraging it is where there is only one set of linen for the beds and +the maids must wait until the linen is back from the laundry before they +can put the rooms in order. In such hotels, the housekeeper spends much +of her time running to and from the laundry. + +When a new linen-woman is installed in the linen-room, the housekeeper +should write out all the details of the duties required of her, +regardless of any previous experience she may claim to have had. + + + + +CARE OF TABLE-LINEN. + + +A table-cloth should be long enough to hang over the table, at least +eighteen inches on all sides. Pattern cloths are prettier than the +piece-linen. They are more expensive, but it pays to buy the best for +hotel use. Linen, to have sufficient body to wear well, should have a +certain weight to the square inch. Table-linen should weigh at least +four and one-half ounces to the square yard. All pattern-cloths have the +napkins to match. The napkins and table-cloths should have a tiny, +narrow hem. They are best hemmed by hand, but this can not be thought of +for hotels. + +It takes the same amount of money to purchase the unbleached linen as it +does to buy the bleached. The Irish bleached linen is of a more snowy +whiteness than that of Germany. This is owing to the climate of Ireland, +which is particularly adapted by sunshine and rain for natural +bleaching. + + +_Table-Linen Most Important._ + +The table-linen is more important than the bed-linen, and should receive +the first consideration in the laundry. + +It should be carefully counted and sorted by the linen-woman at night, +after dinner, and should be ready for the laundryman who must rise very +early in the morning in order to have the table-linen ready for the +laundry-maids that come on duty at seven o'clock. + +A table-cloth should be folded lengthwise twice, then doubled, putting +both ends together, then folded, and it will be ready for the shelf. +Napkins should be put through the mangle three times and left without +folding, so the linen-woman can easily sort them. + + +_Removing Stains._ + +Fruit-stains in linen may be removed by pouring boiling water through +the stained spot. Lemon juice and salt will remove iron-rust. + +Tea, coffee, chocolate, and fruit-stains should be removed as soon as +possible by pouring boiling water over them. After fruit-stains have +been washed a few times in soapsuds, they become as firmly fixed in the +linen as though they were dyed there, and can only be removed by a +bleaching process. A good bleach can be made by taking one pint of +boiling water to one teaspoonful of oxalic acid and one teaspoonful of +ammonia. One teacupful of ammonia to a wash will keep the table-linen +white. + +The care of the table-linen is a very important feature of the +housekeeper's work. In many hotels, the housekeeper is required to +purchase the linen. Fashion changes in table-linen as in other things. A +careful study of facts and figures has proved that, in proportion to the +population, the United States of America consumes more linen than any +other country in the world. It is not, however, a leader in the +production of flax. Russia takes the lead in this industry. The United +States grows flax for the seed and not for the fibre; hence very little +weaving is done in this country. + + +_Kinds of Linen._ + +Linen has a variety of names, as Holland, damask, et cetera. Damask +linen was first made in Damascus--the oldest city in the world--and was +figured in fruit and flowers. A long time ago linen made in Scotland was +sent to Germany to be bleached; hence the name Holland. + +The old-time way of bleaching was long and expensive, sometimes taking +an entire summer. After it was bleached by a natural process of open +air, dew, and sunshine, it was then treated with an alkaline, and then +buttermilk. It was left lying on the grass for a month, and sprinkled +frequently with water and sometimes sour milk. + +At the present time, linen can be bleached in two weeks. The cost of +bleaching is much less and linen fabric is one-half cheaper than +formerly. The chemicals used in the modern process of bleaching greatly +injures the fibre, and linen is not so durable as it was under the +old-fashioned way of bleaching. + + +_How to Test Linen._ + +The housekeeper in selecting linen at the counter may test the linen by +ravelling out some of the threads. The threads that form the woof as +well as the warp should be strong, and long thread linen. Never buy +linen that is stiff and glossy, as it will be thin after it is +laundered. Linen should be substantial, but pliant when crushed in the +hand. Never buy a table-cloth that is part linen and part cotton, as the +shrinkage of linen and cotton fibre varies greatly, which causes the +threads to break, and the table-cloth will soon be full of holes. + + + + +LAUNDRY WORK. + + +"Order is Heaven's first law," sang the poet, and to keep order in a +hotel seems not such an Herculean task. System makes work easy, and the +superintendent of the laundry must insist on the work being +systematically performed. + +Soap and water are the most important materials used in the laundry +work. To do good work with little or no damage to the linen, soft water +and good soap are absolutely necessary. In many parts of the United +States, the water is permanently hard, and is a perplexing question to +laundry workers. The first thing to do is to soften the water. It can +not be made soft by boiling, and must be treated with chemicals which +must be used before the soap is added. When soap is used in hard water +before it has been softened, the soap unites with the minerals in the +water, and clings to the linen like a greasy scum. Borax is the best +softening agent for hard water. + +To soften water with borax, use one tablespoonful to each gallon of +water. A tablespoonful of ammonia and one tablespoonful of turpentine +to each washing will keep clothes white. Hard water may be softened with +potash or sal soda, which is much cheaper than borax and ammonia, but +potash and sal soda are both corrosive and very injurious to the linen. +Great care must be used in softening water with these alkalines. If they +are not thoroughly dissolved before using in the washer, little +particles are apt to escape the solvent action of the water and stick to +the linen and form brown spots which soon become holes. + + +_Good Soap a Necessity._ + +Soap is the next cleaning agent to be considered. You can not have +pretty, white linen without good soap. A good soft soap for use in hotel +laundries can be made from the refuse fat from the kitchen. This soap +will effect the cleaning of the hotel bed and table-linen, but for +bundle-washing, flannels, and prints, a milder soap is generally used. A +very good soap for washing flannels and prints may be made from the +pieces of soap that are collected from the rooms. + +How linen is laundered and to be able to give a scientific reason for +each step are the very first things a housekeeper should learn. No +housekeeper is worthy of the title if she is unskilled in laundry +tactics. Yet how few housekeepers there are that could give even a +recipe for making bleach, to say nothing of the most effective way to +use it so as to cause the least injury to the fabric? Few housekeepers +know little or anything of the benefits of the scientific researches +that have been made to render laundering easy. + +The linen must be carefully sorted and counted in the linen-room by the +linen-woman. In hotels where the houseman gathers the linen from the +different floors and carries it direct to the laundry, the laundryman +has been known to dump it in the washer without sorting it. This is the +source of many a lost pillow, blanket, nightshirt, and even pocketbooks +and jewelry. Guests often put their valuables under the pillow or in the +pillowslip and forget them. These valuables sometimes escape the +chambermaid's eyes in her haste to strip the beds. Sometimes a new +waiter in the dining-room will use a napkin to wipe his tray; these +greatly soiled napkins should be rinsed out before they are put in the +washer. + + +_Why the Hotel Laundry Work is Discolored._ + +Is it any wonder that the sheets and table-linen soon get that brown +color? All the soft water in the kingdom will not bring about the +desired results if the linen is not carefully sorted. The napkins should +be put in one pile, those that are badly soiled with mustard or gravy in +another pile, and the table-cloths in another. Napkins and table-cloths +that are stained with tea, coffee, chocolate, or fruit, should be laid +aside and boiling water should be poured through the stains before they +come in contact with soap, as the soap will help to set the stains +permanently. + +The laundryman should rise early and have the first washing from the +extractor before the laundrygirls make their appearance, which is +usually at seven o 'clock. + +The table-linen should receive the first attention. It is the least +soiled, the most expensive, and it may be needed before the bed-linen. +The napkins and table-cloths should not remain long after they are +shaken out. They will have a finer gloss if they are mangled immediately +after being taken from the extractor. + +One reason that linen gets that dirty brown color is because it has not +been properly rinsed before adding the blueing. The soap should be +thoroughly rinsed from the linen before the blueing is put in the +washer. How many hotel laundries send the linen to the linen-room damp +and steaming and smelling of soap? Is it any wonder that the linen is +soon full of holes and worn out? + +Two tablespoonfuls of kerosene in a washing will greatly aid in +cleansing, though more soap must be used in this case. + +In many laundries, there is not sufficient help. There should be at +least two girls employed to shake out and two at the mangles, in a +200-room house. Where there is bundle-washing it will require even more +help than this. + +The kitchen-linen should be washed by hand on the board and not put in +the washer. + +The housekeeper should be allowed plenty of help to properly do the +work. + + +_Bleaching Linens._ + +When clothes have become yellow by the use of impure water or any other +cause, the snowy whiteness must be restored by a bleaching process. +Chloride of lime and oxalic acid are powerful agents, and, if not +quickly removed from the fabric, they will corrode and do much injury to +the linen. Turpentine has some power as a bleacher as also has borax. +Blueing will aid in keeping the clothes white, but do not use too much. +There are a variety of blueings to be had. The indigo blue is the best. + +Starch will greatly aid in keeping clothes clean. It is made mostly from +rice, wheat, corn, or potatoes. Only a little starch should be used with +delicate fabrics. They should be no stiffer than when they are new. The +starch should be completely dissolved in cold water before adding the +boiling water. Stir the starch constantly while the boiling water is +being poured in. A few things may be put in to give a gloss, and to make +the iron run smooth; among them are paraffine, lard, kerosene, and gum +arabic. + + +_How to Iron._ + +Before commencing to iron, have ready a bowl of water and a cloth for +smoothing wrinkles and rubbing away any soot or spots that may get on +the garment. Have a piece of paraffine tied in a cloth to rub over the +iron, and a knife for scraping any starch from the iron that may stick +to it in the process of ironing. + +Put much weight on the iron and do not raise it from the garment but +move it quickly over the surface. When a wrinkle is made, dampen it +again with a wet cloth and smooth again with the iron. Always iron in a +good light so that scorching may be avoided. A garment should be ironed +quickly; otherwise it will dry out and much time will be wasted in going +over it with the damp cloth and changing the irons. + +In ironing a white duck skirt, stretch it in shape quickly while it is +damp and iron it into shape, else it will be long here and short there. +When ironing a ruffled skirt, always iron the bottom ruffle first and +turn it back while ironing the others. Iron around hooks and eyes and +not over them. Never iron a crease in a garment unless it is necessary. +A crease will mar the effect of the garment and also cause the threads +to break sooner, thereby making holes. + + +_Recipe for Making Bleach._ + +An inexpensive recipe for making a good bleach to be used every day will +be found in the following: + +Fill a clean barrel half full of boiling water and put into it ten +pounds of chloride of lime and stir until well dissolved. Dissolve ten +pounds of caustic soda in boiling water and stir in the barrel. Fill the +barrel with boiling water and stir. Let it settle and skim the little +white particles from the surface, as these are what rot the clothes. Use +one gallon of the bleach in a washing. + +Although laundering is one of the last kinds of work to receive the +benefits of scientific research, much effort has recently been made to +present easy and effective ways of laundering. The "how" and "why" has +been learned. It is no difficulty for the housekeeper to hire a +laundryman and to install him in his work with the words: "This is the +laundry; you will meet with many difficulties in your line, but you must +work out your own salvation." + + +_How Curtains are Washed and Mended._ + +Take down the lace curtains that you are going to wash and shake them +well so as to get all of the dust from them. Put them in cold water to +soak. Then wash by hand in warm suds, to which has been added one +teaspoonful of ammonia. Do not rub them, squeeze dry and rinse through +two waters. Do not blue them. If they are of an ecru shade, put a little +coffee in the water and they will look like new. Starch and stretch +loosely on the curtain frames while they are wet. The holes can be drawn +together while on the bars so they will never be noticed after they are +dry, and it is a far better way to mend curtains than darning them on +the machine after they have dried. Cream-colored curtains may be washed +in the same way. Colored madras and silk curtains can be cleansed in +gasoline. Great care must be taken, as gasoline is explosive. The +curtains should be taken to the bathroom, and the door should be bolted +and kept bolted until the curtains are cleaned and the gasoline is +washed down the sewer. The curtains are then taken to the roof and aired +for half a day. + +Embroidered and lace-trimmed pieces should be taken from the line while +only half dry and immediately ironed, to secure the best result. To +raise the embroidery, iron on the wrong side over several layers of +flannel covered with a sheet of old linen. + +Never iron lace with the point of the iron, if you would have it look +like new. Pull and pat it into place, picking out the loops with a +hairpin, or with a pointless darning-needle or bodkin. Dampen it with a +wet cloth and press with the reverse iron, using its "heel" only. + +When ironing circular centerpieces and table-cloths, see that the iron +moves with the straight grain of the cloth. If this method is followed, +the circular edge will take its true line. Guard against ironing on the +bias or on a curve, lest the linen stretch hopelessly out of shape. +Never fold a piece of this character after ironing it. + + + + +THE HOUSEKEEPER'S RULES. + + +If the management does not provide the housekeeper with rules, she is +safe in formulating the following: + +1. Maids must report for duty at 7:00 a.m. + +2. Maids must lock all doors when leaving rooms. + +3. No maid is allowed to transfer chairs or furniture from one room to +another by order of the guests, unless they have an order from the +office. + +4. Maids must report at once any articles which are misplaced or taken +from the rooms. + +5. Keep all soiled linen in closets. + +6. Maids must not leave any article of soiled linen lying in the halls. + +7. Maids must not leave their brooms, feather dusters, dust-cloths, or +sweepers, in the halls at any time during the day. + +8. Any article found in the rooms must be brought to the linen-room, +with the number of the room and date when found. + +9. All keys found left in rooms and doors must be sent to the office. + +10. When a tray of dishes is left in a room, the maid must ring for a +bell-boy and have him notify the headwaiter or report it to the +housekeeper who will telephone the headwaiter. + +11. All ink, paper, and pens left in the rooms must be put in the wire +ink and stationery-receiver. + +12. The watch-girls must report at 6 p.m. and remain until 10 p.m. or +later, if required. + +13. All torn blankets and spreads must be brought to the linen-room for +repairs. + +14. Maids must not receive men friends in their rooms. + +15. The housekeeper will relieve the linen-woman while she goes to her +meals. + + +_Sunday._ + +1. Maids must report at 8 a.m. and remain until 1 p.m. + +2. Watch-girls must report for duty at 1 p.m. and remain until 9 p.m. + +All of these rules can not be, at all times, strictly enforced by the +housekeeper. She will make such modifications as are made necessary by +circumstances. But rules she must have, and she must insist on their +being observed. + + + + +THE PARLOR MAID. + +Excepting the linen-room position, that of parlor maid is the most +desirable situation that the hotel housekeeper can offer a girl. The +wages are usually better than those of a chambermaid, and her work is +not near so laborious. At all times, the parlor-maid is neatly dressed, +suave, serene, and courteous. A quiet and unobtrusive manner is +absolutely essential. She needs to take many steps during the day, and +thus youth and a slender figure are the first qualities in one who +wishes to make a success of the position. She meets people of wealth and +refinement and the ultra fastidious, hence her position is a responsible +one and requires a dignified appearance and demeanor. She must have +self-respect and must claim the respect of others. None of the +moralities must be omitted nor must she forget the daily bath, clean +underwear, and clean hosiery every day. The morning is the time for the +parlor-maid to do the cleaning, and she should wear about her work a +washable dress of percale or dimity, with a white apron. In the +afternoon and evening, this should be exchanged for a black skirt, +white waist, and white apron. + + +_Where Work Is Diversified._ + +She is expected to render quite diversified services. Her duties vary +with the mode of life of those by whom she is employed. She will +scarcely be called on to do all the work that is herein enumerated; but +the success of any hotel employe is largely due to the number of things +he or she is able to do well. A parlor-maid may raise her occupation to +a level with that of millinery or dress-making. There is room at the top +of the ladder for the expert parlor-maid just the same as there is for +any other person in any other calling. + +In the small hotels, the parlor-maid usually cares for the proprietor's +private apartments. In addition to these, a suite next to the parlor may +be given her to keep in order. She can easily look after these rooms +where she has only one parlor. The cleaning of the ladies' toilet-room +and reception-hall and the ladies' entrance-stairs usually falls to the +parlor-maid. She must look after the writing-rooms, do the high dusting, +clean the tiles, clean the mirrors, polish the brass trays, clean the +cuspidors, wash the lace curtains, and sweep and dust. In washing +windows and mirrors, she should use warm water to which a little ammonia +has been added. She should not use soap, as the grease in the soap makes +the polishing difficult. Wipe with a dry cotton cloth and polish with a +chamois skin. + + +_Keeping Parlor in Order._ + +As the parlor must always be in readiness for the reception of guests, +it is thoroughly cleaned early in the morning. Once a week is often +enough for a thorough cleaning. Monday is the best day for it. The +furniture is moved into the hallway or into one corner of the parlor, +the parlor is swept and dusted and every article replaced before +breakfast. On week days, the corners are dug out with a whisk-broom and +the dirt taken up with the sweeper. The parlor is dusted frequently and +the cuspidors washed at least four times a day. She should wash the +cuspidors inside and out, using soap and water; then wipe with a dry +cloth. Leave a little clean water in the cuspidors, as this will make +the vessels easier to clean next time. + + +_Cleaning Brass Trays._ + +If the brass trays under the cuspidors are very badly stained, the +stains may be easily removed with a solution of vinegar and salt, to +which has been added a little flour. Have the mixture boiling hot; rub +the tray with the mixture with a flannel cloth, then wash the tray with +hot water and wipe dry with a cloth. After this, it may be polished with +a good mineral paste or some of the special preparations made for the +purpose, using a flannel cloth for polishing. + +The high dusting is done with a long handled broom. Tie a bag made of +cotton flannel over the broom and brush the walls downward. Brush the +dust off the cornice and over the doors and windows. Then, using a clean +cheesecloth duster, go over the doors, window sills, mantles, and +furniture, changing the soiled dust-cloth frequently for a clean one. +The housekeeper must see that the parlor-maid is supplied with plenty of +clean dust-cloths. + + +_The Maid's Many Duties._ + +If the fireplace is finished with tile, the parlor-maid should wash +these with soap and water. She should polish the brass and replace it. +The curtains and silk draperies should be taken down and hung in the +open air and brushed with a whisk-broom. The rugs should be rolled up +and the houseman should take them to a flat roof where they should be +laid flat and swept. They should not be whipped or beaten, as "whipping" +will ruin an expensive rug. When sweeping the stairs of the ladies' +entrance, the parlor-maid should use the whisk-broom and dust-pan. The +ladies' toilet-room requires some care to keep it always neat and clean. +After sweeping the floor and dusting the doors, the bowls should be +washed inside and out with the toilet-brush and a disinfectant put in. +The stationary wash-basins should be scrubbed with sapolio and the +faucets polished. There should be kept always on hand clean towels and +soap, a comb and brush, a box of face-powder--the English prepared chalk +is the best for toilet-rooms. The public baths on the parlor floor come +under the parlor-maid's charge. She should keep the tubs and the floor +clean, and see that soap and towels are supplied. + +The writing rooms should be cleaned before breakfast. The sweeping +should be done the first thing in the morning. The desks should be +supplied with fresh pen points, paper and ink once a day. The waste +paper baskets should be emptied as often as is necessary, and the +cuspidors should be cleaned at least four times a day. + + +_Keeps Assembly-Room in Order._ + +It is usually the parlor maid's duty to take care of the casino, more +familiarly called the assembly-hall. The casino floor requires very +careful cleaning. No scrubbing or sweeping with ordinary brooms is +permissible on a polished hardwood floor. It should be carefully swept +with a bristle broom and the dust taken up on the dust-pan. The floor +should then be dusted with a broom, over which has been tied the +cotton-flannel bag made for the purpose. If there are any spots on the +floor, they will have to be washed up, but this will take off the +polish; therefore, it must be restored by the weighted brush or weighted +box with Brussels carpet tacked on the bottom of it. The original polish +is restored by pulling the box back and forth over the floor. A +housekeeper will make a sad mistake if she attempts to scrub the +ballroom floor. + + +_Waxing the Ballroom Floor._ + +In most every hotel, it is left to the housekeeper to wax the ballroom +floor before the opening of the "hop." The wax is sprinkled over the +floor. + +In very large hotels in large cities where there are three or four +public parlors, and where three or four parlor-maids are employed, their +work is confined to the parlors. The parlor-maid waits on the ladies, +helps them on and off with their wraps, and caters to their comfort both +physically and mentally; keeps the parlor clean, and does many little +acts which go to make a great big hotel seem like home. + + +_The Card and Wine-Rooms._ + +No drinks are served in the public parlors, public halls, or +cosy-corners. The wine-rooms are usually kept in order by the +parlor-maid. The bar-porter should come for the bottles and remove the +dishes. The parlor-maid should sweep and dust the wine rooms and wipe +the tables, if they are polished wood. If they are ordinary dining-room +tables, she should put clean table-cloths on them twice a day. The +wine-rooms are usually named for the cities: Chicago, New York, +Binghamton, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Denver, and New Orleans. + +The card-rooms are kept in order by the parlor-maid. There is seldom +much furniture in a card-room, only chairs and tables. Sweeping and +dusting once a day and a clean cover for the table is all that is +required. + +To make a muslin cover for a poker-table, take a piece of muslin and cut +it round to fit the table, allowing six inches to hang down. Run a +casing on the edge of it, with a bias piece two inches wide. Run in the +casing, a drawing-string of common wrapping-twine. The drawing-string +must be as long as the muslin is around so it will not have to be +removed when laundered. After it is laundered, put it on the table and +pull the drawing-string, and tie under the table. + +In small hotels where the parlor-maid is called on to perform all of +these manifold duties, she is assisted by the houseman. + + + + +ABOUT CHAMBERMAIDS. + + +Some person that does not know anything about the life of a chambermaid +will tell you that the "chambermaid has no protection, no morality, and +is without the influence of a fixed place or home atmosphere;" finally, +that "chamber-work is the most degrading occupation a girl can engage +in!" + +If a girl is not capable of a higher calling, why should not she make +beds in a hotel when there is such a crying need from the hotel managers +for conscientious and painstaking work? It is not every girl that +Providence has blessed with a prima donna's voice. Not every girl can be +admitted on the vaudeville stage. Not all have had kind and wealthy +parents to send them through college and fit them for the higher +attainments. + + +_Chambermaid Can Take Care of Self._ + +The proprietor is ever ready to protect the maids from undue familiarity +from the male patrons of the hotel. This is seldom necessary. The +average maid meets an incivility with a cold disdain that puts to rout +a second attempt. Men that wreck women's lives are found outside of +hotels. + + +_Religion a Factor._ + +It is an undisputed fact that the Irish-American Catholic girls make the +best chambermaids. The comfort found in the Catholic religion +compensates for the loss of home ties. She is without any danger signal +save her own conscience, yet there does not exist on the face of the +earth a more moral class of girls than the Irish-American Catholic +chambermaids in the hotels of the United States. + +She goes at her work determined to use her experience as a +stepping-stone to something higher. She encounters many pitfalls. She +makes a few mistakes, but during her stay in Yankeeland she has learned +President Roosevelt's maxim: "The man who never makes any mistakes is +the man who never does anything." She is consoled by it, and from her +pitfalls learns a lesson that enables her to avoid making the same +mistakes in the future. + + +_Not a Bad Day's Program._ + +At the Grand Union Hotel in New York City, and in hotels in other cities +in New York state, the writer has learned from observation that the +social side of the chambermaid's life is a pleasant one. She begins the +day at 7:15 and quits at 4:00, except the night she is on watch. She is +given a ten o'clock lunch; she has one hour for dinner, and at 2:30 she +is given fifteen minutes for a cup of tea. The night she is on watch, +she is served with a good dinner of chicken and all the good things the +hotel affords. She has every third Sunday off and may follow her own +will. She has time to cultivate acquaintances, and attend to her +religious duties. + + +_Christmas Time._ + +There is kindness and courtesy existing among the maids. When Christmas +day draws near, the festivities are looked forward to with eager +anticipation. Mysterious-looking bundles are coming in and going out. +Friends are remembered. The father and mother, brother and sister over +the water are not forgotten; and likewise the maids are not forgotten by +their employer. The dining-hall is wreathed in holly, the table is +loaded with all the season's delicacies. Trade is dull in the hotel, and +the time is given over to enjoyment. + + +_Chambermaids at Their Best._ + +There are evening parties in the "help's hall." The weekly "tips" or any +"stray coins" are invested in sugar and butter, and "fondant" is made +that would melt in your mouth. Then there is the "taffy-pull," the cups +of tea, and the "fortunes told," over the cups. The jokes go round, the +merry laughter resounds and gets so loud that the housekeeper, who has +retired, rises, and hastens to put a stop to the noise. Arriving on the +scene, she has not the heart to reprove them. Herein she tastes an old +joy of girlhood. It is Christmas. She slips back to her own room and +into bed again. The airs of "Killarney" and "The Wearing of the Green" +die away, and the house is quiet. + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. + + +The housekeeper should furnish the houseman with a synopsis of his +duties every morning. + +In addition to this, he has, of course, his regular duties--sweeping +halls, dusting, cleaning cuspidors, washing windows, hanging curtains, +moving furniture, laying carpets, and cleaning lights. Sweeping roofs +and keeping gutters clean fall to his share also. Fortunate indeed is +the housekeeper that can have a houseman for each floor. A skull cap and +an over-all suit would be appropriate apparel for the houseman. + + * * * * * + +Any defective plumbing in bathrooms should be promptly reported by the +housekeeper. Sometimes a guest will justly complain that the faucet in +the bathtub is out of order, and the water trickling all night keeps him +awake. + +A tray under the ice-water pitcher will save the table or dresser. + + * * * * * + +The soul of the housekeeper faints within her when a guest complains +that he has been given a room reserved for "plain drunks." He calls +attention to the fact that the carpet is patched in thirteen places, and +at least as many patches of paper are in evidence on the wall. + + * * * * * + +The sweepers require special care. The maids should bring them to the +linen room once a month where they are oiled. Never empty the sweeper by +pulling the pan down, as this breaks the spring, causing the pan to drop +lower than the brush, and the sweeper fails to pick up the dirt. A +Bissell sweeper in the hands of a skillful maid will last three years. + + +_Season for Repotting House-Plants._ + +September is the season for repotting house-plants. As flowers are such +important factors of civilization speaking to us of nature's God, it is +surprising that more plants are not seen in hotels, and that more +proprietors do not adopt this ingenious plan of beautifying their +dining-rooms and corridors, using palms instead of those cheap +artificial roses which are so conspicuous in third-rate hotels. + +The stately palm lends an air of refinement that nothing else can give. +The greatest obstacle to the growth of house-plants is dust. The palms, +azaleas, and rubber plants may be sponged occasionally to keep them +clean and healthy. Other plants may be taken to the bathroom and given a +shower-bath. In the summer time, two or three times a week is often +enough for watering the house-plants. In winter, once a week is +sufficient. + + + + +WHY HOTEL EMPLOYEES FAIL TO RISE. + + +The reasons why some people never rise above commonplace positions +should be made clear to all that seek employment or better conditions. +In every field, there are those that never take the initiative, and they +make up the great majority. They are apparently afraid of doing too much +work, or of making themselves generally useful, or of doing some bit of +work that has not been assigned them, for which they might not be paid, +forgetting that the world's greatest prizes are generally bestowed on +the individual who does the right thing without being told. + +If we wait to be told our duties, we cease to be moral agents and are +mere machines, and, as such, stationary in place and pay. + +If you would succeed, cultivate self-confidence, which is one of the +foundation stones of success. Rest assured your employer knows the +difference between "bluff" and the real thing. "Nerve" will not win in +the long run. It may accomplish temporary advantage, but there must be +something back of "nerve." + +Practice self-control. If you can not control yourself, you can not +control others. When the commander riding in front of his army takes to +the woods in the face of the enemy, he can only expect his troops to +follow his example. Anger is an unbecoming mood. In serenity, lies +power. + +Keep busy. Improve each moment. Do not be afraid of too much work. The +office-boy that sits around watching the clock, as if he might be +waiting for his automobile to take him home, will never own the hotel. + +The superintendent that has not enough patience to instruct properly a +beginner may lose valuable assistants and can not hope to achieve a +great enterprise. + +Do not become discouraged and resign your position because it is not up +to your ideal. It may be better to bear with the ills you have than fly +to others you know not of. + + + + +SUGGESTIONS IN CASE OF FIRE. + + +It is hard to tell a housekeeper what to do or what not to do in case of +fire. No two hotels are alike, and no two fires occur in the same way. +Circumstances are to be considered first. Much depends on the location +and the progress of the fire, and whether it is night or day. It is an +old maxim "that fire is a good servant but a hard master." Shakespeare +wrote: "A little fire is quickly trodden out, which, being suffered, +rivers cannot quench." It is bad policy to delay sending in the alarm to +the fire department. Many persons put off this important duty until it +is too late. They reason that it might alarm the guests and cause a +panic and that they will be drowned out. Thus they battle with the +flames with the incomplete fire apparatus belonging to the hotel, +refusing the petition to turn in an alarm to the fire department until +the fire has gained such headway that it is impossible for even the +skilled firemen to put it out. Thereby jeopardizing the lives of the +hotel guests and also the lives of the firemen. No general in command +of an army, no hero in battle deserves more praise than do these +courageous men who hourly risk their lives to save lives and the +property of others. Minutes count for something in a fire. The fire +department can quickly and quietly put out a small fire, and the guests +of the hotel may never know that a fire has occurred until it is all +over. Panics usually follow when the people are face to face with the +flames, and not at the sight of the fire department in front of the +hotel. To a sensible mind, the fire engine and firemen should bring a +feeling of safety. A feeling that if the hotel is on fire, the fire will +soon be extinguished. Keep cool; don't run, and don't talk or give +orders in an excited tone. Should a fire occur in a single room, close +the door of that room to prevent the flames from spreading, and go to +the nearest fire hose rack, and attach the hose to the plug and take the +nozzle end to the door of the room in which the fire is started, then go +back and turn on the water. If the water is turned on before the hose +has been carried it will make the hose too heavy for one person to +carry, especially if you have to climb a stairway or go any great +distance; a fire hose when full of water is very heavy. The housekeeper +should never desert the hotel in case of fire. She has in her possession +keys to all doors. She is familiar with the location of windows and fire +escapes, and the location of the fire extinguishers and axes. She knows +the position of all stairways, particularly the top landing and scuttle +to the roof. She knows where all fire proof doors are located, where the +water pails are kept and she can render the firemen great service in +directing them to a more advantageous position. All doors should be +unlocked so that the firemen can have free access without breaking them +in and causing delay. The doors, however, should be kept closed to +prevent the fire spreading. The rapidity with which a building is +consumed by flames is due to the wind and the draughts from stairways, +open doors and windows and elevator shafts. The walls of elevator shafts +and all vertical openings should be built of non-combustible material, +such as brick and mortar and all elevators should be equipped with +automatic traps. In case of a fire on the first floor, the automatic +trap would fall when a certain degree of heat was reached and thus +prevent the fire from reaching the second floor, and the progress of the +fire would be delayed. + +All fire hose should be tested every six months. A leak may have caused +the hose to become worthless. All hose should be attached to the fire +plug at all times and the little wrench for turning on the water should +be tied to the rack where the hose is kept. All these essentials should +be examined and carefully scrutinized by every housekeeper and +chambermaid. A fire can make great progress while some inexperienced +person is fumbling with and trying to attach the hose and turn on the +water. There should be a red light in the hall in front of the fire +escape window; a red light can be seen better than a white one. The view +of the fire escape window should never be obstructed by any kind of a +curtain. + +All hotels should have a stand pipe, it will reduce the rate of +insurance one-third. + +Although few people know how to escape down a rope fire-escape, every +room in the hotel should be equipped with one. All fire departments +should have a life net; dropping into a life-net is not so hazardous as +sliding down a rope when one is ignorant of the proper way to do it. The +life nets are made of woven rope with springs, and are 10 feet in +diameter. The firemen hold this net and persons dropping into it can be +saved. + +The Kirker Bender spiral tube fire-escape is the best and safest. In one +minute 200 persons can slide through the Kirker Bender, to absolute +safety. It is a very expensive fire escape, but expense should not be +considered when building fire-escapes. There should be a fire-alarm box +in every hall. Should a fire occur, on a floor where there is no +fire-alarm box, a messenger would have to be dispatched to the office +before the fire company could be notified. Some hotels have no fire-box +at all. The fire-box being located a block away from the hotel. +Fire-boxes can be put in hotels with very little expense. It is an old +saying--"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This is +especially true in the case of fire prevention. If the following +precautions are taken, fires from accident or spontaneous combustion +seldom occur. + + +_Fire Prevention._ + +Keep your hotel clean and never allow rubbish, such as paper, rags, +cobwebs, old clothing and boxes to accumulate in closets and unused +rooms. Don't allow coal oil lamps to be used by women patrons for the +purpose of heating curling irons. Never put up gas brackets so they can +be swung against door casings or immediately under curtains. Never keep +matches in any but metal or earthen safes. Never keep old woolen rags +that have been used in oiling and cleaning furniture, or waxing floors, +unless in a tin can with a tin lid. + + +_Origin of Fires._ + +Fires are the results of accidents, of spontaneous combustion, and of +design. If they have been accidental, the cause can generally be +discovered, and it will be found, that they might have been prevented. +Carelessness and negligence are the cause of over two-thirds of all +fires. + +Electrical fires are caused from electric light wires lying against +wood or iron, or coming in contact with water. A stream of water thrown +on a heavily charged electric light wire will give a shock and may even +kill the fireman holding the nozzle. This is one reason why the electric +lights are cut off when a fire is raging and thus leaving people to +grope their way out through darkness. All hotels should have hall-ways +lighted by gas, and especially should a gas light with a red globe be +placed in front of all fire escape windows. + +Should a fire occur at night the housekeeper should give orders to have +all doors unlocked and the gas lighted in the halls. + + + + +THE EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSEKEEPER. + + +The greatest wonder to my mind is that more women that must of necessity +earn their livelihood, do not adopt the profession of hotel +housekeeping. What nicer or more profitable way can a woman earn her +living. Standing at my window of a stormy morning, I see many women +going early through the wind and snow, sometimes rain, to their work, +and I can not help comparing my daily tasks to theirs. Many of these +women stand all day behind the counters of some large dry-goods store, +where they are designated only as No. 1, No. 2, and so on. Some of the +women are going to work in silk mills, where the looms keep up a +deafening roar, and where, at their noon hour, they must eat a cold +lunch. These women get a small salary, on an average $8.00 a week, and +out of this they must pay their room, board and laundry bills. + +I could not refrain from contrasting the hotel housekeeper's position +with that of other women-workers in cities. The housekeeper has a good, +warm room, clean bed, hot and cold bath, and the best eating that the +hotel affords. She may command the respect of all other employes in the +house, and may make many life-long friends. My advice to any young woman +seeking a situation is to start right at chamber-work, to keep her wits +sharp, and her head on her shoulders. To be sure, there are many +temptations, all of which the average girl should be able to resist. But +a chambermaid with a modest and reticent disposition may never meet with +any pitfalls, at least, no more than would be encountered in a dry-goods +store or factory. From chambermaid, she may get promoted to the +linen-room, where she will be shielded and protected from interlopers, +and will have plenty of leisure to sew or to mend for her own benefit. + +She can save money, for she will have better pay in the linen-room. She +will also have better food, and will learn something of the executive +management of the hotel. Naturally, she will see more of the proprietor +or the manager, and will learn his ideas and principles, which knowledge +may be useful to her in later years. Time brings about many changes, and +hotels change proprietors, as well as housekeepers and managers. Often, +when a new manager makes his appearance, he will bring his housekeeper +or linen-room woman with him; in this case, the linen-room woman may +have to secure another situation. Now is her chance to take a step +higher on the ladder, by obtaining a position as housekeeper. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Assembly Hall, 87 + + Attention to Details, 34 + + + Birds of Passage, 32-33 + + + Character in The Hotel Business, 26 + + Cleaning Rooms, 41-44 + + Card and Wine Rooms, 88 + + Cleaning Brass, 85 + + Chambermaids, 90 + + + Evolution of the Housekeeper, 104-105 + + + Fires, Suggestions in case of, 98 + + Fire Prevention, 102 + + Fires, origin of, 103 + + + Gossip between employes, 29-30 + + + Housekeeper and the Help, 17-22 + + Housekeeper's salary, 38-40 + + Housekeeper, progressive, 35-37 + + Housekeeper's Rules, 81 + + Housekeeper, relationship between guests, 31 + + Housekeeper, requirements of, 11-20 + + Housekeeper, and co-operation, 17-22 + + How to Make Beds, 47-48 + + How to Clean Walls, 49-51 + + How to Scrub a Floor, 51-52 + + How to Get Rid of Vermin, 53-57 + + + Linen Room, Linen Woman, 63-68 + + Linen, table, care of, 69-70 + + Linen, removing stains, 70 + + Linen, best kind, 71 + + Linen, how to test, 72 + + Laundry, making bleach, 73-80 + + + Miscellaneous subjects, 94 + + + Parlor Maid, 83-90 + + Proprietor's Wife, 23-25 + + + Room Inspection, 21-28 + + + Vacuum Cleaning System, 58-62 + + + Waxing Ballroom Floor, 88 + + + + + +-------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 8 succees changed to success | + | Page 9 Riebold changed to Reibold | + | Page 12 linen-en-room changed to linen-room | + | Page 14 housekeeperes changed to housekeepers | + | Page 22 ordel changed to ordeal | + | Page 23 plebianism changed to plebeanism | + | Page 24 benefitted changed to benefited | + | Page 31 sweetner changed to sweetener | + | Page 33 admireres changed to admirers | + | Page 39 avereage changed to average | + | Page 40 theadbare changed to threadbare | + | Page 44 symmetricaly changed to symmetrically | + | Page 49 woll changed to wall | + | Page 49 obmtain changed to obtain | + | Page 58 clening changed to cleaning | + | Page 59 sytem changed to system | + | Page 60 accumulationg changed to accumulating | + | Page 63 line changed to linen | + | Page 65 ow changed to How | + | Page 67 line changed to linen | + | Page 70 procees changed to process | + | Page 71 presen changed to present | + | Page 75 line changed to linen | + | Page 75 pilow changed to pillow | + | Page 85 cupidors changed to cuspidors | + | Page 87 cosino changed to casino | + | Page 88 Balroom changed to Ballroom | + | Page 89 Binghampton changed to Binghamton | + | Page 96 occasionaly changed to occasionally | + | Page 99 headwas changed to headway | + | Page 100 prevtn changed to prevent | + | Page 102 an a floor changed to on a floor | + | Page 103 Carlessness changed to Carelessness | + +-------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Guide to Hotel Housekeeping, by Mary E. 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Palmer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Guide to Hotel Housekeeping + +Author: Mary E. Palmer + +Release Date: January 25, 2011 [EBook #35066] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUIDE TO HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>GUIDE</h1> + +<h4>TO</h4> + +<h1>HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING</h1> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>MARY E. PALMER</h2> + +<h3>1908</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h5>Copyrighted 1908,<br /> +<br /> +BY<br /> +<br /> +MARY E. PALMER</h5> +<br /> +<br /> +<h5>THE TRIBUNE PRINTING CO.<br /> +Charleston. W. Va.</h5> + +<div class="img"> +<img border="0" src="images/deco.jpg" width="15%" alt="Publisher's Mark" /> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h3>CREDIT TO THE HOTEL WORLD.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The greater part of the contents of this book was published, +in instalments, in The Hotel World, of Chicago.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<br /> +<h2>A Foreword.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>My chief purpose in writing this book was to place +a few guide-posts along the route of hotel housekeepers +to warn them against certain errors common to women +engaged in the arduous and difficult occupation of keeping +house for hotels.</p> + +<p>If anything that I have set forth herein shall make the +work of hotel housekeepers easier, more inviting, or more +efficient, thereby contributing to the satisfaction of proprietors +and to the comfort of patrons, I shall feel +amply repaid for writing this book.</p> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Mary E. Palmer.</span></p> +<p class="noin">Hotel Ruffner,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Charleston, West Va.</span><br /> +March 1, 1908.<br /> +</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Manager and the Help.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The average hotel manager is only too prone to complain +of the incompetency and the inefficiency of hotel +"help."</p> + +<p>It is true that it is difficult to secure skilled help, for +there is no sort of institution that trains men and women +for the different kinds of hotel work. Each hotel must +train its own help, or obtain them from other hotels.</p> + +<p>Thus there is no uniform and generally accepted +standard of excellence in the different departments of +hotel-keeping.</p> + +<p>A good word should be said in behalf of the Irish-American +girls, who constitute a majority of the laundry +help, waitresses, and chambermaids in American +hotels to-day.</p> + +<p>With a high regard for honor and rectitude, handicapped +by poverty, they find employment, at a very +early age, in hotels, and perform menial duties in a +manner that is greatly to their credit.</p> + +<p>The Irish-American girls are not shiftless, remaining +in one place for years until they either marry or leave +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>to fill better positions, which is the privilege of every +one living under the "Stars and Stripes."</p> + +<p>Some improve their spare time in study, thereby fitting +themselves to become stenographers and bookkeepers. +Some adopt the stage as a profession, one instance +being that of Clara Morris, who takes delight in telling +of the days when she washed silver in a hotel.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>An ex-Governor Peeled Potatoes.</i></p> + +<p>Ex-Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, boasts of the time +when he peeled potatoes in a hotel.</p> + +<p>The success of hotel-keeping depends largely on the +manager. He should possess patience, forbearance, and +amiability. He should know that the best results are +obtained from his help by kindness, and that good food +and good beds mean better service.</p> + +<p>The manager should realize that the working force of +a hotel is like the mechanism of a clock: it has to be +wound occasionally and set going. No novice can operate +this wonderful piece of mechanism; it requires a +skilled mechanic.</p> + +<p>The proprietor of a hotel should be a good loser; for +there are periods of the year when the employes outnumber +the guests, and the balance-sheet shows a heavy +loss.</p> + +<p>One of the most successful hotel men of the writer's +acquaintance is Mr. Louis Reibold, formerly of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>Bates House (now the Claypool), Indianapolis, Ind. +Mr. Reibold's fame rests in his liberal, kindly treatment +of his help. He never called them "help," but always +referred to them as "employes." Reception, reading, +and writing-rooms were furnished for their use, and he +himself saw that good food was provided and that the +tables were spread with clean, white table-cloths once a +day.</p> + +<p>He remembered his employes at Christmas, each one +receiving a gold coin, some as much as $20.</p> + +<p>When a girl in his employ lost her arm in a mangle, +he presented her with a house and lot, provided her +with ample means to furnish the house and to keep her +the remainder of her lifetime.</p> + +<p>Mr. Riebold is a multi-millionaire, and he has the admiration +and love of every woman and man that ever +worked for him.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Feeding and Rooming the Help.</span></h2> +<br /> + + +<p>Employes, such as housekeepers, clerks, cashiers, stenographers, +stewards—though few stewards use the privilege—and +bartenders, are permitted to take their meals +in the main dining-room.</p> + +<p>Other office-employes take their meals in the officers' +dining-room, from the same bill of fare used in the +main dining-room.</p> + +<p>Chambermaids, bell-boys, and other "help," are +served in the "helps' hall," from a separate bill of fare. +Their food is good, as a rule; when it is not, the fault +usually lies with the chef in the kitchen. All proprietors +want their help to have good food.</p> + +<p>The housekeeper can do much to make the help comfortable. +She can see that their rooms are kept clean +and sweet, and free from vermin. She can give them +soft pillows and plenty of warm covering. It is her +duty to add to their comfort in every way she can.</p> + +<p>In a majority of hotels, the help are roomed and fed +equally as well as are the patrons.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Requirements of a Housekeeper.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Every profession or trade is made up of two classes: +the apprentice and the skilled workman. The young +woman looking for a position as hotel housekeeper +should not forget that careful training is fully as important +and necessary in her chosen vocation as it is +in medicine or cooking; that she must learn by slow and +wearisome experience what it has taken years for the +skilled housekeeper to acquire.</p> + +<p>The apprentice may stumble on the road to success +and may even fall by the wayside. In order to succeed, +she must give her time wholly to her occupation. She +must be thankful for the successes that come to her and +not fret over the failures, remembering that hotel housekeeping, +like all other occupations, demands experience, +patience, and perseverance, as well as skill, in its followers.</p> + +<p>The profession is overcrowded with novices to-day; +they are the ones that have demoralized the profession—if +the word, profession, may be applied to hotel housekeeping. +The failure of many housekeepers is due to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>the lack of proper training; it is only the skilled housekeeper +that wins lasting approval.</p> + +<p>A trained nurse must remain in a training school at +least three years, possibly four, before she is given a +certificate to care for the sick. The chef of the hotel +kitchen, in all probability began his career as a scullion, +serving at least ten years' apprenticeship in minor situations +in the kitchen. The housekeeper must not be +above gaining knowledge in the laundry and the linen-room. +A woman that is ambitious to become a good +housekeeper should first serve as a chambermaid. If +she is wise, she will secure the good graces of the linen-woman +by offering to help her mend the linen, hem the +napkins, sort the linen, and mend the curtains.</p> + +<p>In this way, a clever chambermaid may learn many +useful things that will help her to a better position. +From the linen-room, it is only a step to the position +of a housekeeper. When a housekeeper leaves on her +vacation, or is called away to fill another place, or drops +out on account of illness, the linen-woman may seize +the opportunity of showing her executive ability. After +she has worked faithfully in the linen-room for three +years, there is not much danger that a linen-woman of +ability will fail to find employment as a housekeeper. +If she should have any trouble getting a situation, one +way out of the difficulty is to offer her services one +month on probation to a hotel man in need of a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>housekeeper; +and, if she is granted a trial and mixes brains +with her enthusiasm, she will receive a housekeeper's +salary at the end of the month.</p> + +<p>Just what a housekeeper's work should be is a vital +question. We hear of housekeepers meddling in the +steward's department and with the affairs of the office. +This is, at least, no less wrong than the idea that the +housekeeper owes servile obedience to all other heads of +departments.</p> + +<p>The essential requirements of a housekeeper are the +same, whether she is in a hotel with the capacity of a +thousand guests or in a hotel of two hundred rooms. +The young housekeeper, looking for a position in a first-class +hotel, should read the following requirements, +which were submitted to the writer by the manager of +a first-class Western hotel a few years ago:</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>A Housekeeper's Requirements.</i></p> + +<p class="noin"> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must be morally correct.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must have a dignified and respectable appearance.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must have executive ability.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must have a good disposition and try to get along with the help.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must be a good listener and not a talker.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must be quiet, giving orders in a firm but low tone.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must be loyal to the management.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must be courteous to guests.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must not worry the management with small matters.</span><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +<span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">Must refrain from gossiping.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Neatness in dress is essential to the success of a hotel +housekeeper. She should take great pains to be always +well groomed, and neat in her attire. If she finds herself +growing coarse or commonplace-looking, her fingernails +in mourning, and her hair unacquainted with soap +and water, she should at once set about to remedy the +defects. It is her duty, as well as her privilege, to dress +as well as she can, not by donning all the colors of the +rainbow or by useless extravagance, but by modest and +harmonizing shades and by appropriate apparel. It behooves +the woman to make herself as good-looking as +possible, for good looks pay. Obliging manners are also +a stock in trade. Grit, grace, and good looks can accomplish +wonders, especially the good looks.</p> + +<p>Ignorance and ambition make an unprofitable combination. +There are housekeepers filling positions to-day +that have never been taught to do a single useful thing +correctly; they can not darn the linens, they can not +sew, they can not upholster a chair, they can not wait +on the sick, nor can they settle the slightest dispute without +sending for the manager. The housekeeper should +know how these things are done, in order to impart her +knowledge to others; for any housekeeper that has any +respect for her calling considers herself an instructor.</p> + +<p>There is no special hour set for the housekeeper's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>appearance +in the morning. It is safe to say that she will +make a greater "impression" and last longer by rising +at 6 o'clock. Late rising is one of the rocks on which +many a housekeeper has been wrecked.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Cheerfulness and Good Manners.</i></p> + +<p>Every housekeeper should make the "good morning" +her bright keynote for the day. She should not say, +"Hello, Mollie," to a girl named Mary. Though the +girl may be only a scrub-girl, she knows a breach of etiquette; +and a girl that bears the beautiful name of +Mary does not want it changed to "Mollie."</p> + +<p>A cheerful "good morning" should be the beginning +of each day, by the housekeeper. It makes everybody +feel pleasant, and the maids can work faster and easier +when their hearts are full of pleasantness.</p> + +<p>The successful housekeeper does not win her laurels +by merely perfecting herself in her work, but also by +careful study of the lives of others in her charge, and +how to promote their happiness.</p> + +<p>Getting along with help requires tact, poise, and balance. +The housekeeper should bestow praise where it is +due. She may give a gentle pat on the back to some +faithful employe, and yet keep her dignity. A hard +task may be made lighter by it, and monotonous labor +robbed of its weariness. The old and persistent notion +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>that housekeepers are an irascible tribe—if it was ever +true—is not true now.</p> + +<p>The question here arises—What qualities of mind and +heart should a housekeeper possess to be successful?</p> + +<p>Nobody has discovered a rule—to say nothing of a +principle—whereby a housekeeper's success may be determined. +It is reasonable to claim that the permanent +success of any housekeeper lies in her skill and in the +confidence and esteem of her employer. She has learned +that skill is acquired by serving an apprenticeship, and +that esteem and confidence are won by character. Everybody +who touches a sterling character comes at last +to feel it, and the true hotel man has come to know that +the housekeeper of skill and character is his friend. +After the relation of friendship has been established between +the manager and the housekeeper, a "go-between" +has no place; to speak plainly, there is no legitimate +function for a tattler.</p> + +<p>The young housekeeper should not become discouraged, +excited, or worried, but learn to "manage." She +should sit down quietly and think it over. She should +have a system about her most ordinary duties, and never +put off till to-morrow what may be done to-day. Tomorrow +may never come, and, if it does come, it will +bring other duties equally as important. Every field +of labor has its drawbacks. The greater the work, the +greater the hindrances and the obstacles seem to be.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Housekeeper and the "Help."</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>It is a truism that there should be no hostilities between +the heads of the different departments of a hotel. +Everything works more smoothly and satisfactorily +when pleasant relationships exist between the different +departments of any business.</p> + +<p>A housekeeper feels stronger if she thinks that she is +of sufficient importance to her employer to have her +views receive some consideration. She takes up her daily +tasks with an added sense of responsibility, and with a +desire to do still better work.</p> + +<p>No housekeeper is perfect. It cannot be wisely assumed +that any housekeeper will possess all the requisite +qualifications for successful housekeeping, nor can she +develop them all, no matter how ambitious, industrious, +and naturally fitted for the work she may be. But +"Knowledge is power," and she that has the most of +it, coupled with the greatest ability to utilize it, enjoys +advantages that will contribute largely to her success.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span><i>Keeping a Position.</i></p> + +<p>A housekeeper studies not only to secure a good situation, +but also to avoid losing it. "Good enough" is +not her motto; "the very best" are her constant watchwords. +Some one has said: "A housekeeper is born, +not made." The "born housekeeper" is a spasmodic +housekeeper. As a rule, she is not evenly balanced. A +housekeeper with plain common sense, susceptible to instructions, +willing to obey orders, is the housekeeper +that leaves the old situation for one of better pay. There +must be, of course, a foundation on which to build. The +stones of that foundation should be self-control, self-confidence, +education, neatness in dress, and cleanliness. +None of these is a gift, but an accomplishment that can +be developed more or less according to the individual.</p> + +<p>Good manners are very essential. Politeness alone +will not bring about the desired results in any profession, +but it has never been known to be a hindrance. +Manners that will be accepted without criticism in one +woman, will be odious and objectionable in another. Too +much familiarity breeds contempt. An employer would +better be approached with dignity and reserve.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>The Charm of Neatness.</i></p> + +<p>Few housekeepers realize the charm of the neatly +dressed woman. The hair should always be neatly arranged +and not look as if it was about to fall on her +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>shoulders. The binding of her skirt should not show +ragged in places. These are little things, but they weigh +heavily in the general results. The well-groomed woman +knows that the neglect of these things is full of +shame to womankind.</p> + +<p>In regard to "bumping up against" the bell-boys, +clerks, stewards, and stenographers, the wise housekeeper +is shrewd enough to "stand in." She "turns +the other cheek," which may sometimes be a difficult +task to perform.</p> + +<p>Remember that no one on earth can ever succeed in +life and hold a "grudge." The inability to forgive his +enemies lost James G. Blaine the White House.</p> + +<p>If a bell-boy is caught doing something detrimental +to the success of the management, the housekeeper should +write a note to the clerk, or the captain of the watch, and +inform him of the bell-boy's misdeeds. This will be +sufficient from the housekeeper.</p> + +<p>On assuming the duties of a new field, the housekeeper +may remember merely a few important duties; for instance, +she must carefully scrutinize the time-book and +learn all the maids' names and stations. Next learn the +location of rooms and become familiarized with every +piece of furniture in them. Then, step by step, she +should build up the general cleanliness of the house. +This is by far the most important of all the requisites +pertaining to hotel housekeeping. Guarding against +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>difficulties encountered with the employes and with the +managers' wives is secondary.</p> + +<p>A housekeeper that can not take orders is not fit to +give them; if the manager asks for the removal of an +offensive employe, the housekeeper should immediately +get rid of the objectionable person. If the housekeeper +fails in deference to the manager's wishes, is not that +good evidence that she is not a good soldier? She should +be eager to maintain the dignity of her position—must +maintain it in fact—and do as high service as possible +for the management. Yet she can not always carry out +her own ideas. The manager has his ideas about matters, +which right or wrong, must be respected. The +housekeeper carries out the manager's orders. If the +hotel fails to bring a profit or give satisfaction, the +manager alone is held accountable.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>About Hiring Help.</i></p> + +<p>To dismiss a maid is a very easy matter; to obtain a +substitute that will perform the duties assigned her in +a manner that will prove more effectual, is not so easy.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To fire or not to fire, that is the question<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whether 'tis easier on the impulse of the moment<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To suffer the terrors and exactions of the haughty maids,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or take up arms against their impudence<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with pen and ink end them.<br /></span> +<span class="i11">To lie, to sleep—<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Worry no more, and by good management to dispatch<br /></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +<span class="i0">The cares and thousand little details<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Housekeepers are heir to—'tis a consummation<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Devoutly to be wished.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The employment-agency is the housekeeper's recruiting +station. She gets most of her help from this place. +The housekeeper should always consult the manager +when other help is to be hired. Everyone knows that +old employes are always best, even if they do spoil the +new ones. The housekeeper endeavors to keep the help +as long as she can, using persuasion, kindness, and forbearance, +striving to teach them the best and easiest way +to do their work, bearing with their imperfections, overlooking +a great deal that is actually repulsive, not expecting +to find in the hard-working individual the graces +of a Marie Antoinette, or the inherent qualities of a +Lady Jane Gray.</p> + +<p>The housekeeper should not only be scrupulously honest +herself, but should insist that the maids be honest. +It is true that almost irresistible temptations and opportunities +to steal are constantly thrown in the way of the +maids; and those that are steadfastly honest deserve +great credit.</p> + +<p>If a maid is neat and clean in appearance and does her +work well—these qualities cover a multitude of sins. +From the standpoint of many housekeepers, too much +curiosity and gossiping are the chiefest and quickest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>causes—next to the neglect of work—for a maid's dismissal. +A housekeeper is usually disliked by the maids +that do not want to do their work, just as a stepmother is +hated by some stepchildren, regardless of her kindness +and her consideration for their welfare. Employes in +any business prefer to take their orders from the person +that pays them their money. For this, they are not to be +blamed; but if the proprietor or the proprietor's wife +wishes to retain the services of a good housekeeper, and +be relieved of the trying ordeal of training the help, he or +she will not encourage tattling from the housekeeper's +inferiors.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Hotel Proprietor's Wife.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Implicit confidence should exist between the housekeeper +and the proprietor's wife. This does not mean +that the proprietor's wife should take the housekeeper +automobile riding. Any proprietor's wife that enters into +such a degree of intimacy with any of her husband's +employes distinctly displays the hallmarks of plebeanism. +The writer does not want to become an iconoclast, +but she believes that all business should be conducted on +a business basis. There must be an unwavering loyalty +to the interests mutually represented, at all times and +under all circumstances.</p> + +<p>The proprietor's wife that goes to the help's dining-room +or to the laundry, presumably to press a skirt or +a shirt-waist, but in reality to see what she can see and +to hear what she can hear, is disloyal to the management. +She will always have poured into her ears stories +that will annoy her and keep her worried. There are +maids in a hotel always ready to "keep the pot boiling." +Such a proprietor's wife not only encourages malicious +slander and tattling, but she will soon be asking questions +of the inferior help about the housekeeper's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>management. +Soon the inferiors will be giving the orders +instead of the housekeeper, and the discipline will be +spoiled. Besides, the proprietor's wife will be told imaginary +wrongs, and exaggerated stories concerning some +maid employed in the hotel, which will necessitate the +maid's discharge. Whether the story is real or imaginary, +the proprietor's wife is not benefited by the +stories she has heard. She should ask herself: Is this +loyalty? Isn't it unmistakably the earmark of commonality?</p> + +<p>No housekeeper will object to taking orders from the +proprietor's wife. The progressive housekeeper is always +polite to her employer's wife, though not to the extent +of being deceitful. The housekeeper must bear in mind +that what is of vital importance to the proprietor of a +hotel is of equal importance to the proprietor's wife. +The housekeeper tries to work in harmony with them +both, which means success of the highest order. To do +this, the housekeeper must retain her dignity, often +under the most exasperating circumstances. The proprietor's +wife is privileged to frequent any part of the +hotel she may choose to, but how must a housekeeper +feel to see her conversing in the most familiar tones with +the waitresses and the chambermaids, and to know that +she is listening to malicious slander of the lowest kind. +A housekeeper can have no control over the employes +where the discipline is thus ruined, or where there is so +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>much unpleasantness arising from unwise interference +over trifles, by the proprietor's wife, or from officious +meddling by the families of the prominent stockholders.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Tact Can Not be Taught.</i></p> + +<p>"Bumping up against" the proprietor and proprietor's +wife or family is one of the most perplexing problems +that the housekeeper has to solve. The ability to +combat with such a problem can not be imparted by +teaching. It has to exist in the housekeeper herself, in +the peculiar, individual bent of her nature. No amount +of preaching and teaching can ever endow a housekeeper +with the ever ready wit characteristic of the "Irish +tongue."</p> + +<p>The savory reply, "O, Mrs. B., you are a dream of +loveliness!" would be sweet to some ears while to others +it would be a "harsh discord." It is impossible to teach +which ear would or would not be the receptive one. +Any attempt on the part of the housekeeper to work up +these qualities, "by rule" would only be a failure +Even the "Golden Rule" fails sometimes to bring about +desired results. The better plan, perhaps, for the housekeeper +to adopt is to live her own life, and not try to +imitate others. If she tries to be great, she will be +nothing; if she tries to be plain, simple, and good, she +may be great.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Character in the Hotel Business.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>There is no royal road to success for the hotel clerk, +steward, manager, or housekeeper. The hotel business +is peculiar in many respects; it teaches conspicuously +the great importance of character.</p> + +<p>There is no ingenious system that the housekeeper may +adopt to insure her success. Getting into trouble or +keeping out of it is largely a matter of luck, influenced +by the kind of help that she is able to secure. But, first +and last, her success depends on her character—her own +energy, industry, intelligence, and moral worth.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>Room Inspection.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>When inspecting rooms, the housekeeper will notice +that the room is completed with the following necessaries: +One bed, one foot blanket. One rocking chair +and two straight chairs. One writing table and a scrap +basket. One cuspidor. One dresser. One clothes tree +or wardrobe. One ice water pitcher and two glasses on +a tray. If there is no bathroom, or stationary hot and +cold water, there must be a commode, a wash bowl and +pitcher, soap dish and clean soap. One slop jar, one +chamber. Four face towels. If there is a bathroom, +one bath mat and toilet paper in the holder. One small +mirror. One cake of bath soap and two bath towels +are needed. On the dresser in every guest room should +be a box of safety matches and a candle. Candles are +so cheap, and candle holders may be purchased for a +trifle, which will answer the purpose as well as silver. +No one who has lived in hotels but knows how annoying +it is to be left in total darkness for half an hour, on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>account +of a burned out fuse, when they are dressing for +the theatre and in a hurry to complete their toilet.</p> + +<p>The clerk in the office with the room rack in front of +him has no conception of the rooms except that they are +in perfect order. Perfect order does not only mean that +the bed is neatly made, the floor clean and all the furniture +dusted; soap, towels, matches, candles and glasses +in their places, but everything must be in perfect working +order. Let the housekeeper's inspection begin then +with the door. The lock must be in order, and the key +work properly. It is embarrassing to the clerk to have +to listen of a morning to such complaints as "my door +would not lock, and I was compelled to push the dresser +in front of it to insure safety." But this "kick" is +often heard in first-class houses. The transoms next +should receive attention—see if they will open and close. +Next the electric lights; they must all be in order and +burn brightly. The dresser drawers must move readily, +and be perfectly clean. The windows must be carefully +examined to see if they open and close easily, and they +must have no broken cords. A housekeeper's intelligent +attentions to these details will greatly aid the clerk in +prompt service to the guests, and will insure to the hotel +the service that will be its own best advertisement.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Gossip Between Employes.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>There are only two classes in a hotel among its employes; +one class is quite perfect and pure as angels, +while the others are black sheep and altogether unspeakable. +There is no transition, no intermediate links, no +shading of light or dark. A hotel employe is either good +or bad, and this rigid rule applies not only to moral +character, but intellectual excellence also is measured by +the same standard. In a large hotel of, say 250 employes, +everybody seems to know everybody and everything +about everybody. Everybody knows that he is +watched, and gossip, both in the best and worst sense of +the word, rules supreme. Gossip is, in fact, public opinion, +with all its good and all its bad features. Still, the +result is that no one can afford to lose caste, and everybody +behaves as well as he can. The private life of hotel +employes is almost blameless. The great evils of society +do not exist; now and then a black sheep gets in, but +his or her life soon becomes a burden, everybody knows +what has happened and the employes, being on a whole +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>so blameless, are all the more merciless on the sinners, +whether their sins are great or small.</p> + +<p>What most impresses one in hotels is the loyalty +among employes. No one tells them what to do or what +to say, or what not to say, or what not to do, yet you will +observe that one who professes to be your friend will +not say unfriendly things behind your back. This condition +is noticeable among those of inferior rank, as well +as among managers, stewards, clerks and housekeepers. +As a rule, one table in the main dining room is reserved +for the officers, clerks, stewards, cashiers, bookkeepers, +checkers, stenographers and housekeepers. Most of them +have been taught a few rules of life wisdom by their +seniors. At any rate, few of them are seen with +their elbows on the table. They are observant enough +of social forms to eat pie with a fork, and their teaspoon +is always in the saucer; they eat slowly and take time +to triturate. There is always one "wit" to make one +sorry when the meal is ended. Many hotel employes +possess intellectual powers to a great degree. Many +clerks are college graduates. The housekeeper is not, as +some have said usually a member of the broken down +aristocracy, some one who has seen better days, whose +duty it is to walk through the halls with a "persimmon" +countenance, in search of the evildoer; never was a statement +more false. Hotels employ a house detective to +look after its morals. A housekeeper is more apt to be +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>an assistant, who has been promoted to the very responsible +position of housekeeper.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Relationship Between Housekeeper and Women Patrons.</i></p> + +<p>A simple acquaintance is the most desirable footing +with all persons, however desiring. The unlicensed freedom +that usually attends familiarity affords but too +ample scope for the indulgence of selfish and mercenary +motives on the part of the women patrons. It would +be safe to say that the housekeeper owes to all women +patrons the courtesy and consideration due one woman +from another. It has been said that woman's inhumanity +to woman makes countless millions mourn. But +this condition is happily fading away; within the last +decade women have been improving in manners and +morals toward each other. The housekeeper should take +the initiative, consider the "roof as an introduction" +and assume a kindly interest in the welfare of the women +guests.</p> + +<p>Politeness is the sweetener of human society and gives +a charm to everything said and done. But a housekeeper +may be called on to sacrifice her duty to her employer. +In this case she must not let any weak desire of pleasing +guests make her recede one jot from any point that +reason and prudence have bid her pursue.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Birds of Passage.</i></p> + +<p>One of the most striking conditions in modern hotel +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>life is that few hotels retain their heads of departments +any great length of time, while the inferior working +class remains in one hotel for many years, and often for +a lifetime. This significant state becomes more marked +from year to year, and the question arises: What has +brought about such a changed condition? The traveling +public surely is gratified to see a familiar face behind +the desk, in the housekeeping department, and also +in the dining-room. In days past, clerks, stewards, and +housekeepers, were identified with the same hotel until +a retirement from all active life would see them replaced +by others. But of late they seem to have earned the +title, "birds of passage."</p> + +<p>Temperament creates the atmosphere of your surroundings, +and if you would remain in a fixed place, +you should cultivate the respect of all, and, if possible, +their love, also. A nervous man or woman speaks in +haste and uses a sharp tone of voice over mere trifles, +which, to an ignorant mind, may have a tendency to +create dislike, causing results that may prove distinct +barriers to his or her success as a manager or housekeeper, +whereas a placid man or woman could bring +about the same result with gentler tones, thereby preventing +useless friction and hatred.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Directing and Commanding.</i></p> + +<p>Heads of hotel departments should cultivate their +talents for directing and commanding. Politeness, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>which belongs to all persons of good breeding and is essential +in the ordinary transactions of life, is so minutely +cultivated by the heads of hotel departments as to +be conspicuous in its absence; some are not even civil, +which is the very least that one person can be to another.</p> + +<p>I do not mean to infer that an employe is to be forgiven +if he gets intoxicated and is late to his work every +morning, nor that a sneak, a thief, or an agitator should +be excused. To handle help on the forgiving plan in +such cases, employers would become sentimental reformers +and the worst kind of failures. Sentiment may be +comforting, but it is silly when employed in business, +under these conditions. Those that desire may practice +forgiveness, but when it costs time and money and +brings gray hairs to those that are doing the forgiving, +it is better to keep as near the line of sternness as possible. +Everyone employing labor should be very careful of +his manner in expressing his disapproval of the actions +of subordinates. A reprimand should never be made in +anger. If a grave offense has been committed, reprimanding +should be done with great coolness and reserve, +if you would look to future events and their probable +consequences. Impertinent and forward people may be +checked by cold reserve. Often the faculties for transacting +business and the talents for directing and reprimanding +are considered by fond admirers to be the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>gift of nature, when, in reality, they are the outcome +of self-control and education.</p> + +<p>Chesterfield says: "If you are in authority and have +a right to command, your commands delivered in <i>sauviter +in modo</i> will be willingly, cheerfully, and, consequently, +well obeyed."</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Attention to Details.</i></p> + +<p>Hotel housekeeping is a science. The crowning excellence, +as all acknowledge, lies in giving strict attention +to small things. Successful hotel-keeping is an artistic +achievement in which everything is in its right place, is +of the proper grade, shade, quality, and cleanliness, harmonizing +in every particular.</p> + +<p>Details are repulsive to the lazy or the listless. Let +the housekeeper feel the greatness of her position and +the importance of her duties, if she so desires to succeed. +Enthusiasm is an element that can least be spared—one +that must accompany the housekeeper at every step.</p> + +<p>The question has arisen whether the housekeeper +should learn without rules, by blundering experience, or +should she take what the approved experience of others +has found to be the best. No one doubts the answer. +The true way is to submit to rules and regulations and +methods of experienced and practical hotel housekeepers +that have made their profession a life-long study.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Progressive Housekeeper.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The ocean is an everchanging wonder of kaleidoscopic +views and no eye ever wearies of its beauty. The earth +arrays herself in such gorgeous costumes so pleasing to +man's sight that few there are who want to leave her to +try another. The child tires of the old ragdoll and cries +for the "Teddy bear." Put a new dress on the old ragdoll +and it will again become the favorite.</p> + +<p>If a housekeeper is not progressive, her employer will +tire of her. The onward trick of nature is too much for +the average housekeeper, and gladly would she anchor, +but to do so means to sink. She must keep up with the +times, she must travel the pace of progress.</p> + +<p>There is nothing new under the sun, but there is constant +metamorphosis. Time brings changes. Competition +is strong and housekeepers must be on the alert for +any accomplishment that will aid in their calling.</p> + +<p>In America, life is a universal race for exalted positions. +Then get out of the rut and keep up the long list +of illusions, of which a rapid succession of changes and +moods and styles and ideas is the secret.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>You must keep busy. There is only one sin that you +can commit; that sin is idleness. Polish the old things +and make them look like new. Do not let your footsteps +become so narrow that they will end in a turkey-track. +Keep up your practice of thoroughly cleaning rooms, +overhauling furniture, and sending out a mattress now +and then to have it repaired. Take up a carpet and +have it cleaned. Give the radiators a coat of bronze. +Have the ceiling lights cleaned. Paste up the wall-paper +that is hanging from the wall. Polish the brass on +the stairs. Put in an order for some new material of +which to make dresser covers.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Decorative Dresser Covers.</i></p> + +<p>The writer has just completed some very pretty +dresser covers for the parlor floor rooms, en suite. The +work is fascinating, and the linen-room girls and parlor-maids +can lend a hand at making them. Any kind of +linen material can be adapted that can be laundered +with ease and success. Plain white linen is a well-deserved +favorite and makes thoroughly useful, as well as +fashionable, dresser-covers. A cheaper material can be +found in linen toweling—just as pretty and just as durable +as the plain white linen.</p> + +<p>The dresser cover just covering the dresser and not allowed +to hang down is the favorite mode just now. It +can be simply hemmed; but a charming and more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>attractive +pattern is with scalloped edges and elaborated +ends. These scallops are made with a spool, medium +size, No 50 being especially suitable. Put the spool on +the edge of the material and with a lead pencil, draw +a crescent and then another, clear across the end. Pad +the scallops with common white darning-cotton, using +the old fashioned chain-stitch. Before putting the work +in the embroidery-hoops, sew a strip of muslin, about +six inches in width to the edge of the dresser cover. +This will aid in getting the work placed in the hoops and +will enable you to do smoother and more satisfactory +work.</p> + +<p>Embroider the scallops with linen embroidery floss, +size "D," using the buttonhole stitch. An eyelet at the +termination and just above each crescent will add materially +to its effectiveness. Rip off the muslin and +launder before cutting out the scallops. This will prevent +the ugly fringe seen on so many embroidered +dresser-covers.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Housekeeper's Salary.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Too many housekeepers of the present day neglect the +small things. They want to draw large salaries and let +the house take care of itself, while they visit with the +guests and gossip and have a good time. The clerks are +kind and do not report to the manager the little complaints +that come to the office every day; but the housekeeper's +conscience should tell her that she is not earning +her money.</p> + +<p>The housekeeper that is above her profession, is not +interested in her work, and that is trying to get into +some church society, had better not engage in hotel +housekeeping, for her housekeeping duties will require +her constant attention at the hotel. There will be some +difficulties to settle at all times, which will require her +presence. Maids work better when they are conscious +of a vigilant overseer. They take more pride in their +work when they know that every nook and corner is +being inspected by the housekeeper. Especially is this +true if the housekeeper is successful in commanding the +respect of her subordinates.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>The housekeeper that lays the blame of some grave +mistake on her assistants is not worthy of the name of +housekeeper. Had she been there, attending to her affairs, +it would not have happened, for she would have +prevented or stopped it.</p> + +<p>The housekeeper, by diligence, attendance to her duties, +and by economies, figures greatly in the success of +a hotel, and makes her own position. The position does +not make her. Then it is fairly reasonable to suppose +that such a housekeeper should make her own salary; +that she should command and receive her price; that she +should be paid according to the amount she is really +worth, and not the fixed scale that the hotel pays. If +a housekeeper can show by her books, by her management, +and by her economies, that she is worth more than +her predecessor, she is entitled to more pay, and by all +means should receive more pay. The average salary +paid a housekeeper is not enough to properly clothe a +housekeeper. After her laundry bills are paid, what +has she left to lay up for the "rainy day," to say nothing +of an old age, when parsimony and incompatibility +of temper and "set ways" make her, in any place, an +unwelcome personage.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>The Faithful, Efficient Housekeeper.</i></p> + +<p>The housekeeper that sticks to her post and is always +looking after her work is surely worth more to her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>employer +than one that has worn the carpet threadbare in +front of her mirror, or one that puts in a great portion +of her time at the bargain-counter, or the theater, or +with a novel in her hand. Surely, the hard-working +housekeeper, the one that makes her occupation a study +and is always at her post, is worth more to her employer +than the housekeeper that is trying to do society +"stunts," to ring in with people of fashion, to "out-dress" +them. But the majority of hotels pay much the +same salaries to housekeepers, good, bad, and indifferent.</p> + +<p>The progressive housekeeper that thus looks after her +employer's business every day, always at her post in the +linen-room, is uncomplaining, shoulders the blame, and +is not always knocking on his private-office door and +entering complaints about this or that, is surely worth +more than thirty dollars a month to any hotel man. If +he does not think so, he should not blame the progressive, +faithful, reliable housekeeper, if she promptly accepts +a position with better pay.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Inspection and Cleaning of Rooms.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The housekeeper, or her assistant, should go through +every room twice a day. In the morning, the housekeeper +should take the house-plan, inspect every room, +and check up the rooms that have been occupied. +If the bed in a room has been used, and if there is baggage, +she should check this also, and should turn the +report into the office by nine o'clock. Then, in the afternoon, +when the maids are supposed to have finished +their work, the housekeeper should take her pencil and +pad and thoroughly inspect every room and the maids' +work. She may find a ragged sheet or pillow slip; if +so, she should make a note of it. Some room may be +short of a towel, soap or matches; she should make a +note of this also. Around the gas-jets and in the corners, +she may find "Irish curtains" (cobwebs); in the +commode, she may find a vessel that was forgotten; in +a dresser drawer, a man may have left his cast-off hose, +and suspenders. Some maid may have swept the center +of the room, while under the bed and under the dresser +there may be dust of two weeks' standing; in another +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>room, the housekeeper may find a bathtub forgotten—all +of which she should write on the pad. This work will occupy +two hours of her time in a two-hundred-room +house. When the maids come on watch at six o'clock, +each one should be given instructions to go back and +finish her work. In some hotels, the maids do not go +off duty of an afternoon, but continue working until six +o'clock. In this case, the housekeeper should issue her +instructions at once.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">How to Clean a Room.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>There are many ways to clean a room, but there is +just one best way to clean it thoroughly. "Dig out the +corners" should be the watchword of every successful +housekeeper. She would rather the maid would leave +the dirt in a pile in the center of the room than fail to +clean out the corners.</p> + +<p>If one word could be selected that means the most and +needs the most emphasis in the science of housekeeping, +that word would be "cleanliness." The first desideratum, +therefore, of the chambermaid, is the scrub-pail +and a piece of oilcloth—some maids use a newspaper—under +it to protect the carpet. The first thing to do +is to clean the small pieces of furniture. If the furniture +is new, it should be only wiped with the dust-cloth. +If it is old and marred, it should be washed with warm +water and soap, and oiled with a good furniture-polish. +It should then be set in the hall. The dresser drawers +should be washed and the marble cleaned with sapolio; +the mirrors should be polished, the windows washed, and +the shutters dusted. The crockery should be cleaned +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>and put in the hall. The bed should be covered with +a dust-cover. The cobwebs should be swept down with +a long-handled broom. The lace curtains should be +shaken, and either taken down or pinned up. The closet +should be swept out. The toilet-bowl should be scrubbed +inside and out with the toilet-brush, and a disinfectant +powder put in. The stationary wash-bowl should be +scrubbed with sapolio, and the faucets polished, not forgetting +the chain. The bathtub should also be scrubbed +with sapolio, and the floor washed.</p> + +<p>The door should now be closed and the sweeping begun. +A very good plan is to scatter wet paper over the +floor to keep the dust down. The corners should be dug +out and the dirt swept to the center of the room and +taken up in the dust-pan. If the carpet is old, it should +be sponged with warm water and soap, to which a little +ammonia has been added. The carpet will look like +new after this process. After the dust is well settled, +all the wood work in the room should be washed; the bed +and dresser should be washed and oiled, and all the furniture +should be symmetrically arranged, and the windows +closed on account of storms.</p> + +<p>One chambermaid can successfully look after eighteen +or twenty rooms a day. Not all of the rooms are occupied +every night. The maid should take advantage of +the dull days to clean her rooms thoroughly; she should +clean one room every day.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Importance of Good Beds.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Competition is great, and success will come to the best +and cleanest hotel. The traveler loves to slip into a bed +with perfectly laundered sheets that do not look as if the +maids had sprinkled, folded, and pressed them between +the mattress, as chambermaids ordinarily do in hotels +where there is a scant supply of linen.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the chambermaid will ask the laundryman +for a pair of sheets to make up a sample-room, as the +guest wants to receive a customer. The laundryman +replies: "Well, just as soon as the machinery starts +again, you may have them." There has been a breakdown; +the belt is off; or something has gone wrong, and +they have sent for the engineer to fix it. Then the +housekeeper must go to some unoccupied room and strip +the bed and use the linen for making up the bed in the +sample-room, while the guest walks the floor and frets +over the delay. Much time is saved if the hotel is supplied +with plenty of linen.</p> + +<p>Sheets that cover only two-thirds of the mattress do +not add to the cheerfulness and comfort of the guests. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>Many well grounded complaints are entered about this. +Special laws have been enacted in some states, within the +last year, regarding the length of sheets.</p> + +<p>Occasionally a guest finds it expedient to make his bed +over, if he would have any comfort. The maid has put +the double fold of the blanket to the top; it is a warm +night, yet he fears to throw the blanket off—he might +take cold. So he concludes to make his own bed, putting +the single fold to the top, that he may throw some +of it back.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">How a Bed is Made.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Good bed-making is the one trait par excellence in all +good chambermaid work. To make a bed artistically is +one important feature, and to make it so that the guest +may rest comfortably is another, and, finally, just how +is the best way to make a bed is a question worthy of +consideration.</p> + +<p>In our big country of America, the traveler from +Maine to California sees many styles of bed-making. In +New Orleans is seen the picturesque canopy of pure +white mosquito-netting tucked in neatly all around. In +Kansas City is seen the snowy spreads plaited half way +to the foot with numerous little folds. In New York is +seen the pure linen hemstitched sheets, turned back with +a single fold.</p> + +<p>To begin to make a bed, first, the mattress should be +turned. The bottom sheet should then be tucked in +carefully by raising the mattress with one hand and +smoothing the sheet down with the other. The large +hems should always be at the head, in order that no one +may be compelled to lay his face where some one's feet +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>have been. After the bottom sheet has been tucked in at +the head, it should be tightly drawn and tucked in at +the foot in the same way. Sheets should be long enough +to tuck in one foot at the head and one at the bottom. +If it is a brass bed, the sheets should be left to hang +down.</p> + +<p>After the bottom sheet is on perfectly, it is easy to +make a pretty bed, and one in which the guest may rest +well. The top sheet should be put on, and tucked in +at the foot only. The blanket should be put on with the +single fold at the head. If the guest should get too +warm, he can throw half of the blanket to the foot and +yet have sufficient covering. After the spread is put +on, a single fold as large as your hand should be made, +then another fold one foot in width should complete the +folding, and the spread should be neatly tucked in. +The pillows should now be smoothed evenly and placed +up aright, and the bed is made.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">How to Clean Walls.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>To clean a painted canvas wall does not require so +much skill as patience.</p> + +<p>A painted canvas wall is very easily cleaned. Many +housekeepers have them washed with ivory soap and water, +and obtain good results. Others add a little ammonia +to the water, and still others use the powdered +pumice.</p> + +<p>The cost of painted walls are great, and it is a great +saving to any proprietor, if the housekeeper can successfully +clean a painted wall without calling the decorators.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most practical and most economical way +to do the work and obtain the best results is to wash the +wall with water, in which has been dissolved a cake of +sapolio.</p> + +<p>To proceed to clean the parlor walls: first, take out +all the bric-a-brac and tapestry and furniture; then take +up the carpet. Have the carpenter erect a scaffolding +for the houseman to stand on. Have two pails of hot +water, and in one let a cake of sapolio dissolve. Keep +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>the other pail of water for rinsing. Have two large +sponges, one for cleaning and the other for rinsing. +Souse the cleaning-sponge in the pail in which the sapolio +has been dissolved, then squeeze the water out of the +sponge. Then begin on the ceiling or in one corner, +cleaning only a small square at a time. After cleaning, +rinse with the sponge from the clean pail, not making +the sponge too dry. Do not wipe the wall with a cloth, +but leave moist, after which have ready a pail of starch, +and with an ordinary paint or white-wash-brush, starch +the square that you have cleaned, before it is thoroughly +dry. The starching-process is very necessary. It will +leave a gloss on the paint, and also preserves it the next +time it is washed; for, in this case, it will be the starch +that will be washed off instead of the paint. To make +the starch take ordinary laundry starch and dissolve one +cupful in one pint of cold water. Into this pour boiling +water until it is as thick as cream and let boil, stirring +constantly.</p> + +<p>The following is an excellent preparation for cleaning +wall-paper, and perhaps it might serve as well to clean +walls hung with burlap:</p> + +<div style="margin-left: 30%; margin-right: 20%;"> +2 pounds of rye flour.<br /> +½ pound of wheat flour.<br /> +1 handful of salt.</div> + +<p>Mix well together with water and bake one hour in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>the oven. Then peel and work back into a dough, adding +½ ounce of ammonia and ½ ounce of gasoline.</p> + +<p>This is not an expensive preparation and will clean +papered or burlap walls very nicely.</p> + +<p>Calcimined walls will have to be re-decorated.</p> + +<p>A good way to clean hardwood floors in halls where +the carpet does not entirely cover the floor, is to take +a can of linseed oil and a small woolen cloth and dip one +end of the cloth in the oil, being careful not to spill the +oil on the carpet, or touch the edge of the carpet while +cleaning; this will remove the dust and dirt, after which +the floor may be polished with ordinary floor-wax put +on with a flannel cloth and polished with a brick, over +which has been sewed a piece of Brussels carpet.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>How to Scrub a Floor.</i></p> + +<p>What is prettier than a hardwood floor after it has +been properly scrubbed? To scrub a floor and get satisfactory +results is a science. To change the water frequently +is one secret of success. "Elbow grease" is +another. Mops are impossible, and this is another subject +on which the housekeeper can wax eloquent. What +is more disgusting than to see the baseboards of a room +smeared, or the dirt shoved in the corners with an old +dirty mop?</p> + +<p>Before commencing to scrub, place every article of +furniture on the table and then sweep. Beginning +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>in the rear of the door so as not to track over the clean +part until it is perfectly dry, scrub with a brush a +small section at a time; first wipe up with a damp rag +and then with a dry one. The New York Knitting +Mills, of Albany, N. Y., furnish remnants of cloth that +are indispensable for scrubbing. Enough of these remnants +can be bought for $3 to last six months.</p> + +<p>A little ammonia in the water will help to whiten the +floors. The modern skewers from the kitchen are very +useful in getting into the corners of the window sills +and into the corners of the stair steps. A weak solution +of oxalic acid and boiling water will remove the +very worst kind of ink-stains from the floor.</p> + +<p>Pads for kneeling on are made of burlap, and one is +given to each scrubber. The unnatural position that +the scrubber assumes makes the work laborious; the +scrubber may change her position frequently by getting +clean water.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">How to Get Rid of Vermin.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The worst kind of house-pests, if you do not know +how to get rid of them, but not the easiest to exterminate, +are bedbugs. They do not confine themselves to +any section of the country, though the International Encyclopedia +gives the belief "that up to Shakespeare's +time they were not known in England," and that "they +came originally from India."</p> + +<p>In Kansas, the bedbug is improperly called the chintz-bug, +and is believed to dwell under the bark of the cotton-wood +tree. There is no authentic truth for this belief.</p> + +<p>The spread of the bedbug is mainly due to its being +carried from place to place in furniture and clothing. +It has the power of resisting great cold and of fasting indefinitely. +The eggs of the bedbug are very small, +whitish, oval objects, laid in clusters in the crevices used +by the bugs for concealment; they hatch in eight days. +Under favorable conditions and slovenly housekeeping, +their multiplication is extremely rapid. The greatest +trouble lies with the housekeeper who allows the bugs to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>increase unchecked until they are so numerous in the +floors and walls that it is nearly impossible to kill them +off.</p> + +<p>It is useless waste of time to try to exterminate with +Persian insect powder, or sulphur candles. These +remedies have been recommended by the International +Encyclopedia, but have not demonstrated their +worth when subjected to tests by careful experimental +methods, by the author.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Scientific Way of Extermination.</i></p> + +<p>The only scientific and practical way to get rid of +them is to clean thoroughly, religiously, and scrupulously +the room and every article in it. Bedbugs are +exceedingly difficult to fight, owing both to their ability +to withstand the action of many insecticides and owing +also to the protection afforded them by the walls and +the woodwork of the room.</p> + +<p>If the mattress is old, it should be burned. The bed +should be taken apart, the slats and springs taken to the +bathroom and scalded, and then treated with a mixture +of corrosive sublimate and alcohol, liberally applied, +after which a coat of varnish should be given to the entire +bed—slats, springs and all. The carpet should be +taken up and sent to the cleaners. The paper should +be scraped from the walls and sent to the furnace and +burned, and the walls should be left bare until the bugs +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>are exterminated. The holes in the walls and woodwork +and the cracks and crevices in the floor should be filled +up with common yellow soap. This is better than to fill +them with putty; it is more practical and is easier to +handle. Use the thumb or an old knife to put the soap +into the holes; the workman should get the stepladder +and go over the entire ceiling, getting the soap into +every crack and crevice. After this is done, it will be +impossible for the eggs to hatch or the bugs to get out. +This is the most important part of the extermination of +bugs. The floor should then be scrubbed, after which it +should be well poisoned with the mixture of corrosive +sublimate and alcohol. Every piece of furniture in the +room should be washed and poisoned, and given a coat +of varnish.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Treating the Mattress.</i></p> + +<p>If the mattress is too good to be thrown away, the +following will be found a good method to destroy the +vermin in it: dissolve two pounds of alum in one gallon +of water; let it remain twenty-four hours until all +the alum is dissolved. Then, with a whisk-broom, apply +while boiling hot. This is also a good way to rid the +walls and ceiling of bugs. Getting on the stepladder, +the workman should apply the wash with the whisk-broom, +never missing an inch of the entire ceiling and +walls, keeping the liquid boiling hot while using. It +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>should be poured in all the cracks of the floor, in the corners, +over the doors and over the windows. The operation +should be repeated every day for two weeks, after +which the woodwork should be painted and the walls +papered.</p> + +<p>A strict watch should be kept on all the help's rooms, +and any signs of bugs should be promptly treated with +the mixture of corrosive sublimate and alcohol.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Cleanliness a Necessity.</i></p> + +<p>Cleanliness is a prime factor in ridding rooms of vermin. +In many of the hotels there is one woman appointed +to look after the bugs, and she has no other duty.</p> + +<p>A good night's sleep is necessary to health and happiness. +It can not be found in a room with vermin. The +housekeeper should keep up the continual warfare +against the standing army of bugs, and never allow the +enemy to take possession.</p> + +<p>Roaches, or water-bugs, are easily exterminated. +Hellebore sprinkled on the floor will soon kill them off. +It is poison. They eat it at night and are killed. Some +people object to having poison around. In that case, +powdered borax will prove an expedient eradicator.</p> + +<p>A good way to keep rats from a room is to saturate a +rag with cayenne pepper and stuff it in the hole; no rat +or mouse will touch the rag, not if it would open a communication +with a depot of eatables.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span><i>A Nauseating Subject.</i></p> + +<p>Of all the obnoxious being that get into a hotel, the +one whose feet smell to the heavens is the worst. Every +housekeeper in America—heaven bless them—if she has +a normal and simple mind as fits her calling, finds smelling +feet an intolerable nuisance.</p> + +<p>Health requires at least one bath a day for the feet, +and when they perspire freely they should be bathed +twice a day. What must be said of the maid who, on +entering a room, compels you to leave it on account of +the sickening odor from her feet. In a case like this, +the housekeeper must "take the bull by the horns," tell +the maid that "her feet smell" and that "she must keep +herself cleaner." The maid's feelings are not to be spared +in the performance of this important duty. After washing +the feet carefully twice a day for a week a cure will +be effected. Clean hosiery should be put on every day. +A very good remedy for offensive feet is a few drops of +muriatic acid in the water when bathing the feet before +retiring to bed.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2> +<span class="smcap">The Superiority of Vacuum Cleaning.</span></h2> +<br/> + +<p>This is an age of surprises and scientific researches. +The up-to-date vacuum-cleaning machine is a huge debt +to an ancient past. It is a big improvement over the +methods employed in days gone by. As a preventive +for moths, it has no equal. In hotels where this labor-saving +device has not been installed, carpets must be +carried to the roof to be cleaned, or sent to the regular +carpet-cleaners, and soon converted into ravelings. Carpets +are very expensive, and, if you want your money's +worth from them, you must preserve them from moths. +In order to do this, they must be either vacuum-cleaned +or taken to the roof every six months and given a beating. +After the moths get a start in a carpet it is surprising +to learn what vast inroads toward destruction +they can make in a few weeks. Moving the furniture +and thoroughly sweeping and brushing the edges with +turpentine are good preventives. But nothing will so +effectually destroy them as does the vacuum-cleaning process.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>In order to secure detailed information regarding the +workings of the vacuum-cleaning system for hotels, I +wrote to a gentleman in Milwaukee, who is probably the +best informed man on that subject in the country. Besides +being in the vacuum-cleaning business, he is a hotel +man himself and therefore knows how to meet the needs +of the hotel housekeeper. I quote a part of his reply:</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>System Explained by an Expert.</i></p> + +<p>"The vacuum-cleaning system in a hotel will pay for +itself every year by reducing the cleaning force and by +increasing the life of carpets, rugs, hangings, upholstery, +and decorations, whether paper, fresco, or paint.</p> + +<p>"In hotels where this system is in use—and their +number is increasing every month—carpets and rugs +are cleaned on the floor. Right here is a big saving. +First, taking up and relaying carpets is expensive. +There is nothing that wears them out quicker than this +sort of handling and the beating and "tumbling." Vacuum-cleaning +not only saves this, but saves the daily wear +and tear of grinding in the dirt and wearing off the +nap with a broom. Third, with the vacuum-system, valuable +rooms are never put out of commission while the +carpets and rugs are away being cleaned.</p> + +<p>"Not only are the carpets and rugs kept cleaner by +the vacuum-system, but everything else is cleaner because +dust is kept down. The housekeeper of a certain +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>hotel told the owner that since he put in the vacuum-system, +the transoms had to be washed only one-fourth as +often as before. Now, the dust on those transoms came +out of the air. It settled everywhere, but it showed +plainly only on the transoms. With the vacuum-system, +there is only one-fourth as much dust to settle on the +walls and decorations, and even that little is quickly removed +with the vacuum-wall-brush. Dust on the walls +is what causes the unpleasant, musty smell of many hotel +rooms. Keeping walls clean means less frequent redecorating.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Purifies Nearly Everything.</i></p> + +<p>"Upholstered furniture is quickly and thoroughly +cleaned by the vacuum-method. Dust is removed not +only from the surface, but also from the folds and creases +and even the interior of the cushions. Moths and their +eggs are sucked out from their hiding places under the +upholstery buttons or in the corners.</p> + +<p>"Mattresses and pillows are kept clean and sweet by +vacuum-treatment. Passing the cleaning tool over the +surface prevents dust from accumulating and sifting +in. It sucks out the stale dusty air inside and draws in +fresh air, thus preventing that unpleasant musty smell +which hotel beds sometimes have.</p> + +<p>"By the vacuum-method, tapestries and hangings are +kept fresh and bright without the trouble and expense +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>of taking them down. One hotel manager told me his +vacuum-system saved him $10 every time he cleaned the +hangings in his dining-room, for it used to cost him that +sum to have them re-draped.</p> + +<p>"By means of a special brush, wood and tile floors +can be cleaned without the dust of dry sweeping, or the +muddy aftermarks of sawdust.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Vacuum Always on Tap.</i></p> + +<p>"The most and recent important improvement in +vacuum-cleaning consists in having the vacuum or 'suction +power' always 'on tap' on every floor. At convenient +points in the corridors, nickel-plated taps are placed. +To these, the housemen or maids can quickly attach the +rubber hose connected with the cleaning-tools. Opening +a valve turns on the suction or vacuum. Then, as +fast as the tool is moved over the surface to +be cleaned, dust and dirt are sucked through the +hose into the pipes and away to an air-tight dust-tank +in the basement. The 'on tap' vacuum is always +ready for use. No need to telephone or send word to +the engineer to start that pump or to stop it when the +work is done.</p> + +<p>"Although the vacuum, or suction, is kept on tap all +the time, practically no power is consumed except when +the cleaning is going on. Even then the amount of +power used—whether it be steam or electricity—is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>automatically +proportioned to the number and the size of +the cleaning tools in use. Whenever you lay down the +sweeper to move a chair, just so much less power is consumed +while the tool is idle. If one sweeper is in use, +only one-tenth as much power is needed as when ten +sweepers are working. The little upholstery tuft-cleaner +consumes only one-ninth as much power as the +carpet-sweeper. This means a great saving of power +and is a great improvement over the old vacuum-methods, +by which it was impossible to keep the vacuum on +tap and by which, once the apparatus was started, full +power was consumed, no matter how many sweepers were +at work."</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Linen-Room and the Linen-Woman.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The linen-woman has in her care all the beautiful and +expensive linen in the hotel; if she is careless in counting +it when sending it to the different departments, careless +in counting it after it has been returned, there will +be a deficit in the "stock-report" at the end of the +month. The linen-room is a position of trust. The linen-woman +should be as accurate in counting her +employer's napkins and table-cloths as the cashier is in +counting his employer's dollars.</p> + +<p>The following set of rules and essential requirements +are suggested for the management of the linen-woman:</p> + +<p>1. She must be prompt to open the linen-room at +6:30 a.m.</p> + +<p>2. Must not leave the linen-room without notifying +the housekeeper.</p> + +<p>3. Must sort the linen.</p> + +<p>4. Must see that no damaged article of linen is sent +out to the guest-rooms.</p> + +<p>5. Must mend all the linen.</p> + +<p>6. Must keep track of the linen.</p> + +<p>7. Must keep the linen-room books.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>8. Must mark the new linen before sending it out.</p> + +<p>The linen-room is the housekeeper's pride. What is +more pleasing to a housekeeper than to look into a well-kept +linen-room. This room is the housekeeper's "stock-exchange," +the room where all her business transactions +take place. It is also her home. She has her geraniums +in the window and her desk in one corner. She has her +sewing-machine, and telephone, and a bright rug or two +on the spotless floor. The linen-room is the place where +the housekeeper is found or her whereabouts made +known.</p> + +<p>The room should be thoroughly cleaned every Saturday, +and swept and dusted every day. It requires skill +and labor to keep a well regulated linen-room looking +neat and pretty. Linen-shelves are scrubbed, not papered. +All heavy articles, such as spreads, blankets, pillows, +and table-felts should be kept on the top shelf. +The water-glasses, ice-water pitchers, extra slop jars, +washbowls and pitchers, should also be kept on the top +shelves, and covered with a dust-cover. The other +shelves should be scrubbed, and the sheets, slips, face-towels, +and bath-towels used for the guest-rooms, put +on a shelf by themselves. The helps' linen should be +put on another shelf. The table-linen should be placed +by itself, and so on—a place for everything and everything +in its place.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span><i>How Linen is Mended.</i></p> + +<p>The table-cloths should be mended first before they +are sent to the laundry. The best way to mend table-linen +is first to fill the holes with darning-cotton, just as +you would if you were darning a stocking; then loosen +the presser-foot of your sewing-machine and darn it +down neatly with the machine. If the hole is very large—say +as large as your hand—the better way is to cover +the hole with darning-net before filling it in with the +darning-cotton; then it may be finished on the machine.</p> + +<p>When the table-cloths are too bad to mend, the large +ones can be cut down into small ones and the small ones +into tray-covers. Old napkins can be sewed together +and used for cleaning-cloths. Table-linen is very expensive +and the careful housekeeper will easily save her +salary above that of a careless one by properly taking +care of the linen.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>How Coffee Bags Are Made.</i></p> + +<p>The coffee-bags should be made from the stewards' +dictation. No two stewards will have them made the +same. Bath-towels, when damaged, may be made into +wash-cloths, and used in the public baths. The cases for +hot-water bags are made of white flannel.</p> + +<p>A supply of soap, matches, toilet-paper, and sanitary +powder, should be kept in the linen-room, where it is convenient +for the maids.</p> + +<p>The progressive housekeeper will not allow the stock +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>of linen to grow too small. She will see that it is replenished +each month.</p> + +<p>The linen-room should be opened at 6:30 a.m. and +closed at 10:00 p.m. If it is a commercial hotel, the +linen should be portioned among the maids, in the morning. +The linen issued in the morning should be charged +to each girl on the slate. The maids should count the +soiled linen on their floor, pin the count to the bundle, +and bring it to the linen-room, where the linen-woman +again should count it and give each maid credit on the +slate. The linen-woman should deduct the clean linen +issued in the morning from the soiled linen returned, +and, if the linen-room owes the maid, she should be given +her linen at once. After that, the maid should get only +one piece of clean linen for one of soiled. If the maid +brings in no soiled linen, she should not get any +clean. In this way, the linen-woman will be able to +keep track of the linen. She will be able to tell the manager +where every piece of linen is at any time of the day.</p> + +<p>The dining-room linen should be issued in the same +way. The linen-woman should be able to tell by her +books how many napkins are in the dining-room, how +many are in the laundry, and the number that are on the +shelf in the linen-room.</p> + +<p>It may not be an innovation, but a blackboard in the +linen-room will be of great assistance to the housekeeper +in copying the changes that are sent up from time to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>time during the day. The board may be freshly ruled +every day, with as many columns as there are maids, +and the maid's name, or number, should be written +above her column.</p> + +<p>As the changes are sent up on a pad by the clerks, +the linen-woman should copy them on the board, putting +each maid's changes under her name. The maids +should take the chalk and draw a straight line through +their changes, indicating that the rooms have received +proper attention. As there are few hotels that have not +had some trouble about reporting changes, it would be a +splendid idea for the clerk to insist on the housekeeper +or the linen-woman signing for the changes. The fact +that the clerk can produce his duplicate, showing the +time to the very minute he sent the change, is not proof +that the change was received in the linen-room. The +bell-boy may be a new boy, and may have taken the +change-slip to some other part of the house. But if the +housekeeper, or the linen-woman, signs the pad on which +the changes have been sent up, and the pad is returned +to the office, the housekeeper or the linen-woman will +have to furnish some other excuse for the room being out +of order, than that she did not get the change.</p> + +<p>The housekeeper should see that an accurate account +is taken every month of all the linen, and correctly entered +on the linen-room stock-book. This account +should show the new linen purchased during the month. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>The following form is suggested for the stock-book for +the linen-room:</p> + +<p>Inventory of Linen-Room for month ending January 1, 1908.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="85%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 68"> + <tr> + <td class="tdctb" width="26%">Jan. 1, 1908.</td> + <td class="tdctlb" width="20%">Total No. last count<br />Dec. 1, 1907</td> + <td class="tdctlb" width="10%">Plus new stock</td> + <td class="tdctlb" width="10%">Grand Total</td> + <td class="tdctlb" width="10%">Worn out</td> + <td class="tdctlb" width="10%">Stolen</td> + <td class="tdctlb" width="5%"> </td> + <td class="tdctlb" width="10%">Net Total</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Sheets</td> + <td class="tdcl">800</td> + <td class="tdcl">50</td> + <td class="tdcl">850</td> + <td class="tdcl">25</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl">835</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Slips</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Spreads</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Face-Towels</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bath-Towels</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Table-Cloths</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Napkins</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Side-Towels</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Tray-Towels</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Tops</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Kitchen-Towels</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Glass-Towels</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Roller-Towels</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bar-Towels</td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + <td class="tdcl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Wash-room Towels</td> + <td class="tdcl" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;"> </td> + <td class="tdcl" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;"> </td> + <td class="tdcl" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;"> </td> + <td class="tdcl" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;"> </td> + <td class="tdcl" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;"> </td> + <td class="tdcl" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;"> </td> + <td class="tdcl" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>Paradise, indeed, to the housekeeper, is the hotel that +has its reserve-linen closet, where, in case of accident in +the laundry, she may find linen to put the rooms in +order. On the other hand, how very discouraging it is +where there is only one set of linen for the beds and the +maids must wait until the linen is back from the laundry +before they can put the rooms in order. In such +hotels, the housekeeper spends much of her time running +to and from the laundry.</p> + +<p>When a new linen-woman is installed in the linen-room, +the housekeeper should write out all the details of +the duties required of her, regardless of any previous +experience she may claim to have had.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Care of Table-Linen.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>A table-cloth should be long enough to hang over the +table, at least eighteen inches on all sides. Pattern +cloths are prettier than the piece-linen. They are more +expensive, but it pays to buy the best for hotel use. +Linen, to have sufficient body to wear well, should have +a certain weight to the square inch. Table-linen should +weigh at least four and one-half ounces to the square +yard. All pattern-cloths have the napkins to match. +The napkins and table-cloths should have a tiny, narrow +hem. They are best hemmed by hand, but this can not +be thought of for hotels.</p> + +<p>It takes the same amount of money to purchase the +unbleached linen as it does to buy the bleached. The +Irish bleached linen is of a more snowy whiteness than +that of Germany. This is owing to the climate of Ireland, +which is particularly adapted by sunshine and rain +for natural bleaching.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Table-Linen Most Important.</i></p> + +<p>The table-linen is more important than the bed-linen, +and should receive the first consideration in the laundry.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>It should be carefully counted and sorted by the linen-woman +at night, after dinner, and should be ready for the +laundryman who must rise very early in the morning +in order to have the table-linen ready for the laundry-maids +that come on duty at seven o'clock.</p> + +<p>A table-cloth should be folded lengthwise twice, then +doubled, putting both ends together, then folded, and it +will be ready for the shelf. Napkins should be put +through the mangle three times and left without folding, +so the linen-woman can easily sort them.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Removing Stains.</i></p> + +<p>Fruit-stains in linen may be removed by pouring boiling +water through the stained spot. Lemon juice and +salt will remove iron-rust.</p> + +<p>Tea, coffee, chocolate, and fruit-stains should be removed +as soon as possible by pouring boiling water over +them. After fruit-stains have been washed a few times +in soapsuds, they become as firmly fixed in the linen as +though they were dyed there, and can only be removed +by a bleaching process. A good bleach can be made +by taking one pint of boiling water to one teaspoonful +of oxalic acid and one teaspoonful of ammonia. One +teacupful of ammonia to a wash will keep the table-linen +white.</p> + +<p>The care of the table-linen is a very important feature +of the housekeeper's work. In many hotels, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>housekeeper +is required to purchase the linen. Fashion +changes in table-linen as in other things. A careful +study of facts and figures has proved that, in proportion +to the population, the United States of America consumes +more linen than any other country in the world. +It is not, however, a leader in the production of flax. +Russia takes the lead in this industry. The United +States grows flax for the seed and not for the fibre; hence +very little weaving is done in this country.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Kinds of Linen.</i></p> + +<p>Linen has a variety of names, as Holland, damask, et +cetera. Damask linen was first made in Damascus—the +oldest city in the world—and was figured in fruit and +flowers. A long time ago linen made in Scotland was +sent to Germany to be bleached; hence the name Holland.</p> + +<p>The old-time way of bleaching was long and expensive, +sometimes taking an entire summer. After it +was bleached by a natural process of open air, dew, and +sunshine, it was then treated with an alkaline, and then +buttermilk. It was left lying on the grass for a month, +and sprinkled frequently with water and sometimes sour +milk.</p> + +<p>At the present time, linen can be bleached in two +weeks. The cost of bleaching is much less and linen +fabric is one-half cheaper than formerly. The chemicals +used in the modern process of bleaching greatly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>injures the fibre, and linen is not so durable as it was +under the old-fashioned way of bleaching.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>How to Test Linen.</i></p> + +<p>The housekeeper in selecting linen at the counter may +test the linen by ravelling out some of the threads. The +threads that form the woof as well as the warp should +be strong, and long thread linen. Never buy linen that +is stiff and glossy, as it will be thin after it is laundered. +Linen should be substantial, but pliant when crushed in +the hand. Never buy a table-cloth that is part linen and +part cotton, as the shrinkage of linen and cotton fibre +varies greatly, which causes the threads to break, and +the table-cloth will soon be full of holes.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Laundry Work.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>"Order is Heaven's first law," sang the poet, and to +keep order in a hotel seems not such an Herculean task. +System makes work easy, and the superintendent of the +laundry must insist on the work being systematically +performed.</p> + +<p>Soap and water are the most important materials used +in the laundry work. To do good work with little or no +damage to the linen, soft water and good soap are absolutely +necessary. In many parts of the United States, +the water is permanently hard, and is a perplexing question +to laundry workers. The first thing to do is to +soften the water. It can not be made soft by boiling, +and must be treated with chemicals which must be used +before the soap is added. When soap is used in hard +water before it has been softened, the soap unites with +the minerals in the water, and clings to the linen like a +greasy scum. Borax is the best softening agent for +hard water.</p> + +<p>To soften water with borax, use one tablespoonful to +each gallon of water. A tablespoonful of ammonia and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>one tablespoonful of turpentine to each washing will +keep clothes white. Hard water may be softened with +potash or sal soda, which is much cheaper than borax +and ammonia, but potash and sal soda are both corrosive +and very injurious to the linen. Great care must be used +in softening water with these alkalines. If they are not +thoroughly dissolved before using in the washer, little +particles are apt to escape the solvent action of the water +and stick to the linen and form brown spots which soon +become holes.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Good Soap a Necessity.</i></p> + +<p>Soap is the next cleaning agent to be considered. You +can not have pretty, white linen without good soap. A +good soft soap for use in hotel laundries can be made +from the refuse fat from the kitchen. This soap will +effect the cleaning of the hotel bed and table-linen, but +for bundle-washing, flannels, and prints, a milder soap +is generally used. A very good soap for washing flannels +and prints may be made from the pieces of soap +that are collected from the rooms.</p> + +<p>How linen is laundered and to be able to give a scientific +reason for each step are the very first things a +housekeeper should learn. No housekeeper is worthy +of the title if she is unskilled in laundry tactics. Yet +how few housekeepers there are that could give even a +recipe for making bleach, to say nothing of the most +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>effective way to use it so as to cause the least injury to +the fabric? Few housekeepers know little or anything +of the benefits of the scientific researches that have been +made to render laundering easy.</p> + +<p>The linen must be carefully sorted and counted in +the linen-room by the linen-woman. In hotels where the +houseman gathers the linen from the different floors and +carries it direct to the laundry, the laundryman has been +known to dump it in the washer without sorting it. This +is the source of many a lost pillow, blanket, nightshirt, +and even pocketbooks and jewelry. Guests often put their +valuables under the pillow or in the pillowslip and forget +them. These valuables sometimes escape the chambermaid's +eyes in her haste to strip the beds. Sometimes +a new waiter in the dining-room will use a napkin +to wipe his tray; these greatly soiled napkins +should be rinsed out before they are put in the washer.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Why the Hotel Laundry Work is Discolored.</i></p> + +<p>Is it any wonder that the sheets and table-linen soon +get that brown color? All the soft water in the kingdom +will not bring about the desired results if the linen +is not carefully sorted. The napkins should be put in +one pile, those that are badly soiled with mustard or +gravy in another pile, and the table-cloths in another. +Napkins and table-cloths that are stained with tea, coffee, +chocolate, or fruit, should be laid aside and boiling +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>water should be poured through the stains before they +come in contact with soap, as the soap will help to set the +stains permanently.</p> + +<p>The laundryman should rise early and have the first +washing from the extractor before the laundrygirls make +their appearance, which is usually at seven o 'clock.</p> + +<p>The table-linen should receive the first attention. It +is the least soiled, the most expensive, and it may be +needed before the bed-linen. The napkins and table-cloths +should not remain long after they are shaken out. +They will have a finer gloss if they are mangled immediately +after being taken from the extractor.</p> + +<p>One reason that linen gets that dirty brown color is because +it has not been properly rinsed before adding the +blueing. The soap should be thoroughly rinsed from the +linen before the blueing is put in the washer. How many +hotel laundries send the linen to the linen-room damp +and steaming and smelling of soap? Is it any wonder +that the linen is soon full of holes and worn out?</p> + +<p>Two tablespoonfuls of kerosene in a washing will +greatly aid in cleansing, though more soap must be used +in this case.</p> + +<p>In many laundries, there is not sufficient help. There +should be at least two girls employed to shake out and +two at the mangles, in a 200-room house. Where there +is bundle-washing it will require even more help than +this.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>The kitchen-linen should be washed by hand on the +board and not put in the washer.</p> + +<p>The housekeeper should be allowed plenty of help to +properly do the work.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Bleaching Linens.</i></p> + +<p>When clothes have become yellow by the use of impure +water or any other cause, the snowy whiteness must +be restored by a bleaching process. Chloride of lime +and oxalic acid are powerful agents, and, if not quickly +removed from the fabric, they will corrode and do much +injury to the linen. Turpentine has some power as a +bleacher as also has borax. Blueing will aid in keeping +the clothes white, but do not use too much. There are +a variety of blueings to be had. The indigo blue is +the best.</p> + +<p>Starch will greatly aid in keeping clothes clean. It +is made mostly from rice, wheat, corn, or potatoes. Only +a little starch should be used with delicate fabrics. They +should be no stiffer than when they are new. The starch +should be completely dissolved in cold water before adding +the boiling water. Stir the starch constantly while +the boiling water is being poured in. A few things +may be put in to give a gloss, and to make the iron +run smooth; among them are paraffine, lard, kerosene, +and gum arabic.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>How to Iron.</i></p> + +<p>Before commencing to iron, have ready a bowl of water +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>and a cloth for smoothing wrinkles and rubbing away +any soot or spots that may get on the garment. Have +a piece of paraffine tied in a cloth to rub over the iron, +and a knife for scraping any starch from the iron that +may stick to it in the process of ironing.</p> + +<p>Put much weight on the iron and do not raise it from +the garment but move it quickly over the surface. When +a wrinkle is made, dampen it again with a wet cloth and +smooth again with the iron. Always iron in a good +light so that scorching may be avoided. A garment +should be ironed quickly; otherwise it will dry out and +much time will be wasted in going over it with the damp +cloth and changing the irons.</p> + +<p>In ironing a white duck skirt, stretch it in shape +quickly while it is damp and iron it into shape, else it +will be long here and short there. When ironing a ruffled +skirt, always iron the bottom ruffle first and turn it +back while ironing the others. Iron around hooks and +eyes and not over them. Never iron a crease in a garment +unless it is necessary. A crease will mar the effect +of the garment and also cause the threads to break +sooner, thereby making holes.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Recipe for Making Bleach.</i></p> + +<p>An inexpensive recipe for making a good bleach to be +used every day will be found in the following:</p> + +<p>Fill a clean barrel half full of boiling water and put +into it ten pounds of chloride of lime and stir until well +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>dissolved. Dissolve ten pounds of caustic soda in boiling +water and stir in the barrel. Fill the barrel with +boiling water and stir. Let it settle and skim the little +white particles from the surface, as these are what +rot the clothes. Use one gallon of the bleach in a washing.</p> + +<p>Although laundering is one of the last kinds of work +to receive the benefits of scientific research, much effort +has recently been made to present easy and effective +ways of laundering. The "how" and "why" has been +learned. It is no difficulty for the housekeeper to hire +a laundryman and to install him in his work with the +words: "This is the laundry; you will meet with many +difficulties in your line, but you must work out your own +salvation."</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>How Curtains are Washed and Mended.</i></p> + +<p>Take down the lace curtains that you are going to +wash and shake them well so as to get all of the dust +from them. Put them in cold water to soak. Then +wash by hand in warm suds, to which has been added +one teaspoonful of ammonia. Do not rub them, +squeeze dry and rinse through two waters. Do not +blue them. If they are of an ecru shade, put a little +coffee in the water and they will look like new. Starch +and stretch loosely on the curtain frames while they are +wet. The holes can be drawn together while on the bars +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>so they will never be noticed after they are dry, and it is +a far better way to mend curtains than darning them on +the machine after they have dried. Cream-colored curtains +may be washed in the same way. Colored +madras and silk curtains can be cleansed in gasoline. +Great care must be taken, as gasoline is explosive. The +curtains should be taken to the bathroom, and the door +should be bolted and kept bolted until the curtains are +cleaned and the gasoline is washed down the sewer. +The curtains are then taken to the roof and aired for +half a day.</p> + +<p>Embroidered and lace-trimmed pieces should be taken +from the line while only half dry and immediately +ironed, to secure the best result. To raise the embroidery, +iron on the wrong side over several layers of flannel +covered with a sheet of old linen.</p> + +<p>Never iron lace with the point of the iron, if you +would have it look like new. Pull and pat it into place, +picking out the loops with a hairpin, or with a pointless +darning-needle or bodkin. Dampen it with a wet cloth +and press with the reverse iron, using its "heel" only.</p> + +<p>When ironing circular centerpieces and table-cloths, +see that the iron moves with the straight grain of the +cloth. If this method is followed, the circular edge will +take its true line. Guard against ironing on the bias or +on a curve, lest the linen stretch hopelessly out of shape. +Never fold a piece of this character after ironing it.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Housekeeper's Rules.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>If the management does not provide the housekeeper +with rules, she is safe in formulating the following:</p> + +<p> 1. Maids must report for duty at 7:00 a.m.</p> + +<p> 2. Maids must lock all doors when leaving rooms.</p> + +<p> 3. No maid is allowed to transfer chairs or furniture +from one room to another by order of the guests, unless +they have an order from the office.</p> + +<p> 4. Maids must report at once any articles which are +misplaced or taken from the rooms.</p> + +<p> 5. Keep all soiled linen in closets.</p> + +<p> 6. Maids must not leave any article of soiled linen +lying in the halls.</p> + +<p> 7. Maids must not leave their brooms, feather +dusters, dust-cloths, or sweepers, in the halls at any +time during the day.</p> + +<p> 8. Any article found in the rooms must be brought +to the linen-room, with the number of the room and date +when found.</p> + +<p> 9. All keys found left in rooms and doors must be +sent to the office.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>10. When a tray of dishes is left in a room, the maid +must ring for a bell-boy and have him notify the headwaiter +or report it to the housekeeper who will telephone +the headwaiter.</p> + +<p>11. All ink, paper, and pens left in the rooms must +be put in the wire ink and stationery-receiver.</p> + +<p>12. The watch-girls must report at 6 p.m. and remain +until 10 p.m. or later, if required.</p> + +<p>13. All torn blankets and spreads must be brought +to the linen-room for repairs.</p> + +<p>14. Maids must not receive men friends in their +rooms.</p> + +<p>15. The housekeeper will relieve the linen-woman +while she goes to her meals.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Sunday.</i></p> + +<p> 1. Maids must report at 8 a.m. and remain until 1 p.m.</p> + +<p> 2. Watch-girls must report for duty at 1 p.m. and +remain until 9 p.m.</p> + +<p>All of these rules can not be, at all times, strictly enforced +by the housekeeper. She will make such modifications +as are made necessary by circumstances. But +rules she must have, and she must insist on their being +observed.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Parlor Maid.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Excepting the linen-room position, that of parlor maid +is the most desirable situation that the hotel housekeeper +can offer a girl. The wages are usually better than those +of a chambermaid, and her work is not near so laborious. +At all times, the parlor-maid is neatly dressed, suave, +serene, and courteous. A quiet and unobtrusive manner +is absolutely essential. She needs to take many steps +during the day, and thus youth and a slender figure are +the first qualities in one who wishes to make a success of +the position. She meets people of wealth and refinement +and the ultra fastidious, hence her position is a responsible +one and requires a dignified appearance and +demeanor. She must have self-respect and must claim +the respect of others. None of the moralities must be +omitted nor must she forget the daily bath, clean underwear, +and clean hosiery every day. The morning is +the time for the parlor-maid to do the cleaning, and she +should wear about her work a washable dress of percale +or dimity, with a white apron. In the afternoon and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>evening, this should be exchanged for a black skirt, white +waist, and white apron.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Where Work Is Diversified.</i></p> + +<p>She is expected to render quite diversified services. Her +duties vary with the mode of life of those by whom she +is employed. She will scarcely be called on to do all +the work that is herein enumerated; but the success of +any hotel employe is largely due to the number of things +he or she is able to do well. A parlor-maid may raise +her occupation to a level with that of millinery or dress-making. +There is room at the top of the ladder for the +expert parlor-maid just the same as there is for any +other person in any other calling.</p> + +<p>In the small hotels, the parlor-maid usually cares for +the proprietor's private apartments. In addition to +these, a suite next to the parlor may be given her to +keep in order. She can easily look after these rooms +where she has only one parlor. The cleaning of the +ladies' toilet-room and reception-hall and the ladies' entrance-stairs +usually falls to the parlor-maid. She must +look after the writing-rooms, do the high dusting, clean +the tiles, clean the mirrors, polish the brass trays, clean +the cuspidors, wash the lace curtains, and sweep and +dust. In washing windows and mirrors, she should use +warm water to which a little ammonia has been added. +She should not use soap, as the grease in the soap makes +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>the polishing difficult. Wipe with a dry cotton cloth +and polish with a chamois skin.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Keeping Parlor in Order.</i></p> + +<p>As the parlor must always be in readiness for the reception +of guests, it is thoroughly cleaned early in the +morning. Once a week is often enough for a thorough +cleaning. Monday is the best day for it. The furniture +is moved into the hallway or into one corner of the +parlor, the parlor is swept and dusted and every article +replaced before breakfast. On week days, the corners +are dug out with a whisk-broom and the dirt taken up +with the sweeper. The parlor is dusted frequently and +the cuspidors washed at least four times a day. She +should wash the cuspidors inside and out, using soap +and water; then wipe with a dry cloth. Leave a little +clean water in the cuspidors, as this will make the vessels +easier to clean next time.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Cleaning Brass Trays.</i></p> + +<p>If the brass trays under the cuspidors are very badly +stained, the stains may be easily removed with a solution +of vinegar and salt, to which has been added a little flour. +Have the mixture boiling hot; rub the tray with the mixture +with a flannel cloth, then wash the tray with hot water +and wipe dry with a cloth. After this, it may be +polished with a good mineral paste or some of the special +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>preparations made for the purpose, using a flannel cloth +for polishing.</p> + +<p>The high dusting is done with a long handled broom. +Tie a bag made of cotton flannel over the broom and +brush the walls downward. Brush the dust off the cornice +and over the doors and windows. Then, using a +clean cheesecloth duster, go over the doors, window sills, +mantles, and furniture, changing the soiled dust-cloth +frequently for a clean one. The housekeeper must see +that the parlor-maid is supplied with plenty of clean +dust-cloths.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>The Maid's Many Duties.</i></p> + +<p>If the fireplace is finished with tile, the parlor-maid +should wash these with soap and water. She should +polish the brass and replace it. The curtains and silk +draperies should be taken down and hung in the open +air and brushed with a whisk-broom. The rugs should +be rolled up and the houseman should take them to a flat +roof where they should be laid flat and swept. They +should not be whipped or beaten, as "whipping" will +ruin an expensive rug. When sweeping the stairs of +the ladies' entrance, the parlor-maid should use the +whisk-broom and dust-pan. The ladies' toilet-room requires +some care to keep it always neat and clean. After +sweeping the floor and dusting the doors, the bowls +should be washed inside and out with the toilet-brush +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>and a disinfectant put in. The stationary wash-basins +should be scrubbed with sapolio and the faucets polished. +There should be kept always on hand clean towels +and soap, a comb and brush, a box of face-powder—the +English prepared chalk is the best for toilet-rooms. +The public baths on the parlor floor come under the parlor-maid's +charge. She should keep the tubs and the +floor clean, and see that soap and towels are supplied.</p> + +<p>The writing rooms should be cleaned before breakfast. +The sweeping should be done the first thing in the +morning. The desks should be supplied with fresh pen +points, paper and ink once a day. The waste paper +baskets should be emptied as often as is necessary, and +the cuspidors should be cleaned at least four times a +day.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Keeps Assembly-Room in Order.</i></p> + +<p>It is usually the parlor maid's duty to take care of +the casino, more familiarly called the assembly-hall. The +casino floor requires very careful cleaning. No scrubbing +or sweeping with ordinary brooms is permissible +on a polished hardwood floor. It should be carefully +swept with a bristle broom and the dust taken up on the +dust-pan. The floor should then be dusted with a +broom, over which has been tied the cotton-flannel bag +made for the purpose. If there are any spots on the +floor, they will have to be washed up, but this will take +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>off the polish; therefore, it must be restored by the +weighted brush or weighted box with brussels carpet +tacked on the bottom of it. The original polish is restored +by pulling the box back and forth over the floor. +A housekeeper will make a sad mistake if she attempts +to scrub the ballroom floor.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Waxing the Ballroom Floor.</i></p> + +<p>In most every hotel, it is left to the housekeeper to +wax the ballroom floor before the opening of the "hop." +The wax is sprinkled over the floor.</p> + +<p>In very large hotels in large cities where there are +three or four public parlors, and where three or four +parlor-maids are employed, their work is confined to the +parlors. The parlor-maid waits on the ladies, helps +them on and off with their wraps, and caters to their +comfort both physically and mentally; keeps the parlor +clean, and does many little acts which go to make a +great big hotel seem like home.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>The Card and Wine-Rooms.</i></p> + +<p>No drinks are served in the public parlors, public +halls, or cosy-corners. The wine-rooms are usually kept +in order by the parlor-maid. The bar-porter should +come for the bottles and remove the dishes. The parlor-maid +should sweep and dust the wine rooms and wipe the +tables, if they are polished wood. If they are ordinary +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>dining-room tables, she should put clean table-cloths on +them twice a day. The wine-rooms are usually named for +the cities: Chicago, New York, Binghamton, Cincinnati, +St. Louis, Denver, and New Orleans.</p> + +<p>The card-rooms are kept in order by the parlor-maid. +There is seldom much furniture in a card-room, only +chairs and tables. Sweeping and dusting once a day +and a clean cover for the table is all that is required.</p> + +<p>To make a muslin cover for a poker-table, take a piece +of muslin and cut it round to fit the table, allowing six +inches to hang down. Run a casing on the edge of it, +with a bias piece two inches wide. Run in the casing, +a drawing-string of common wrapping-twine. The +drawing-string must be as long as the muslin is around +so it will not have to be removed when laundered. After +it is laundered, put it on the table and pull the drawing-string, +and tie under the table.</p> + +<p>In small hotels where the parlor-maid is called on to +perform all of these manifold duties, she is assisted by +the houseman.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">About Chambermaids.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Some person that does not know anything about the +life of a chambermaid will tell you that the "chambermaid +has no protection, no morality, and is without the +influence of a fixed place or home atmosphere;" finally, +that "chamber-work is the most degrading occupation +a girl can engage in!"</p> + +<p>If a girl is not capable of a higher calling, why should +not she make beds in a hotel when there is such a crying +need from the hotel managers for conscientious and +painstaking work? It is not every girl that Providence +has blessed with a prima donna's voice. Not every girl +can be admitted on the vaudeville stage. Not all have +had kind and wealthy parents to send them through college +and fit them for the higher attainments.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Chambermaid Can Take Care of Self.</i></p> + +<p>The proprietor is ever ready to protect the maids from +undue familiarity from the male patrons of the hotel. +This is seldom necessary. The average maid meets an +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>incivility with a cold disdain that puts to rout a second +attempt. Men that wreck women's lives are found outside +of hotels.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Religion a Factor.</i></p> + +<p>It is an undisputed fact that the Irish-American Catholic +girls make the best chambermaids. The comfort +found in the Catholic religion compensates for the loss +of home ties. She is without any danger signal save her +own conscience, yet there does not exist on the face of +the earth a more moral class of girls than the Irish-American +Catholic chambermaids in the hotels of the +United States.</p> + +<p>She goes at her work determined to use her experience +as a stepping-stone to something higher. She encounters +many pitfalls. She makes a few mistakes, but during +her stay in Yankeeland she has learned President Roosevelt's +maxim: "The man who never makes any mistakes +is the man who never does anything." She is consoled +by it, and from her pitfalls learns a lesson that enables +her to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Not a Bad Day's Program.</i></p> + +<p>At the Grand Union Hotel in New York City, and in +hotels in other cities in New York state, the writer has +learned from observation that the social side of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>chambermaid's life is a pleasant one. She begins the +day at 7:15 and quits at 4:00, except the night she is on +watch. She is given a ten o'clock lunch; she has one +hour for dinner, and at 2:30 she is given fifteen minutes +for a cup of tea. The night she is on watch, she is +served with a good dinner of chicken and all the good +things the hotel affords. She has every third Sunday +off and may follow her own will. She has time to cultivate +acquaintances, and attend to her religious duties.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Christmas Time.</i></p> + +<p>There is kindness and courtesy existing among the +maids. When Christmas day draws near, the festivities +are looked forward to with eager anticipation. Mysterious-looking +bundles are coming in and going out. +Friends are remembered. The father and mother, brother +and sister over the water are not forgotten; and likewise +the maids are not forgotten by their employer. The +dining-hall is wreathed in holly, the table is loaded with +all the season's delicacies. Trade is dull in the hotel, +and the time is given over to enjoyment.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Chambermaids at Their Best.</i></p> + +<p>There are evening parties in the "help's hall." The +weekly "tips" or any "stray coins" are invested in +sugar and butter, and "fondant" is made that would +melt in your mouth. Then there is the "taffy-pull," the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>cups of tea, and the "fortunes told," over the cups. The +jokes go round, the merry laughter resounds and gets +so loud that the housekeeper, who has retired, rises, and +hastens to put a stop to the noise. Arriving on the +scene, she has not the heart to reprove them. Herein she +tastes an old joy of girlhood. It is Christmas. She slips +back to her own room and into bed again. The airs of +"Killarney" and "The Wearing of the Green" die +away, and the house is quiet.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Miscellaneous Subjects.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The housekeeper should furnish the houseman with a +synopsis of his duties every morning.</p> + +<p>In addition to this, he has, of course, his regular duties—sweeping +halls, dusting, cleaning cuspidors, washing +windows, hanging curtains, moving furniture, laying +carpets, and cleaning lights. Sweeping roofs and keeping +gutters clean fall to his share also. Fortunate indeed +is the housekeeper that can have a houseman for +each floor. A skull cap and an over-all suit would be appropriate +apparel for the houseman.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Any defective plumbing in bathrooms should be +promptly reported by the housekeeper. Sometimes a +guest will justly complain that the faucet in the bathtub +is out of order, and the water trickling all night +keeps him awake.</p> + +<p>A tray under the ice-water pitcher will save the table +or dresser.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The soul of the housekeeper faints within her when a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>guest complains that he has been given a room reserved +for "plain drunks." He calls attention to the fact +that the carpet is patched in thirteen places, and at +least as many patches of paper are in evidence on the +wall.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The sweepers require special care. The maids should +bring them to the linen room once a month where they +are oiled. Never empty the sweeper by pulling the pan +down, as this breaks the spring, causing the pan to drop +lower than the brush, and the sweeper fails to pick up +the dirt. A Bissell sweeper in the hands of a skillful +maid will last three years.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Season for Repotting House-Plants.</i></p> + +<p>September is the season for repotting house-plants. +As flowers are such important factors of civilization +speaking to us of nature's God, it is surprising that +more plants are not seen in hotels, and that more proprietors +do not adopt this ingenious plan of beautifying +their dining-rooms and corridors, using palms instead +of those cheap artificial roses which are so conspicuous +in third-rate hotels.</p> + +<p>The stately palm lends an air of refinement that nothing +else can give. The greatest obstacle to the growth +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>of house-plants is dust. The palms, azaleas, and rubber +plants may be sponged occasionally to keep them +clean and healthy. Other plants may be taken to the +bathroom and given a shower-bath. In the summer +time, two or three times a week is often enough for watering +the house-plants. In winter, once a week is sufficient.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Why Hotel Employees Fail to Rise.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The reasons why some people never rise above commonplace +positions should be made clear to all that seek +employment or better conditions. In every field, there +are those that never take the initiative, and they make +up the great majority. They are apparently afraid of +doing too much work, or of making themselves generally +useful, or of doing some bit of work that has not been +assigned them, for which they might not be paid, forgetting +that the world's greatest prizes are generally +bestowed on the individual who does the right thing +without being told.</p> + +<p>If we wait to be told our duties, we cease to be moral +agents and are mere machines, and, as such, stationary +in place and pay.</p> + +<p>If you would succeed, cultivate self-confidence, which +is one of the foundation stones of success. Rest assured +your employer knows the difference between "bluff" and +the real thing. "Nerve" will not win in the long run. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>It may accomplish temporary advantage, but there must +be something back of "nerve."</p> + +<p>Practice self-control. If you can not control yourself, +you can not control others. When the commander riding +in front of his army takes to the woods in the face of +the enemy, he can only expect his troops to follow his example. +Anger is an unbecoming mood. In serenity, +lies power.</p> + +<p>Keep busy. Improve each moment. Do not be afraid +of too much work. The office-boy that sits around +watching the clock, as if he might be waiting for his +automobile to take him home, will never own the hotel.</p> + +<p>The superintendent that has not enough patience to +instruct properly a beginner may lose valuable assistants +and can not hope to achieve a great enterprise.</p> + +<p>Do not become discouraged and resign your position +because it is not up to your ideal. It may be better to +bear with the ills you have than fly to others you know +not of.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Suggestions in Case of Fire.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>It is hard to tell a housekeeper what to do or what not +to do in case of fire. No two hotels are alike, and no +two fires occur in the same way. Circumstances are to +be considered first. Much depends on the location and +the progress of the fire, and whether it is night or day. +It is an old maxim "that fire is a good servant but a +hard master." Shakespeare wrote: "A little fire is +quickly trodden out, which, being suffered, rivers cannot +quench." It is bad policy to delay sending in the +alarm to the fire department. Many persons put off +this important duty until it is too late. They reason +that it might alarm the guests and cause a panic and +that they will be drowned out. Thus they battle with +the flames with the incomplete fire apparatus belonging +to the hotel, refusing the petition to turn in an alarm to +the fire department until the fire has gained such headway +that it is impossible for even the skilled firemen to +put it out. Thereby jeopardizing the lives of the hotel +guests and also the lives of the firemen. No <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>general +in command of an army, no hero in battle deserves +more praise than do these courageous men who hourly +risk their lives to save lives and the property of others. +Minutes count for something in a fire. The fire department +can quickly and quietly put out a small fire, and +the guests of the hotel may never know that a fire has +occurred until it is all over. Panics usually follow +when the people are face to face with the flames, and +not at the sight of the fire department in front +of the hotel. To a sensible mind, the fire engine and +firemen should bring a feeling of safety. A feeling that +if the hotel is on fire, the fire will soon be extinguished. +Keep cool; don't run, and don't talk or give orders in +an excited tone. Should a fire occur in a single room, +close the door of that room to prevent the flames from +spreading, and go to the nearest fire hose rack, and attach +the hose to the plug and take the nozzle end to the +door of the room in which the fire is started, then go +back and turn on the water. If the water is turned on +before the hose has been carried it will make the hose +too heavy for one person to carry, especially if you have +to climb a stairway or go any great distance; a fire hose +when full of water is very heavy. The housekeeper +should never desert the hotel in case of fire. She has in +her possession keys to all doors. She is familiar with +the location of windows and fire escapes, and the location +of the fire extinguishers and axes. She knows the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>position of all stairways, particularly the top landing +and scuttle to the roof. She knows where all fire proof +doors are located, where the water pails are kept and +she can render the firemen great service in directing +them to a more advantageous position. All doors should +be unlocked so that the firemen can have free access +without breaking them in and causing delay. The +doors, however, should be kept closed to prevent +the fire spreading. The rapidity with which a +building is consumed by flames is due to the wind and +the draughts from stairways, open doors and windows +and elevator shafts. The walls of elevator shafts and +all vertical openings should be built of non-combustible +material, such as brick and mortar and all elevators +should be equipped with automatic traps. In case of +a fire on the first floor, the automatic trap would fall +when a certain degree of heat was reached and thus prevent +the fire from reaching the second floor, and the +progress of the fire would be delayed.</p> + +<p>All fire hose should be tested every six months. A +leak may have caused the hose to become worthless. All +hose should be attached to the fire plug at all times and +the little wrench for turning on the water should be tied +to the rack where the hose is kept. All these essentials +should be examined and carefully scrutinized by every +housekeeper and chambermaid. A fire can make great +progress while some inexperienced person is fumbling +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>with and trying to attach the hose and turn on the water. +There should be a red light in the hall in front of +the fire escape window; a red light can be seen better +than a white one. The view of the fire escape window +should never be obstructed by any kind of a curtain.</p> + +<p>All hotels should have a stand pipe, it will reduce the +rate of insurance one-third.</p> + +<p>Although few people know how to escape down a rope +fire-escape, every room in the hotel should be equipped +with one. All fire departments should have a life net; +dropping into a life-net is not so hazardous as sliding +down a rope when one is ignorant of the proper way to +do it. The life nets are made of woven rope with +springs, and are 10 feet in diameter. The firemen hold +this net and persons dropping into it can be saved.</p> + +<p>The Kirker Bender spiral tube fire-escape is the best +and safest. In one minute 200 persons can slide +through the Kirker Bender, to absolute safety. It is a +very expensive fire escape, but expense should not be +considered when building fire-escapes. There should +be a fire-alarm box in every hall. Should a fire occur, +on a floor where there is no fire-alarm box, a messenger +would have to be dispatched to the office before the fire +company could be notified. Some hotels have no fire-box +at all. The fire-box being located a block away +from the hotel. Fire-boxes can be put in hotels with +very little expense. It is an old saying—"An ounce of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>prevention is worth a pound of cure." This is especially +true in the case of fire prevention. If the following +precautions are taken, fires from accident or +spontaneous combustion seldom occur.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Fire Prevention.</i></p> + +<p>Keep your hotel clean and never allow rubbish, such +as paper, rags, cobwebs, old clothing and boxes to accumulate +in closets and unused rooms. Don't allow +coal oil lamps to be used by women patrons for the purpose +of heating curling irons. Never put up gas brackets +so they can be swung against door casings or immediately +under curtains. Never keep matches in any +but metal or earthen safes. Never keep old woolen rags +that have been used in oiling and cleaning furniture, +or waxing floors, unless in a tin can with a tin lid.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>Origin of Fires.</i></p> + +<p>Fires are the results of accidents, of spontaneous combustion, +and of design. If they have been accidental, +the cause can generally be discovered, and it will be +found, that they might have been prevented. Carelessness +and negligence are the cause of over two-thirds of +all fires.</p> + +<p>Electrical fires are caused from electric light wires +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>lying against wood or iron, or coming in contact with +water. A stream of water thrown on a heavily +charged electric light wire will give a shock and may +even kill the fireman holding the nozzle. This is one +reason why the electric lights are cut off when a fire is +raging and thus leaving people to grope their way out +through darkness. All hotels should have hall-ways +lighted by gas, and especially should a gas light with a +red globe be placed in front of all fire escape windows.</p> + +<p>Should a fire occur at night the housekeeper should give +orders to have all doors unlocked and the gas lighted in +the halls.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">The Evolution of the Housekeeper.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The greatest wonder to my mind is that more women +that must of necessity earn their livelihood, do not adopt +the profession of hotel housekeeping. What nicer or more +profitable way can a woman earn her living. Standing +at my window of a stormy morning, I see many women +going early through the wind and snow, sometimes rain, +to their work, and I can not help comparing my daily +tasks to theirs. Many of these women stand all day behind +the counters of some large dry-goods store, where +they are designated only as No. 1, No. 2, and so on. +Some of the women are going to work in silk mills, where +the looms keep up a deafening roar, and where, at their +noon hour, they must eat a cold lunch. These women +get a small salary, on an average $8.00 a week, and out +of this they must pay their room, board and laundry +bills.</p> + +<p>I could not refrain from contrasting the hotel housekeeper's +position with that of other women-workers in +cities. The housekeeper has a good, warm room, clean +bed, hot and cold bath, and the best eating that the hotel +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>affords. She may command the respect of all other employes +in the house, and may make many life-long +friends. My advice to any young woman seeking a situation +is to start right at chamber-work, to keep her wits +sharp, and her head on her shoulders. To be sure, there +are many temptations, all of which the average girl +should be able to resist. But a chambermaid with a +modest and reticent disposition may never meet with any +pitfalls, at least, no more than would be encountered +in a dry-goods store or factory. From chambermaid, she +may get promoted to the linen-room, where she will be +shielded and protected from interlopers, and will have +plenty of leisure to sew or to mend for her own benefit.</p> + +<p>She can save money, for she will have better pay in +the linen-room. She will also have better food, and +will learn something of the executive management of the +hotel. Naturally, she will see more of the proprietor or +the manager, and will learn his ideas and principles, +which knowledge may be useful to her in later years. +Time brings about many changes, and hotels change +proprietors, as well as housekeepers and managers. +Often, when a new manager makes his appearance, he +will bring his housekeeper or linen-room woman with +him; in this case, the linen-room woman may have to +secure another situation. Now is her chance to take a +step higher on the ladder, by obtaining a position as +housekeeper.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>INDEX.</h2> +<br /> + + +<ul><li>Assembly Hall, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>Attention to Details, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Birds of Passage, <a href="#Page_32">32-33</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Character in The Hotel Business, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li>Cleaning Rooms, <a href="#Page_41">41-44</a></li> + +<li>Card and Wine Rooms, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> + +<li>Cleaning Brass, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li>Chambermaids, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Evolution of the Housekeeper, <a href="#Page_104">104-105</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Fires, Suggestions in case of, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> + +<li>Fire Prevention, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li>Fires, origin of, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Gossip between employes, <a href="#Page_29">29-30</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Housekeeper and the Help, <a href="#Page_17">17-22</a></li> + +<li>Housekeeper's salary, <a href="#Page_38">38-40</a></li> + +<li>Housekeeper, progressive, <a href="#Page_35">35-37</a></li> + +<li>Housekeeper's Rules, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li>Housekeeper, relationship between guests, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li>Housekeeper, requirements of, <a href="#Page_11">11-20</a></li> + +<li>Housekeeper, and co-operation, <a href="#Page_17">17-22</a></li> + +<li>How to Make Beds, <a href="#Page_47">47-48</a></li> + +<li>How to Clean Walls, <a href="#Page_49">49-51</a></li> + +<li>How to Scrub a Floor, <a href="#Page_51">51-52</a></li> + +<li>How to Get Rid of Vermin, <a href="#Page_53">53-57</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Linen Room, Linen Woman, <a href="#Page_63">63-68</a></li> + +<li>Linen, table, care of, <a href="#Page_69">69-70</a></li> + +<li>Linen, removing stains, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></li> + +<li>Linen, best kind, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + +<li>Linen, how to test, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li>Laundry, making bleach, <a href="#Page_73">73-80</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Miscellaneous subjects, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Parlor Maid, <a href="#Page_83">83-90</a></li> + +<li>Proprietor's Wife, <a href="#Page_23">23-25</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Room Inspection, <a href="#Page_21">21-28</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Vacuum Cleaning System, <a href="#Page_58">58-62</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li>Waxing Ballroom Floor, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /><br /></li> +</ul> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> + +Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in +the original document has been preserved.<br /> +<br /> +Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br /> +<br /> +Page 8 succees changed to success<br /> +Page 9 Riebold changed to Reibold<br /> +Page 12 linen-en-room changed to linen-room<br /> +Page 14 housekeeperes changed to housekeepers<br /> +Page 22 ordel changed to ordeal<br /> +Page 23 plebianism changed to plebeanism<br /> +Page 24 benefitted changed to benefited<br /> +Page 31 sweetner changed to sweetener<br /> +Page 33 admireres changed to admirers<br /> +Page 39 avereage changed to average<br /> +Page 40 theadbare changed to threadbare<br /> +Page 44 symmetricaly changed to symmetrically<br /> +Page 49 woll changed to wall<br /> +Page 49 obmtain changed to obtain<br /> +Page 58 clening changed to cleaning<br /> +Page 59 sytem changed to system<br /> +Page 60 accumulationg changed to accumulating<br /> +Page 63 line changed to linen<br /> +Page 65 ow changed to How<br /> +Page 67 line changed to linen<br /> +Page 70 procees changed to process<br /> +Page 71 presen changed to present<br /> +Page 75 line changed to linen<br /> +Page 75 pilow changed to pillow<br /> +Page 85 cupidors changed to cuspidors<br /> +Page 87 cosino changed to casino<br /> +Page 88 Balroom changed to Ballroom<br /> +Page 89 Binghampton changed to Binghamton<br /> +Page 96 occasionaly changed to occasionally<br /> +Page 99 headwas changed to headway<br /> +Page 100 prevtn changed to prevent<br /> +Page 102 an a floor changed to on a floor<br /> +Page 103 Carlessness changed to Carelessness<br /> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Guide to Hotel Housekeeping, by Mary E. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Guide to Hotel Housekeeping + +Author: Mary E. Palmer + +Release Date: January 25, 2011 [EBook #35066] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUIDE TO HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + GUIDE + + TO + + HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING + + + + + BY + + MARY E. PALMER + + 1908 + + + + + Copyrighted 1908, + + BY + + MARY E. PALMER + + + + + THE TRIBUNE PRINTING CO. + Charleston. W. Va. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CREDIT TO THE HOTEL WORLD. + + +The greater part of the contents of this book was published, in +instalments, in The Hotel World, of Chicago. + + + + +A FOREWORD. + + +My chief purpose in writing this book was to place a few guide-posts +along the route of hotel housekeepers to warn them against certain +errors common to women engaged in the arduous and difficult occupation +of keeping house for hotels. + +If anything that I have set forth herein shall make the work of hotel +housekeepers easier, more inviting, or more efficient, thereby +contributing to the satisfaction of proprietors and to the comfort of +patrons, I shall feel amply repaid for writing this book. + + MARY E. PALMER. + + Hotel Ruffner, + Charleston, West Va. + March 1, 1908. + + + + +THE MANAGER AND THE HELP. + + +The average hotel manager is only too prone to complain of the +incompetency and the inefficiency of hotel "help." + +It is true that it is difficult to secure skilled help, for there is no +sort of institution that trains men and women for the different kinds +of hotel work. Each hotel must train its own help, or obtain them from +other hotels. + +Thus there is no uniform and generally accepted standard of excellence +in the different departments of hotel-keeping. + +A good word should be said in behalf of the Irish-American girls, who +constitute a majority of the laundry help, waitresses, and chambermaids +in American hotels to-day. + +With a high regard for honor and rectitude, handicapped by poverty, they +find employment, at a very early age, in hotels, and perform menial +duties in a manner that is greatly to their credit. + +The Irish-American girls are not shiftless, remaining in one place for +years until they either marry or leave to fill better positions, which +is the privilege of every one living under the "Stars and Stripes." + +Some improve their spare time in study, thereby fitting themselves to +become stenographers and bookkeepers. Some adopt the stage as a +profession, one instance being that of Clara Morris, who takes delight +in telling of the days when she washed silver in a hotel. + + +_An ex-Governor Peeled Potatoes._ + +Ex-Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, boasts of the time when he peeled +potatoes in a hotel. + +The success of hotel-keeping depends largely on the manager. He should +possess patience, forbearance, and amiability. He should know that the +best results are obtained from his help by kindness, and that good food +and good beds mean better service. + +The manager should realize that the working force of a hotel is like the +mechanism of a clock: it has to be wound occasionally and set going. No +novice can operate this wonderful piece of mechanism; it requires a +skilled mechanic. + +The proprietor of a hotel should be a good loser; for there are periods +of the year when the employes outnumber the guests, and the +balance-sheet shows a heavy loss. + +One of the most successful hotel men of the writer's acquaintance is Mr. +Louis Reibold, formerly of the Bates House (now the Claypool), +Indianapolis, Ind. Mr. Reibold's fame rests in his liberal, kindly +treatment of his help. He never called them "help," but always referred +to them as "employes." Reception, reading, and writing-rooms were +furnished for their use, and he himself saw that good food was provided +and that the tables were spread with clean, white table-cloths once a +day. + +He remembered his employes at Christmas, each one receiving a gold coin, +some as much as $20. + +When a girl in his employ lost her arm in a mangle, he presented her +with a house and lot, provided her with ample means to furnish the house +and to keep her the remainder of her lifetime. + +Mr. Reibold is a multi-millionaire, and he has the admiration and love +of every woman and man that ever worked for him. + + + + +FEEDING AND ROOMING THE HELP. + + +Employes, such as housekeepers, clerks, cashiers, stenographers, +stewards--though few stewards use the privilege--and bartenders, are +permitted to take their meals in the main dining-room. + +Other office-employes take their meals in the officers' dining-room, +from the same bill of fare used in the main dining-room. + +Chambermaids, bell-boys, and other "help," are served in the "helps' +hall," from a separate bill of fare. Their food is good, as a rule; when +it is not, the fault usually lies with the chef in the kitchen. All +proprietors want their help to have good food. + +The housekeeper can do much to make the help comfortable. She can see +that their rooms are kept clean and sweet, and free from vermin. She can +give them soft pillows and plenty of warm covering. It is her duty to +add to their comfort in every way she can. + +In a majority of hotels, the help are roomed and fed equally as well as +are the patrons. + + + + +REQUIREMENTS OF A HOUSEKEEPER. + + +Every profession or trade is made up of two classes: the apprentice and +the skilled workman. The young woman looking for a position as hotel +housekeeper should not forget that careful training is fully as +important and necessary in her chosen vocation as it is in medicine or +cooking; that she must learn by slow and wearisome experience what it +has taken years for the skilled housekeeper to acquire. + +The apprentice may stumble on the road to success and may even fall by +the wayside. In order to succeed, she must give her time wholly to her +occupation. She must be thankful for the successes that come to her and +not fret over the failures, remembering that hotel housekeeping, like +all other occupations, demands experience, patience, and perseverance, +as well as skill, in its followers. + +The profession is overcrowded with novices to-day; they are the ones +that have demoralized the profession--if the word, profession, may be +applied to hotel housekeeping. The failure of many housekeepers is due +to the lack of proper training; it is only the skilled housekeeper that +wins lasting approval. + +A trained nurse must remain in a training school at least three years, +possibly four, before she is given a certificate to care for the sick. +The chef of the hotel kitchen, in all probability began his career as a +scullion, serving at least ten years' apprenticeship in minor situations +in the kitchen. The housekeeper must not be above gaining knowledge in +the laundry and the linen-room. A woman that is ambitious to become a +good housekeeper should first serve as a chambermaid. If she is wise, +she will secure the good graces of the linen-woman by offering to help +her mend the linen, hem the napkins, sort the linen, and mend the +curtains. + +In this way, a clever chambermaid may learn many useful things that will +help her to a better position. From the linen-room, it is only a step to +the position of a housekeeper. When a housekeeper leaves on her +vacation, or is called away to fill another place, or drops out on +account of illness, the linen-woman may seize the opportunity of showing +her executive ability. After she has worked faithfully in the linen-room +for three years, there is not much danger that a linen-woman of ability +will fail to find employment as a housekeeper. If she should have any +trouble getting a situation, one way out of the difficulty is to offer +her services one month on probation to a hotel man in need of a +housekeeper; and, if she is granted a trial and mixes brains with her +enthusiasm, she will receive a housekeeper's salary at the end of the +month. + +Just what a housekeeper's work should be is a vital question. We hear of +housekeepers meddling in the steward's department and with the affairs +of the office. This is, at least, no less wrong than the idea that the +housekeeper owes servile obedience to all other heads of departments. + +The essential requirements of a housekeeper are the same, whether she is +in a hotel with the capacity of a thousand guests or in a hotel of two +hundred rooms. The young housekeeper, looking for a position in a +first-class hotel, should read the following requirements, which were +submitted to the writer by the manager of a first-class Western hotel a +few years ago: + + +_A Housekeeper's Requirements._ + + Must be morally correct. + Must have a dignified and respectable appearance. + Must have executive ability. + Must have a good disposition and try to get along with the help. + Must be a good listener and not a talker. + Must be quiet, giving orders in a firm but low tone. + Must be loyal to the management. + Must be courteous to guests. + Must not worry the management with small matters. + Must refrain from gossiping. + +Neatness in dress is essential to the success of a hotel housekeeper. +She should take great pains to be always well groomed, and neat in her +attire. If she finds herself growing coarse or commonplace-looking, her +fingernails in mourning, and her hair unacquainted with soap and water, +she should at once set about to remedy the defects. It is her duty, as +well as her privilege, to dress as well as she can, not by donning all +the colors of the rainbow or by useless extravagance, but by modest and +harmonizing shades and by appropriate apparel. It behooves the woman to +make herself as good-looking as possible, for good looks pay. Obliging +manners are also a stock in trade. Grit, grace, and good looks can +accomplish wonders, especially the good looks. + +Ignorance and ambition make an unprofitable combination. There are +housekeepers filling positions to-day that have never been taught to do +a single useful thing correctly; they can not darn the linens, they can +not sew, they can not upholster a chair, they can not wait on the sick, +nor can they settle the slightest dispute without sending for the +manager. The housekeeper should know how these things are done, in order +to impart her knowledge to others; for any housekeeper that has any +respect for her calling considers herself an instructor. + +There is no special hour set for the housekeeper's appearance in the +morning. It is safe to say that she will make a greater "impression" and +last longer by rising at 6 o'clock. Late rising is one of the rocks on +which many a housekeeper has been wrecked. + + +_Cheerfulness and Good Manners._ + +Every housekeeper should make the "good morning" her bright keynote for +the day. She should not say, "Hello, Mollie," to a girl named Mary. +Though the girl may be only a scrub-girl, she knows a breach of +etiquette; and a girl that bears the beautiful name of Mary does not +want it changed to "Mollie." + +A cheerful "good morning" should be the beginning of each day, by the +housekeeper. It makes everybody feel pleasant, and the maids can work +faster and easier when their hearts are full of pleasantness. + +The successful housekeeper does not win her laurels by merely perfecting +herself in her work, but also by careful study of the lives of others in +her charge, and how to promote their happiness. + +Getting along with help requires tact, poise, and balance. The +housekeeper should bestow praise where it is due. She may give a gentle +pat on the back to some faithful employe, and yet keep her dignity. A +hard task may be made lighter by it, and monotonous labor robbed of its +weariness. The old and persistent notion that housekeepers are an +irascible tribe--if it was ever true--is not true now. + +The question here arises--What qualities of mind and heart should a +housekeeper possess to be successful? + +Nobody has discovered a rule--to say nothing of a principle--whereby a +housekeeper's success may be determined. It is reasonable to claim that +the permanent success of any housekeeper lies in her skill and in the +confidence and esteem of her employer. She has learned that skill is +acquired by serving an apprenticeship, and that esteem and confidence +are won by character. Everybody who touches a sterling character comes +at last to feel it, and the true hotel man has come to know that the +housekeeper of skill and character is his friend. After the relation of +friendship has been established between the manager and the housekeeper, +a "go-between" has no place; to speak plainly, there is no legitimate +function for a tattler. + +The young housekeeper should not become discouraged, excited, or +worried, but learn to "manage." She should sit down quietly and think it +over. She should have a system about her most ordinary duties, and never +put off till to-morrow what may be done to-day. Tomorrow may never come, +and, if it does come, it will bring other duties equally as important. +Every field of labor has its drawbacks. The greater the work, the +greater the hindrances and the obstacles seem to be. + + + + +THE HOUSEKEEPER AND THE "HELP." + + +It is a truism that there should be no hostilities between the heads of +the different departments of a hotel. Everything works more smoothly and +satisfactorily when pleasant relationships exist between the different +departments of any business. + +A housekeeper feels stronger if she thinks that she is of sufficient +importance to her employer to have her views receive some consideration. +She takes up her daily tasks with an added sense of responsibility, and +with a desire to do still better work. + +No housekeeper is perfect. It cannot be wisely assumed that any +housekeeper will possess all the requisite qualifications for successful +housekeeping, nor can she develop them all, no matter how ambitious, +industrious, and naturally fitted for the work she may be. But +"Knowledge is power," and she that has the most of it, coupled with the +greatest ability to utilize it, enjoys advantages that will contribute +largely to her success. + + +_Keeping a Position._ + +A housekeeper studies not only to secure a good situation, but also to +avoid losing it. "Good enough" is not her motto; "the very best" are her +constant watchwords. Some one has said: "A housekeeper is born, not +made." The "born housekeeper" is a spasmodic housekeeper. As a rule, she +is not evenly balanced. A housekeeper with plain common sense, +susceptible to instructions, willing to obey orders, is the housekeeper +that leaves the old situation for one of better pay. There must be, of +course, a foundation on which to build. The stones of that foundation +should be self-control, self-confidence, education, neatness in dress, +and cleanliness. None of these is a gift, but an accomplishment that can +be developed more or less according to the individual. + +Good manners are very essential. Politeness alone will not bring about +the desired results in any profession, but it has never been known to be +a hindrance. Manners that will be accepted without criticism in one +woman, will be odious and objectionable in another. Too much familiarity +breeds contempt. An employer would better be approached with dignity and +reserve. + + +_The Charm of Neatness._ + +Few housekeepers realize the charm of the neatly dressed woman. The hair +should always be neatly arranged and not look as if it was about to fall +on her shoulders. The binding of her skirt should not show ragged in +places. These are little things, but they weigh heavily in the general +results. The well-groomed woman knows that the neglect of these things +is full of shame to womankind. + +In regard to "bumping up against" the bell-boys, clerks, stewards, and +stenographers, the wise housekeeper is shrewd enough to "stand in." She +"turns the other cheek," which may sometimes be a difficult task to +perform. + +Remember that no one on earth can ever succeed in life and hold a +"grudge." The inability to forgive his enemies lost James G. Blaine the +White House. + +If a bell-boy is caught doing something detrimental to the success of +the management, the housekeeper should write a note to the clerk, or the +captain of the watch, and inform him of the bell-boy's misdeeds. This +will be sufficient from the housekeeper. + +On assuming the duties of a new field, the housekeeper may remember +merely a few important duties; for instance, she must carefully +scrutinize the time-book and learn all the maids' names and stations. +Next learn the location of rooms and become familiarized with every +piece of furniture in them. Then, step by step, she should build up the +general cleanliness of the house. This is by far the most important of +all the requisites pertaining to hotel housekeeping. Guarding against +difficulties encountered with the employes and with the managers' wives +is secondary. + +A housekeeper that can not take orders is not fit to give them; if the +manager asks for the removal of an offensive employe, the housekeeper +should immediately get rid of the objectionable person. If the +housekeeper fails in deference to the manager's wishes, is not that good +evidence that she is not a good soldier? She should be eager to maintain +the dignity of her position--must maintain it in fact--and do as high +service as possible for the management. Yet she can not always carry out +her own ideas. The manager has his ideas about matters, which right or +wrong, must be respected. The housekeeper carries out the manager's +orders. If the hotel fails to bring a profit or give satisfaction, the +manager alone is held accountable. + + +_About Hiring Help._ + +To dismiss a maid is a very easy matter; to obtain a substitute that +will perform the duties assigned her in a manner that will prove more +effectual, is not so easy. + + To fire or not to fire, that is the question + Whether 'tis easier on the impulse of the moment + To suffer the terrors and exactions of the haughty maids, + Or take up arms against their impudence + And with pen and ink end them. + To lie, to sleep-- + + Worry no more, and by good management to dispatch + The cares and thousand little details + Housekeepers are heir to--'tis a consummation + Devoutly to be wished. + +The employment-agency is the housekeeper's recruiting station. She gets +most of her help from this place. The housekeeper should always consult +the manager when other help is to be hired. Everyone knows that old +employes are always best, even if they do spoil the new ones. The +housekeeper endeavors to keep the help as long as she can, using +persuasion, kindness, and forbearance, striving to teach them the best +and easiest way to do their work, bearing with their imperfections, +overlooking a great deal that is actually repulsive, not expecting to +find in the hard-working individual the graces of a Marie Antoinette, or +the inherent qualities of a Lady Jane Gray. + +The housekeeper should not only be scrupulously honest herself, but +should insist that the maids be honest. It is true that almost +irresistible temptations and opportunities to steal are constantly +thrown in the way of the maids; and those that are steadfastly honest +deserve great credit. + +If a maid is neat and clean in appearance and does her work well--these +qualities cover a multitude of sins. From the standpoint of many +housekeepers, too much curiosity and gossiping are the chiefest and +quickest causes--next to the neglect of work--for a maid's dismissal. A +housekeeper is usually disliked by the maids that do not want to do +their work, just as a stepmother is hated by some stepchildren, +regardless of her kindness and her consideration for their welfare. +Employes in any business prefer to take their orders from the person +that pays them their money. For this, they are not to be blamed; but if +the proprietor or the proprietor's wife wishes to retain the services of +a good housekeeper, and be relieved of the trying ordeal of training the +help, he or she will not encourage tattling from the housekeeper's +inferiors. + + + + +THE HOTEL PROPRIETOR'S WIFE. + + +Implicit confidence should exist between the housekeeper and the +proprietor's wife. This does not mean that the proprietor's wife should +take the housekeeper automobile riding. Any proprietor's wife that +enters into such a degree of intimacy with any of her husband's employes +distinctly displays the hallmarks of plebeanism. The writer does not +want to become an iconoclast, but she believes that all business should +be conducted on a business basis. There must be an unwavering loyalty to +the interests mutually represented, at all times and under all +circumstances. + +The proprietor's wife that goes to the help's dining-room or to the +laundry, presumably to press a skirt or a shirt-waist, but in reality to +see what she can see and to hear what she can hear, is disloyal to the +management. She will always have poured into her ears stories that will +annoy her and keep her worried. There are maids in a hotel always ready +to "keep the pot boiling." Such a proprietor's wife not only encourages +malicious slander and tattling, but she will soon be asking questions of +the inferior help about the housekeeper's management. Soon the +inferiors will be giving the orders instead of the housekeeper, and the +discipline will be spoiled. Besides, the proprietor's wife will be told +imaginary wrongs, and exaggerated stories concerning some maid employed +in the hotel, which will necessitate the maid's discharge. Whether the +story is real or imaginary, the proprietor's wife is not benefited by +the stories she has heard. She should ask herself: Is this loyalty? +Isn't it unmistakably the earmark of commonality? + +No housekeeper will object to taking orders from the proprietor's wife. +The progressive housekeeper is always polite to her employer's wife, +though not to the extent of being deceitful. The housekeeper must bear +in mind that what is of vital importance to the proprietor of a hotel is +of equal importance to the proprietor's wife. The housekeeper tries to +work in harmony with them both, which means success of the highest +order. To do this, the housekeeper must retain her dignity, often under +the most exasperating circumstances. The proprietor's wife is privileged +to frequent any part of the hotel she may choose to, but how must a +housekeeper feel to see her conversing in the most familiar tones with +the waitresses and the chambermaids, and to know that she is listening +to malicious slander of the lowest kind. A housekeeper can have no +control over the employes where the discipline is thus ruined, or where +there is so much unpleasantness arising from unwise interference over +trifles, by the proprietor's wife, or from officious meddling by the +families of the prominent stockholders. + + +_Tact Can Not be Taught._ + +"Bumping up against" the proprietor and proprietor's wife or family is +one of the most perplexing problems that the housekeeper has to solve. +The ability to combat with such a problem can not be imparted by +teaching. It has to exist in the housekeeper herself, in the peculiar, +individual bent of her nature. No amount of preaching and teaching can +ever endow a housekeeper with the ever ready wit characteristic of the +"Irish tongue." + +The savory reply, "O, Mrs. B., you are a dream of loveliness!" would be +sweet to some ears while to others it would be a "harsh discord." It is +impossible to teach which ear would or would not be the receptive one. +Any attempt on the part of the housekeeper to work up these qualities, +"by rule" would only be a failure Even the "Golden Rule" fails sometimes +to bring about desired results. The better plan, perhaps, for the +housekeeper to adopt is to live her own life, and not try to imitate +others. If she tries to be great, she will be nothing; if she tries to +be plain, simple, and good, she may be great. + + + + +CHARACTER IN THE HOTEL BUSINESS. + + +There is no royal road to success for the hotel clerk, steward, manager, +or housekeeper. The hotel business is peculiar in many respects; it +teaches conspicuously the great importance of character. + +There is no ingenious system that the housekeeper may adopt to insure +her success. Getting into trouble or keeping out of it is largely a +matter of luck, influenced by the kind of help that she is able to +secure. But, first and last, her success depends on her character--her +own energy, industry, intelligence, and moral worth. + + + + +ROOM INSPECTION. + + +When inspecting rooms, the housekeeper will notice that the room is +completed with the following necessaries: One bed, one foot blanket. One +rocking chair and two straight chairs. One writing table and a scrap +basket. One cuspidor. One dresser. One clothes tree or wardrobe. One ice +water pitcher and two glasses on a tray. If there is no bathroom, or +stationary hot and cold water, there must be a commode, a wash bowl and +pitcher, soap dish and clean soap. One slop jar, one chamber. Four face +towels. If there is a bathroom, one bath mat and toilet paper in the +holder. One small mirror. One cake of bath soap and two bath towels are +needed. On the dresser in every guest room should be a box of safety +matches and a candle. Candles are so cheap, and candle holders may be +purchased for a trifle, which will answer the purpose as well as silver. +No one who has lived in hotels but knows how annoying it is to be left +in total darkness for half an hour, on account of a burned out fuse, +when they are dressing for the theatre and in a hurry to complete their +toilet. + +The clerk in the office with the room rack in front of him has no +conception of the rooms except that they are in perfect order. Perfect +order does not only mean that the bed is neatly made, the floor clean +and all the furniture dusted; soap, towels, matches, candles and glasses +in their places, but everything must be in perfect working order. Let +the housekeeper's inspection begin then with the door. The lock must be +in order, and the key work properly. It is embarrassing to the clerk to +have to listen of a morning to such complaints as "my door would not +lock, and I was compelled to push the dresser in front of it to insure +safety." But this "kick" is often heard in first-class houses. The +transoms next should receive attention--see if they will open and close. +Next the electric lights; they must all be in order and burn brightly. +The dresser drawers must move readily, and be perfectly clean. The +windows must be carefully examined to see if they open and close easily, +and they must have no broken cords. A housekeeper's intelligent +attentions to these details will greatly aid the clerk in prompt service +to the guests, and will insure to the hotel the service that will be its +own best advertisement. + + + + +GOSSIP BETWEEN EMPLOYES. + + +There are only two classes in a hotel among its employes; one class is +quite perfect and pure as angels, while the others are black sheep and +altogether unspeakable. There is no transition, no intermediate links, +no shading of light or dark. A hotel employe is either good or bad, and +this rigid rule applies not only to moral character, but intellectual +excellence also is measured by the same standard. In a large hotel of, +say 250 employes, everybody seems to know everybody and everything about +everybody. Everybody knows that he is watched, and gossip, both in the +best and worst sense of the word, rules supreme. Gossip is, in fact, +public opinion, with all its good and all its bad features. Still, the +result is that no one can afford to lose caste, and everybody behaves as +well as he can. The private life of hotel employes is almost blameless. +The great evils of society do not exist; now and then a black sheep gets +in, but his or her life soon becomes a burden, everybody knows what has +happened and the employes, being on a whole so blameless, are all the +more merciless on the sinners, whether their sins are great or small. + +What most impresses one in hotels is the loyalty among employes. No one +tells them what to do or what to say, or what not to say, or what not to +do, yet you will observe that one who professes to be your friend will +not say unfriendly things behind your back. This condition is noticeable +among those of inferior rank, as well as among managers, stewards, +clerks and housekeepers. As a rule, one table in the main dining room is +reserved for the officers, clerks, stewards, cashiers, bookkeepers, +checkers, stenographers and housekeepers. Most of them have been taught +a few rules of life wisdom by their seniors. At any rate, few of them +are seen with their elbows on the table. They are observant enough of +social forms to eat pie with a fork, and their teaspoon is always in the +saucer; they eat slowly and take time to triturate. There is always one +"wit" to make one sorry when the meal is ended. Many hotel employes +possess intellectual powers to a great degree. Many clerks are college +graduates. The housekeeper is not, as some have said usually a member of +the broken down aristocracy, some one who has seen better days, whose +duty it is to walk through the halls with a "persimmon" countenance, in +search of the evildoer; never was a statement more false. Hotels employ +a house detective to look after its morals. A housekeeper is more apt to +be an assistant, who has been promoted to the very responsible position +of housekeeper. + + +_Relationship Between Housekeeper and Women Patrons._ + +A simple acquaintance is the most desirable footing with all persons, +however desiring. The unlicensed freedom that usually attends +familiarity affords but too ample scope for the indulgence of selfish +and mercenary motives on the part of the women patrons. It would be safe +to say that the housekeeper owes to all women patrons the courtesy and +consideration due one woman from another. It has been said that woman's +inhumanity to woman makes countless millions mourn. But this condition +is happily fading away; within the last decade women have been improving +in manners and morals toward each other. The housekeeper should take the +initiative, consider the "roof as an introduction" and assume a kindly +interest in the welfare of the women guests. + +Politeness is the sweetener of human society and gives a charm to +everything said and done. But a housekeeper may be called on to +sacrifice her duty to her employer. In this case she must not let any +weak desire of pleasing guests make her recede one jot from any point +that reason and prudence have bid her pursue. + + +_Birds of Passage._ + +One of the most striking conditions in modern hotel life is that few +hotels retain their heads of departments any great length of time, while +the inferior working class remains in one hotel for many years, and +often for a lifetime. This significant state becomes more marked from +year to year, and the question arises: What has brought about such a +changed condition? The traveling public surely is gratified to see a +familiar face behind the desk, in the housekeeping department, and also +in the dining-room. In days past, clerks, stewards, and housekeepers, +were identified with the same hotel until a retirement from all active +life would see them replaced by others. But of late they seem to have +earned the title, "birds of passage." + +Temperament creates the atmosphere of your surroundings, and if you +would remain in a fixed place, you should cultivate the respect of all, +and, if possible, their love, also. A nervous man or woman speaks in +haste and uses a sharp tone of voice over mere trifles, which, to an +ignorant mind, may have a tendency to create dislike, causing results +that may prove distinct barriers to his or her success as a manager or +housekeeper, whereas a placid man or woman could bring about the same +result with gentler tones, thereby preventing useless friction and +hatred. + + +_Directing and Commanding._ + +Heads of hotel departments should cultivate their talents for directing +and commanding. Politeness, which belongs to all persons of good +breeding and is essential in the ordinary transactions of life, is so +minutely cultivated by the heads of hotel departments as to be +conspicuous in its absence; some are not even civil, which is the very +least that one person can be to another. + +I do not mean to infer that an employe is to be forgiven if he gets +intoxicated and is late to his work every morning, nor that a sneak, a +thief, or an agitator should be excused. To handle help on the forgiving +plan in such cases, employers would become sentimental reformers and the +worst kind of failures. Sentiment may be comforting, but it is silly +when employed in business, under these conditions. Those that desire may +practice forgiveness, but when it costs time and money and brings gray +hairs to those that are doing the forgiving, it is better to keep as +near the line of sternness as possible. Everyone employing labor should +be very careful of his manner in expressing his disapproval of the +actions of subordinates. A reprimand should never be made in anger. If a +grave offense has been committed, reprimanding should be done with great +coolness and reserve, if you would look to future events and their +probable consequences. Impertinent and forward people may be checked by +cold reserve. Often the faculties for transacting business and the +talents for directing and reprimanding are considered by fond admirers +to be the gift of nature, when, in reality, they are the outcome of +self-control and education. + +Chesterfield says: "If you are in authority and have a right to command, +your commands delivered in _sauviter in modo_ will be willingly, +cheerfully, and, consequently, well obeyed." + + +_Attention to Details._ + +Hotel housekeeping is a science. The crowning excellence, as all +acknowledge, lies in giving strict attention to small things. Successful +hotel-keeping is an artistic achievement in which everything is in its +right place, is of the proper grade, shade, quality, and cleanliness, +harmonizing in every particular. + +Details are repulsive to the lazy or the listless. Let the housekeeper +feel the greatness of her position and the importance of her duties, if +she so desires to succeed. Enthusiasm is an element that can least be +spared--one that must accompany the housekeeper at every step. + +The question has arisen whether the housekeeper should learn without +rules, by blundering experience, or should she take what the approved +experience of others has found to be the best. No one doubts the answer. +The true way is to submit to rules and regulations and methods of +experienced and practical hotel housekeepers that have made their +profession a life-long study. + + + + +THE PROGRESSIVE HOUSEKEEPER. + + +The ocean is an everchanging wonder of kaleidoscopic views and no eye +ever wearies of its beauty. The earth arrays herself in such gorgeous +costumes so pleasing to man's sight that few there are who want to leave +her to try another. The child tires of the old ragdoll and cries for the +"Teddy bear." Put a new dress on the old ragdoll and it will again +become the favorite. + +If a housekeeper is not progressive, her employer will tire of her. The +onward trick of nature is too much for the average housekeeper, and +gladly would she anchor, but to do so means to sink. She must keep up +with the times, she must travel the pace of progress. + +There is nothing new under the sun, but there is constant metamorphosis. +Time brings changes. Competition is strong and housekeepers must be on +the alert for any accomplishment that will aid in their calling. + +In America, life is a universal race for exalted positions. Then get out +of the rut and keep up the long list of illusions, of which a rapid +succession of changes and moods and styles and ideas is the secret. + +You must keep busy. There is only one sin that you can commit; that sin +is idleness. Polish the old things and make them look like new. Do not +let your footsteps become so narrow that they will end in a +turkey-track. Keep up your practice of thoroughly cleaning rooms, +overhauling furniture, and sending out a mattress now and then to have +it repaired. Take up a carpet and have it cleaned. Give the radiators a +coat of bronze. Have the ceiling lights cleaned. Paste up the wall-paper +that is hanging from the wall. Polish the brass on the stairs. Put in an +order for some new material of which to make dresser covers. + + +_Decorative Dresser Covers._ + +The writer has just completed some very pretty dresser covers for the +parlor floor rooms, en suite. The work is fascinating, and the +linen-room girls and parlor-maids can lend a hand at making them. Any +kind of linen material can be adapted that can be laundered with ease +and success. Plain white linen is a well-deserved favorite and makes +thoroughly useful, as well as fashionable, dresser-covers. A cheaper +material can be found in linen toweling--just as pretty and just as +durable as the plain white linen. + +The dresser cover just covering the dresser and not allowed to hang down +is the favorite mode just now. It can be simply hemmed; but a charming +and more attractive pattern is with scalloped edges and elaborated +ends. These scallops are made with a spool, medium size, No 50 being +especially suitable. Put the spool on the edge of the material and with +a lead pencil, draw a crescent and then another, clear across the end. +Pad the scallops with common white darning-cotton, using the old +fashioned chain-stitch. Before putting the work in the embroidery-hoops, +sew a strip of muslin, about six inches in width to the edge of the +dresser cover. This will aid in getting the work placed in the hoops and +will enable you to do smoother and more satisfactory work. + +Embroider the scallops with linen embroidery floss, size "D," using the +buttonhole stitch. An eyelet at the termination and just above each +crescent will add materially to its effectiveness. Rip off the muslin +and launder before cutting out the scallops. This will prevent the ugly +fringe seen on so many embroidered dresser-covers. + + + + +THE HOUSEKEEPER'S SALARY. + + +Too many housekeepers of the present day neglect the small things. They +want to draw large salaries and let the house take care of itself, while +they visit with the guests and gossip and have a good time. The clerks +are kind and do not report to the manager the little complaints that +come to the office every day; but the housekeeper's conscience should +tell her that she is not earning her money. + +The housekeeper that is above her profession, is not interested in her +work, and that is trying to get into some church society, had better not +engage in hotel housekeeping, for her housekeeping duties will require +her constant attention at the hotel. There will be some difficulties to +settle at all times, which will require her presence. Maids work better +when they are conscious of a vigilant overseer. They take more pride in +their work when they know that every nook and corner is being inspected +by the housekeeper. Especially is this true if the housekeeper is +successful in commanding the respect of her subordinates. + +The housekeeper that lays the blame of some grave mistake on her +assistants is not worthy of the name of housekeeper. Had she been there, +attending to her affairs, it would not have happened, for she would have +prevented or stopped it. + +The housekeeper, by diligence, attendance to her duties, and by +economies, figures greatly in the success of a hotel, and makes her own +position. The position does not make her. Then it is fairly reasonable +to suppose that such a housekeeper should make her own salary; that she +should command and receive her price; that she should be paid according +to the amount she is really worth, and not the fixed scale that the +hotel pays. If a housekeeper can show by her books, by her management, +and by her economies, that she is worth more than her predecessor, she +is entitled to more pay, and by all means should receive more pay. The +average salary paid a housekeeper is not enough to properly clothe a +housekeeper. After her laundry bills are paid, what has she left to lay +up for the "rainy day," to say nothing of an old age, when parsimony and +incompatibility of temper and "set ways" make her, in any place, an +unwelcome personage. + + +_The Faithful, Efficient Housekeeper._ + +The housekeeper that sticks to her post and is always looking after her +work is surely worth more to her employer than one that has worn the +carpet threadbare in front of her mirror, or one that puts in a great +portion of her time at the bargain-counter, or the theater, or with a +novel in her hand. Surely, the hard-working housekeeper, the one that +makes her occupation a study and is always at her post, is worth more to +her employer than the housekeeper that is trying to do society "stunts," +to ring in with people of fashion, to "out-dress" them. But the majority +of hotels pay much the same salaries to housekeepers, good, bad, and +indifferent. + +The progressive housekeeper that thus looks after her employer's +business every day, always at her post in the linen-room, is +uncomplaining, shoulders the blame, and is not always knocking on his +private-office door and entering complaints about this or that, is +surely worth more than thirty dollars a month to any hotel man. If he +does not think so, he should not blame the progressive, faithful, +reliable housekeeper, if she promptly accepts a position with better +pay. + + + + +INSPECTION AND CLEANING OF ROOMS. + + +The housekeeper, or her assistant, should go through every room twice a +day. In the morning, the housekeeper should take the house-plan, inspect +every room, and check up the rooms that have been occupied. If the bed +in a room has been used, and if there is baggage, she should check this +also, and should turn the report into the office by nine o'clock. Then, +in the afternoon, when the maids are supposed to have finished their +work, the housekeeper should take her pencil and pad and thoroughly +inspect every room and the maids' work. She may find a ragged sheet or +pillow slip; if so, she should make a note of it. Some room may be short +of a towel, soap or matches; she should make a note of this also. Around +the gas-jets and in the corners, she may find "Irish curtains" +(cobwebs); in the commode, she may find a vessel that was forgotten; in +a dresser drawer, a man may have left his cast-off hose, and suspenders. +Some maid may have swept the center of the room, while under the bed and +under the dresser there may be dust of two weeks' standing; in another +room, the housekeeper may find a bathtub forgotten--all of which she +should write on the pad. This work will occupy two hours of her time in +a two-hundred-room house. When the maids come on watch at six o'clock, +each one should be given instructions to go back and finish her work. In +some hotels, the maids do not go off duty of an afternoon, but continue +working until six o'clock. In this case, the housekeeper should issue +her instructions at once. + + + + +HOW TO CLEAN A ROOM. + + +There are many ways to clean a room, but there is just one best way to +clean it thoroughly. "Dig out the corners" should be the watchword of +every successful housekeeper. She would rather the maid would leave the +dirt in a pile in the center of the room than fail to clean out the +corners. + +If one word could be selected that means the most and needs the most +emphasis in the science of housekeeping, that word would be +"cleanliness." The first desideratum, therefore, of the chambermaid, is +the scrub-pail and a piece of oilcloth--some maids use a +newspaper--under it to protect the carpet. The first thing to do is to +clean the small pieces of furniture. If the furniture is new, it should +be only wiped with the dust-cloth. If it is old and marred, it should be +washed with warm water and soap, and oiled with a good furniture-polish. +It should then be set in the hall. The dresser drawers should be washed +and the marble cleaned with sapolio; the mirrors should be polished, the +windows washed, and the shutters dusted. The crockery should be cleaned +and put in the hall. The bed should be covered with a dust-cover. The +cobwebs should be swept down with a long-handled broom. The lace +curtains should be shaken, and either taken down or pinned up. The +closet should be swept out. The toilet-bowl should be scrubbed inside +and out with the toilet-brush, and a disinfectant powder put in. The +stationary wash-bowl should be scrubbed with sapolio, and the faucets +polished, not forgetting the chain. The bathtub should also be scrubbed +with sapolio, and the floor washed. + +The door should now be closed and the sweeping begun. A very good plan +is to scatter wet paper over the floor to keep the dust down. The +corners should be dug out and the dirt swept to the center of the room +and taken up in the dust-pan. If the carpet is old, it should be sponged +with warm water and soap, to which a little ammonia has been added. The +carpet will look like new after this process. After the dust is well +settled, all the wood work in the room should be washed; the bed and +dresser should be washed and oiled, and all the furniture should be +symmetrically arranged, and the windows closed on account of storms. + +One chambermaid can successfully look after eighteen or twenty rooms a +day. Not all of the rooms are occupied every night. The maid should take +advantage of the dull days to clean her rooms thoroughly; she should +clean one room every day. + + + + +THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD BEDS. + + +Competition is great, and success will come to the best and cleanest +hotel. The traveler loves to slip into a bed with perfectly laundered +sheets that do not look as if the maids had sprinkled, folded, and +pressed them between the mattress, as chambermaids ordinarily do in +hotels where there is a scant supply of linen. + +Sometimes the chambermaid will ask the laundryman for a pair of sheets +to make up a sample-room, as the guest wants to receive a customer. The +laundryman replies: "Well, just as soon as the machinery starts again, +you may have them." There has been a breakdown; the belt is off; or +something has gone wrong, and they have sent for the engineer to fix it. +Then the housekeeper must go to some unoccupied room and strip the bed +and use the linen for making up the bed in the sample-room, while the +guest walks the floor and frets over the delay. Much time is saved if +the hotel is supplied with plenty of linen. + +Sheets that cover only two-thirds of the mattress do not add to the +cheerfulness and comfort of the guests. Many well grounded complaints +are entered about this. Special laws have been enacted in some states, +within the last year, regarding the length of sheets. + +Occasionally a guest finds it expedient to make his bed over, if he +would have any comfort. The maid has put the double fold of the blanket +to the top; it is a warm night, yet he fears to throw the blanket +off--he might take cold. So he concludes to make his own bed, putting +the single fold to the top, that he may throw some of it back. + + + + +HOW A BED IS MADE. + + +Good bed-making is the one trait par excellence in all good chambermaid +work. To make a bed artistically is one important feature, and to make +it so that the guest may rest comfortably is another, and, finally, just +how is the best way to make a bed is a question worthy of consideration. + +In our big country of America, the traveler from Maine to California +sees many styles of bed-making. In New Orleans is seen the picturesque +canopy of pure white mosquito-netting tucked in neatly all around. In +Kansas City is seen the snowy spreads plaited half way to the foot with +numerous little folds. In New York is seen the pure linen hemstitched +sheets, turned back with a single fold. + +To begin to make a bed, first, the mattress should be turned. The bottom +sheet should then be tucked in carefully by raising the mattress with +one hand and smoothing the sheet down with the other. The large hems +should always be at the head, in order that no one may be compelled to +lay his face where some one's feet have been. After the bottom sheet +has been tucked in at the head, it should be tightly drawn and tucked in +at the foot in the same way. Sheets should be long enough to tuck in one +foot at the head and one at the bottom. If it is a brass bed, the sheets +should be left to hang down. + +After the bottom sheet is on perfectly, it is easy to make a pretty bed, +and one in which the guest may rest well. The top sheet should be put +on, and tucked in at the foot only. The blanket should be put on with +the single fold at the head. If the guest should get too warm, he can +throw half of the blanket to the foot and yet have sufficient covering. +After the spread is put on, a single fold as large as your hand should +be made, then another fold one foot in width should complete the +folding, and the spread should be neatly tucked in. The pillows should +now be smoothed evenly and placed up aright, and the bed is made. + + + + +HOW TO CLEAN WALLS. + + +To clean a painted canvas wall does not require so much skill as +patience. + +A painted canvas wall is very easily cleaned. Many housekeepers have +them washed with ivory soap and water, and obtain good results. Others +add a little ammonia to the water, and still others use the powdered +pumice. + +The cost of painted walls are great, and it is a great saving to any +proprietor, if the housekeeper can successfully clean a painted wall +without calling the decorators. + +Perhaps the most practical and most economical way to do the work and +obtain the best results is to wash the wall with water, in which has +been dissolved a cake of sapolio. + +To proceed to clean the parlor walls: first, take out all the +bric-a-brac and tapestry and furniture; then take up the carpet. Have +the carpenter erect a scaffolding for the houseman to stand on. Have two +pails of hot water, and in one let a cake of sapolio dissolve. Keep the +other pail of water for rinsing. Have two large sponges, one for +cleaning and the other for rinsing. Souse the cleaning-sponge in the +pail in which the sapolio has been dissolved, then squeeze the water out +of the sponge. Then begin on the ceiling or in one corner, cleaning only +a small square at a time. After cleaning, rinse with the sponge from the +clean pail, not making the sponge too dry. Do not wipe the wall with a +cloth, but leave moist, after which have ready a pail of starch, and +with an ordinary paint or white-wash-brush, starch the square that you +have cleaned, before it is thoroughly dry. The starching-process is very +necessary. It will leave a gloss on the paint, and also preserves it the +next time it is washed; for, in this case, it will be the starch that +will be washed off instead of the paint. To make the starch take +ordinary laundry starch and dissolve one cupful in one pint of cold +water. Into this pour boiling water until it is as thick as cream and +let boil, stirring constantly. + +The following is an excellent preparation for cleaning wall-paper, and +perhaps it might serve as well to clean walls hung with burlap: + + 2 pounds of rye flour. + 1/2 pound of wheat flour. + 1 handful of salt. + +Mix well together with water and bake one hour in the oven. Then peel +and work back into a dough, adding 1/2 ounce of ammonia and 1/2 ounce of +gasoline. + +This is not an expensive preparation and will clean papered or burlap +walls very nicely. + +Calcimined walls will have to be re-decorated. + +A good way to clean hardwood floors in halls where the carpet does not +entirely cover the floor, is to take a can of linseed oil and a small +woolen cloth and dip one end of the cloth in the oil, being careful not +to spill the oil on the carpet, or touch the edge of the carpet while +cleaning; this will remove the dust and dirt, after which the floor may +be polished with ordinary floor-wax put on with a flannel cloth and +polished with a brick, over which has been sewed a piece of Brussels +carpet. + + +_How to Scrub a Floor._ + +What is prettier than a hardwood floor after it has been properly +scrubbed? To scrub a floor and get satisfactory results is a science. To +change the water frequently is one secret of success. "Elbow grease" is +another. Mops are impossible, and this is another subject on which the +housekeeper can wax eloquent. What is more disgusting than to see the +baseboards of a room smeared, or the dirt shoved in the corners with an +old dirty mop? + +Before commencing to scrub, place every article of furniture on the +table and then sweep. Beginning in the rear of the door so as not to +track over the clean part until it is perfectly dry, scrub with a brush +a small section at a time; first wipe up with a damp rag and then with a +dry one. The New York Knitting Mills, of Albany, N. Y., furnish remnants +of cloth that are indispensable for scrubbing. Enough of these remnants +can be bought for $3 to last six months. + +A little ammonia in the water will help to whiten the floors. The modern +skewers from the kitchen are very useful in getting into the corners of +the window sills and into the corners of the stair steps. A weak +solution of oxalic acid and boiling water will remove the very worst +kind of ink-stains from the floor. + +Pads for kneeling on are made of burlap, and one is given to each +scrubber. The unnatural position that the scrubber assumes makes the +work laborious; the scrubber may change her position frequently by +getting clean water. + + + + +HOW TO GET RID OF VERMIN. + + +The worst kind of house-pests, if you do not know how to get rid of +them, but not the easiest to exterminate, are bedbugs. They do not +confine themselves to any section of the country, though the +International Encyclopedia gives the belief "that up to Shakespeare's +time they were not known in England," and that "they came originally +from India." + +In Kansas, the bedbug is improperly called the chintz-bug, and is +believed to dwell under the bark of the cotton-wood tree. There is no +authentic truth for this belief. + +The spread of the bedbug is mainly due to its being carried from place +to place in furniture and clothing. It has the power of resisting great +cold and of fasting indefinitely. The eggs of the bedbug are very small, +whitish, oval objects, laid in clusters in the crevices used by the bugs +for concealment; they hatch in eight days. Under favorable conditions +and slovenly housekeeping, their multiplication is extremely rapid. The +greatest trouble lies with the housekeeper who allows the bugs to +increase unchecked until they are so numerous in the floors and walls +that it is nearly impossible to kill them off. + +It is useless waste of time to try to exterminate with Persian insect +powder, or sulphur candles. These remedies have been recommended by the +International Encyclopedia, but have not demonstrated their worth when +subjected to tests by careful experimental methods, by the author. + + +_Scientific Way of Extermination._ + +The only scientific and practical way to get rid of them is to clean +thoroughly, religiously, and scrupulously the room and every article in +it. Bedbugs are exceedingly difficult to fight, owing both to their +ability to withstand the action of many insecticides and owing also to +the protection afforded them by the walls and the woodwork of the room. + +If the mattress is old, it should be burned. The bed should be taken +apart, the slats and springs taken to the bathroom and scalded, and then +treated with a mixture of corrosive sublimate and alcohol, liberally +applied, after which a coat of varnish should be given to the entire +bed--slats, springs and all. The carpet should be taken up and sent to +the cleaners. The paper should be scraped from the walls and sent to the +furnace and burned, and the walls should be left bare until the bugs +are exterminated. The holes in the walls and woodwork and the cracks +and crevices in the floor should be filled up with common yellow soap. +This is better than to fill them with putty; it is more practical and is +easier to handle. Use the thumb or an old knife to put the soap into the +holes; the workman should get the stepladder and go over the entire +ceiling, getting the soap into every crack and crevice. After this is +done, it will be impossible for the eggs to hatch or the bugs to get +out. This is the most important part of the extermination of bugs. The +floor should then be scrubbed, after which it should be well poisoned +with the mixture of corrosive sublimate and alcohol. Every piece of +furniture in the room should be washed and poisoned, and given a coat of +varnish. + + +_Treating the Mattress._ + +If the mattress is too good to be thrown away, the following will be +found a good method to destroy the vermin in it: dissolve two pounds of +alum in one gallon of water; let it remain twenty-four hours until all +the alum is dissolved. Then, with a whisk-broom, apply while boiling +hot. This is also a good way to rid the walls and ceiling of bugs. +Getting on the stepladder, the workman should apply the wash with the +whisk-broom, never missing an inch of the entire ceiling and walls, +keeping the liquid boiling hot while using. It should be poured in all +the cracks of the floor, in the corners, over the doors and over the +windows. The operation should be repeated every day for two weeks, after +which the woodwork should be painted and the walls papered. + +A strict watch should be kept on all the help's rooms, and any signs of +bugs should be promptly treated with the mixture of corrosive sublimate +and alcohol. + + +_Cleanliness a Necessity._ + +Cleanliness is a prime factor in ridding rooms of vermin. In many of the +hotels there is one woman appointed to look after the bugs, and she has +no other duty. + +A good night's sleep is necessary to health and happiness. It can not be +found in a room with vermin. The housekeeper should keep up the +continual warfare against the standing army of bugs, and never allow the +enemy to take possession. + +Roaches, or water-bugs, are easily exterminated. Hellebore sprinkled on +the floor will soon kill them off. It is poison. They eat it at night +and are killed. Some people object to having poison around. In that +case, powdered borax will prove an expedient eradicator. + +A good way to keep rats from a room is to saturate a rag with cayenne +pepper and stuff it in the hole; no rat or mouse will touch the rag, not +if it would open a communication with a depot of eatables. + + +_A Nauseating Subject._ + +Of all the obnoxious being that get into a hotel, the one whose feet +smell to the heavens is the worst. Every housekeeper in America--heaven +bless them--if she has a normal and simple mind as fits her calling, +finds smelling feet an intolerable nuisance. + +Health requires at least one bath a day for the feet, and when they +perspire freely they should be bathed twice a day. What must be said of +the maid who, on entering a room, compels you to leave it on account of +the sickening odor from her feet. In a case like this, the housekeeper +must "take the bull by the horns," tell the maid that "her feet smell" +and that "she must keep herself cleaner." The maid's feelings are not to +be spared in the performance of this important duty. After washing the +feet carefully twice a day for a week a cure will be effected. Clean +hosiery should be put on every day. A very good remedy for offensive +feet is a few drops of muriatic acid in the water when bathing the feet +before retiring to bed. + + + + +THE SUPERIORITY OF VACUUM CLEANING. + + +This is an age of surprises and scientific researches. The up-to-date +vacuum-cleaning machine is a huge debt to an ancient past. It is a big +improvement over the methods employed in days gone by. As a preventive +for moths, it has no equal. In hotels where this labor-saving device has +not been installed, carpets must be carried to the roof to be cleaned, +or sent to the regular carpet-cleaners, and soon converted into +ravelings. Carpets are very expensive, and, if you want your money's +worth from them, you must preserve them from moths. In order to do this, +they must be either vacuum-cleaned or taken to the roof every six months +and given a beating. After the moths get a start in a carpet it is +surprising to learn what vast inroads toward destruction they can make +in a few weeks. Moving the furniture and thoroughly sweeping and +brushing the edges with turpentine are good preventives. But nothing +will so effectually destroy them as does the vacuum-cleaning process. + +In order to secure detailed information regarding the workings of the +vacuum-cleaning system for hotels, I wrote to a gentleman in Milwaukee, +who is probably the best informed man on that subject in the country. +Besides being in the vacuum-cleaning business, he is a hotel man himself +and therefore knows how to meet the needs of the hotel housekeeper. I +quote a part of his reply: + + +_System Explained by an Expert._ + +"The vacuum-cleaning system in a hotel will pay for itself every year by +reducing the cleaning force and by increasing the life of carpets, rugs, +hangings, upholstery, and decorations, whether paper, fresco, or paint. + +"In hotels where this system is in use--and their number is increasing +every month--carpets and rugs are cleaned on the floor. Right here is a +big saving. First, taking up and relaying carpets is expensive. There is +nothing that wears them out quicker than this sort of handling and the +beating and "tumbling." Vacuum-cleaning not only saves this, but saves +the daily wear and tear of grinding in the dirt and wearing off the nap +with a broom. Third, with the vacuum-system, valuable rooms are never +put out of commission while the carpets and rugs are away being cleaned. + +"Not only are the carpets and rugs kept cleaner by the vacuum-system, +but everything else is cleaner because dust is kept down. The +housekeeper of a certain hotel told the owner that since he put in the +vacuum-system, the transoms had to be washed only one-fourth as often as +before. Now, the dust on those transoms came out of the air. It settled +everywhere, but it showed plainly only on the transoms. With the +vacuum-system, there is only one-fourth as much dust to settle on the +walls and decorations, and even that little is quickly removed with the +vacuum-wall-brush. Dust on the walls is what causes the unpleasant, +musty smell of many hotel rooms. Keeping walls clean means less frequent +redecorating. + + +_Purifies Nearly Everything._ + +"Upholstered furniture is quickly and thoroughly cleaned by the +vacuum-method. Dust is removed not only from the surface, but also from +the folds and creases and even the interior of the cushions. Moths and +their eggs are sucked out from their hiding places under the upholstery +buttons or in the corners. + +"Mattresses and pillows are kept clean and sweet by vacuum-treatment. +Passing the cleaning tool over the surface prevents dust from +accumulating and sifting in. It sucks out the stale dusty air inside and +draws in fresh air, thus preventing that unpleasant musty smell which +hotel beds sometimes have. + +"By the vacuum-method, tapestries and hangings are kept fresh and bright +without the trouble and expense of taking them down. One hotel manager +told me his vacuum-system saved him $10 every time he cleaned the +hangings in his dining-room, for it used to cost him that sum to have +them re-draped. + +"By means of a special brush, wood and tile floors can be cleaned +without the dust of dry sweeping, or the muddy aftermarks of sawdust. + + +_Vacuum Always on Tap._ + +"The most and recent important improvement in vacuum-cleaning consists +in having the vacuum or 'suction power' always 'on tap' on every floor. +At convenient points in the corridors, nickel-plated taps are placed. To +these, the housemen or maids can quickly attach the rubber hose +connected with the cleaning-tools. Opening a valve turns on the suction +or vacuum. Then, as fast as the tool is moved over the surface to be +cleaned, dust and dirt are sucked through the hose into the pipes and +away to an air-tight dust-tank in the basement. The 'on tap' vacuum is +always ready for use. No need to telephone or send word to the engineer +to start that pump or to stop it when the work is done. + +"Although the vacuum, or suction, is kept on tap all the time, +practically no power is consumed except when the cleaning is going on. +Even then the amount of power used--whether it be steam or +electricity--is automatically proportioned to the number and the size +of the cleaning tools in use. Whenever you lay down the sweeper to move +a chair, just so much less power is consumed while the tool is idle. If +one sweeper is in use, only one-tenth as much power is needed as when +ten sweepers are working. The little upholstery tuft-cleaner consumes +only one-ninth as much power as the carpet-sweeper. This means a great +saving of power and is a great improvement over the old vacuum-methods, +by which it was impossible to keep the vacuum on tap and by which, once +the apparatus was started, full power was consumed, no matter how many +sweepers were at work." + + + + +THE LINEN-ROOM AND THE LINEN-WOMAN. + + +The linen-woman has in her care all the beautiful and expensive linen in +the hotel; if she is careless in counting it when sending it to the +different departments, careless in counting it after it has been +returned, there will be a deficit in the "stock-report" at the end of +the month. The linen-room is a position of trust. The linen-woman should +be as accurate in counting her employer's napkins and table-cloths as +the cashier is in counting his employer's dollars. + +The following set of rules and essential requirements are suggested for +the management of the linen-woman: + +1. She must be prompt to open the linen-room at 6:30 a.m. + +2. Must not leave the linen-room without notifying the housekeeper. + +3. Must sort the linen. + +4. Must see that no damaged article of linen is sent out to the +guest-rooms. + +5. Must mend all the linen. + +6. Must keep track of the linen. + +7. Must keep the linen-room books. + +8. Must mark the new linen before sending it out. + +The linen-room is the housekeeper's pride. What is more pleasing to a +housekeeper than to look into a well-kept linen-room. This room is the +housekeeper's "stock-exchange," the room where all her business +transactions take place. It is also her home. She has her geraniums in +the window and her desk in one corner. She has her sewing-machine, and +telephone, and a bright rug or two on the spotless floor. The linen-room +is the place where the housekeeper is found or her whereabouts made +known. + +The room should be thoroughly cleaned every Saturday, and swept and +dusted every day. It requires skill and labor to keep a well regulated +linen-room looking neat and pretty. Linen-shelves are scrubbed, not +papered. All heavy articles, such as spreads, blankets, pillows, and +table-felts should be kept on the top shelf. The water-glasses, +ice-water pitchers, extra slop jars, washbowls and pitchers, should also +be kept on the top shelves, and covered with a dust-cover. The other +shelves should be scrubbed, and the sheets, slips, face-towels, and +bath-towels used for the guest-rooms, put on a shelf by themselves. The +helps' linen should be put on another shelf. The table-linen should be +placed by itself, and so on--a place for everything and everything in +its place. + + +_How Linen is Mended._ + +The table-cloths should be mended first before they are sent to the +laundry. The best way to mend table-linen is first to fill the holes +with darning-cotton, just as you would if you were darning a stocking; +then loosen the presser-foot of your sewing-machine and darn it down +neatly with the machine. If the hole is very large--say as large as your +hand--the better way is to cover the hole with darning-net before +filling it in with the darning-cotton; then it may be finished on the +machine. + +When the table-cloths are too bad to mend, the large ones can be cut +down into small ones and the small ones into tray-covers. Old napkins +can be sewed together and used for cleaning-cloths. Table-linen is very +expensive and the careful housekeeper will easily save her salary above +that of a careless one by properly taking care of the linen. + + +_How Coffee Bags Are Made._ + +The coffee-bags should be made from the stewards' dictation. No two +stewards will have them made the same. Bath-towels, when damaged, may be +made into wash-cloths, and used in the public baths. The cases for +hot-water bags are made of white flannel. + +A supply of soap, matches, toilet-paper, and sanitary powder, should be +kept in the linen-room, where it is convenient for the maids. + +The progressive housekeeper will not allow the stock of linen to grow +too small. She will see that it is replenished each month. + +The linen-room should be opened at 6:30 a.m. and closed at 10:00 p.m. If +it is a commercial hotel, the linen should be portioned among the maids, +in the morning. The linen issued in the morning should be charged to +each girl on the slate. The maids should count the soiled linen on their +floor, pin the count to the bundle, and bring it to the linen-room, +where the linen-woman again should count it and give each maid credit on +the slate. The linen-woman should deduct the clean linen issued in the +morning from the soiled linen returned, and, if the linen-room owes the +maid, she should be given her linen at once. After that, the maid should +get only one piece of clean linen for one of soiled. If the maid brings +in no soiled linen, she should not get any clean. In this way, the +linen-woman will be able to keep track of the linen. She will be able to +tell the manager where every piece of linen is at any time of the day. + +The dining-room linen should be issued in the same way. The linen-woman +should be able to tell by her books how many napkins are in the +dining-room, how many are in the laundry, and the number that are on the +shelf in the linen-room. + +It may not be an innovation, but a blackboard in the linen-room will be +of great assistance to the housekeeper in copying the changes that are +sent up from time to time during the day. The board may be freshly +ruled every day, with as many columns as there are maids, and the maid's +name, or number, should be written above her column. + +As the changes are sent up on a pad by the clerks, the linen-woman +should copy them on the board, putting each maid's changes under her +name. The maids should take the chalk and draw a straight line through +their changes, indicating that the rooms have received proper attention. +As there are few hotels that have not had some trouble about reporting +changes, it would be a splendid idea for the clerk to insist on the +housekeeper or the linen-woman signing for the changes. The fact that +the clerk can produce his duplicate, showing the time to the very minute +he sent the change, is not proof that the change was received in the +linen-room. The bell-boy may be a new boy, and may have taken the +change-slip to some other part of the house. But if the housekeeper, or +the linen-woman, signs the pad on which the changes have been sent up, +and the pad is returned to the office, the housekeeper or the +linen-woman will have to furnish some other excuse for the room being +out of order, than that she did not get the change. + +The housekeeper should see that an accurate account is taken every month +of all the linen, and correctly entered on the linen-room stock-book. +This account should show the new linen purchased during the month. The +following form is suggested for the stock-book for the linen-room: + +Inventory of Linen-Room for month ending January 1, 1908. + + ================+============+=====+=====+====+======++========= + |Total No. | Plus| | | || + Jan. 1, 1908. |last count | new |Grand|Worn| || + |Dec. 1, 1907|stock|Total|out |Stolen||Net Total + ----------------+------------+-----+-----+----+------++--------- + Sheets | 800 | 50 | 850 | 25 | || 825 + Slips | | | | | || + Spreads | | | | | || + Face-Towels | | | | | || + Bath-Towels | | | | | || + Table-Cloths | | | | | || + Napkins | | | | | || + Side-Towels | | | | | || + Tray-Towels | | | | | || + Tops | | | | | || + Kitchen-Towels | | | | | || + Glass-Towels | | | | | || + Roller-Towels | | | | | || + Bar-Towels | | | | | || + Wash-room Towels| | | | | || + ----------------+------------+-----+-----+----+------++--------- + +Paradise, indeed, to the housekeeper, is the hotel that has its +reserve-linen closet, where, in case of accident in the laundry, she may +find linen to put the rooms in order. On the other hand, how very +discouraging it is where there is only one set of linen for the beds and +the maids must wait until the linen is back from the laundry before they +can put the rooms in order. In such hotels, the housekeeper spends much +of her time running to and from the laundry. + +When a new linen-woman is installed in the linen-room, the housekeeper +should write out all the details of the duties required of her, +regardless of any previous experience she may claim to have had. + + + + +CARE OF TABLE-LINEN. + + +A table-cloth should be long enough to hang over the table, at least +eighteen inches on all sides. Pattern cloths are prettier than the +piece-linen. They are more expensive, but it pays to buy the best for +hotel use. Linen, to have sufficient body to wear well, should have a +certain weight to the square inch. Table-linen should weigh at least +four and one-half ounces to the square yard. All pattern-cloths have the +napkins to match. The napkins and table-cloths should have a tiny, +narrow hem. They are best hemmed by hand, but this can not be thought of +for hotels. + +It takes the same amount of money to purchase the unbleached linen as it +does to buy the bleached. The Irish bleached linen is of a more snowy +whiteness than that of Germany. This is owing to the climate of Ireland, +which is particularly adapted by sunshine and rain for natural +bleaching. + + +_Table-Linen Most Important._ + +The table-linen is more important than the bed-linen, and should receive +the first consideration in the laundry. + +It should be carefully counted and sorted by the linen-woman at night, +after dinner, and should be ready for the laundryman who must rise very +early in the morning in order to have the table-linen ready for the +laundry-maids that come on duty at seven o'clock. + +A table-cloth should be folded lengthwise twice, then doubled, putting +both ends together, then folded, and it will be ready for the shelf. +Napkins should be put through the mangle three times and left without +folding, so the linen-woman can easily sort them. + + +_Removing Stains._ + +Fruit-stains in linen may be removed by pouring boiling water through +the stained spot. Lemon juice and salt will remove iron-rust. + +Tea, coffee, chocolate, and fruit-stains should be removed as soon as +possible by pouring boiling water over them. After fruit-stains have +been washed a few times in soapsuds, they become as firmly fixed in the +linen as though they were dyed there, and can only be removed by a +bleaching process. A good bleach can be made by taking one pint of +boiling water to one teaspoonful of oxalic acid and one teaspoonful of +ammonia. One teacupful of ammonia to a wash will keep the table-linen +white. + +The care of the table-linen is a very important feature of the +housekeeper's work. In many hotels, the housekeeper is required to +purchase the linen. Fashion changes in table-linen as in other things. A +careful study of facts and figures has proved that, in proportion to the +population, the United States of America consumes more linen than any +other country in the world. It is not, however, a leader in the +production of flax. Russia takes the lead in this industry. The United +States grows flax for the seed and not for the fibre; hence very little +weaving is done in this country. + + +_Kinds of Linen._ + +Linen has a variety of names, as Holland, damask, et cetera. Damask +linen was first made in Damascus--the oldest city in the world--and was +figured in fruit and flowers. A long time ago linen made in Scotland was +sent to Germany to be bleached; hence the name Holland. + +The old-time way of bleaching was long and expensive, sometimes taking +an entire summer. After it was bleached by a natural process of open +air, dew, and sunshine, it was then treated with an alkaline, and then +buttermilk. It was left lying on the grass for a month, and sprinkled +frequently with water and sometimes sour milk. + +At the present time, linen can be bleached in two weeks. The cost of +bleaching is much less and linen fabric is one-half cheaper than +formerly. The chemicals used in the modern process of bleaching greatly +injures the fibre, and linen is not so durable as it was under the +old-fashioned way of bleaching. + + +_How to Test Linen._ + +The housekeeper in selecting linen at the counter may test the linen by +ravelling out some of the threads. The threads that form the woof as +well as the warp should be strong, and long thread linen. Never buy +linen that is stiff and glossy, as it will be thin after it is +laundered. Linen should be substantial, but pliant when crushed in the +hand. Never buy a table-cloth that is part linen and part cotton, as the +shrinkage of linen and cotton fibre varies greatly, which causes the +threads to break, and the table-cloth will soon be full of holes. + + + + +LAUNDRY WORK. + + +"Order is Heaven's first law," sang the poet, and to keep order in a +hotel seems not such an Herculean task. System makes work easy, and the +superintendent of the laundry must insist on the work being +systematically performed. + +Soap and water are the most important materials used in the laundry +work. To do good work with little or no damage to the linen, soft water +and good soap are absolutely necessary. In many parts of the United +States, the water is permanently hard, and is a perplexing question to +laundry workers. The first thing to do is to soften the water. It can +not be made soft by boiling, and must be treated with chemicals which +must be used before the soap is added. When soap is used in hard water +before it has been softened, the soap unites with the minerals in the +water, and clings to the linen like a greasy scum. Borax is the best +softening agent for hard water. + +To soften water with borax, use one tablespoonful to each gallon of +water. A tablespoonful of ammonia and one tablespoonful of turpentine +to each washing will keep clothes white. Hard water may be softened with +potash or sal soda, which is much cheaper than borax and ammonia, but +potash and sal soda are both corrosive and very injurious to the linen. +Great care must be used in softening water with these alkalines. If they +are not thoroughly dissolved before using in the washer, little +particles are apt to escape the solvent action of the water and stick to +the linen and form brown spots which soon become holes. + + +_Good Soap a Necessity._ + +Soap is the next cleaning agent to be considered. You can not have +pretty, white linen without good soap. A good soft soap for use in hotel +laundries can be made from the refuse fat from the kitchen. This soap +will effect the cleaning of the hotel bed and table-linen, but for +bundle-washing, flannels, and prints, a milder soap is generally used. A +very good soap for washing flannels and prints may be made from the +pieces of soap that are collected from the rooms. + +How linen is laundered and to be able to give a scientific reason for +each step are the very first things a housekeeper should learn. No +housekeeper is worthy of the title if she is unskilled in laundry +tactics. Yet how few housekeepers there are that could give even a +recipe for making bleach, to say nothing of the most effective way to +use it so as to cause the least injury to the fabric? Few housekeepers +know little or anything of the benefits of the scientific researches +that have been made to render laundering easy. + +The linen must be carefully sorted and counted in the linen-room by the +linen-woman. In hotels where the houseman gathers the linen from the +different floors and carries it direct to the laundry, the laundryman +has been known to dump it in the washer without sorting it. This is the +source of many a lost pillow, blanket, nightshirt, and even pocketbooks +and jewelry. Guests often put their valuables under the pillow or in the +pillowslip and forget them. These valuables sometimes escape the +chambermaid's eyes in her haste to strip the beds. Sometimes a new +waiter in the dining-room will use a napkin to wipe his tray; these +greatly soiled napkins should be rinsed out before they are put in the +washer. + + +_Why the Hotel Laundry Work is Discolored._ + +Is it any wonder that the sheets and table-linen soon get that brown +color? All the soft water in the kingdom will not bring about the +desired results if the linen is not carefully sorted. The napkins should +be put in one pile, those that are badly soiled with mustard or gravy in +another pile, and the table-cloths in another. Napkins and table-cloths +that are stained with tea, coffee, chocolate, or fruit, should be laid +aside and boiling water should be poured through the stains before they +come in contact with soap, as the soap will help to set the stains +permanently. + +The laundryman should rise early and have the first washing from the +extractor before the laundrygirls make their appearance, which is +usually at seven o 'clock. + +The table-linen should receive the first attention. It is the least +soiled, the most expensive, and it may be needed before the bed-linen. +The napkins and table-cloths should not remain long after they are +shaken out. They will have a finer gloss if they are mangled immediately +after being taken from the extractor. + +One reason that linen gets that dirty brown color is because it has not +been properly rinsed before adding the blueing. The soap should be +thoroughly rinsed from the linen before the blueing is put in the +washer. How many hotel laundries send the linen to the linen-room damp +and steaming and smelling of soap? Is it any wonder that the linen is +soon full of holes and worn out? + +Two tablespoonfuls of kerosene in a washing will greatly aid in +cleansing, though more soap must be used in this case. + +In many laundries, there is not sufficient help. There should be at +least two girls employed to shake out and two at the mangles, in a +200-room house. Where there is bundle-washing it will require even more +help than this. + +The kitchen-linen should be washed by hand on the board and not put in +the washer. + +The housekeeper should be allowed plenty of help to properly do the +work. + + +_Bleaching Linens._ + +When clothes have become yellow by the use of impure water or any other +cause, the snowy whiteness must be restored by a bleaching process. +Chloride of lime and oxalic acid are powerful agents, and, if not +quickly removed from the fabric, they will corrode and do much injury to +the linen. Turpentine has some power as a bleacher as also has borax. +Blueing will aid in keeping the clothes white, but do not use too much. +There are a variety of blueings to be had. The indigo blue is the best. + +Starch will greatly aid in keeping clothes clean. It is made mostly from +rice, wheat, corn, or potatoes. Only a little starch should be used with +delicate fabrics. They should be no stiffer than when they are new. The +starch should be completely dissolved in cold water before adding the +boiling water. Stir the starch constantly while the boiling water is +being poured in. A few things may be put in to give a gloss, and to make +the iron run smooth; among them are paraffine, lard, kerosene, and gum +arabic. + + +_How to Iron._ + +Before commencing to iron, have ready a bowl of water and a cloth for +smoothing wrinkles and rubbing away any soot or spots that may get on +the garment. Have a piece of paraffine tied in a cloth to rub over the +iron, and a knife for scraping any starch from the iron that may stick +to it in the process of ironing. + +Put much weight on the iron and do not raise it from the garment but +move it quickly over the surface. When a wrinkle is made, dampen it +again with a wet cloth and smooth again with the iron. Always iron in a +good light so that scorching may be avoided. A garment should be ironed +quickly; otherwise it will dry out and much time will be wasted in going +over it with the damp cloth and changing the irons. + +In ironing a white duck skirt, stretch it in shape quickly while it is +damp and iron it into shape, else it will be long here and short there. +When ironing a ruffled skirt, always iron the bottom ruffle first and +turn it back while ironing the others. Iron around hooks and eyes and +not over them. Never iron a crease in a garment unless it is necessary. +A crease will mar the effect of the garment and also cause the threads +to break sooner, thereby making holes. + + +_Recipe for Making Bleach._ + +An inexpensive recipe for making a good bleach to be used every day will +be found in the following: + +Fill a clean barrel half full of boiling water and put into it ten +pounds of chloride of lime and stir until well dissolved. Dissolve ten +pounds of caustic soda in boiling water and stir in the barrel. Fill the +barrel with boiling water and stir. Let it settle and skim the little +white particles from the surface, as these are what rot the clothes. Use +one gallon of the bleach in a washing. + +Although laundering is one of the last kinds of work to receive the +benefits of scientific research, much effort has recently been made to +present easy and effective ways of laundering. The "how" and "why" has +been learned. It is no difficulty for the housekeeper to hire a +laundryman and to install him in his work with the words: "This is the +laundry; you will meet with many difficulties in your line, but you must +work out your own salvation." + + +_How Curtains are Washed and Mended._ + +Take down the lace curtains that you are going to wash and shake them +well so as to get all of the dust from them. Put them in cold water to +soak. Then wash by hand in warm suds, to which has been added one +teaspoonful of ammonia. Do not rub them, squeeze dry and rinse through +two waters. Do not blue them. If they are of an ecru shade, put a little +coffee in the water and they will look like new. Starch and stretch +loosely on the curtain frames while they are wet. The holes can be drawn +together while on the bars so they will never be noticed after they are +dry, and it is a far better way to mend curtains than darning them on +the machine after they have dried. Cream-colored curtains may be washed +in the same way. Colored madras and silk curtains can be cleansed in +gasoline. Great care must be taken, as gasoline is explosive. The +curtains should be taken to the bathroom, and the door should be bolted +and kept bolted until the curtains are cleaned and the gasoline is +washed down the sewer. The curtains are then taken to the roof and aired +for half a day. + +Embroidered and lace-trimmed pieces should be taken from the line while +only half dry and immediately ironed, to secure the best result. To +raise the embroidery, iron on the wrong side over several layers of +flannel covered with a sheet of old linen. + +Never iron lace with the point of the iron, if you would have it look +like new. Pull and pat it into place, picking out the loops with a +hairpin, or with a pointless darning-needle or bodkin. Dampen it with a +wet cloth and press with the reverse iron, using its "heel" only. + +When ironing circular centerpieces and table-cloths, see that the iron +moves with the straight grain of the cloth. If this method is followed, +the circular edge will take its true line. Guard against ironing on the +bias or on a curve, lest the linen stretch hopelessly out of shape. +Never fold a piece of this character after ironing it. + + + + +THE HOUSEKEEPER'S RULES. + + +If the management does not provide the housekeeper with rules, she is +safe in formulating the following: + +1. Maids must report for duty at 7:00 a.m. + +2. Maids must lock all doors when leaving rooms. + +3. No maid is allowed to transfer chairs or furniture from one room to +another by order of the guests, unless they have an order from the +office. + +4. Maids must report at once any articles which are misplaced or taken +from the rooms. + +5. Keep all soiled linen in closets. + +6. Maids must not leave any article of soiled linen lying in the halls. + +7. Maids must not leave their brooms, feather dusters, dust-cloths, or +sweepers, in the halls at any time during the day. + +8. Any article found in the rooms must be brought to the linen-room, +with the number of the room and date when found. + +9. All keys found left in rooms and doors must be sent to the office. + +10. When a tray of dishes is left in a room, the maid must ring for a +bell-boy and have him notify the headwaiter or report it to the +housekeeper who will telephone the headwaiter. + +11. All ink, paper, and pens left in the rooms must be put in the wire +ink and stationery-receiver. + +12. The watch-girls must report at 6 p.m. and remain until 10 p.m. or +later, if required. + +13. All torn blankets and spreads must be brought to the linen-room for +repairs. + +14. Maids must not receive men friends in their rooms. + +15. The housekeeper will relieve the linen-woman while she goes to her +meals. + + +_Sunday._ + +1. Maids must report at 8 a.m. and remain until 1 p.m. + +2. Watch-girls must report for duty at 1 p.m. and remain until 9 p.m. + +All of these rules can not be, at all times, strictly enforced by the +housekeeper. She will make such modifications as are made necessary by +circumstances. But rules she must have, and she must insist on their +being observed. + + + + +THE PARLOR MAID. + +Excepting the linen-room position, that of parlor maid is the most +desirable situation that the hotel housekeeper can offer a girl. The +wages are usually better than those of a chambermaid, and her work is +not near so laborious. At all times, the parlor-maid is neatly dressed, +suave, serene, and courteous. A quiet and unobtrusive manner is +absolutely essential. She needs to take many steps during the day, and +thus youth and a slender figure are the first qualities in one who +wishes to make a success of the position. She meets people of wealth and +refinement and the ultra fastidious, hence her position is a responsible +one and requires a dignified appearance and demeanor. She must have +self-respect and must claim the respect of others. None of the +moralities must be omitted nor must she forget the daily bath, clean +underwear, and clean hosiery every day. The morning is the time for the +parlor-maid to do the cleaning, and she should wear about her work a +washable dress of percale or dimity, with a white apron. In the +afternoon and evening, this should be exchanged for a black skirt, +white waist, and white apron. + + +_Where Work Is Diversified._ + +She is expected to render quite diversified services. Her duties vary +with the mode of life of those by whom she is employed. She will +scarcely be called on to do all the work that is herein enumerated; but +the success of any hotel employe is largely due to the number of things +he or she is able to do well. A parlor-maid may raise her occupation to +a level with that of millinery or dress-making. There is room at the top +of the ladder for the expert parlor-maid just the same as there is for +any other person in any other calling. + +In the small hotels, the parlor-maid usually cares for the proprietor's +private apartments. In addition to these, a suite next to the parlor may +be given her to keep in order. She can easily look after these rooms +where she has only one parlor. The cleaning of the ladies' toilet-room +and reception-hall and the ladies' entrance-stairs usually falls to the +parlor-maid. She must look after the writing-rooms, do the high dusting, +clean the tiles, clean the mirrors, polish the brass trays, clean the +cuspidors, wash the lace curtains, and sweep and dust. In washing +windows and mirrors, she should use warm water to which a little ammonia +has been added. She should not use soap, as the grease in the soap makes +the polishing difficult. Wipe with a dry cotton cloth and polish with a +chamois skin. + + +_Keeping Parlor in Order._ + +As the parlor must always be in readiness for the reception of guests, +it is thoroughly cleaned early in the morning. Once a week is often +enough for a thorough cleaning. Monday is the best day for it. The +furniture is moved into the hallway or into one corner of the parlor, +the parlor is swept and dusted and every article replaced before +breakfast. On week days, the corners are dug out with a whisk-broom and +the dirt taken up with the sweeper. The parlor is dusted frequently and +the cuspidors washed at least four times a day. She should wash the +cuspidors inside and out, using soap and water; then wipe with a dry +cloth. Leave a little clean water in the cuspidors, as this will make +the vessels easier to clean next time. + + +_Cleaning Brass Trays._ + +If the brass trays under the cuspidors are very badly stained, the +stains may be easily removed with a solution of vinegar and salt, to +which has been added a little flour. Have the mixture boiling hot; rub +the tray with the mixture with a flannel cloth, then wash the tray with +hot water and wipe dry with a cloth. After this, it may be polished with +a good mineral paste or some of the special preparations made for the +purpose, using a flannel cloth for polishing. + +The high dusting is done with a long handled broom. Tie a bag made of +cotton flannel over the broom and brush the walls downward. Brush the +dust off the cornice and over the doors and windows. Then, using a clean +cheesecloth duster, go over the doors, window sills, mantles, and +furniture, changing the soiled dust-cloth frequently for a clean one. +The housekeeper must see that the parlor-maid is supplied with plenty of +clean dust-cloths. + + +_The Maid's Many Duties._ + +If the fireplace is finished with tile, the parlor-maid should wash +these with soap and water. She should polish the brass and replace it. +The curtains and silk draperies should be taken down and hung in the +open air and brushed with a whisk-broom. The rugs should be rolled up +and the houseman should take them to a flat roof where they should be +laid flat and swept. They should not be whipped or beaten, as "whipping" +will ruin an expensive rug. When sweeping the stairs of the ladies' +entrance, the parlor-maid should use the whisk-broom and dust-pan. The +ladies' toilet-room requires some care to keep it always neat and clean. +After sweeping the floor and dusting the doors, the bowls should be +washed inside and out with the toilet-brush and a disinfectant put in. +The stationary wash-basins should be scrubbed with sapolio and the +faucets polished. There should be kept always on hand clean towels and +soap, a comb and brush, a box of face-powder--the English prepared chalk +is the best for toilet-rooms. The public baths on the parlor floor come +under the parlor-maid's charge. She should keep the tubs and the floor +clean, and see that soap and towels are supplied. + +The writing rooms should be cleaned before breakfast. The sweeping +should be done the first thing in the morning. The desks should be +supplied with fresh pen points, paper and ink once a day. The waste +paper baskets should be emptied as often as is necessary, and the +cuspidors should be cleaned at least four times a day. + + +_Keeps Assembly-Room in Order._ + +It is usually the parlor maid's duty to take care of the casino, more +familiarly called the assembly-hall. The casino floor requires very +careful cleaning. No scrubbing or sweeping with ordinary brooms is +permissible on a polished hardwood floor. It should be carefully swept +with a bristle broom and the dust taken up on the dust-pan. The floor +should then be dusted with a broom, over which has been tied the +cotton-flannel bag made for the purpose. If there are any spots on the +floor, they will have to be washed up, but this will take off the +polish; therefore, it must be restored by the weighted brush or weighted +box with Brussels carpet tacked on the bottom of it. The original polish +is restored by pulling the box back and forth over the floor. A +housekeeper will make a sad mistake if she attempts to scrub the +ballroom floor. + + +_Waxing the Ballroom Floor._ + +In most every hotel, it is left to the housekeeper to wax the ballroom +floor before the opening of the "hop." The wax is sprinkled over the +floor. + +In very large hotels in large cities where there are three or four +public parlors, and where three or four parlor-maids are employed, their +work is confined to the parlors. The parlor-maid waits on the ladies, +helps them on and off with their wraps, and caters to their comfort both +physically and mentally; keeps the parlor clean, and does many little +acts which go to make a great big hotel seem like home. + + +_The Card and Wine-Rooms._ + +No drinks are served in the public parlors, public halls, or +cosy-corners. The wine-rooms are usually kept in order by the +parlor-maid. The bar-porter should come for the bottles and remove the +dishes. The parlor-maid should sweep and dust the wine rooms and wipe +the tables, if they are polished wood. If they are ordinary dining-room +tables, she should put clean table-cloths on them twice a day. The +wine-rooms are usually named for the cities: Chicago, New York, +Binghamton, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Denver, and New Orleans. + +The card-rooms are kept in order by the parlor-maid. There is seldom +much furniture in a card-room, only chairs and tables. Sweeping and +dusting once a day and a clean cover for the table is all that is +required. + +To make a muslin cover for a poker-table, take a piece of muslin and cut +it round to fit the table, allowing six inches to hang down. Run a +casing on the edge of it, with a bias piece two inches wide. Run in the +casing, a drawing-string of common wrapping-twine. The drawing-string +must be as long as the muslin is around so it will not have to be +removed when laundered. After it is laundered, put it on the table and +pull the drawing-string, and tie under the table. + +In small hotels where the parlor-maid is called on to perform all of +these manifold duties, she is assisted by the houseman. + + + + +ABOUT CHAMBERMAIDS. + + +Some person that does not know anything about the life of a chambermaid +will tell you that the "chambermaid has no protection, no morality, and +is without the influence of a fixed place or home atmosphere;" finally, +that "chamber-work is the most degrading occupation a girl can engage +in!" + +If a girl is not capable of a higher calling, why should not she make +beds in a hotel when there is such a crying need from the hotel managers +for conscientious and painstaking work? It is not every girl that +Providence has blessed with a prima donna's voice. Not every girl can be +admitted on the vaudeville stage. Not all have had kind and wealthy +parents to send them through college and fit them for the higher +attainments. + + +_Chambermaid Can Take Care of Self._ + +The proprietor is ever ready to protect the maids from undue familiarity +from the male patrons of the hotel. This is seldom necessary. The +average maid meets an incivility with a cold disdain that puts to rout +a second attempt. Men that wreck women's lives are found outside of +hotels. + + +_Religion a Factor._ + +It is an undisputed fact that the Irish-American Catholic girls make the +best chambermaids. The comfort found in the Catholic religion +compensates for the loss of home ties. She is without any danger signal +save her own conscience, yet there does not exist on the face of the +earth a more moral class of girls than the Irish-American Catholic +chambermaids in the hotels of the United States. + +She goes at her work determined to use her experience as a +stepping-stone to something higher. She encounters many pitfalls. She +makes a few mistakes, but during her stay in Yankeeland she has learned +President Roosevelt's maxim: "The man who never makes any mistakes is +the man who never does anything." She is consoled by it, and from her +pitfalls learns a lesson that enables her to avoid making the same +mistakes in the future. + + +_Not a Bad Day's Program._ + +At the Grand Union Hotel in New York City, and in hotels in other cities +in New York state, the writer has learned from observation that the +social side of the chambermaid's life is a pleasant one. She begins the +day at 7:15 and quits at 4:00, except the night she is on watch. She is +given a ten o'clock lunch; she has one hour for dinner, and at 2:30 she +is given fifteen minutes for a cup of tea. The night she is on watch, +she is served with a good dinner of chicken and all the good things the +hotel affords. She has every third Sunday off and may follow her own +will. She has time to cultivate acquaintances, and attend to her +religious duties. + + +_Christmas Time._ + +There is kindness and courtesy existing among the maids. When Christmas +day draws near, the festivities are looked forward to with eager +anticipation. Mysterious-looking bundles are coming in and going out. +Friends are remembered. The father and mother, brother and sister over +the water are not forgotten; and likewise the maids are not forgotten by +their employer. The dining-hall is wreathed in holly, the table is +loaded with all the season's delicacies. Trade is dull in the hotel, and +the time is given over to enjoyment. + + +_Chambermaids at Their Best._ + +There are evening parties in the "help's hall." The weekly "tips" or any +"stray coins" are invested in sugar and butter, and "fondant" is made +that would melt in your mouth. Then there is the "taffy-pull," the cups +of tea, and the "fortunes told," over the cups. The jokes go round, the +merry laughter resounds and gets so loud that the housekeeper, who has +retired, rises, and hastens to put a stop to the noise. Arriving on the +scene, she has not the heart to reprove them. Herein she tastes an old +joy of girlhood. It is Christmas. She slips back to her own room and +into bed again. The airs of "Killarney" and "The Wearing of the Green" +die away, and the house is quiet. + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. + + +The housekeeper should furnish the houseman with a synopsis of his +duties every morning. + +In addition to this, he has, of course, his regular duties--sweeping +halls, dusting, cleaning cuspidors, washing windows, hanging curtains, +moving furniture, laying carpets, and cleaning lights. Sweeping roofs +and keeping gutters clean fall to his share also. Fortunate indeed is +the housekeeper that can have a houseman for each floor. A skull cap and +an over-all suit would be appropriate apparel for the houseman. + + * * * * * + +Any defective plumbing in bathrooms should be promptly reported by the +housekeeper. Sometimes a guest will justly complain that the faucet in +the bathtub is out of order, and the water trickling all night keeps him +awake. + +A tray under the ice-water pitcher will save the table or dresser. + + * * * * * + +The soul of the housekeeper faints within her when a guest complains +that he has been given a room reserved for "plain drunks." He calls +attention to the fact that the carpet is patched in thirteen places, and +at least as many patches of paper are in evidence on the wall. + + * * * * * + +The sweepers require special care. The maids should bring them to the +linen room once a month where they are oiled. Never empty the sweeper by +pulling the pan down, as this breaks the spring, causing the pan to drop +lower than the brush, and the sweeper fails to pick up the dirt. A +Bissell sweeper in the hands of a skillful maid will last three years. + + +_Season for Repotting House-Plants._ + +September is the season for repotting house-plants. As flowers are such +important factors of civilization speaking to us of nature's God, it is +surprising that more plants are not seen in hotels, and that more +proprietors do not adopt this ingenious plan of beautifying their +dining-rooms and corridors, using palms instead of those cheap +artificial roses which are so conspicuous in third-rate hotels. + +The stately palm lends an air of refinement that nothing else can give. +The greatest obstacle to the growth of house-plants is dust. The palms, +azaleas, and rubber plants may be sponged occasionally to keep them +clean and healthy. Other plants may be taken to the bathroom and given a +shower-bath. In the summer time, two or three times a week is often +enough for watering the house-plants. In winter, once a week is +sufficient. + + + + +WHY HOTEL EMPLOYEES FAIL TO RISE. + + +The reasons why some people never rise above commonplace positions +should be made clear to all that seek employment or better conditions. +In every field, there are those that never take the initiative, and they +make up the great majority. They are apparently afraid of doing too much +work, or of making themselves generally useful, or of doing some bit of +work that has not been assigned them, for which they might not be paid, +forgetting that the world's greatest prizes are generally bestowed on +the individual who does the right thing without being told. + +If we wait to be told our duties, we cease to be moral agents and are +mere machines, and, as such, stationary in place and pay. + +If you would succeed, cultivate self-confidence, which is one of the +foundation stones of success. Rest assured your employer knows the +difference between "bluff" and the real thing. "Nerve" will not win in +the long run. It may accomplish temporary advantage, but there must be +something back of "nerve." + +Practice self-control. If you can not control yourself, you can not +control others. When the commander riding in front of his army takes to +the woods in the face of the enemy, he can only expect his troops to +follow his example. Anger is an unbecoming mood. In serenity, lies +power. + +Keep busy. Improve each moment. Do not be afraid of too much work. The +office-boy that sits around watching the clock, as if he might be +waiting for his automobile to take him home, will never own the hotel. + +The superintendent that has not enough patience to instruct properly a +beginner may lose valuable assistants and can not hope to achieve a +great enterprise. + +Do not become discouraged and resign your position because it is not up +to your ideal. It may be better to bear with the ills you have than fly +to others you know not of. + + + + +SUGGESTIONS IN CASE OF FIRE. + + +It is hard to tell a housekeeper what to do or what not to do in case of +fire. No two hotels are alike, and no two fires occur in the same way. +Circumstances are to be considered first. Much depends on the location +and the progress of the fire, and whether it is night or day. It is an +old maxim "that fire is a good servant but a hard master." Shakespeare +wrote: "A little fire is quickly trodden out, which, being suffered, +rivers cannot quench." It is bad policy to delay sending in the alarm to +the fire department. Many persons put off this important duty until it +is too late. They reason that it might alarm the guests and cause a +panic and that they will be drowned out. Thus they battle with the +flames with the incomplete fire apparatus belonging to the hotel, +refusing the petition to turn in an alarm to the fire department until +the fire has gained such headway that it is impossible for even the +skilled firemen to put it out. Thereby jeopardizing the lives of the +hotel guests and also the lives of the firemen. No general in command +of an army, no hero in battle deserves more praise than do these +courageous men who hourly risk their lives to save lives and the +property of others. Minutes count for something in a fire. The fire +department can quickly and quietly put out a small fire, and the guests +of the hotel may never know that a fire has occurred until it is all +over. Panics usually follow when the people are face to face with the +flames, and not at the sight of the fire department in front of the +hotel. To a sensible mind, the fire engine and firemen should bring a +feeling of safety. A feeling that if the hotel is on fire, the fire will +soon be extinguished. Keep cool; don't run, and don't talk or give +orders in an excited tone. Should a fire occur in a single room, close +the door of that room to prevent the flames from spreading, and go to +the nearest fire hose rack, and attach the hose to the plug and take the +nozzle end to the door of the room in which the fire is started, then go +back and turn on the water. If the water is turned on before the hose +has been carried it will make the hose too heavy for one person to +carry, especially if you have to climb a stairway or go any great +distance; a fire hose when full of water is very heavy. The housekeeper +should never desert the hotel in case of fire. She has in her possession +keys to all doors. She is familiar with the location of windows and fire +escapes, and the location of the fire extinguishers and axes. She knows +the position of all stairways, particularly the top landing and scuttle +to the roof. She knows where all fire proof doors are located, where the +water pails are kept and she can render the firemen great service in +directing them to a more advantageous position. All doors should be +unlocked so that the firemen can have free access without breaking them +in and causing delay. The doors, however, should be kept closed to +prevent the fire spreading. The rapidity with which a building is +consumed by flames is due to the wind and the draughts from stairways, +open doors and windows and elevator shafts. The walls of elevator shafts +and all vertical openings should be built of non-combustible material, +such as brick and mortar and all elevators should be equipped with +automatic traps. In case of a fire on the first floor, the automatic +trap would fall when a certain degree of heat was reached and thus +prevent the fire from reaching the second floor, and the progress of the +fire would be delayed. + +All fire hose should be tested every six months. A leak may have caused +the hose to become worthless. All hose should be attached to the fire +plug at all times and the little wrench for turning on the water should +be tied to the rack where the hose is kept. All these essentials should +be examined and carefully scrutinized by every housekeeper and +chambermaid. A fire can make great progress while some inexperienced +person is fumbling with and trying to attach the hose and turn on the +water. There should be a red light in the hall in front of the fire +escape window; a red light can be seen better than a white one. The view +of the fire escape window should never be obstructed by any kind of a +curtain. + +All hotels should have a stand pipe, it will reduce the rate of +insurance one-third. + +Although few people know how to escape down a rope fire-escape, every +room in the hotel should be equipped with one. All fire departments +should have a life net; dropping into a life-net is not so hazardous as +sliding down a rope when one is ignorant of the proper way to do it. The +life nets are made of woven rope with springs, and are 10 feet in +diameter. The firemen hold this net and persons dropping into it can be +saved. + +The Kirker Bender spiral tube fire-escape is the best and safest. In one +minute 200 persons can slide through the Kirker Bender, to absolute +safety. It is a very expensive fire escape, but expense should not be +considered when building fire-escapes. There should be a fire-alarm box +in every hall. Should a fire occur, on a floor where there is no +fire-alarm box, a messenger would have to be dispatched to the office +before the fire company could be notified. Some hotels have no fire-box +at all. The fire-box being located a block away from the hotel. +Fire-boxes can be put in hotels with very little expense. It is an old +saying--"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This is +especially true in the case of fire prevention. If the following +precautions are taken, fires from accident or spontaneous combustion +seldom occur. + + +_Fire Prevention._ + +Keep your hotel clean and never allow rubbish, such as paper, rags, +cobwebs, old clothing and boxes to accumulate in closets and unused +rooms. Don't allow coal oil lamps to be used by women patrons for the +purpose of heating curling irons. Never put up gas brackets so they can +be swung against door casings or immediately under curtains. Never keep +matches in any but metal or earthen safes. Never keep old woolen rags +that have been used in oiling and cleaning furniture, or waxing floors, +unless in a tin can with a tin lid. + + +_Origin of Fires._ + +Fires are the results of accidents, of spontaneous combustion, and of +design. If they have been accidental, the cause can generally be +discovered, and it will be found, that they might have been prevented. +Carelessness and negligence are the cause of over two-thirds of all +fires. + +Electrical fires are caused from electric light wires lying against +wood or iron, or coming in contact with water. A stream of water thrown +on a heavily charged electric light wire will give a shock and may even +kill the fireman holding the nozzle. This is one reason why the electric +lights are cut off when a fire is raging and thus leaving people to +grope their way out through darkness. All hotels should have hall-ways +lighted by gas, and especially should a gas light with a red globe be +placed in front of all fire escape windows. + +Should a fire occur at night the housekeeper should give orders to have +all doors unlocked and the gas lighted in the halls. + + + + +THE EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSEKEEPER. + + +The greatest wonder to my mind is that more women that must of necessity +earn their livelihood, do not adopt the profession of hotel +housekeeping. What nicer or more profitable way can a woman earn her +living. Standing at my window of a stormy morning, I see many women +going early through the wind and snow, sometimes rain, to their work, +and I can not help comparing my daily tasks to theirs. Many of these +women stand all day behind the counters of some large dry-goods store, +where they are designated only as No. 1, No. 2, and so on. Some of the +women are going to work in silk mills, where the looms keep up a +deafening roar, and where, at their noon hour, they must eat a cold +lunch. These women get a small salary, on an average $8.00 a week, and +out of this they must pay their room, board and laundry bills. + +I could not refrain from contrasting the hotel housekeeper's position +with that of other women-workers in cities. The housekeeper has a good, +warm room, clean bed, hot and cold bath, and the best eating that the +hotel affords. She may command the respect of all other employes in the +house, and may make many life-long friends. My advice to any young woman +seeking a situation is to start right at chamber-work, to keep her wits +sharp, and her head on her shoulders. To be sure, there are many +temptations, all of which the average girl should be able to resist. But +a chambermaid with a modest and reticent disposition may never meet with +any pitfalls, at least, no more than would be encountered in a dry-goods +store or factory. From chambermaid, she may get promoted to the +linen-room, where she will be shielded and protected from interlopers, +and will have plenty of leisure to sew or to mend for her own benefit. + +She can save money, for she will have better pay in the linen-room. She +will also have better food, and will learn something of the executive +management of the hotel. Naturally, she will see more of the proprietor +or the manager, and will learn his ideas and principles, which knowledge +may be useful to her in later years. Time brings about many changes, and +hotels change proprietors, as well as housekeepers and managers. Often, +when a new manager makes his appearance, he will bring his housekeeper +or linen-room woman with him; in this case, the linen-room woman may +have to secure another situation. Now is her chance to take a step +higher on the ladder, by obtaining a position as housekeeper. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Assembly Hall, 87 + + Attention to Details, 34 + + + Birds of Passage, 32-33 + + + Character in The Hotel Business, 26 + + Cleaning Rooms, 41-44 + + Card and Wine Rooms, 88 + + Cleaning Brass, 85 + + Chambermaids, 90 + + + Evolution of the Housekeeper, 104-105 + + + Fires, Suggestions in case of, 98 + + Fire Prevention, 102 + + Fires, origin of, 103 + + + Gossip between employes, 29-30 + + + Housekeeper and the Help, 17-22 + + Housekeeper's salary, 38-40 + + Housekeeper, progressive, 35-37 + + Housekeeper's Rules, 81 + + Housekeeper, relationship between guests, 31 + + Housekeeper, requirements of, 11-20 + + Housekeeper, and co-operation, 17-22 + + How to Make Beds, 47-48 + + How to Clean Walls, 49-51 + + How to Scrub a Floor, 51-52 + + How to Get Rid of Vermin, 53-57 + + + Linen Room, Linen Woman, 63-68 + + Linen, table, care of, 69-70 + + Linen, removing stains, 70 + + Linen, best kind, 71 + + Linen, how to test, 72 + + Laundry, making bleach, 73-80 + + + Miscellaneous subjects, 94 + + + Parlor Maid, 83-90 + + Proprietor's Wife, 23-25 + + + Room Inspection, 21-28 + + + Vacuum Cleaning System, 58-62 + + + Waxing Ballroom Floor, 88 + + + + + +-------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 8 succees changed to success | + | Page 9 Riebold changed to Reibold | + | Page 12 linen-en-room changed to linen-room | + | Page 14 housekeeperes changed to housekeepers | + | Page 22 ordel changed to ordeal | + | Page 23 plebianism changed to plebeanism | + | Page 24 benefitted changed to benefited | + | Page 31 sweetner changed to sweetener | + | Page 33 admireres changed to admirers | + | Page 39 avereage changed to average | + | Page 40 theadbare changed to threadbare | + | Page 44 symmetricaly changed to symmetrically | + | Page 49 woll changed to wall | + | Page 49 obmtain changed to obtain | + | Page 58 clening changed to cleaning | + | Page 59 sytem changed to system | + | Page 60 accumulationg changed to accumulating | + | Page 63 line changed to linen | + | Page 65 ow changed to How | + | Page 67 line changed to linen | + | Page 70 procees changed to process | + | Page 71 presen changed to present | + | Page 75 line changed to linen | + | Page 75 pilow changed to pillow | + | Page 85 cupidors changed to cuspidors | + | Page 87 cosino changed to casino | + | Page 88 Balroom changed to Ballroom | + | Page 89 Binghampton changed to Binghamton | + | Page 96 occasionaly changed to occasionally | + | Page 99 headwas changed to headway | + | Page 100 prevtn changed to prevent | + | Page 102 an a floor changed to on a floor | + | Page 103 Carlessness changed to Carelessness | + +-------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Guide to Hotel Housekeeping, by Mary E. 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