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diff --git a/35066.txt b/35066.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c2942c --- /dev/null +++ b/35066.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: 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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