Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/36

14 said Mr. Micawber to David Copperfield, "you know. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen, nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds, ought and six, result misery. The blossom is blighted, the leaf is withered, the God of day goes down upon the dreary scene, and in short you are for ever floored." Once a month it is advisable that the mistress overlook her store of glass and china, marking any breakages on the inventory of these articles.

When a housekeeper is entrusted with these duties, the mistress should examine her accounts regularly. Then, any increase of expenditure can easily be examined, the mistress will have a regular check upon her expenditure, and the housekeeper who strives to manage her department well and economically will know that her efforts are appreciated.

Engaging Servants is one of the most important duties the mistress is called upon to perform. One of the commonest ways of procuring servants is to answer advertisements or to insert a notice, setting forth what kind of servant is required. In these advertisements it is well to state whether the house is in town or country, and indicate the wages given. There are many respectable registry-offices, where good servants may be hired. A good plan is for the mistress to tell her friends and acquaintances of the vacant place. A lady whose general relations with her domestics are friendly, and fairly permanent, will seldom need to employ any of these methods. Suitable applicants will soon present themselves to fill the vacant places, generally friends of the domestic who is obliged to leave.

We would here point out an error—and a grave one—into which some mistresses fall. They do not, when engaging a servant, tell her all the duties which she will be expected to perform. All the work which the maid will have to do should be plainly set forth by the mistress, and understood by the servant. If this plan is not carefully adhered to, misunderstanding is almost certain to occur, and may not be easily settled.

Servants' Character.—It is hardly safe to be guided by a written one from an unknown quarter; it is better to have an interview, if possible, with the former mistress. In this way you will be helped in your decision as to the fitness of the servant by the appearance of her former place. No mistress desires a needless change of servants. The proper way to obtain a personal interview with a servant's former employer is to tell the applicant for the situation to ask her former mistress to appoint a convenient time when you may call on her; this courtesy being necessary to prevent any unseasonable intrusion on the part of a stranger. Your first questions should be relative to the honesty and general morality of the servant; and if the replies are satisfactory, her other qualifications are then to be ascertained. Inquiries should be very minute, so that you may avoid disappointment and trouble,