38 KANSAS UNIVKKSITV yUARTKl.V. 



agricultural colleges and manual training schools, but the require- 

 ments and conditions of these schools make them out of the reach 

 of most servants. 



This subject is not altogether a new one and many are the objec- 

 tions which have been made against servant's training schools. 

 It is said that servants will not see the advantage to be gained 

 from them and therefore will not attend them; also, that house- 

 keepers will not recognize the superior ability of these trained 

 young women, and they will therefore be in no greater demand 

 than their untrained associates. 



But the experiment has been tried, and these objections can be 

 met and answered with knowledge based on facts. Among New 

 York society women who have interested themselves of late in 

 social subjects is Mrs. Spencer Trask. She is the wife of a wealthy 

 banker on Wall street. Two years ago Mr. and Mrs. Trask erected 

 in memory of two children a large and beautiful building which is 

 called " St. Christina's Home." It is for the education of servant 

 girls. This is one . of the finest buildings on Ballston Avenue, 

 Saratoga. Here forty girls are trained in the common branches 

 and in all departments of household work. 



Girls from any part of the country are received, and the number 

 is always full. If a girl is able to pay for instruction, she is per- 

 mitted to do so, but otherwise, free instruction is given. The age 

 for entrance is from ten to fourteen years, and the course from 

 three to five years. The school provides a pleasant home during 

 this time, and the general air of refinement which pervades it fur- 

 nishes no small part of the education of these young girls. Grad- 

 uates from this school are in great demand, and they find no 

 difficulty in obtaining high wages. 



Mrs. Trask has tried in her own home the experiment of giving 

 to her servants a pleasant sitting-room with pictures, and literary 

 and musical advantages. This departure at first called forth only 

 ridicule from her friends but they now have cause to envy the 

 domestic comfort of Mrs. Trask's household. 



Mrs. John Sherwood is another New York woman who has prac- 

 tical ideas on this subject. To quote from a newspaper account of 

 her theories, "She believes that girls from cities would be induced 

 to go to such schools because they would have good homes for the 

 year or two they would be imder instruction. 



"The home and training would be free. But to give the girls a 

 feeling of independence they would work after graduation for a 

 year or six months in some family, where they would be located by 

 the school, and thus assist in its maintenance. 



