HOUSEHOLD HELP. 345 



Did you ever think of that, with its weary, dreary mo- 

 notony ? Let some of the grumbling husbands and fathers 

 think of this one item of the home-life work, and they will 

 drop their heads abashed. 



This is only one single item ; the business of a house- 

 keeper is a complicated one ; a hundred different branches 

 of skilled labor massed into one — a piece of complex ma- 

 chinery, each part fitting into some other part, working 

 smoothly so long as all are kept under control and oiled ; 

 but creating a terrible clashing and confusion so soon as 

 one portion is thrown out of gear. 



We have tried it in the North with servants, trained, 

 competent servants; we have tried it in the South with 

 servants — not trained, and without them — and our verdict 

 is, that the life of a housekeeper is full of trials and trib- 

 ulations. 



The worst trial the Florida housekeeper has to encounter 

 is the total absence of competent, reliable help in house or 

 kitchen. To be sure, there are in most sections plenty of 

 so-called "cooks" to be had, and, generally, the new-comer 

 who can afford to pay from eight to ten dollars per month, 

 and has never been accustomed to doing her own work, 

 makes it her first business to secure one of these wonderful 

 assistants immediately — we call them " wonderful " advis- 

 edly, as will presently appear. 



And if the ''lady of the house" has cherished dreams 

 of the famous old plantation "aunties," so neat, so tidy, 

 so faithful, so respectful, so competent to do all and every 

 thing, then ' ' great is the fall thereof" 



Of a far different class from the faithful old slaves of 

 yore are the present generation of free-born colored ladies 

 and gentlemen. 



Not long since one of the former was hailed in the streets 

 of Jacksonville. 



