Duties of Waitress and Cook.—­Where two maids are kept they are waitress—­ “second girl” or “housemaid,” sometimes so-called—­and cook.  The housemaid—­we will so style her—­opens and airs the house and dusts and arranges the rooms before breakfast.  She serves the breakfast, clears the table and washes the dishes taken from it.  She then proceeds to the bedrooms, putting them in order, dusting, making beds, etc.  She will probably have fine lingerie waists, etc., to wash and iron on certain mornings.  She does the sweeping, unless there is a man to take out and beat the rugs, and wipes up hardwood floors.  She must clean the silver once a week and rub up brass; keep the pantries in order, clean the bathrooms, wait on table, answer the bell, both the door bell and her mistress’s bell, and usually assist the latter in dressing.  She is expected to do part of the family mending, keeping table linen and bed linen in good condition, and in some households is expected to wash and iron the napkins and dish-towels, unless a laundress is employed.

The Cook’s Work.—­The cook must prepare the meals, and put the food into the proper dishes and these in the pantry, ready for the waitress, who is not expected to enter the kitchen during the service of a meal.  She washes the dishes used in the kitchen and the meat dishes from the table; she must keep the kitchen and its adjuncts, including back stairs, refrigerator, back porch and closet in order.  Her mistress plans the meals with her, and she is expected to make good and economical use of left-overs.  She often does the ordering by telephone, and sees to the milk, ice, etc., as they are delivered.

Should Understand Duties.—­Most of the difficulties between servants arise from misunderstanding of and friction about their respective duties.  It is best to have a definite and thorough understanding as to the work expected of each before engaging her.  Both cook and housemaid have one afternoon and one evening each week and every other Sunday afternoon.  When one is off duty the other must necessarily assume part of her work.  Some mistresses allow a girl the afternoon and evening of one day; others give one afternoon, and the evening of another day, requiring the cook to return to prepare dinner on her “day” and the maid to come back to serve it on hers.  If afternoon and evening go together the cook is expected to leave everything in readiness for the evening meal; the cook, on the housemaid’s day out, must wait upon the table.

Servants always respect a mistress who knows her rights, exacts them, and respects her servant’s rights.  She should permit no familiarities; at the same time she must not regard her household assistants as mere machines, beyond her sympathy, Good mistresses make good servants.

[782 Mothers’ remedies]

The Nurse.—­The nurse must wash and dress the children; keep their clothes in order, washing and ironing the finer articles; eat with them, keep the nursery in order; sleep in the room, or in a room adjoining them with the door open, and take care of them when they are ill.  A nursery governess teaches them, and is excused from the laundry work and from keeping the nursery in order.