CHAPTER X

THE GREAT SERVANT QUESTION

In the chapter about the kitchen arrangements, the most burning question of the hour was just touched upon, and a few hints were thrown out as a species of guide to solve the knotty problem, which certainly is more acute in the suburbs than in any other place. First, because it is often found impossible to coax the best maids away from the wiles and entrancements of the town; and secondly, because the accommodation for them is often little short of disgraceful. Though for the matter of that, I have seen worse servants’ rooms in big houses in grand localities in London than in any other, while the rooms set apart for them in flats would be ludicrous if they were not so pernicious, and did not so largely account for the unpopularity of what ought to be an almost ideal place of residence for a husband and wife, who have either settled their children in life, or have no children to settle or think about in any way.

We have described at length how we should circumvent the ordinary suburban kitchen, now for a while, let us think about the servants’ bedrooms, which are often quite as difficult to manage, and are all too often much too few to be in any way comfortable or decent. Should the general number of four maids be kept, or should a fifth be required, it is almost impossible to make an arrangement that only allows of the work being done properly and in order. I have had a large, a very large, experience of servants in more ways than one, and I venture to remark that where they are a nuisance it is because, first of all, they have not been chosen with care and common sense; secondly, because no attempt is made to make them comfortable or cause them to feel part of the household; and thirdly, because what I may call ‘composite maids’ are engaged. That is to say that the cook is required to clear the breakfast and answer the bell in the morning, and do a certain amount of housework; while the parlour-maid has to help with the beds, and the nurse to do the washing as well as look after, dress and walk out with the children. Now I state boldly that such a division of labour can never be either necessary or successful, and if the dwellers in the suburbs will amalgamate the several duties of a servant in this way, they can never know the least peace, for no servant worth her wages or even her salt will take such a nondescript position unless under very exceptional circumstances. These may include places where the mistress has taken her maids from the first, and has carefully instructed and brought them up herself, or they may be personally greatly attached to her themselves, and value not only her kindness but the comfort and comfortable home she gives them. But these circumstances are as rare as they are satisfactory. Therefore unless these things are the case, let no one abuse the maids unmercifully because they will not one and all be maids of all work, but rather consider how best to arrange the day’s routine, so that each shall stick to her task cheerfully, giving presently a helping hand to another out of real good-will, and not because she is imperatively requested to do so as a matter of course.

Unfortunately there are hundreds of women who can neither give good wages nor keep a sufficient number of maids; and these are the miserables who join their wails to those others who, more unhappy still, have not the slightest idea how to manage another woman, whose one idea is that a maid is a thing whose capacity for work is endless, who can never tire, never want to go out, and who, above all, can never be ill. Such a mistress treats her servant as he or she does a horse who has never been used to possess this quadruped, and seeing only that it is made to go, drives or rides it to death, because previous experience has been wanting to teach the driver or rider the amount of work which can be obtained without undue exertion and pressure. Now it is necessary to point out that, if a sufficient number of servants cannot be employed to do the work decently and in order, the work must be lessened in some way or another, by the mistress herself giving a helping hand, and not only directing it but doing some of it. She must be content to call a spade a spade, and not have any hankerings after ‘agricultural implements.’ A cook she may not possess, a good general servant is what she requires, while a housemaid who can wait at table replaces the house parlour-maid who never did and never could have a decent existence or be anything save a miserable sham! If a good general servant, who can cook is engaged, at once the way is made plain before all concerned. Such a woman cheerfully keeps her own kitchen, the hall staircase (if in a basement), and front steps in order, and has the dining-room under her charge. She will likewise clear out the breakfast and answer the front door up to twelve, but she must not be called a cook; if she is, she will cook, but she will not for one moment step out of her province to do anything else whatever.

In the same way must the housemaid be managed, for in such an establishment the parlour work can but be of the most meagre description, and if the mistress is house-proud, and really has desires after fine and careful living, she must keep silver, glass and china clean herself, and see herself to the laying of the cloth and all the thousand and one items which go to form the finer portions of housekeeping. An occupation which will no doubt trouble and disgust the woman who demands to ‘live her own life’ and ‘develop her soul’ at the expense of the comfort of the household which she has undertaken to guide when she became the wife of the bread-winner. I am not going to express an opinion on the merits of a career, bounded by the nursery on the one side and the kitchen on another, there will always be a difference of ideas on the subject; but I am going to say very forcibly, that when a woman marries she undertakes this special business; and should she regret it or allow the reins to slip out of her hands, she is ‘obtaining money under false pretences,’ and is undoubtedly neglecting the work she solemnly promised to perform. Therefore, all women who marry must be prepared to face the situation and to know that before they can ‘live their own lives’ and ‘develop their souls’ as mentioned before, they must see that their houses are in order and that their houses are homes in the widest sense of the word.

People are continually writing to me, and also to everyone else who gives advice on the special subjects of house management and decoration, about this servant question, and, moreover, as continually ask how to divide or apportion their special incomes to their special wants; but they cannot see how utterly impossible it is for a complete stranger to do more than vaguely generalise on either subject. The servant question has always been simplicity itself to me, and I cannot understand the difficulties which beset so many women in these days, simply because I have never come across them myself. But then, I do not expect perfection. I give fair wages, and am as considerate to the maids as they are to me, and I am not unduly dismayed or cast down when I discern faults and failings that are human after all, and denote that at present, at least, we have not reached the golden age. At the same time, I am convinced that the real trouble, as I said before, is caused in small houses by the ‘composite maid’ being called a cook, or house parlour-maid, when she is just either a general servant, or else a housemaid; and in larger ones by sufficient care not being taken to obtain the kind of maiden one really does want, and by expecting too much from her when she is in our service.

The life of the ordinary domestic servant, despite the delirious joy of the tradesman’s daily calls, is an extremely dull one. The routine is everlasting, the relaxations few, and the changes still fewer. In many households a friend to tea is a crime; an unexpected holiday an impossibility; while the days follow each other in a wearisome routine which would tell on the nerves of anyone even far more highly educated than is the orthodox maid-servant. How many brilliant summer days pass, and no one suggests an afternoon or evening stroll, or even a drive through the country lanes. How many dreary winter days go by, and no one says there is a good play at such and such a theatre, go and see it. Or who takes concert seats, and sends off the maids for a couple of hours from the everlasting kitchen and the weary round of unending duties? Well, some people do, and where this occurs there the maids often stay on and on, giving real and loving service, and doing their utmost for those who try to do their utmost for them.

Then once more how few maids really have and possess their mistress’s confidence. They hear a vast amount of grumbling about ‘the books,’ and the dreadful waste which does go on, often enough more through ignorance than through their carelessness; but they do not comprehend that there is an all-important reason why such waste should not be allowed, because the mistress has never explained matters to the maids, or told them there is necessity for great care in all the household departments. As a rule servants have what they consider the ‘honour of the house’ very near their hearts; and they cannot endure the notion that their mistress shall even be suspected of ‘meanness.’ And this is often the cause of the needless orders given in those establishments where the tradesmen are allowed to call; for, rather than send them away without an order, the servants will rack their brains to think of something, not because they really desire to swell the bills, but because they like their house to be one of which the tradespeople speak well, and because they will not have it spoken of as a ‘mean sort of place, where every halfpenny is counted and made to do the duty of a penny piece.’ Then too, at the bottom of a great deal of domestic mismanagement is the utter and really ghastly thriftlessness of the lower classes, which no one who has not seen it could credit.

I have had to be a great deal away from my own house, owing to long-continued illness, and in consequence I have seen a great deal of the way in which other people manage, and I boldly say that I have seen more waste and real extravagance among people who ought to save absolutely every bone and piece of bread than among those who could really afford to waste, did they not consider it wicked to do so. While the lower one goes in the social scale, the more one finds waste the order of the day; and not only actual waste, but the waste of having the best joints, the most expensive butter, and the continual variety of food that no one in the upper middle classes can afford, even should they think it necessary to have it. I have noticed real want existing among a specially improvident set of people, while, at the same time, I have been shocked to see great lumps of meat and bread (unpaid for) in the pigs’ tub. The young people of these households would have their boots blacked for them, their hot water and bath water carried up for them, and be waited on, before they went out to their shops or work, as one’s own children would never dream of being waited on, in a much much higher rank of life. In these households the servants have simply an awful time of it, and hence class prejudice is fostered terribly, while the unthrifty ways of the household leave their mark on all who pass through it, and help to build up a class that is in every way unsatisfactory.

We hear a great deal of the competition of the foreigner, and there are loud shouts for ‘protection’ and ‘fair trade,’ but the ‘protection’ we want is against our own wasteful habits and ways of living, and we can never have ‘fair trade’ until we comprehend what waste really is, and know what is necessary to keep a household going and what is not. And this servant question is the very _crux_ of the whole matter, and, alas! is very little understood by the public at large, which seems quite incapable of grappling with the problem, although few people exist who have not a more or less loudly-expressed opinion on the subject.

It is also a problem which can never be solved until all have learned real thrift and carefulness, and until all classes learn how to trust each other, and the special conduct which should be maintained in all relations in life. Though the tendency nowadays to live in flats, and have as many meals as one can at a restaurant or hotel, may solve the servant question quicker than in any other way, regardless of the fact that a class of useful women will thus be improved off the face of the world in a manner I, for one, shall be extremely sorry to see. But flats are fleeting joys at best. I have heard of many people going to live in them, and have never known anyone renew his or her lease; so perhaps the pendulum may swing back again, and houses become the order of the day.

As long as servants are required, the best way to obtain them at first is for the young mistress to train them herself, always keeping on hand an under-study for the part of the upper-servant in the shape of kitchen and under-housemaids; in this way lie a sure success and comfortable domestic arrangements. Of course there are hundreds of small establishments where a couple of maids is all that can be allowed. These must be as described before, general and housemaid, then all will go rightly, providing care is taken to obtain good girls from good families, who have not been spoiled by a careless or bad mistress, or ruined by an unhappy and thriftless home training, which is often indeed worse than none. In a larger house where there are children; six maids and a boy to help, are the maximum; namely, cook and kitchen-maid, parlour-maid and housemaid, nurse and nursemaid; here again things will be all right, and there will be no over-work or under-work in the matter. Lucky is she who, by tie of birth or friendship, is connected with some country town or village, which shall act as her preserve, and from whence she can always draw fresh supplies should matrimony or other cause thin her domestic ranks and compel her to look out for another maiden.

But in all and every case should the registry office be most carefully avoided. If a servant or mistress has a ‘good name,’ exceptional indeed must be the circumstances that drive her to make use of these places. If a decent maid is leaving her place, the tradespeople know all about her and will tell her of the good places which may be open; and in the same way a really ‘good place’ doesn’t go begging. The tradesmen know of that too, and often act as a sort of informal registry-office which I have invariably found most useful in every manner. Then having caught one’s maids, let us consider how best to keep them, and undoubtedly is this done by making them as comfortable as we can, and by showing that we have a real interest in whatever they may have or do.

I have already written about the room they should have to sit in. Now let us consider those they should have for sleeping purposes, for often these are as badly arranged as they can be; economy is studied on the one hand, which on the other results in an amount of expenditure which is as unnecessary as it is worrying and distasteful to all concerned. One of these petty economies is that which consists of making a couple of maids share one bed, and that one anything but a comfortable place of rest and refuge. Now this should never be done. The economy consists in the saving of the washing of a pair of sheets, the misery comes in when the unwilling bedfellows quarrel and determine to move on elsewhere. In no case should more than two maids sleep in one room, and in every case such room should hold a couple of beds and a double set of washing-stands, drawers and toilet-table, and, moreover, there should be a good hanging wardrobe of some kind. If possible, once more the ever-useful P. T. C. from Wallace’s should be pressed into the service, and should decorate a couple of the room corners, one being devoted to the use of each maid, whose dresses will last twice as long if she have proper room for them, and if she have not to cram them into her small chest of drawers, shared all too often by her fellow-servant.

I consider Knowles’s sanitary papers quite ideal for the maids’ bedrooms, and there is a dainty ‘daffodil’ paper that no one can dislike or despise, and which can be wiped over once a month, if necessary, with a damp duster and come out as clean as a new pin. With this paper we could have earth-brown paint, and Liberty’s ever-useful dark blue and white butterfly cretonne, edged with frills, and blue and white dhurries on the stained floor. But if the floor is bad, and in the least degree draughty, it must first be covered with cork carpet, on which rugs or the ever useful dhurries can be laid down. Some suburban floors are amenable to no other treatment. We may plane them carefully, and ‘stop’ them as carefully too, but they will begin to gape at the smallest change in the weather, or at the sight of the first fire, and one can neither keep out the draughts nor the gently-drifting dust that penetrates at every corner, and spoils tempers and properties alike. Cork carpet I consider a most blessed invention, as it makes a capital background, and is warm and comfortable and quite spotlessly clean. This should be ‘gone over’ once a week in bedrooms of this class with a damp duster; and once a month should have a healthful polish with Jackson’s camphorated beeswax polish, made on purpose. The rugs should be shaken out of doors once a week, and, whenever possible the beds and bedding should be alike exposed to the sun and air in the garden; or, if not, in the rooms themselves, taking care that all windows and doors are open and a thorough draught ensured.

Indeed if we got more sun and more air into all our houses, every girl’s health would be far better than it is now; but despite all the preaching in the world, English women stuff up the windows with blinds and curtains, and shiver at the idea of fresh air, while they dread the fading of their curtains and carpets in a manner that would be ludicrous were it not so essentially harmful. Naturally too the genus domestic servant dreads open windows more than her mistress does, and will not air her bed if she can possibly avoid doing so. But if there is a rule that a fine, hot day shall see the mattresses, blankets and pillows on chairs in the garden for at least an hour after breakfast, the airing is ensured without the ‘poking and prying about,’ which is as distasteful to the mistress as it is disagreeable to the maid. In all cases too, the beds here as elsewhere, should consist of good hair mattresses laid on chain mattresses. These chains should be covered first by a square of holland, tied at the four corners, and this should be sent to the wash about every three months. The mattresses and pillows should be covered also, either with crash or holland cases, capable of being washed whenever necessary, and these covers will save the beds immensely from wear and tear, and ensure cleanliness at the same time. Wallace has a very good suite of servant’s furniture to sell for something under £5, but I think we should spend rather more on the bed, which is a very fair one, but not quite good enough if we are very particular, as we should be, about the comfort of the bed, as a hair mattress is impossible for this sum, and a hair mattress must be had if the bed is to be a real place of rest. Furthermore, I think the beds should have two pillows, as well as a bolster, and a second pillow should therefore be added, and all beds should have five blankets: one for the under blanket, and two pairs for over use. These should be sent to the wash in the spring; one pair at a time; and the beds should be supplemented with good heavy coloured counterpanes; the colour looks cheerful, and also ensures the quilts not looking dirty before they ought to.

The simpler the sets of ware the better, for, somehow, china never lasts long in the ordinary servant’s room. I think she rushes up at the last moment to wash and dress; she certainly gets up in the morning at the last possible instant she can, and the usual results of haste ensue. The handles come off the carelessly-seized jug, the soap-dish flies about, and the basins are literally ‘whacked’ down, because there is not time to treat them properly, therefore the excellent sets of blue and white ware Wallace sells at about 4s. 6d. should be the outside price to which we should go, taking care all the sets are alike; then one can supplement the other when smashes begin; and quite plain glasses and water-bottles should also be procured, in as stout a make as possible. Glass tumblers literally vanish in servants’ bedrooms, and I am often amazed at the way in which they disappear, one after the other, to a grave on the ash-heap or in the dust-bin.

Another thing on which we may with advantage spend a little more money is the looking-glass, and that without unduly encouraging vanity, for the usual one sold with the cheap suits is much too small to be of any real use. A girl cannot do her hair and arrange her dress neatly unless she has a glass large enough to allow of her doing so by its aid, and we should therefore choose the maid’s looking-glass as carefully as we should our own; but we should allow one each, if we wish for peace. More domestic quarrels are caused by the usual one small glass than many house mistresses are probably aware take place at all.

It is certain that all mistresses should, at least twice a year, thoroughly inspect all the furniture in the maids’ rooms, and replace then if possible, all that has been worn out during the past six months, but under no circumstances should this inspection take place without the presence of the maids, or when it is not expected. Nothing is more disagreeable to the ordinary mind than the idea that one’s room is not one’s castle; and many mistresses have made themselves eternal enemies by insisting on their undoubted right to enter any room in their own houses whenever they wish to do so. That the right is so undoubted should render it unnecessary to exact its performance. By all means see the rooms are all right, but do it at a proper season, and without the smallest idea of ‘pounce’ in it.

I do not think it wise to have gas in the maids’ rooms, unless it is turned off at the meter by the master at a certain hour, and yet it is undoubtedly safer than any other light, and is as undoubtedly cleaner. I have for years used nothing save the little ‘Butterfly’ lamps sold by A. & A. Drew, of Wareham, Dorset, but these are not good in careless hands, because the chimneys are so constantly being broken, and because the oil is capable of being spilled. Candles are worse possessions, as so many maids will read in bed, will smash the shades without which no candle can possibly be safe, and will drop grease from them on every available space. Remembering also that the dark winter mornings have to be considered, I am fain to retract my old belief that gas in a servant’s room spelt ruin, and to allow it reluctantly, placed near the looking glasses and not near the beds, and having woven-wire globes to protect the flame, similar to those used in places of business and in large schools; as the ordinary glass globe has even a shorter existence than the tumbler, and is broken in less time than it takes to tell about it.

If in any way possible, the beds should be placed against the wall, and foot to foot, with about 2 feet space between the ends of the beds. In this case a dado should be run round that portion of the wall where the beds stand, and this should be of plain brown patternless oil-cloth, and should have a real dado rail; this would keep the wall tidy for years. In no case must the dressing-tables be placed in the window, and blinds must never be allowed. If there is much sun, the dark blue and white cretonne curtains can be lined with still darker blue sateen, and if the windows are large muslin can be stretched upon them as in all other windows in the house; but blinds are an expense and an abomination. They are always out of order, are very rarely drawn up straight, and are as needless as they are dear and unsatisfactory. The dark curtains draw easily and cannot be drawn crooked, and are in every way much more sensible and useful than blinds.

I think that there should be fireplaces in all servants’ rooms. First because of the ventilation a chimney affords,--and the bi-annual inspection should include a glance at the chimney to see it is in nowise stuffed up--and secondly, because it is imperative that we should be able to have a fire there if necessary. It may sound improbable, but it is true, that the average suburban villa is colder than the cottages from which country maids come, where the thatched roofs and the thick walls often keep out extremes of temperature in a manner a jerry-built house ever can.

And here is one more hint. Let the roof of the house be white-washed in summer, if it be slated and the bedrooms come right up under it, for this makes an enormous difference to the temperature of the rooms, which is often enough simply awful even in a merely average summer without any very abnormal heat, while, should we have any real heat, these rooms become similar to ovens, and are really terrible for anyone to have to sleep in. Then have outside blinds of some kind; plain strips of dark green or blue linen placed outside the glass are better than nothing, though Williams’ green reed blinds are the best things in the world, if they can be afforded; and above all white-wash your roofs. You will be rewarded in the difference in the maids’ tempers, and health, which, are very often one and the same thing.

Now just one word more, and that on the vexed subject of food. You should feed the servants as much as possible as you feed yourselves, and then will you have peace and not otherwise. In another place I have dwelt at large on this matter; here it is sufficient to say that if a thing is good enough for the dining-room, it is good enough for the kitchen. Allowancing should never be resorted to, there is something about it that revolts the kitchen or servants’ hall, and it is as unnecessary in a well-managed house as it is useless and suspicious.

It will be seen, from the perusal of this little book, that the art of living in a suburban house is not quite as easy as it appears at first sight. At the same time it is without doubt one that can be acquired, and if our lot should be cast in the suburbs, it is positively necessary that we should learn to live there comfortably, unless we wish to be always on the move. Should what I have written on the subject help anyone to circumvent the special house he or she has selected, and to turn it from an unsatisfactorily-built villa into a comfortable home, I shall not have written in vain. At all events, the book has one merit, it is the outcome of real experience, and there is not a single ounce of imagination in the whole of it!

THE END.

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A complete set of Linens, consisting of Blankets, Quilts, Table Linen, Sheets, &c., suitable for a small house, for £7, 19s.

WALPOLE BROTHERS

Irish Linen and Damask Manufacturers

16 Bedford Street, Belfast; 8 and 9 Suffolk Street, Dublin

89 NEW BOND STREET (Two Doors from Oxford Street) {LONDON, W. and 102 KENSINGTON HIGH STREET, {

Established over a Century

W. Bros’. Special Designs in Table Damask are different from, and superior to, those to be seen elsewhere

* * * * *

HEWETSONS

House Furnishers and Decorators

212 TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD

Hewetsons’ New Illustrated Catalogue

Is the best and most complete Furnishing Guide published, and is forwarded free of charge. It contains =Estimates for Furnishing Houses= for £150, £300, £500, £1000, &c., each article in detail, illustrated and priced.

Decorating {=Hewetsons give Estimates Free of Charge= for {Painting and all kinds of Interior Decorations, Structural Alterations, Sanitary Work, Electric Lighting, &c.

The Largest Stock of ... ENGLISH CARVED OAK FURNITURE ... IN THE WORLD

* * * * *

JAMES SHOOLBRED & CO.

TOTTENHAM HOUSE

Tottenham Court Road

LONDON, W.

Direct Carpet Importers Bedding Manufacturers Cabinet Makers and Upholsterers Blind Manufacturers Artistic Decorators, and Complete House Furnishers

Three Passenger Lifts convey Customers to all Departments above Ground Floor

JAMES SHOOLBRED & CO. _TOTTENHAM HOUSE_ LONDON

* * * * *

BARTHOLOMEW & FLETCHER

Chippendale Cabinet, £6 10 0 Old Mahogany Vase or Lamp Stand, £2 5 0 ‘Richelieu’ Settee, in Tapestry, £5 18 6

Catalogues Free

Most Moderate Prices in London

219 Tottenham Court Road, W.

CARPETS

‘REVIREDIS’ Regd. SPECIALITIES

‘ISIS’ Art Rush Matting ‘ROYSSE’ Hand Loom Carpets ‘ARTS and CRAFTS’ Rugs

THE ABINGDON CARPET MANUFACTURING CO. _ABINGDON-ON-THAMES_

JOHN HARRIS & SONS, LIMITED

ART LINENS. PURE FLAX. Over 40 Artistic Shades.

Unrivalled for excellence of Quality and Colour. Of Special Manufacture and Dye. Suitable for every kind of HOUSE DECORATION and ORNAMENTATION. Embroideries of every description. Patterns and Estimates for Curtains, Portières, Hangings, &c., on application.

Showrooms-- 25 OLD BOND STREET, LONDON

Works Derwent Mills, Cockermouth, Eng.

* * * * *

BOOKS TO BUY

Mrs PANTON’S Books on the Furnishing and Decorating of Houses, and the Management of a Household.

=1.= =From Kitchen to Garret=: Hints for Young Householders. By J. E. PANTON. A New and Revised Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s.

This work of Mrs Panton was first published in December 1887. It has since been seven times reprinted. The work has now been closely revised by the Author, new information on many subjects has been incorporated in the text, and many new Illustrations have been added.

=2.= =Nooks and Corners.= A Companion Book to ‘From Kitchen to Garret.’ By J. E. PANTON. Crown 8vo, 6s.

‘A veritable encyclopædia of useful information in all matters pertaining to the home.’

=Our Viands.= Whence they come and how they are Cooked. By A. W. BUCKLAND. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 6s.

‘She has succeeded in giving us a very interesting history of our own ordinary dishes, and of the most curious and characteristic dishes of other countries.’--_Spectator._

=Ladies in the Field=: Sketches of Sport. Edited by the LADY GREVILLE. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 6s.

Contents: Riding in Ireland and India, by Lady Greville--Hunting in the Shires--Horses and their Riders, by the Duchess of Newcastle--The Wife of the M.F.H., by Mrs Chaworth Musters--Fox Hunting--Team and Tandem Driving, by Miss Rosie Anstruther Thomson--Tigers I have shot, by Mrs C. Martelli--Rifle Shooting, by Miss Leale--Deer Stalking and Deer Driving, by Diane Chasseresse--Covert Shooting, by Lady Boynton--A Kangaroo Hunt, by Mrs Jenkins--Cycling, by Mrs E. R. Pennell--Punting, by Miss Sybil Salaman.

‘The several chapters are entrusted to skilful hands, and deal with sport, as practised by ladies, in a very sensible and business-like fashion.’--_Times._

‘It is not often one comes across such a tempting book.... We cannot too strongly recommend "Ladies in the Field" to our readers, and think that it is a book to be on every sportswoman’s library table.’--_Sporting Life._

=In Ladies’ Company=: Sketches of the Lives of Six Notable Women. By Mrs F. F. MILLER. One vol., fcap. 8vo, cloth, price 5s.

‘A volume to be grateful for.’--_Daily Chronicle._

‘Ample, suggestive, and neatly finished--turned out with true literary skill.’--_Globe._

=Love in a Cottage=; or, Making the most of a Small Income. By AGATHA HODGSON. Post 8vo, paper covers, price 1s.

_FROM ALL BOOKSELLERS_ Or from the Publishers} WARD & DOWNEY LTD. 12 YORK BUILDINGS, Adelphi, W.C.

* * * * *

A GOLD MEDAL

HAS BEEN AWARDED TO

Wm. Wallace & Co.

FOR THE ARTISTIC FURNISHING AND DECORATION OF

‘OUR FLAT’

AS EXHIBITED AT THE INDIAN EXHIBITION.

‘How to Furnish "Our Flat" or House for £100,’

AND ALSO FOR £300

By =Mrs J. E. PANTON=, may now be had, post free, on application to

WM. WALLACE & CO.

151 to 155 CURTAIN ROAD, LONDON, E.C.

Mrs PANTON says, in the ‘Gentlewoman’:--‘I should strongly advise, before buying Furniture anywhere, to send to Wm. Wallace & Co., of Curtain Road, for sketches of their New Furniture Catalogue. All Goods are Carriage Paid anywhere in the United Kingdom, and if you require really good Furniture, go to Wm. Wallace & Co., the wood being properly seasoned, and the workmanship seems to me to be as good as it possibly can be.’

BEFORE placing your orders, send for our New Catalogue, entitled =‘Beauty, Skill and Economy.’ Post Free.=

The ‘Daily Telegraph’ says:--‘Wm. Wallace & Co. have an artistically designed catalogue, which is a most instructive guide to householders.’

‘OUR FLAT’ ‘OUR FLAT’ ‘OUR FLAT’ ‘OUR FLAT’ ‘OUR FLAT’ ‘OUR FLAT’ ‘OUR FLAT’ ‘OUR FLAT’ ‘OUR FLAT’ ‘OUR FLAT’

WM. WALLACE & CO.

_Artistic House Furnishers and Decorators_

151, 152, 153, 154 and 155 Curtain Road

LONDON, E.C.

* * * * *

HEALTHY. ECONOMICAL. ARTISTIC.

JACKSON’S VARNISH STAINS FOR FLOORS & FURNITURE HAVE THE LARGEST SALE

Staining and Varnishing in one operation

_No Preparation required._

Made to represent the following woods--

Mahogany Walnut Rosewood Light and Dark Oak Satinwood Ebony Leaf Green &c. Packed in Tins

Pints, 2/- Quarts, 3/6 ½-Gallon, 6/- 1 Gallon, 10/- _Cans Free_

Bottles 6d. and 1/- each

The Stain dries in twenty minutes with a brilliant hard surface equal to French Polish with no unpleasant smell. Used in Hospitals, Asylums, Schools, Hotels, &c. Recommended by Professor Wanklyn, the eminent analytical chemist, and many members of the medical profession, for its sanitary properties as a floor covering. Besides very numerous private testimonials, these Stains are being constantly recommended by the principal writers on domestic matters.

Dr Andrew Wilson, in _Health_, says:--‘We hope it will be used by all who value health, economy and beauty in their homes. It will cost but a few shillings to stain the floor, where pounds would be spent in carpets, and rooms where it is used can always be kept clean, healthy and bright.’

The _Court Circular_ says:--‘We predict that =Jackson’s Combination Varnish-Stain= will become a household word, and that it will be used as a floor covering in every home where health, beauty and cleanliness are appreciated.’

The _Lady’s Pictorial_ says:--‘You cannot possibly do better than use =Jackson’s Varnish Stains.= They are most excellent.’

The _Queen_:--‘Have found =Jackson’s Varnish Stain= very good. As its name implies, it requires no varnishing, dries quickly, and gives a beautiful polish.’

These Stains are sold by all high-class Stores throughout the World, and must not be confounded with any of the low-class rubbish, which will only cause disappointment and trouble. Coloured picture labels on all packages. Manufactured only by

T. S. JACKSON & SONS, 186 OLD KENT ROAD, LONDON, S.E. [Established 1853

* * * * *

By Special Appointment To Her Majesty

WARINGS

_Specialists_

_and_

_Manufacturers_

_of_

_Decorative_

_Furniture_

_The largest_

_bona-fide_

_Manufacturers_

_in_

_the Kingdom_

_Messrs WARING invite inspection of their Suites of completely furnished Rooms, illustrating how to furnish tastefully at the lowest cost_

ESTIMATES AND DESIGNS FREE

181 Oxford Street, London, W.

MANCHESTER

End of Project Gutenberg's Suburban Residences, by J. (Jane) E. (Ellen) Panton