HOUSEHOLD PRESTIGE.
[To THE. EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In reference to your article under the heading of "Household Prestige—II.," published in your imS110 of January 28th, I venture to make a suggestion which I am sure, if acted upon, would help considerably in solving the servant problon of the present day.
Leisure is, as you remark in your article, one of the chief questions of the servant problem. I feel sure, in fact I know Irons experience, that if the servant's working day could be arranged in shifts there would be an end to the servant shortage. It is not the housework or routine that the servants in general object to; it is the continuous hours and tie under the same roof. A servant rises, eats, works and sleeps in the same atmosphere, with no change of surroundings or companions except it happens to be her particular Sunday off duty, which is usually every other Sunday. My suggestion is this: where there are four or more servants kept, half should do duty from the time they rise until 2.30 p.m., going off duty then and coming on at 6 p.m., the other half going off at 6 p.m., remaining off for the rest of the evening. Working this method alternative weeks, this would then put domestic service on the same footing as other professions, and thus solve the
servant shortage.—I am, Sir, Lc., BUTLER.
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