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THE EXPERIENCE 
 
 OF AN 
 
 OLD COUNTRY PEDLER 
 
 AMONG THE 
 
 AND THljIR MI$TRi;$$EJ3, 
 
 ( 
 
 BY N. MURRAY. 
 
 Entered, kocording to Act of ParlUment of Canada, in the year 1887, by 
 N. Murray, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. 
 
 . • ! • J» 
 
HUGHS (MiVIOUa I.KANING. 
 
 (APROPOS OF THK (IREAT DOMKMTIf I'ONTKOVEHSV IN MDNTRRAL.) 
 
 Sir, - The itninius of the Star is not (UrtUiilt t" diHooviT. We are tfild that, both itidpH cif the 
 'qupRtiim yroxM he given, hut whut ilo we find' Ih there one letter (fivintj the fault* and shortciiiii- 
 inunot servanta'/ Not one ! Is there one h'tr.er heariiiK evidence of comintf from ii iniHlreHH who 
 kuoWR anything of the real trouhlea and trialsof hoiiRtkeepers V Not one ! ('iirre^iuimleiU Mniitrral 
 JVric*. — I'lom Qrii). 
 
 "MISTRESH AND MAID. 
 
 "THK AMCSINC KXI'KHIKNCKS AND OPINIONK OK A MO?CTIlKAL VKPLAB- A TUAIN'INC 
 INSTITUTION KOll VOVNt; HOfSKKKKPEHS. 
 
 "An 'Old Country Pedlar,' (Mr. N. Mmnvy) ha» puhliwhoH a sixtcpn-paiye' 
 painiitilet giviiiff lii^ views on the ?nnch vexed mistress and maid question. Mr. 
 Mtirray sjieaks from his experience, and says what lie has to say in r. raey, 
 straiglitforward manner. Mr. Murray is hajipy to say that the Montreal ladies 
 will compare favorably with those of any other place he has lived in, but the 
 whiter the general flock the more conspicuous will the black 8heo|> appear. On the 
 suggestion of a jiublic training institution Mr. Murray says: 'What I think is 
 neeeind is a training institution for joimg h()Usekeej)erH, who liave never bef-n 
 taught by their mothers in the myHteries of housekeeping.' He has a good dt!al 
 to say on the average young lady of thr business houses. ' Last wint>T I saw 
 some girls shiverii\g witli cold, with plenty of coal and kindling wood b«!side th"iii, 
 and they were too proud to make a f.rc for themselves in the absence of a male 
 attfuchmt. The Tiord keej) the young men of our city from joining in wedlock 
 with such stylish young ladies !' 
 
 " A number of voiy pleasing ex|)oriences with ' l.tdies in the true sense of the 
 won! ' are recorded, .and the 'old Ciiuntry pedlar' stays to observe that ' in the 
 houses of the leadinLj business )iien of Montreal there is no noise about the ser- 
 vant fpiestion.' One of the fundamental iioints of this (piestion is that of ' fol- 
 lowers,' one from which arise, directly or indirectiv, many of the misunderstand- 
 ings. Mr. Murray records the story of a fellow-boarder of his in (Jlasgow, who, 
 out on his morning busin»'Ss, had .smilefl at a servant girl he knew. 'The mistress 
 came down to the store to lodge a complaint against him for having the " iminu'ti- 
 nencB to smile at her servant girl throU)/h tlie window." Perhaps she was at a ball 
 the night liefore, and h.id th»' arms of another woman's husband round her waist." 
 
 " Mr. Murray also says that he conhl point out .several ladies in Mimtreal that, 
 seeing niistress ivnd servant engaged together on .sonu? household .'iffair, one would 
 not know but the servant was the daughter. Tnstanees of the other extrenie arc 
 also given, but the decisifiu is .arrived at. that ' servants and mistresses in Mont- 
 real at ]»resent are just on as good terms as they \ised to be.' In Mr. Murray's 
 opinioit, formed a }i<t»teri<iri^ inniertinence is contagions; when he met a rude, 
 unkind mistress, he generally fo\nnl her manner reflected in the daughter of the 
 h luse. and even coinmuiicated to the pet-dog of the establishment. 
 
 " In an .appenihx, Mr Murray emphasize i the evil consecpiencr.s that must 
 attend mistresses deliberately teaching their girls to tell lies in saying they are 
 'not in" when they an Another side thought more worthy of considc^ration 
 (hail almost any other is llie Sabliath (|nestiun. " .\ great many of the sr'rvjints, 
 lioth male ami fe:iia!e, have to do a gre:it deal of work on Sunday th.'it is neither 
 the work of necessity nm niei-ey,"' Several apposite (piotatioiis fioni the Pauline 
 epistles an<l the Peiitateueli bring a very xensible iiiiil entertaining booklet to i 
 eiowe." - Jr/f»l^.'(.t, Nor, If. 
 
 SKCONM KDITION, 
 
 V V / ^/ 
 
Montreal Servant Girls 
 and their mistresses. 
 
 As one whose business, for the last twelve months, depended 
 mostly upon the good will of the Montreal servant girls and their 
 mistresses, I was naturally very much interested in the present 
 agitation going on in the Slar. I wrote a letter to the Slar stat- 
 ing my views on the subject, but for reasons best known to that 
 journal it has not yet made its appearance in print. The letter I 
 wrote to the Daily News on the subject appeared without delay, 
 and as everyone that saw my letter on the subject seemed to ap- 
 prove of its statements, I was encouraged to write after this man- 
 ner, so that I will not be under any obligations to anyone for get- 
 ting my views into print. Although I may state some facts that 
 may not be very tatsteful to some, I wish it distinctly to be under- 
 stood that I have great respect for the Montreal ladies in general. 
 I have travelled a great part of this country and also of the old 
 country and i am happy to say that the Montreal ladies will com- 
 pare favourably with those of any other place where I have been. 
 Of course there are exceptions to thif rule like most other rules, 
 and these exceptions are the main spring of the present agitation. 
 Perhaps my respect for the Montreal ladies is one of the reasons 
 that I stayed longer in Montreal than I have stayed in any other 
 place that I have ever been in, since I first left home about four- 
 teen years ago. It is a fact that cannot be denied that the Mont- 
 real people will compare favorably with any other people in the 
 world for kindness of disposition. Perhaps that is one reason 
 that there is so much notice taken of those who are rude, unkind, 
 uncharitable and selfish. The whiter the sheep the more con- 
 spicuous will the black one appear. 
 
 One writer on the " Question " in the Slar insinuates that the 
 cause of the trouble is that most of the ladies of Canada rose from 
 next to nothing, and that consequently they did not have the up- 
 bringing which was necessary according to the English woman's 
 
view of the subject. Now that is a very poor way to think of get- 
 ting over the difficulty. If a man is born in a stable, that does not 
 make him a horse, much less if you put a gold ring in the nose of 
 a pig and dress her in silk and scarlet will she be a lady. The 
 true characteristic of a lady or gentleman is nobleness of disposi- 
 tion. Now nobleness of disposition and its opposite meanness 
 and selfishness is found in all classes of society, rich and poor, of 
 both sexes. 
 
 Theory may do very well for short acquaintance, but those that 
 have to live together under the same roof from one end of the 
 year to the other have to look at the subject from a matter of fact 
 point of view. Our Englishwoman who, I presume, is of high 
 birth, shows her own want of gentleness by looking down on those 
 under her in point of birth in the same way as those that she 
 refers to look down upon their servants, because they have not 
 been so fortunate as some of them in getting married to men car- 
 rying long purses, in many cases purses not their own. At least 
 the purse may belong to themselves, but what is in it may belong 
 to someone else. 
 
 Some of the mistresses think it would be a good plan to found 
 a public institution to train up servant girls. This might be a 
 good thing for foundlings or orphans, but do they think that girls 
 coming in from the country looking for employment as domestic 
 servants, will enter such an institution (I suppose they may enter 
 it when founded) to undergo a training to suit them. I suppose 
 one of the first text books in that institution would be about obe- 
 dience to impertinent ladies. If girls are not trained for domestic 
 service before they leave home, good-bye to them. Some of them 
 of course may have to learn many things at first on leaving home, 
 but if they can stay for any length of time in the one place, surely 
 they can learn if they are of a teachable disposition, but who is 
 going to teach them. In a great many cases girls in this country 
 as soon as they leave school in large towns are sent to some fac- 
 tory or shop where they stay till they get acquainted maybe with 
 some clerk, or tailor, or counter-jumper and after a while get mar- 
 ried, the bride knowing next to nothing about the duties incum- 
 bent on young housekeepers. Hence the cause of the trouble at 
 
 atM 
 
present. What I think is needed is a training institution for young 
 housekeepers who have never been taught by their mothers in the 
 mysteries of housekeeping. I do not think anyone will deny that 
 domestic servant girls make better housekeepers and better wives 
 than shop or factory girls on an average The only way that the 
 factory or shop girls have the advantage over the servant girls is 
 that they have a better opportunity of getting acquainted with 
 young men, so that inferior articles get disposed of first on ac- 
 count of a better market. 
 
 Of course I do not mean that because a girl is a shop or factory 
 girl she is not competent to be a housekeeper if she was fortunate 
 enou^'ii to have had a mother that could teach her housekeeping. 
 I am acquainted with several young ladies in business houses who 
 would be quite insulted if anyone insinuated that they would ever 
 have to do their own washing. The idea ! ! Some of ihem getting $3 
 and $4 a week and they have to hire a washerwoman once a week 
 and give her a dollar or seventy- five cents a day and her three 
 meals. That is the way to make money(?) Earn it in small hand- 
 fuls and spend it in shovelfuls. When they get married they are 
 going to get everything ready made. One thing they cannot get 
 ready made, and that is knowledge. There is no royal road to 
 learning, and if they do not know anything about housekeeping 
 before they get married they will have to learn it by sore experi- 
 ence after they get married. Last winter I observed some ridicu- 
 lous instances of pride among girls in business houses. I saw 
 some girls shivering with cold with plenty of coal and kindling 
 wood, paper and matches alongside of them, and they were too 
 proud to make a fire for themselves in the absence of a male at- 
 tendant. The Lord keep the young men of our city from joining 
 in wedlock with such stylish ladies. Any one that has to work for 
 a living I think the first lesson they should learn is how to help 
 themselves. To those that have plenty means at their disposal I 
 have nothing to say as long as they use in a proper way those that 
 they engage to do their work. Whenever they abuse those that 
 in God's providence are placed under them I would remind them 
 that there is nothing so high that it cannot be brought down, and 
 the higher the elevation the greater the fall. 
 
Believing that what is sauce for the goose is sauce For the gan- 
 der, I am going to give illustrations of four different classes in con- 
 nection with this question, viz., good and bad mistresses, and good 
 and bad servants. When I spi:ak of good mistresses and good 
 servants, I mean the majority of mistresses and servants, as I have 
 reasons to believe that the majority of them treat each other fair 
 and square. The sure.st way of finding how a mistress and her 
 servant agree is to find out the length of service. A mistress that 
 generally has the same girls for two or three years is generally an 
 ordinarily good mistress, and a girl that generally stays two or 
 three years in the same place is generally a good servant. Of 
 course there are instances when girls and mistresses separate in 
 good friends. Sometimes the girl might wish to get more wages 
 than the mistress can afford to give, and sometimes the mistress 
 might have more work to do than the girl would like to do. These 
 are reasons on which mistress and servant may separate without 
 any bad feeling, and why should they not ? This is a free country 
 and anyone has a right to go and come where he or she likes as 
 long as they behave themselves properly. 
 
 This brings me in mind of a letter I saw in the IVi/ness, some 
 time ago, quoted from some American journal. Some mistresses 
 think when they get a good girl that it is not right to be instru- 
 mental in any way of improving the girl's condition. No one 
 should offer her higher wages than she is getting in her present 
 situation, or in any other way better her condition without first 
 telling the mistress of such intentions. The logic is that we should 
 do to others as we would that others should do to us. Indeed I ! 
 
 These ladies would not like anyone to take away their servants 
 from them when they get good ones, therefore they say they should 
 not offer a girl higher wages than she is getting in her present 
 situation whether she deserves it or not. What is sauce for the 
 goose is also sauce for the gander. Just carry this argument a 
 little further, please. Supposing the husband of one of these 
 ladies that have such notions of right and wrong was getting a 
 certain salary from some company, and some other company 
 i'ound out that that man would really be worth more money to 
 them than he was getting in his present situation. How would it 
 
 f 
 
{ 
 
 do to offer him a couple hundreds more ? The other company 
 cannot afford to give him that much so we will secure him. This 
 is business, you know. This is fair and square enough. No busi- 
 ness man with common sense would find any fault with this trans- 
 action. But when it comes to deal with the poor servants, another 
 view entirely is taken of the question. I think some people must 
 have some inkling of the notions of the old slavery days in their 
 heads yet. 
 
 When once they get a good servant they wish to retain her for 
 their own advantage. They do not wish her to know but as little 
 as possible about anything but what is to their own advantage 
 These are selfish mistresses, they belong to the bad class of mis- 
 tresses. 
 
 Now let me give a few instances of my observation about what 
 I call ladies in the true sense of the word. I never enquired 
 about their connections with the aristocracy. The point in ques- 
 tion is how they treat those they come in contact with. A year 
 ago last summer, in the early part of the summer, I commenced 
 peddling pictures, music, etc., going round the houses of the best 
 class of people in Montreal, the servant girls and the mistresses 
 being my best customers. One fine morning I wandered out as 
 far as Cote des Neiges road. I came to a splendid house and as 
 I thought the house was too grand to venture to the front door, I 
 went round to the kitchen, and tried my luck among the servants 
 without any success. As I was about going away I noticed that 
 there was a lady at the door watching me and my unsuccessful 
 efforts to sell anything to the girls. She passed no remarks and 
 I went away and bade them all good day as good-naturedly as a 
 pedler could be expected to do after an unsuccessful effort to make 
 a sale. As I was opening the gate going away the Lady, for she 
 was a lady, called me back and asked me to show her my goods, 
 which, of course, I was only too glad to do. She examined all 
 the articles that I had for sale and said there was nothing there 
 that she really needed, but she would buy some from me to en- 
 courage me. I do not remember exactly the amount of the pur- 
 chase now, but I remember this, that the kind words of that lady 
 cheered me all day and I made good sales that day. She drew 
 
6 
 
 my attention to some fine paintings hanging on the wall, all 
 painted by members of the family. Now, if anyone told me that 
 this lady was guilty of ill-using her servants I wouid not believe 
 it, because I always find out on enquiry that ladies like that treat 
 other people in the same manner, and everyone that comes in con- 
 tact with them, instead of cursing them in their hearts, blesses 
 them out of gratitude, and these ladies live in peace and quietness 
 while the other kind are always in hot water. 
 
 One point that I observed is that in the houses of the leading 
 business men of Montreal there is no noise about the servant 
 question. On turning up the directory I find that the trouble 
 between servant and mistress is generally in the house of some 
 clerk or tailor. One lady (?) that abused me very badly was the 
 wife of a tailor, another the wife of an accountant, two the wives of 
 railroad clerks, etc. I don't mean that railroad clerks or their 
 wives are all responsible for this, as I came across some very civil 
 ladies not very far from Montreal who are good customers of 
 mine and their husbanas are clerks. Some of the present mis- 
 tresses, I presume, never were servants themselves, never saw any 
 servants in their father's house, if they did it is so long ago that 
 they forgot how their mothers used their servants, and, worse still, 
 they never learnt housekeeping themselves so they are in a terrible 
 predicament. The girls that know their work will not stay with 
 them, and those that they can get to stay are those that know per- 
 haps nearly as little as themselves about housekeeping. The great 
 rub is, also, that bad mistresses and bad girls get so often put to- 
 gether — Greek meets Greek. In the registry offices the ladies in 
 charge in a good many cases know the two sides of the question. 
 Some of the writers in the Star found fault with the keepers of 
 registry offices for having their favorites. What a wonder I Every- 
 one has their favorites, only those that are born in Grumbling 
 street and die discontented. It is really too bad that these regis- 
 try keepers would not send the best girl they have on their books 
 to a cruel, hard-hearted mistress. On the other hand it is a regu- 
 lar shame that shiftless, restless, worthless girls could not con- 
 scientiously be recommended to a sensible, kind and considerate 
 mistress, that gives good wages and other privileges accordingly. 
 
 iWXSSt!Ksi^smms'fm:.i'i.^v;:- 
 
11 
 
Another side of the "Question" is the difficulty that the servant 
 girls have in a great many cases, to treat their gentlemen friends, 
 if they have any, as they used to treat them at home, This is a 
 delicate subject, but it has something to do with the misunder- 
 standing between many of the girls and their mistresses. Some 
 of the girls have not pluck enough to make iny enquiries about 
 this subject before engaging, hence misunderstandings arise after- 
 wards, which undermine the harmony which might otherwise be 
 between the servant and her mistress. When I was in Glasgow, a 
 lellow- boarder of mine, told me one night of a comical incident 
 that happened in the course of the day. He was out in the 
 morning taking in the orders for a lar^e grocery in Hillhead. As 
 he was passing the window he smiled at the servant girl, with 
 whom he was well acquainted. The mistress happened to notice 
 him, and a few hours afterwards she came down to the store to 
 lodge a complaint against him for having the " impertinence to 
 smile at her servant girl through the window." Why did she not 
 wait till the girl herself complained ? Perhaps she was at a ball 
 the night before, and had the arms of another woman's husband 
 round her waist. Oh, there would be no harm in that ! " Honi 
 soit qui mal y pense.' There is no harm in what they do ; but 
 there is a lot of harm in what the poor girls do. They cannot 
 trust them. The daughters entertain their dudes in the parlor 
 with music, and perhaps dancing, but the servant, in many cases, 
 is afraid to tell any of her friends to come in and sit down for a 
 little while. The result is, the poor girl, in a good many cases, 
 gets slighted by her gentlemen friends. What does her mistress 
 care for that, an old maid will suit her just as well ? Why don't 
 she advertise for an old maid, when she advertises for a servant ? 
 Or, why don't she advertise for a girl that does not wish to have 
 any gentlemen friends coming to see her ? Now to give instances 
 of kind, considerate ladies. I could point out several ladies in 
 Montreal, and if a stranger saw the mistress and servant engaged 
 together in some household affairs, he would not know but the 
 servant was the daughter. I know of an instance where the mis- 
 tress left Montreal for New York, the husband having disposed of 
 his share of the business he was in, that the mistress and servant 
 
 m 
 
 - -*^^f^r'r*r-'^w-'^-' 
 
10 
 
 were so much interested in one another, that the mistress opened 
 a correspondence with her former servant. That lady never has 
 any trouble with her servants. Last summer I was canvassing at 
 the very far end of Dorchester street. The day was very hot. I 
 rang the bell, and a nice looking little girl came to the door. 
 God bless her and her mother! I asked for a drink of water. 
 Herself or her mother never saw me before, to my knowledge. 
 After a few minutes the little girl came out with a large glrss of 
 strawberry wine. Do you think that a warm-hearted lady like 
 that is engaged in the present agitation between the girls and the 
 mistresses ? I don't believe it. Wliat is sauce for the goose is 
 sauce for the gander. Another lady, out at Cote St. Antoine, 
 when I came to the door, spoke civilly to me, gave me some orders 
 and gave me the address of her sister in the city, and through her 
 I got several orders. This lady could do her own work if she had 
 to do it, but she can afford a servant. 
 
 I could give plenty of instmces where not only the mistress 
 herself is rude and unkind, but that unkindness and impertinence 
 are also to be found in the children. Like mother like daughter. 
 Oh, dear fellow young men, keep your distance from the daugh- 
 ters of an unkind, inconsiderate mother. Nature has made me 
 very observant, as one writer in the S/ar said. I always thought 
 impertinence was a very contagious disease, even the little dog 
 himself is impertinent, and he cannot help it, he was not trained 
 otherwise. The little training he got consisted of a few lessons 
 about how to bark at all the pedlers, canvassers, beggars, etc., 
 not at the washerwoman, he must not bark at her, they need her 
 services. The most annoying part of the dog's conduct is, that 
 he scares away Mary Jane's fellow when he accidentally passes 
 that way in the evening. And I would give one short piece of 
 advice to the servant girls : don't hire in a house where the lad 
 you love will be afraid to come to see you home, or call for you 
 any time it is proper to do so. You have just as much right to 
 the company of your sweetheart as Miss Maggie, if you only be 
 smart enough and good enough for him. The principal distinc- 
 tion between you and your mistress is a matter of dollars and 
 cents. The best servants are always the best mistresses, and the 
 
best mistresses would make the best servants if they had to do it. 
 I am not going to give advice about remedying the evil, as the 
 Star suggested, as I do not believe that this evil is universal. 
 Servants and mistresses in Montreal at present are just on as good 
 terms as they used to be. Only one suggestion I would make, 
 and that is, that servants and mistresses would introduce the 
 system of exchanging references, instead of having them one-sided, 
 as at present. This would prevent a good deal of misunderstand- 
 ing. The one girl would find out more easily from the former 
 girl whether the mistress would suit her or not. One cause of 
 trouble between girls and mistresses is, that there is not a proper 
 understanding before engaging. 
 
 I am going to give one instance of incivility extending from the 
 mistress to the daughter, and then I shall conclude for the 
 present. In the early part of last summer I was going round 
 selling goods in the west end of the city, I think the case in ques- 
 tion was on Fort street. I called at the side door, and after a few 
 words of conversation with the servant girl, I sold her some 
 goods. The girl of the house was standing close by, I think she 
 would be about twelve years of age. She wanted to see the 
 article the servant had bought, and after handling it for a little 
 while, instead of handing it back to the servant, she threw it on 
 the floor. The servant girl, naturally enough, remonstrated, 
 stating that was not proper conduct. The little girl not wishing 
 to be taught moral philosophy by the servant, told her not to be 
 so saucy with her or she would tell her mother. The servant 
 answered that she did not care what she would tell her mother, 
 she would not stay v ry long with her. Says I to myself, says I, 
 You or your mother is not much. Li'^e mother like daughter. 
 These are the kind of ladies (? ?) that have been the cause of the 
 present agitation. If the respectable ladies will only keep out of 
 the agitation, they will be all right. No one intends to hurt 
 them, on the contrary, I believe this agitation will only be the 
 more creditable in the end to our Montreal ladies. 
 
 On the other hand, I have known girls who have tried hard to 
 cheat me, without succeeding in so doing, but getting themselves 
 into a muddle for their pains. I have one such case before my 
 
12 
 
 mind now. She was in service with a very respectable, kind and 
 sensible lady on St. Antoine street. This lady was very forbearing 
 with her, because her people were in poor circumstances, her 
 father being blind. To pay evil for good, this girl left without 
 giving one hour's notice.* In cases like that, it would be only 
 fair and just that ladies should always have the privilege of retain- 
 ing at least two week s wages, to make sure that the girl will give 
 her warning in time enough, say two weeks, to give her an oppor- 
 tunity to secure another one. 
 
 To conclude, the best rule to settle this or any other question, 
 is the rule that our Saviour gave: Do to others as you would 
 that others should do to them. Let the mistresses treat their 
 servants as they would like to be treated if they were servants 
 themselves. Let the servants treat their mistresses as they would 
 like to be treated if they were in their place. This I found to be 
 a good rule to get over my own difficulties in a good many 
 instances. Matt, vii., 12; Luke vi., 31. 
 
 It is not hard to perceive the policy of the S(ar in the present 
 agitation. It wants to be instrumental in founding an institution, 
 but I will see it done before I believe that the Slar is going to 
 have it all its own way. Let me conclude, as I started, with the 
 statement that the Montreal ladies, as a whole, are second to 
 none in the whole world in all those qualities that constitute a 
 true lady. 
 
To THE Editor of the Daily News. 
 
 Sir, — As one whose time is employed mostly in canvassing 
 private houses, I have personally come in contact with a great 
 many mistresses and servants in Montreal within the last twelve 
 months, so I would like to answer the Three Matrons in a few 
 words. The majority of mistresses and servants in Montreal have 
 comparatively little interest in the present agitation, as generally 
 speaking they are getting along all right, and this agitation will 
 not affect them either one way or the other. I know several 
 Highland girls in Montreal who have been in the same house for 
 years, and they have not even read the letters. For their own 
 part they would not allow anyone to speak bad of their mistresses, 
 as they say that they always used them well. Others I have 
 known to have so much respect for their mistresses as to have 
 their photos framed and hung up in their rooms. It seems to me 
 the question is not whether the mistress or the servant of the 
 present day is of poor or rich parents, or whether they have been 
 highly educated or not, but whether they treat one another as 
 Christians ought to treat one another. 
 
 Some of the so-called ladies cannot treat servants or others 
 kindly because they are naturally rude. Let me just give 
 you one or two instances. Last Christmas time I had occasion to 
 call at a house on Metcalfe street. One of the girls told me to 
 bring her some Christmas cards, and on coming back the Lady ? 
 of the house spoke so rude to me that I went away without 
 delivering my message. The same one told another one of her 
 girls when she left that she must take her trunk right away, and 
 the poor girl, a young widow, wept bitterly, and I got a cab at 
 10 p.m. to remove her trunks. 
 
 Another girl in the west end of Dorchester street wanted to get 
 one of her friend's pictures enlarged, and she was in such dread 
 of her mistress that she would not venture to go upstairs for the 
 picture while her mistress was in. Another one on Argyle 
 avenue nearly threw me down the steps last winter for ringing her 
 bell and asking her a civil question. Another instance on Mance 
 street, and the rude ladies will be represented in the four quarters 
 of the city. A lady on Mance street, who wished to hire an 
 
 WES^^^J" 
 
■ 
 
 14 
 
 acquaintance of mine, the girl said to me that as I was canvassing 
 I might call at this house and form an idea about the mistress. 
 The day was rather cold, and I closed the outside porch door 
 after me. The girl came to the door, and I told her I would like 
 to show my samples to the mistress, and as I did not retire as if a 
 lion or a bear was at my heels, the master of the house himself 
 came from the top of the stairs to hurry me out. Now, Mr. 
 Editor, need you be surprised that girls feel discontented serving 
 such people as that. Several of them show their own ignorance 
 by telling me when I show my samples saying that they never buy 
 anything at the door. 
 
 The Three Matrons are not pleased at so many taking the side 
 of the girls, perhaps they did not know before what public opinion 
 about the likes of them was. They think that an injustice is done 
 them by publishing so many letters in the Star. If the coat does 
 not fit them why put it on. Perhaps they never saw themsel es 
 before in the looking glass of public opinion. 
 
 N. Murray, 
 
 506 St. James street. 
 
 
15 
 
 
 FROM DOOR TO DOOR. 
 
 A canvasser's experience of servants and mistresses. 
 
 (To the Editor of the Witness.) 
 
 Sir,— One of your contemporaries has been making so much 
 ado about •• mistresses and servants." It will be a great mistake 
 if people are led to understand that any such agitation is general 
 between mistress and servant. 
 
 In following my business as a canvasser, I come in contact 
 with a great many of the mistresses and servants of Montreal, and 
 with your permission I would like to state a few facts about those 
 mistresses (the minority) who are the cause of all this noise. 
 Some of the mistresses not only hire the servants to do their work, 
 but they also undertake to make rules for the servants in matters 
 that do not at all concern them. In some cases when the door 
 bell is rung the servant comes to the door, and the mistress comes 
 to the top of the stairs. If it happens to be an agent or a can- 
 vasser or a pedler, the mistress tells the servant to " tell that man 
 that they never buy anything at the door." Now the man, if he 
 has common sense, never asks such a question as whether they 
 buy anything at the door or not— he merely wishes to carry on his 
 business with the servant in his own way. In nine cases out of 
 ten I find that these are the sort of mistresses who are engaged in 
 this controversy. How would some of our down-town clerks like 
 it if the master was continually at their elbow meddling in matters 
 in themselves indifferent } 
 
 A good mistress as a rule gets a good servant, and a good ser- 
 vant is too high spirited to put up very long with an unreasonable, 
 impertinent mistress. There has been a great deal said about 
 some of the mistresses being " upstarts," and that the reason was 
 that they did not belong to the aristocracy as our friend, the Eng- 
 lishwoman, stated. I think that is quite an insult to our Montreal 
 ladies, where I believe there are as many ladies in the true sense 
 of the word as there are in any city of the world of the same size 
 and population. The unladylike ladies, I am glad to say, I found 
 to be the exception. I could fill a large volume with instances of 
 good and bad mistresses in Montreal. Tormaid. 
 
X6 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 There is another point worthy of inquiring into, and that is, 
 that some of the mistresses deliberately teach the girls to speak 
 lies. In a good many cases when the mistress is asked for some 
 busiiiess, she tells the servant to say that she is not in. How can 
 they complain if these servants sometimes pay them back in their 
 own coin. In reference to what some of the Ladies (?) call the 
 agency nuisance, I would just give some of the ladies (?) that 
 think they are so smart, a pointer. They are themselves to blame 
 for a great deal of the annoyance, I have no doubt they receive 
 in a great many cases. Because that shrewd class of business 
 men, such as machine and organ agents and other canvassers, are 
 prepared with all their ingenuity to torment the likes of them, 
 whereas they would have comparatively little annoyance if they 
 took in the situation in a proper way. There is still another side 
 to the Servant Question more worthy of consideration if any than 
 the rest, and that is the Sabbath Question. A great many of the 
 servants, both male and female, have to do a great deal of work 
 on Sunday that is neither the work of necessity nor mercy. The 
 commandment says, " But on the Seventh day, thou shalt not do 
 any manner of work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man- 
 servant or the maidservant, or thy cattle, or thy stranger that is 
 within thy gates." Let me quote the Apostle Paul on the subject 
 in conclusion. Col. iii, 21, to iv, i : " Servants obey in all things 
 your masters according to the flesh ; not with eye service as men 
 pleasers ; but in singleness of heart fearing God, and whatsoever 
 ye do, do it heartily, etc." To the masters also, he says, " Masters 
 give unto your servants that which is just and equal ; knowing 
 that ye also have a master in heaven." Also, in Ephesians vi, 5 to 
 9. See Leviticus xxv, 43, " And thou shalt not rule over him with 
 rigour but shalt fear thy GodS 
 
 N. MURRAY, 
 
 Book, News and Adveitising Agent, 
 
 Agent for the GRIP PUBLISHING CO., Toronto. 
 
 PUBLISHER OF TH? 
 
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