The routine of a general servant's duties depends
upon the kind of situation she occupies; but a systematic
servant should so contrive to divide her work, that every
day in the week may have its proper sharr. By this means
she is able to keep the house clean with less fatigue to her-
self th-an if she left all the cleaning to do at the end of the
week. Supposing there are five bedrooms in the house, two
sitting rooms, kitchen, laundry, and the usual domestic
offices; on Monday she might thoroughly clean two of the
bedrooms ; on Tuesday, two more bedrooms ; on Wednesday,
the other bedroom and stairs; on Thursday, the drawing
room; on Friday morning she should sweep the dining
room very thoroughly, clean the hall, and in the after-
noon her kitchen tins and bright utensils. By arranging her
work in this manner, no undue proportion will fall to
Saturday's share, and she will then have this day for clean-
ing plate, cleaning her kitchen, and arranging everything
in nice order. The regular work must, of course, be per-
formed in the usual manner, as we have endeavored to des-
cribe. Before retiring to bed, she will do well to clean up
plate, glasses, etc., which have been used for the evening
meal, and prepare for her morning's work by placing her
wood in the range, ready to light, taking care there is
no danger of its igniting, before she leaves the kitchen for
the night. Before retiring, she will have to lock and bolt
the doors, unless her employer undertakes this office himself.
IV
THE CARE OF THE PANTRY
Washing of Glass. Glass is a beautiful and most
fragile article; hence it requires great
care in washing. A perfectly clean
wooden bowl is best for this operation,
one for moderately hot, and another for
cold water. Wash the glasses well in
•»««« ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ rinse them in the second,
l'*'i^^^^ and turn them down on a linen cloth
rSilll tmmmm^ folded two or three times, to drain for a
few minutes. When sufficiently drained,
wipe them with a cloth and polish with a
The Waitress. fi^er one, doing so tenderly and carefully.
Accidents will happen; but nothing discredits a servant in
the drawing room more than continual reports of breakages,
which, of course, must reach that region.
Decanters and water jugs require still more tender treat-
ment in cleaning, inasmuch as they are more costly to re-
place. Fill them about two-thirds with hot but not boiling
water, and put in a few pieces of well soaped brown paper;
leave them thus for two or three hours; then shake the water
up and down in the decanters; empty this out, rinse them
well with clean cold water, and put them in a rack to drain.
When dry, polish them outside and inside, as far as possible,
with a fine cloth. To remove the crust of port or other
wines, add a little muriatic acid to the water and let it re-
main for some time. Fine pieces of coal placed in a de-
canter with warm water, and shaken for some time, will also
remove stains left by wine, etc.
265
266 The Care of the Pantry
To Cleanse Bottles. Make a lye by boiling equal
quantities of soda and quicklime, When cold, put this
in the bottles with some small pebbles, and shake well.
Set the bottles to drain thoroughly, then warm them, and
blow inside with a pair of bellows to absorb all moisture.
Page 150
Presented as published in 1894. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The routine of a general servant's duties depends upon the kind of situation she occupies; but a systematic servant should so contrive to divide her work, that every day in the week may have its proper sharr. By this means she is able to keep the house clean with less fatigue to herself than if she left all the cleaning to do at the end of the week. Supposing there are five bedrooms in the house, two sitting rooms, kitchen, laundry, and the usual domestic offices; on Monday she might thoroughly clean two of the bedrooms ; on Tuesday, two more bedrooms ; on Wednesday, the other bedroom and stairs; on Thursday, the drawing room; on Friday morning she should sweep the dining room very thoroughly, clean the hall, and in the afternoon her kitchen tins and bright utensils. By arranging her work in this manner, no undue proportion will fall to Saturday's share, and she will then have this day for cleaning plate, cleaning her kitchen, and arranging everything in nice order. The regular work must, of course, be performed in the usual manner, as we have endeavored to describe. Before retiring to bed, she will do well to clean up plate, glasses, etc., which have been used for the evening meal, and prepare for her morning's work by placing her wood in the range, ready to light, taking care there is no danger of its igniting, before she leaves the kitchen for the night. Before retiring, she will have to lock and bolt the doors, unless her employer undertakes this office himself.
THE CARE OF THE PANTRY
Washing of Glass. Glass is a beautiful and most
fragile article; hence it requires great
care in washing. A perfectly clean
wooden bowl is best for this operation,
one for moderately hot, and another for
cold water. Wash the glasses well in
rinse them in the second,
and turn them down on a linen cloth
folded two or three times, to drain for a
few minutes. When sufficiently drained,
wipe them with a cloth and polish with a
The Waitress. fi^er one, doing so tenderly and carefully.
Accidents will happen; but nothing discredits a servant in
the drawing room more than continual reports of breakages,
which, of course, must reach that region.
Decanters and water jugs require still more tender treatment in cleaning, inasmuch as they are more costly to replace. Fill them about two-thirds with hot but not boiling water, and put in a few pieces of well soaped brown paper; leave them thus for two or three hours; then shake the water up and down in the decanters; empty this out, rinse them well with clean cold water, and put them in a rack to drain. When dry, polish them outside and inside, as far as possible, with a fine cloth. To remove the crust of port or other wines, add a little muriatic acid to the water and let it remain for some time. Fine pieces of coal placed in a decanter with warm water, and shaken for some time, will also remove stains left by wine, etc.
266 The Care of the Pantry
To Cleanse Bottles. Make a lye by boiling equal quantities of soda and quicklime, When cold, put this in the bottles with some small pebbles, and shake well. Set the bottles to drain thoroughly, then warm them, and blow inside with a pair of bellows to absorb all moisture.