The Sunday Oregonian., April 21, 1907, Magazine Section, Page 3, Image 51

ft.89"
cottage or
BY DEXTER MARSHALL.
APRIL, is Retting old and it !s near
ly time to open the country houses
to which the millionaires and the
ooiety folk of New York s.nd half a
dozen other of the country's largest cities
fly away In the warm weather. Some
country houses are open already, in fact,
to remain open until after the season
when "nobody la in town" shall have
passed.
8o far as New York Is concerned this
phrase means no more than that out of
a population of 4.000.000 possibly JOO.000,
a quarter of 1 per cent, or one in 400.
Including servants, are out of the city.
Th real Summer exodus begun in June
when the people the real people take
their vacations, is another matter. Then
o many New Yorkers are away from
their accustomed haunts that you would
expect the bis town to look empty, but
it doean'i, simply because the Summer
visitors ara so numerous.
Whether what might be termed the
ccuntry house population. nf New York
really Amounts to 100.000 or not it would
not be easy to find out. The Social Reg
ister contains the names of about 25,000
persons. While not all these, by any
means, live In country housea in Sum
mer, there are many rich people not
named in the Social ResMstar. who do
enough no doubt to make the total of 25,
ooo about right. At the rate of three
servants for each person the grand total
would be about loo.ooo.
This rate may or may not be high. Mrs.
rornellus Vamlerhllt. Sr., and her daugh
ter. Gladys, require about SO people in
cluding the coachman and his subordi
nates to keep the tenor of rife running
smoothly for them In the big house at
Fifth avenue and Forty-eighth street, and
quite as many when In the country at
Newport. This is fifteen to one, and the
rich New York family of four, man and
wife, a son and a daughter, requiring 20
servants. Including those in the stable
or garage as well as those in the house,
Is not uncommon.
The transfer of a household in ordinary
circumstances from one house to another,
anywhere from 25 to 100 miles apart, even
If the country place' is ready furnished.
Is an affair of some moment and occa
sionally some discomfort to the members
of the family themselves. It Is not so
when the typical modern city family of
a-ealth makes ila annual move from town
to country. The servants do everything
satrept transport the persons of the mem
bers of the family. The latter have to
Jo no more than to step on board the I
train and from the train to the motor car.
trap, carriage or omnibus which awaits
them at the station.
On the day of the change breakfast Is
lerved to the family at the usual time in
h usual way. luncheon must be taken
in some public restaurant or with a
friend, but dinner at the country house
Is served at the usual hour upon tha ar
rival of the family, with everything as
trim and comfortable as If the family
lived there the whole year through. There
positively is no discomfort for the fam
ily and not much for the servants, since
ihere are so many of them that each has
comparatively little to do.
Moving Into the Country.
"You see. there Isn't much to be moved
except the horses, the automobiles, the
carriages, the trunks and the human be
ings whose clothes are packed in the
trunks." explained a young man who acts
a "personal secretary" of a very big
"magnate" whose family spends Its sum
mers in an out-of-town palace that has
been the subject of much publicity. "The
country house is furnished as completely
If not aa expensively, as the town house,
even to the library- The gardener and
his wife live at the country place the
1 ear 'round, keeping It in perfect order
and always ready to open and air the
rooms for the fam&y's occupation. Notice
'.- of ?4 hours, or even 12, is all that is
necessary to Insure everything being in
order for the family and & 'houseful
of guests' besides.
"There are about 25 retainers In the
household of my boss." continued the
secretary. "Let's count them up: In the
house, butler and three footmen, chef and
three women assistants, housekeeper, two
laundrescs. one parlor maid, two cham
bermaids and three lady's maids. There
is also a 'useful man. In the stable there
are a coachman, a carriagp groom (who
lts beside the coachman when he drives),
a 'pad groom." mho rides with any one
of the women of the family when she
cares to take saddle exercise, and an un
skilled man or two to help round, groom
ing horses, caring for harness and clean
ing up.
"Resides, there is now a chauffeur, and
when the boss gets his own garage and
two or three extra machines it will take
nearly " people to run the place. I have
accounted tor 24. not including the ao-
Ft
is
if
cial secretary or valet. As a matter of
fact, my employer says he won't have a
valet In the house. He will put up with
all t,ho other English varieties of ser
vants, but he still Is abundantly able to
dress himself. There axe three more at
the country housethe gardener, his wife
and a handy man but as two or three of
the city servants always remain with the
city house while the family is away Its
four members actually do .get along with
34 servants just half a doxen apiece.
"When the time comes to move out for
the Summer six or eight of the house
staff -precede the family by two or three
days. They begin preparatory work,
which is completed by the others, most of
whom follow a little later, leaving only
three of ( four to remain In town until
the day of the actual transfer. Each
servant has a trunk, of course, and is
expected to have it packed and1 ready for
the move, and the trunks of the family
as well; but that Is all. excepting the
silver, which is packed for transportation,
as It is cared for by the butler and his
assistants. The boss pays the railroad
fare of them all. as a matter of course.
"There Is some extra work for the house
force putting the town house into shape
for the Summer, covering the furniture,
and the like of that, but It's an easy
proposition when there are so many to
attend to the work. It's my opinion that
the upper servants In the house of a rich
and swell family in any of the big cities
today have a pretty easy and pleasant
way of earning their living, if they ara
willing to be servants."
Running a Country House.
Such an establishment as the one in
dicated is rather modest compared with
the establishments of Dr. TV. Seward
Webb, Klbridge T. Gerry, Clarence H.
Mackay. or any In their class. First
class Judges In the art of running a big
house, either In town or country say
that Mackay's establishment at Roslyn.
on Iong Island. Is the best run country
house In America; that Gerry's Fifth
avenue mansion Is the best run city
house, and that both Dr. Webb's town
house on Fifth avenue and his country
house at Shelburne Farms, in Vermont,
are close to the highest level.
Harbor Hill, the Mackay place, re
quires more servants to keep it going
than would fill the rolls of a company in
the United States Infantry. It takes a
steam engineer, two or three stokers, an
expert electrician' and at least one as
sistant to keep the house properly heat
ed and lighted. The switch-board at Har
bor Hill is as big and almost as compli
cated as the switchboard of a good-sized
hotel.
The electric Installation there Includes a
bet of storage battery cells to serve as a
reserve supply in case of breakdown, so
that an accident could not plunge the
ho us- Into darkness just when it ia filled
THE SUKDAT OREGOXIAN, ' PORTLAND, APRIL 21, iDOT.
Rural Palaces of Millionaires, Each
Requiring1 Servants by the Score and .Cost
ing a Fortune Every Season.
iliili
4,
" - , ft ,
vvrft.'T2r
y ft ft "l ftx
S4
1
...
f ( ' fwft-ftfe4,4ft!v'ifc "- I I
I jm,WVyVm.gs.$e V3ft ' ft. I. ft'ifv- ' ft- ?' 3 ' I
1 h rrTj " -m-" ftsit,4 I
ftftftaftsU 1 I
I I "V - . rt.'V-.-)'T- ft ...... .v.....ft. -a i
I 1" .-. N, ft;'- ' J i I
I ft.tft.ft..lW.---': ' ... ,iJMrffiBi
iSC7&Z2S. SJ3rZ2Z or C&V&UZf WT Z&J&rZ" r&J3S2y3
with life and grayety. The Mackay house
is by no means the only country resi
dence with its own storage battery, etc.,
though naturally the current ' is taken
from company mains whenever practi
cable, since a private plant costs a lot to
Install and privately manufactured cur
rent is expensive.
Curiously enough, while the influence of
the English has been very marked upon
the way the houses of the rich In Amer
ica, both In town and country, are run.
the English steward who acts as busi
ness manager of the place has not been
Introduced here to any extent In this
country most establishments are con
ducted on the plan of three or four prac
tically independent departments. The
butler has charge of all the men ser
vants In the house, often hiring and dis
charging them. The kitchen force, both
men and women, are subordinate to the
chef. All the other women servants are
under the housekeeper, if there Is one.
though many fine places are run without
such an attache.
The coachman has sole control of the
grooms and stablemen. Including their en
siLsAnifiut and discharge, almost invari
wwws
1
1
J uli I .It
if 1
II U
.in-ill ,i. rr I Tr' . I IU mil iu. ill wnia-ui nw
ably, while tne gardener . is responsible
for all the outdoor force except the
stablemen and grooms. Owing to the
lack of stewards the master of the house
himself, or his personal secretary from
the office, looks after much of the buying
and the payment of the bills.
When it comes to the pay of the serv
ants of a modern country house or city
mansion, the chef and the butler rank
all the others, the chef often, but not al
ways, receiving higher pay than the but
ler. Everything considered, the latter Is
fairly well paid as a rule. He must be
a good man. sober and with - plenty of
good taste, since it is the butler who plans
and carries out the decorations, which
include the flowers, and the success of
a dinner depends almost as much upon
him aa upon th hef.-
When the family is at its country house
the whole afternoon before a big dinner
may be taken up by the gardener and the
butler devising and potting Into effect the
scheme of floral adornment. The butler in
every truly well-regulated country house
has at great variety of tsblewear at his
disposal, so that he may choose whatever
eoler scheme he likes for his table, but of
fill
" jzZtj-
-7
ft
2-
'ft
ft -
'ft;": ? ff i vr; s V " t
. 1 L.uJ.zl. 4SiPii&x '4fcft'WftsaiSSS
course it must harmonize with the flow
ers. The gardener, therefore, is some
times as important a functionary aa the
butler himself.
I - the butler has entire charge or the ser
vice ana engages extra men lor waiters
when the dinner is unusually large. If he
knows his business and Is not held down
aa to expense, he gets "private men,"
who, he knows, will appear in spotlessly
brushed clothes and fresh, white linen at
J5 for his evening's work- If he doesn't
know his business or is hampered as to
expense he gets restaurant waiters at t2
and $3 each. The butler also buys and
serves all the uncooked fruit oranges,
grapefruit, grapes and the like; also the
cream for the tea and coffee, sometimes
also the butter, and the "biscuits" or
crackers, of which he sees that there -is
a fresh, supply in every guest's room
every night in case he should be hungry.
The pay of the butler now runs from 160
to H00 per month, the average being $75.
with tips, meals and sleeping-room if he
is single. If he has a family of his own
he has to rent his quarters when his em.
plovers'- family is in town; when in the
country furnished Quarters ara B-Atmrallv
r '-s-
r .V4iy .. .
ft. vjftft ftftft
c - ft.f
s
: .'ft R'
ft,ft.ft
ft
ft
77-ZEi &crrrj.&
TV 7t-L PWry
provided free for himself and his family.
Thus the butler's pay ranges Yrom 1720 to
$1200 a year "and found," with $900 as
the average. His tips foot up quite a Bum
every year besides. Ten dollars apiece
$5 at least ia the usual fee from the men
guests after a week-end house party. Aa
the butlers xe not the only servants who
expect tips. It will be seen that week-end
guests do not get off scot-free by any
means. But tips, while generally allowed,.
are forbidden in some country houses.
Dr. w. Seward Webb is understood to be
the most relentless foe of tips of all the
New Yorkers who maintain big town and
country houses. He forbids the reception
of gratuities of any kind by any of his
servants, and. being mindful that the rule
cuts their income, pays them higher wages
than most others receive. Thus Dr.
Webb's butler gets $1600 a year Instead of
$1200. If you are ever invited to spend
a week end with the doctor you may offer
the butler a tip with perfect impunity;
that well-trained servant will decline It In
words chosen to show that it is impossible
for him to receive it without hurting your
feelings In the least.
It Is part of the scheme of the well-regulated
country house that no servant shall
ever be seen at work, that there shall
never be any evidence that any work is
being done, and that the servants who are
visible shall always be immaculate In their
dresa. This means, of course, that all of
them must begin work early, and that
some of them must work late every day.
Their hours are not unduly long, on the
average, however, and in the biggest
bouses their incomings and outgoings are
as carefully recorded, sometimes by means
of time clocks, as in big commercial and
manufacturing establishments.
English Servants Predominate.
Naturally most of the upper men ser
vants in these fine places are English,
aside from the chefs, although the Swiss
and the Germans and the Swedes are
creeping in as footmen and butler's men,
as they are In the big hotels. Occasion
ally there is a Swedish butler even, and
there are likely to be more of them, since
the supply of English butlers ia running
short, and America doesn't breed men
who make good butlers, or even coach
men, unless their fathers were servants,
and not often then. There are a few
Simon-pure ( American coachmen. ,
No English butler in America, no matter
how many generations his family has
been of the servant class abroad, wants
his son to follow his calling, even if the
youngster has to- live less comfortably
and more strenuously and with a smaller
Income in order to play a real man's part
in life.
Few sons of butlers have made much of
a mark for themselves, as yet, however.
Some of them are following measurably
in their father's footsteps aa stewards of
w- 4
U2J
' cft. t v ftx-v
i
ft V-vu'
JET. ct BZZZWZVD
clubs, the steward's being the occupa
tion through which they can most easily
emerge from the servant class. A few
English-bred butlers have themselves at
tempted to do the same thing.' but gen
erally without success; their life training
as servants, not ' allowed to exercise any
initiative of consequence, is too strong
for them to overcome.
When a butler does get out of his serv
ant's Job. he generally goes in for a little
store of some sort, or "shop" as he would
term It. One of them, apparently well
qualified to be a steward and buy his em
ployer's wines and cigars, was trans
formed from the butler's Job to the stew
ard's office a year or two ago, greatly to
the envy and somewhat to the disgust of
his fellows in the butlerlng line, one of
whom told his employer what he thought
about It.
"Stobbsley," said the butler, referring
to his promoted acquaintance, "ain't cut
out to be a steward. In the Old Country
stewards is broken down gentlemen gen-ernllv-
and to be a crood steward vou'v4
1 ent to be born a srentleman. whereas
Stobbsley was born a servant, and he
can't live the life of a steward and a
gentleman."
Stobbsley lasted aa steward about two
weeks, and since then no New York em
ployer of butlers has dared promote his
English butler.
Friday is a big day at most of the cost
ly country houses In the Summertime.
There are men In what is called "socie
ty who give practically tneir wnoie
time to the business of being society men.
but they are few, and consequently most
house parties are of the "week-end" vari
ety. The guests at such parties generally
arrive late Friday afternoon or in the
evening. More and more they make the
journey from city to country house In
automobiles. A large percentage still go
by the comparatively old-fashioned rail
road train, however, and must be met at
the station, perhaps at two or three sta
tions, since they may travel by different
lines. This gives the coachman and his
force something to do besides exercise the
horses and keep the traps, runabouts,
omnibuses and victorias in good trim.
Chef and butler, gardener and house
keeper are busy all the afternoon, under
direction of the chatelaine, getting ready
the guest rooms, the dinner and whatever
programme of entertainment is to follow
that meal. Throughout the entire day on
Friday of every week during the warm
season the force of nearly every big
house In the land Is keyed up to the
highest tension, to remain keyed up un
til Monday. The guests and host, perhaps
the hostess, too, will depart by trap and
carriage, auto and train, leaving the
force of servants to put the place in order
at their ease.
It costs much money to run a big
country house, and naturally, no matter
how rich the owner may be, the ac
counts must be strictly and systematieal
lv kept. Carelessness In the ordering of
supplies might lead to extravagances
amquptlng to thousands of dollars, and
therefore the business end of most coun
try houses Is supplied with regular blank
"orders," exactly similar to those used
by any business concern. Here Is a faith
ful copy of such an order, except that
the names of the country house, its own
er and the dealers are not given correct
ly: ; Rosebank Farm. . No. A 3869
Morrlstown, N. J. April 15, 190T. j
'
'. 6(i90 Broadway, New York.
Z Ship Immediately by express, as i
; follows, and charge same to my ac-
; count: , j
; A. C. ETLFINSTONE,
8002 Exchange Place, ;'
; New York City. ;
" This order is sent by W. J. BAN-
' PERSON, to whom bill for same
must be forwarded promptly on the
first day of next month for certifl- '
. cation.
T Address all receipts to A. C. Klfln-
stone, 0002 Exchange ilace, New
; York City. i
The Hard-Worked Chatelaine.
With so many people to run at her becle
and call, with a chef who knows Just
how to arrange any sort of menu, from,
a heavy dinner for from 40 to 60 guests,
to a dainty luncheon for herself and a
few of her most Intimate women friends.
Concluded on Page 11.)