This condition of affairs is not to be wondered at. That spirit of restlessness, nervous discontent, and craving for excitement which foreigners find characteristic of all who breathe American air is not confined to business men and society women—it permeates the kitchen, the nursery, the laundry, and every part of the household. Among employers the mode of life tends more and more towards a winter in California, a summer in Europe, an autumn in the mountains, and a spring in Florida. On both sides of the Hudson there are magnificent country houses deserted because their owners prefer the excitement of city life, the attractions of Bar Harbor, or the society at Newport. The towns on the Hudson are nearly stationary as regards population, though possessing every natural advantage, while the large cities are powerful magnets drawing from every direction. Domestic service cannot remain unaffected by these characteristics of the age. A new situation is often like a voyage to Europe so desired by others—it gives change, excitement, new experiences, and it is often the only way in which these can be secured. A summer engagement at the sea-shore, among the mountains, or at the springs is often as eagerly sought as is the height of the season at Saratoga or among the Berkshires by persons whose opportunities for change are far less restricted. The occupations temporarily open at the time of the hop-picking season, or the fruit-canning season, offer the attraction of large numbers of fellow-workers in the company of whom “a good time” is expected. The tenure of service also apparently varies somewhat with the size of the place, the average duration being longer in cities of from ten thousand to eighty thousand inhabitants than in smaller towns or larger cities. In small towns the desire for city life shortens the terms of service. In the largest cities, as New York, Brooklyn, Boston, Philadelphia, the average time is shortened by the fact that employers are often obliged to engage as a temporary expedient persons who have just arrived in this country; while it is also seen to be true that there is greater difficulty than in small cities in obtaining reliable testimonials. It is not strange, therefore, that reasonable, intelligent, and competent employers have difficulties to meet that lie entirely without the domain of their own households, and that many persons who twenty-five years ago experienced no difficulty whatever find to-day serious trouble in retaining their employees.