A secretary was advertised for, an educated, quick, methodical worker--good typist and shorthandist. The lady who needed the secretary almost required one to deal with the letters she received in reply to her advertisement.[1] A holiday nursery governess was advertised for: again with the same result. Women with every qualification were anxious--desperately anxious--to obtain the post. These educated women sent stamped envelopes for a reply and offered to come long distances to secure an interview. A cook at £30 a year (single-handed) was advertised for over and over again. Registry offices were haunted, friends worried, for tidings of cooks. No cooks were forthcoming. Here was a situation where the two maids had a roomy comfortable bedroom and their own bathroom, a sitting-room with a gas fire and every labour-saving apparatus to make the work easy. These servants were offered not less than 10s. a week wages, as much good food as they could eat, clean, sanitary quarters, with comfortable beds and hot baths galore. Their washing was paid, an off-day, from 3.30 to 10, once a week, and the same on alternate Sundays, and two weeks' holiday (on full pay) granted, in addition to as many other outings as could be arranged. Had suitable applicants appeared and demanded £30 or £34 a year, they would have obtained those wages. [Illustration: PLATE V A LONDON DINING-ROOM SHOWING DRAWING-ROOM BEYOND This picture shows how a gas fire may be fixed in an antique grate without disturbing the old fire-place. When alight the effect is of red-hot coke.] Too many Governesses, Secretaries, and Companions in Normal Times. And yet there is a glut of women who wish to become governesses, secretaries, companions, and shop-assistants, in spite of the fact that such work is not well paid, that it is uncertain, and that those girls who must take lodgings or "live in" are generally badly housed and badly fed. Except in a few shops, girls living "in" live very roughly. Nurses in the generality of nursing-homes do the same, and women workers who earn under 30s. a week and live in a bed-sitting-room in a lodging-house are in no better case, though the latter do have the luxury of a room to themselves. In many houses, however, this luxury could be granted to the servants. The life of a servant in a good situation is healthy; she can enjoy cleanliness, good food, and warmth, she can take her pick of situations, and leave one which is undesirable, knowing full well that she can obtain another for the asking. A girl earning good wages in service can save, and she is not dogged by the terror of being suddenly thrown out of employment and finding herself penniless and unable to obtain another post. So much for the advantages of domestic service as a profession. What are its drawbacks? Lack of freedom and the fact that the profession of a servant is not considered genteel! The girl who adopts it does not rank as a "young lady."