The Unseen Labor of a Household

We are in receipt of a long letter from a lady who signs herself 'Little Worker,' about our 'hunt for a hired girl.' Little Worker thinks housekeepers are too much like the old Missouri farmer who was looking for a hired man, that had his men quit work at half-past seven, and, after supper, all they had to do was feed the stock, cut some wood, mow some grain, milk the cows, and a dozen other things, enough to make up half a day’s work after hours, and that 'girls are overworked and underpaid that do housework.' She wants to know what on earth makes a man’s time worth more than a woman’s, and why not pay the women as much as the men—'and then you will get plenty of help.' This little spicy writer then wants to know why pay a man on the farm twenty-six dollars a month who does nothing but eat, doesn't get to work except with his jaws before seven and quits at six, and lays around the rest of the day smoking, and then ask a girl to work more hours for a day, more days for a month, and closer application when at work, for about half the wages paid the man. It is to be confessed we feel somewhat demolished, and would suggest that perhaps some drowsy bachelor would take up the cudgel (pen) and hurl a thunderbolt against 'Little Worker' in defense of his much abused sex. As for ourselves, we are still looking for the hired girl.