The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-08-06
BAD FOR THE BONIFACES.
TIE EF4SHIONABLESU SUMMER RES ORTS
INA SAD PLIGHT.

TIE F4SHIONABLESUM RESORTS
INA SAD PLIGHT.
A RecofI. Against the High-Price Sys
tem-Too Much of q Grand Thing
Killing the Goose with tho Colder
Eggs.
| A Saratoga correspondent of the New York
Tribune discourses as follows on the enects o
the present style OF keeping hotels at popular
| places of resort, especially In the North:
At last the vengeance so long predicted by
| indignant and outraged tourists mas oVertaKer
the hotel.keepers. A reaction against sum
mer travel In This country has set In, Whlcf
| threatens 10 involve In ruin many enterprls
| inu landlords, and to work q complete reVou
| tion in the hotel system at our fashionable re-
sorIs. The present season Is the poorest eVel
known to the hotel-keepers. 1t is now the
last week of July, and 1t is safe to say tina,
fashionable summer hotels are not half full
and that In many instances not more than 9
quarter of the rooms are occupied. Hotels o
wide celebrity hotels whose advertisements
they must be overcrowded, are not paying
their running expenses. There is even. with
but q few guests, an absolute necessity fol
keeping up the standard OF the table.
WHAT IT COSTS.
Armies of servants have been engaged for
the season, and must be paid and fed. Rent
must be provided for, and altogether, unless
August changes the whole aspect of affairs,
many of our best rural hotels will change
hands after this season. During the war and
for the five years following the hotel-keepers
revelled In money. Everybody went to The
most expensive resorts, and paid the most ex.
travagant prices with only q feeble murmur.
| The hotel.keepers, like Jesurun OF old, WaXed
tat and kicked. They saw the public seized
by mazda, aud they took advantage OF 1t.
When their rooms were full, and often when
they were not, they put up cots In the parlors,
and crowded their guests as In barracks,
cient accommodation the same rates they
nominally asked for separate rooms. Four tu
six dollars day were paid for sleeping on
cot and for chance to fee the walters ut The
dining-tabe; and on the pubic-the most
egreglous and gregarious ofthe aslntne kind
struggled for chance to add It's contributions
to the Pactollan stream flowing Into the capa-
cious pockets OF the all-absorblng Bonifaces.
OF course, The everybody, was specially at
tracted 10 the houses which were known to
be the most over-crowded.
Landlords strntted and hotel clerks ruled
travellers with rod OF iron. II was proposed q
still further to Increase the rates of board.
Seven dollars day were talked Of as rea-
sonable figure in the early future of the first
class hotels. The masters were triumphant,
the paving slaves uhe pu5llcl were humble,
silent and crushed. Suddenly the ''corner" In
hotels broke. The first symptom of weakness
showed itself early last season. The papers
were filed with the complaints OF grnmbllng
ssconstaut readers" European trips became
more popular than ever. and the patronage OF
our summer hotels fell off, There were several
bad failures, and among them those OF three
of the most prominent hotel men IN the coun-
try. The idea of increasing the price OF
board was then at once abandoned. and de-
crease was decreed, being an average, how
ever, OF only fifty cents o day. The seven
dollar chlmera vanished, and opulent land.
lords sighed for the golden days which had
passed away. The present season was entered
upon with fear and trembling, especially as
the number of hotels had greatly increased OF
late, and several new and very attractive re-
sorts had been Just opened. But repentance
came too late. II the goose which laid the
golden eggs was not killed, she certainly was
seriously wounded and had become exceed
ingly shy and umid. The primary cause of all
this trouble luy IN the MIN raJes or board.
Fhe e SECONDARY In the incvillty OF fandlorda,
or rather their suburdlnates, with whom the
travelling public hld been brought into con-
tact.
s'ExTRAs."
The mere nominal price OF board was always
much enhanced by exlraneous charges-oy
the fees to walters, bootblacks and porters,
and by the prices of carriage hire, &c. Anoth-
er Item was the absurd rate OF omnibus fare.
For ten cents. man may ride In New York
omnibus from tie Batlery.to Fortleth street.
For goinga quarter-one-eighth-of that dis.
tapce, from the steamboat landing or the rail.
road depot to the fashionable hotel he.would
be charged half dollar, and this, too, in
places where h .ises and their iced were much
cheaper than in The city. This Item, perhaps,
looks rather too trliing to deserve mention,
but, when Mr.. Smith was on his summer tour
with Mrs. Smith and the two Misses Smith, and
and Master Smith, and Mrs. Smiths unmarried
sister, it counted up rapidly. Then the nomi-
nal BOARD price only included sleeping accom-
modatious, and The price of a private sitting.
room was always made disproporlionately
high.
THE MODEL CLERK.
A goodly part, not by any means the largest,
but still noteworthy portion of the patronage
of the summer hotels, comes from gentlemen
travelling alone, or In parties of Two and three.
The indIgnitles heaped upon this class OF the
community form learlul Tecofu, huu lnls
brings into prominence that wonderful being,
the hotel clerk Of the period. Young, hand.
some and superciIious, with his hair dressed
In the most killing style, with plump red
cheeks, with elegant garments OF the most
fashionable cut, with diamond pin, with 9
large.linked 'waich.guard, with superb cuff
buttons, with an indifferent hanghtntss OF de-
meanor wonderful to behold, with sovereign
contempt TOR the sovereign people, with all
the attributes OF power, with all the oVerbear-
inp Qualities which come from irresponsib G
sway-thIs ia that marvellous and magnificent
mixture Of Jove and Apollo. And this Is what
he did with the gentlemen travelling alone or
in parties of Two or three: He would deltbe'
rately Danish them 10 the hot rooms in the
attic. or 10 the Inferior apartments looking
upon dismal court yards, or exposed TO the
odors of the kitchen. He would calmly tell
them that all the good rooms on the tronl
were occupied He would know this to be
false, and his victims would know. 1t, too, oul
he was omnIpotent and they were helpless
This was the general practice In all fashionable
hotels. Now the occupant of the poorest rooms
has to pay precisely the same price as ne VINO
by favoritism and personal acquaintance
with the clerk, has the best one.
oNE-sIDED MISTAKES.
He must also be careful to see, ln his bills
that there is not an extra charge for some
,,,,,o, dating inst Anterior to his arrival, OIL