National Republican., 1874-05-09
THE AVERAGE HOTEL CLERK.
a GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THAT UN-
APPRnAI,II ri L INn1UInIIAL -

a GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THAT UN-
APPROACHABLE INDIVIDUAL =.
lean shake hands with Governor, sit beside
IN alderman and smoke with State Senator,
and never feel my littleness; but when come 70
stand in the presence Of the modern hotel clerk,
feel that awe and inferiority which tourists
they stand in the Yosemite valley and look eP II
the mountain-tops of q thousand feet apoSe'
There Is something about that young man stano
fng behind the counter Of 0 hrst-class notel "heh
fs calculated to hold the common man at q ols-
tance; You may gaze ut him II you wish to-in
fact he is there to be gREed at-but don't attempt
20 be familiar would as soon think OF dining
WIN the crater Of q volcano as Of going up, ek-
tending a hand to . hotel clerk, and ask him IL
his family were enjoying tolerably good health.
sometimes dream Of being thus familiar, and
when wake feel as II had been frozen.
Thedignity, asperity and condeseension of the
modern hotel clerki Did you ever notice how he
resents any attempted familiarity of travellers?
If 70 man calls him "old boy" or yells ''Say, you
fellow there!' no Well-bred clerk lets on that he
hears. He goes right on reading the morning
paper, and finally that familiar traveller has to
put on q beseeching LOOK and timidly ask
"Please, mister, will you kindly permit me to
disturb you while humbly inquire II that Toledo
train leaves at eight O'Clock or at halEpastF"
The clerk will raise his eyes from the paper,
drop them, raise them to the clock, gently move
then Rrouno inc EVoni anu nhally EePiy-
~ guess So"
With what dignity they receive and assign
guests. II the traveller asks for q room on the
first floor, on account Of his lame leg, the clerk
lies back on his dignity nnd assigns him to the
top story as punishment, and If all the earth
Quakes which ever qusked were to attempt to
alter that clerks determination, they would get
beaten.
used to believe that hotel clerks were like
hotel walters, and that Q bribe would fetch 'em;
buS found out my error when trying to pass q
erumpled ten-cent note into the young mans
hand. He drew back with such q look Of scorn
and contempt on his face that didn't dare to
register at all, but slept in q barn and break
tasted on cheese and crackers. heard afterward
that he had been killed by o railroad collision,
but don't see how any such thing could have
disturbed his dignity.
There are times when the hotel clerk will IN
bend. 1t is when q traveller says that he has
wandered all over the world, stopped at all kinds
OF hotels and all sorts of clerks yet in all his
experience he had never seen such q hotel and |
such q clerk as that. There are well-authenti-
Gated accounts of at least two clerks who, after
being thus addressed, allowed something like q |
smile to cross their faces they offered the per-
sons addressing them fVe-cent cigar.
can never forget the case Of young Templeton; |
he was clerk Of the Grand Duke, and during the
eleven years Of service in that position he had
never been known to smile, or to answer q civil
question when he could help It. Everybody
thought he owned the hotel, and everybody took
of their hats to him, and approached him with
awe and trembling. He died one day, though
don't see how death dared to fool around him. I
was on the coroner's jury, which rendered ver-
dict that "the deceased came to his death from an
overplus Of LOFTY grandeur, hastened by too large
an amount of unbending oploftiness.-WarerIy
MasGziRe.