The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-03-31

dow 10 the dining room, cost SlOVi
the mir ,rs alone in the dining-roonl
hall. e u nearly $4,000, dc.
Th - are a few Of the most unlia'
mort, d, items-mere beginners as II
were I, introduce you 20 the gOr-
eeous figures # the things that cost
when YOU want to build a hotel in
New York you want $4,000 DOC TO
paw FOR the ground on which IL
/ stands, 81 GOO, 600 10 put into the
building, aud nearly as much more
to finish it. Think Of the acres OF
carpets at 81 to Sc per yard; think
Of the thousands Of chairs, bed
steads, sofas; think Of the great mass
Of croekery and glassware, and the
cost Of furnishing a great hotel
mounts up tremendously. The de-
precaiIion 10 value Of the furniture OF
of one Of these establishments
amounts to $4,000 per year, the one
item o. broken glasses footing up
81, SOC.
A most perfect system necessarily
obtains The steward by long prac-
tice knows exactly how much TO buy,
and what, and the proportions. The
room clerks inform him in the morn-
ing how many people are in the
house and be knows the number OF
oysters that number viii require, the
number Of potatoes, the amount OF
each kind of meat and all about it.
The head cook takes his order and
the breakfast is accordingly prepared.
SO accurate is this law Of averages
thai very little is wasted. Out Of
one hundred people they know that
so many will want baked potatoes,
SO many boiled, so many stewcd,
and so MANY fried, and they are
never out OF the wav. One bill Of
fare, taken at random, III
separate divisions or classes of edi-
bles, 4. E., soups, fish, boiled, roast,
cold dishes, removes, entrees, game,
vegetables, pastry aud confectionery,
fruits and desserts. There are GO
separate articles, embracing 3 soups,
3 kinds of fish, 5 of boiled, . of roast,
I varieties Of salad, pate de foie gras
with truiles, &c, , removes, 6 en-
trees, grouse and widgeon duck, IA
kinds Of vegetables, I varieties of
pastry, &c, IL articles under the
head of dessert. And all this is
based upon the stewards calculation.
1t was all consumed and there was
just enough.
The wine-celIar Of one Of the lead
ing New York hotels holds at pres
ent Is brands Of champagne, 5 kinds
of American wine, II varieties Of
sherry, 4 of port, s of Burgundy, Is
of c%laret, IA Of hook, I of Sauterne,
and 8 Of Moselle, while the supplies
Of brandy, whiskey, rum, ale, cider,
%liqueurs, cordials, &c, would fit out
several 4sample-rooms."
The force necessary to run ~ Of
these hotels, NAV be stated IS fol-
lows: Four book-keepers three room
clerks, three package and key clerks,
eight bar-keepers, n engineer, l3.
fremen, one head cook, u assistant
cooks, 20 walters, IS chambermaids,
Sc laundry women, 35 scrub-women,
30 hall-men, Is porters, two carpen-
tiers, one ~locksmith, and so on. In
all 220 men and $50 women are en-
ployed in the house, the pay roll
footing up from $4,000 to 1000
per month.
OF course the discipline is rigid.
Every person must be on time, aud
every one of them is bound TO do his
or her duty silently. They wear
noisless shoes, and never speak IN
less they are spoken to. A complaint
from Il guest is equivalent to a dis
charge.
The cost of provisions for Il Of
these hotels amounts in round num-
bers to $1,000 per day. Ore hotel
in New York uses up $50 per day
in pumpkin pies alone in the season.
OF course the hotel proprietors in
good times make money, for while
the expenses are enormous, the re-
ceipts are eorrespondingly large.
If the house is full the receipts ought
to run very close to 81, 800 per day
for board alone, but it does not stop
there.
You pay tor your own fires at the
rate of 81 per fire, and then there are
the innumerable extras. Ifyou have
q meal brought to your room it is 81
extra, and if you are bibulously H.
clined it costs to indulge. The
whisky you get around the corner
for ten cents, you pay twenty-five
cents for at the bar Of your hotel,
and so on for all other drinks, and
the same may be said of cigars.
A big source Of revenue is 'privi-
leges." The mrn who blacks your
boots pays roundly for the room he
occupies, and so does the umbrella
stand and the barber shop. All
these things are necessary to the
house, but they are extras, and the
proprietors don't give men the privi-
lege Of d%eeciug the public for nothing.
Take it all in all the hotel proprie-
tor has a very soft thing Of it. /
should Ike to own a large hotel my
self
RFECHERIANA.