Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-09-22
COSTLY HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS

Among the expenses OF civilized living which |
have run up to exor5itant rates during tue
flush times Of the past few years, are the
charges at FIRST class hotels" These remain
high-mu,l too high-anl unless We greatly
mistake the stnltion, they will have to be re-
died very considerably Within the next two
years. Ia anl around Philadelphia, no doubt.
the milk Of Csntennialivistorz will hold them
up for auoihsr season, but in general there
must be an mportant reduction. The watering
places began TO feel the pressure, this last sea-
son. the smlller hotels AMI boarding -honses do
ing good business while the overgrown palace.
OF paint aud gliding languished. At Cape May
the four-dollar houses reducsd to three dollars
day. about the middle of August.
The reason why the large hotels are obliged
TO charge,high prices is one simply exasperating
to the guest whose tastes are nice, but not ex
trsvagant, and WHO desires every comfort, but
does net care for mere display. This reason
simply is that the whole system OF bookkeeping
at the "irJt-cass'' establishments ia on scale
OF absurd waste. guest IS offered the choice
of fifty dishes at Inner, while none but silly
people who have not yet had a warning from
their digestive powers, care for more than half
adozen. Here is an enormous waste, and an
enormous unnecessary expenditure in tue cook
cry, and for this the guest, who does not eat,
and indeed could not eat all that is offered him,
has to pay for what he does not consume and
does not want. And so OF many other details in
a big hotel.
Quite as great absurity is shown in the ex-
pensive furniture anl appointments. These the
guest cannot use bi. hei pays for them. They
are provided at an immense cost, bearing a
heavy interest, and they perish and deteriorate
rapidly, all of whchsthe plain guest, seeking
comforts but not barbaric luxuries, has to pay
for. They do not show in the items in his bill
but they Sppear in the figures of its total. As I'll
instance OF this, we remark description OF the
elevator which is to be placed in the Trans.
Continentar' Hotel,now building on the Centen.
NAL grounds. The car is to rival the one recent
y placed in the Continental Hotel, " which il
paneled in the most beautiful and expensive
" fashion with iuaid woods from a New Yorl
atelier, in the most approved Pompeiian de-
signs, is richly gilt aud cushioned luxuriously
" with acknowledgement lozenges."
just listen Inlad woods" Pompeiian
designs" " richly gilt" &c., &c. all for a httle
box, in which peop'e sit two or three times n
stairs, insseai OF walking Now how much
this absurd thing costs is not stated but we soc
1t elsewhere grsyely announced that the Fifth
Avenue Hotel in.:sss..Now York has Just
put in an elevator costing twenty
thousand dollars. i. We arc not told how
much Pompeiian luxuriou-ness il embodied in
its car or whether guests who use it are present
cd with diamond breast-pln on each trip but
we may safely conclude that it is something Like
the one for the new Philadelphia hotel. Now
just consider, if you please, what this ono item
OF nonsenscal extravaganza entails. This ele-
vator that costs twenty thousand dollars makes
al interest account, (n Now York; Of four.
teen hundred dollars a year, and wears out
at the rate Of at least two thousand
more, making an annual charge upo1
the guests OF thirty-four hundred dollars
of which large part il for the excessive cost in
furnishing the car as if it were the salon OF {
princess, or the boudoir OF Jim Fisk. The plair
guest finds this in the total OF his bill too, ant
is swindled by the addition of ten per cent NOR,
for this absurd display of vulgar taste, none OF
which he can possibly appreciate use, or enjoy.