St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-01-21

Tipping. as it is called over there,
has become 81 much IL habit that every
body falls lii with it. The English. as
rule, do this or that thing because
other En%liSlImen do it. They follow
established custom blindly. umqueStion-
InglN believing that custom rests on
some divine right, like that of king to
crown. or of Il man to he il fool. if he
:" chooSeS. \ good number of BlitonS.
especially just now. are opposed to this
perpetual and cauSeleSs tipping for il
has 81 increased of late aS to Ice Il Sc
rloHS annoyance to all. and il grievouS
expense to many. Very recently. | was
told i'll England that the present duke
of Wellington. having accepted IN in
vltatlon of the queen to spend il few
days ut Windsor castle. offered. on his
departure. Il sovereign to each of the
servants who had waited on him during
his visit. The tlunkics elevated their
inS"lent proh"ScidcS. aud said. I'VE
don't take gold; meaning thereby that
as the bank of England issues no notes
of denomination less than five pounds.
that W1S the smallest amount they
would condc>ccnd To accept: whcreupon
the duke il is said. Went home and
placed in each of his guest -chamberS Il
printed notice that none of his guests
should, under any circumstances, fee
his servants, and that if they did So
they would incur his serious displeuS-
Ire.
This may sound strangely to persons
unaware that. from time immcmorial.
it has been the custom in Britain for
guests To fee the domvSticS of the gen
tlrman OF lady whose hospitality they
enjoy. This would he IL breach of eti-
quctte that would hardly be parioned
here foI it would he an intinIation
that the servants of Nour host We're not
properly paid In England. the breach
ot etiquette consists. OF has consisted.
iii not recognizing the claims of every
visible tluukv to liberal compensation iol
his kindness in doing his masters OF
mi>trc>>'S bidding. II you accept an
invitation of Il friend to breakfast oI
dinner in Manchester. Livcrpool. or
London. John Thomas will think cN-
trrmcly i'll of you unless you give him
Il crown or halt-crown at your depart
urc. 10y way OF showing Nour apprccfa
tinn of what he has not done for YOU.
W hat the queen 10y court etiquette
the first lady of the land tucratts. ami
even sanctions, the nobility and gentry.
and even the plaincst citizens. must
subscribe to. The >tuIdic>t -mdcavor>
to suppress tipping have been made in
/ England. y few Years ago. the railways
| combined Ia crush it. The managers
ANA directors held meetings. and de
tcImimrd that they would discharge
every and all of their employees who
should, "n any pIrtcr~,. OF for any rca-
son. accept 4 %i;ituitN from Il passenger.
| II WAS believed at first that the cooper
alton of these vast corporations to that
end would ahltr the nuisance. For Il
whil, il WAS mitigated but ere long it
WIS I> bad I~ ever. and for two or three
Nc;II> past il has been steadily incrc;IS-
ing. You still see notices in the rail
way stations that the servants of the
companies are forbidden to receive
yraruitics and vet your own eyes tell
You that travellers regularly pay the
portcr>. guards. every body they come
int" contact with. capable of addin" t"
their convenience or comfort. The
p"rtcr'> duty is 1" handle luggage hut
he hardly ever performs his duty with
nul pay from the passenger. The fee i
NOT large Il few pence. often Il SMllin"
but II amounts to Il good zeal. he
cau>c il i given every time the baggage
is touched. You pay him VIII" takes
Nour wraps. bundles or trunks tiom the
carriage You pay him who has the
baggage weighed. and You pay him
VIII" puts IL IN the van and assumes to
look ait,l it. This involves an cNpend-
itluc ot uuc shilling and >iNpcmrr to
three >hillingS. and is To he undergone.
even though N"ui journey hr hut few
miles. have known passengers going
from l.iNcrpnul to London Il distance
of 200 miles aud stopping cn route. to
pay nearly Il pound to the railway en-
pl"},> for doing what the company en-
prc>>ll hired them /" do.
1t Is common to SAY that on English
railways Il indicinu> Use of the shilling
will secure everything that i> Ia he sc
cured. and the saving Is substantially
true. II tN" persons are travelling to-
gctiIcr. and wish tn have the coach T."
themselves. they have merely To init
mate aS much to the guard and put Il
piece oi silver in his hand. and the
thing is accomplished. If Yen are go
ing from London to Edinburgh or in
tend to take any Other night ride. YOU
can have Il coach alone 10y paving the
proper fee. In this way Nou can enter
Il Srcnmd-clIs> compartment. which has
no div lSlnnS OF seat. stretch ont at full
length. wrap Yourself in rug and shawl.
and get Il good nights rest. Before
>lrcpmg-coachcS We're introduced into
Europe. all experienced travellers chose
such method. | understand matters
have gone :" far that persons often buy
second. even third-claSs tickets. and
obtain iirSt-cla>S accommodations 10y
hrihin% the guard of the train. The
hrihc is much less than thc regular tar
iif. hence its economy and liberal EN-
ploymcnt.
The charge of service in European
hotels was originally made to prevent
servants from importuning travellers
III other words, to deprive them of ANY
excuse for begging for fees after the
regular hill had been paid. TO Il Ger
tain extent this has been effective on
the continent. though it is wholly in
operative in Britain. In England, c>-
pecially. servants expect fees, and ask
for them with their whole expression,
quite as much aS before service WAS
regular charge. If questioned, they
say no doubt truly hat they do not
get the service, and 10y Il queer logic
reason that. hccausc the imnkccpcr
deceivcS OF imposes upon his patrons.
the patrons should i'll turn he imposed
upon hy his servants. Nearly all Eng
lishmem pay the proprietor for service.
and pay 1t over again to the servants.
They declare il Il licensed eNtortion
but then everybody does it. you know.
and they hate To bc odd another WAY
of saying they fear 10 he thought mean.
They have fully as great timidity on
this subject a. we financially ly-semsitive
Americans ourselves In London ald