St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-12-21
Foreign Travel.
THE FEES, TIPS AND GIFTS EXPECTED ON
EVERY HAND.

EVERY HAND.
In one of his letters to the New York
Observer, 'Iran@us" thus descants upon
the minor miseries of travellers SIN
Guiding stewards fees and provisions"
is the advertisements, after stating the
price of passage on the Atlantic steam
ers. But it is very soon discovered that
the stewards of high and low degrees,
and stewardesses, and the several ranks
and conditions of men servants and
maid servants expect their fees as reg
ularly as the company calculates on the
passage money. This is swindle, un-
less the servants are enjoined against
gratuities, and even then they have
their own way of levying contributions
upon the too complaisant passenger. A
man with his family is easily robbed of
twenty-five dollars by this taxation, if
he has not the moral force to resist the
example of those about him, who say
''it is the CUSTOM" and so perpetuate
positive wrong.
Many a man makes his close calcula-
tiOns as to the amount of money he can
afford to expend on tour, and is sadly
put about when he finds that he must
spend dollar or two daily where he
was assured there was nothing to pay.
| paid SIS fees on ship board, and, old
traveller as | am, had not the force TO
resist the imposition. And in my first
hotel bill in England l was charged So
for service, my bill stating that this is
sin lieu of all fees and gratuities to
servants" But when l asked if that
meant what it said, the answer was
given with shrug that assured me the
servants would all be glad to get it,.
The solemn grandeur in which they
stood in swallow-tail coats and white
cravats, like clergymen all, was some
thing almost ludicrOus, but | have not
found one of them so gorgeous that he
would disdain a sixpence dropped into
his itching palm. They stood in dread
array as / entered what "Harper's
handbook" says is one of the best hO-
tells in the Kingdom, and the church
dignitaries are not more dignified when
they conduct the public service. But
they are quite willing to be feed, and it
is plain that they expect it. Their man
ners are not equal to their dress. "Let
me take your dirty plate" is not the
request one likes to have made, though
the plate may not be clean. 1t is very
much after the manner of the English
lady who said at table, to her husband !:
"Try it, Hugh, it's not as nasty as you
think it is"-the word nasty having an
English sense that we do not appreciate
in our more uncivilized country. She
did not mean anything more than un-
pleasant, by word that, to us, is the
sum of all denominations.
At the church service in one of the
great cathedrals of England, one of the
party left an umbrella, and l returned
to recover it. A stately individual in
a black silk gown with white cravat
went kindly for it, and | awaited his
return. He presented it to me, for
which | was truly grateful, and was
afraid to offend him by the offer of
money, but recOllecting that no one is
above receiving, | dropped the welcome
coin into his open hand and received
his thanks. Walking by an ancient
building, l looked up at it with a par
donable curiosity. A shabby-genteel
individual appeared. He was seedy.
His nose was red. He had taken much
gin and wanted more. "That is nun
nery," he said, ''and the church near
by is st. Johns" and so he. went on to
enlighten my ignorance. Soon he turn
ed his back upon me, and his hand was
behind him open to receive the expect
ed fee. They call it backsheesh in the
East; it is beggary in any country.
You order carriage, and when you
ask the charge are informed that it is
two, three or more shillings, pounds or
dollars, and you take it; but at the end
of the drive you find that the driver is
to be paid large per centage over and
above your stipulated contract. 1t is
quite in vain that you ask in advance
what extras are to be paid j; you are
always assured that there is ''nothing
but what you please aud the nothing
often amounts to something that spoils
the pleasure of the ride. There are two
ways of avoiding this annoyance. One
is the American way of paying like
princes that is, throwing money away
lavishly as if it were token of wealth
and distinction. The other is to pay
honest bills and nothing more. AS to
princes, am told they are more careful
in spending money than their people,
and landlords find them the sharpest
customers they have. Rich men, too,
are generally quite as unwilling to be
imposed upon by overcharges as Others,
and indeed they would not be rich if
they had always submitted without re-
sistance to the demands of robbers.
Managers of hotels need to be watched
as well as other people, and bill may
well be scrutinized with some care be-
fore it is paid, for mistakes, especially
in addition, will happen in the best
regulated establishments.
Too WELL PLAYED.-The Conrad
brothers, acrobatic clowns in circuses,
had a comical performance, in which