Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-07-15
The System Of Gratuities I'm Europe.

A petty but endless trouble OF the
traveller in Europe for the first time Is
the matter Of gratuities. You give o
trifle all the time to every one who does
| you the least service. Even for an ap-
parently friendly word of information
on the street you are expected to pay in
this way. In England 1t is "a tip;" in
France, the pour boire; in Italy, buono
manu-, the good hand; in Germany, IL Is
trinkgeld, drink money. 1t is not much
money in any one instance, but foots up
pretty well after an active days work.
The practical trouble, however, Is to
know what to give. The inhabitants
and the servants themselves know ex-
actly what they are entitled to, for it Is
matter Of right. just as much as any
other charge, although the amount Is
never fixed or published in any written
form for the information of strangers.
They must learn it by experience.
We, as a rule, to whom the European
measures are new, give too much. En-
glishmen of rank and wealth complain
that Americans raise the cost of travel
wherever they go. .-.
For the gratuity of cab drivers. wait
ers at restaurants, ETC., the recognized
European usage is in England one penny
for every shilling spent in fare or ut the
table, and in France and Italy two sous
for every franc spent. This rule dis
poses of large portion of the cases.
For porters, twopence i'm England
and two sous on the Continent. for
every piece of luggage handled, il 1t is
only to carry it across pavement. An
umbrella or a shawl is a piece as well
as trunk. The driver of an omnibus,
cab or fiacre, as point of etiquette and
out of professional consideration for the
porters, will refuse to touch piece of
luggage himself, even to lift il from
three feet away into his vehicle.
Visiting at private houses Of the up
per classes in England the servants ex-
pect their tips in gold coin if your stay
is over a day or two. The smallest En-
glish gold coin is "a ten-shilling pieco-
$3.50. You see the footman, who at
tends your bedrooms; the maid, IL you
have ladies. who serves their chambers;
the butler, who has charge of the dining
room and force of walters; the keeper,
if you hunt; the groom you use. IL you
ride, or the head of the stables If there
are several, and generally any servant
that you specially use. You will soon
learn how to grade these fees accord
ing to the rank of the servant and the
length of your visit.
On frst-class ocean steamers the
gratuities are much analogous to those
in gentleman's house. The steward
who waits on you at the table and the
one who attends your stateroom will
each expect fee in gold-ten shillings
($2.5O at least-from single passen-
ger; pound IL you have baths brought
into your room every morning. are par
ularabout having your wines warmed
or iced, or, in short, use the servants
up to their full capacity. When the
passage is $50 to S75 or less, these fees
are less-about one-half of the figures
above. The boots" also looks to be
remembered, about one-halfthe amount
given the steward.
The expense Of this gratuity business
in ordinary travel Is in general rather
exaggerated. The sums given are very
small and you get great deal for them
"A willing, perfect, kindly service
which you do not get in our country ut
all. 10 the traveller the custom Is an
annoyance rather than n burden.
The usage degrades and demoralizes
and unmans him who takes the vail, or
gift. or tip, or bounty. or whatever you
please to call 1t; yet very great por-
WIN Va viz PSOP'Oo Va oiCdt anu
Europe do receive their wages in this
way, look for 1t and feel no humiliation
in the transaction. You can hardly in
suit anybody across the water by offer
ing them anything. no matter what APP
pears to be his or their official position.
l have given shilling in London to
uniformed policemen and n franc In
Paris to magnificent-looking hotel man.
ayers. A Philadelphia acquaintance in
London had several hundred dollars
brought to him from his banking house,
one Of the largest there, by a clerk of
the establishment, and the nattily-
dressed young gentleman asked for a
shilling for his services. Imagine the
consequences. of offering ten cents to a
conductor of the Pennsylvania Railway
who had shown you oyour seat in the
car and given you information rs to
when to get out; yet this is done all
over England every day, and the uni
formed and respectable looking guard
hangs around stickily till he gets bis
sixpencc. Philadelphia Press.