St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-05-21
The Art of Tipping"
[From the Philadelphia Press. |

[From the Philadelphia Press
A petty but endless trouble of the
traveller in Europe for the first time i,
the matter of gratuit;es. You give 8
trifie 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 it is "a tips
in France, the pour boire; in Italy
buono manu-, the good hand; in Ger
many it is trinkgeld, drink money. II
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 exactly what they are entitled to,
for it is matter of right, just us 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 ex-
perience.
We, as rule, to whom the European
measures are new, give too much.
Englishmen of rank and wealth COM
plain that Americans raise the cost of
travel wherever they go.
For the gIatuity of cab-drivers, wait
ers at restaurants, etc., the recognized
European usage is in England one pen
ny for every shilling spent in fare or at
the table, and in France and Italy two
sous for every franc spent. This rule
disposes of large portion of the cases.
Fol- porters, two pence in England
and two sous on the continent, for ev-
cry piece of luggage handled, if it is
only to carry it across the pavement.
An umbrella or shawl is a piece as
well as trunk. The driver of an ON
nibus, cab or tiacre, as a point of ETH
quette and out of professional consider
alton for the pOrters, will refuse to
touch piece of luggage himself, even
to lift it 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 day or two. The smallest
English gold coin is a ten-shilling piece
$3.50. You see the fOOtman, who
attends your bedroom; the maid, if
you have ladies, who serves their cham
bers; the butler, who has charge of the
dining-room and force of walters; the
keeper, if you hunt; the groom you use,
if you ride, or the head of the stables if
there are several, and generally any
servant that you specially use. You
will soon learn by intuition how to
grade these fees according 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 attending your state-room will each
expect fee in gOld-l0 shillings, $3.50
at least-from a single passenger; a
pound, if you have baths brought into
your room every morning, are particu-
lar about having your wines warmed OF
iced, or in short, use the servants up to
their full capacity. When the passage
is $50 to $75 or less, these fees are less
about one-half of the figures above
The shoots" also look to be remember.
ed, about one-half the amount giver
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 fol
them-a willing, perfect, kindly service
which yon do not get in our coun
try at all. To the traveller the custom
is an annoyance rather than a burden
Its worst feature is the decentralization
and want of self-respect which it en-
genders on the part of the classes VIII,
receive their compensation in this way
as gratuity and not as wages. Per
sons in the habit of accepting gratuitie
and doing their service for these, ar,
certainly not fit for the dignities ant
independent responsibilities of citizen
ship.
The usage degrades, demeralizes ant
humans him who takes the vail, or Gift
or tip, or bounty, or whatever vol
please TO call it; yet a great portion o
the people of Great Britain and Europ,
do receive their wages in this way, loOl
for it and feel no humiliation in tn,
transaction. You can hardly insult an,
one across the water by Offering then
anything, no matter what appears to b,
= his or their official position. / have eiver
a shilling in London to uniformed DO
licemen, and franc in Paris to magni.
ficent looking hotel managers. A Phil
adelphia acquaintance in London hat
several hundred dollars brought to hin
from his banking house, one of tn,
largest there, by clerk of the estab
lishment, and the nattily- dressed youp.
gentleman asked for shilling for hi
services. Imagine the consequences O
offering 10 cents to conductor of the
Pennsylvania railway, who had shown
yOu to your seat in the car, and giver
you information as to when you get
out; yet this is done all over England
every day, and the uniformed and re
spectacle looking guard hangs around
stickily till he gets his sixpence.