Connecticut western news., 1884-07-09
THE ENGLISH BAGMAN.
The Commercial Traveller of the O
 World, nnd Some of His Peculiar Ways.

The Commercial Traveller of the Old World, md Some of His Peculiar Ways.
 The English commercial traveller is a different nan, as type, from the American drummer. He is not so we'll dressed, nor so we'll educated as his American brother, on the average. Most hotels have a room set apart for com- mercial travellers, where they eat, chat, and, after nine o'clock at night, may smoke. None but those Ion the road" are allowed in these rooms, where the charges are a third less than those to other guests.
 Some old-fashioned customs remain in vogue in connection with these hote I assembly rooms of the "bag men" of which an American merchant has re- gently detailed his experience. One of these centres about the daily dining. The dinner hour is usually one o'clock aud is met with formality. The "com- mercial," who has been longest in the house takes the head Of the long table,
 
 two do the carving of the joints and dis pense the rest of the edibles. If any one sitting at the table addresses the most commonplace remark to the men at the top and bottom he will commit gross breach of commercial-room eti- quette if he omits to preface it with the title "Mr. President" or "Mr. Vice. For dinner of half a dozen courses in this room about seventy-ive cents is the usual charge; but this does not include wine, in relation to which peculiar GUS tom exists-one which, however, is rap idly dying out. Where it prevails the worthy bagman who is presiding for the nonce will say at the proper time, Gen t!emen, will it be agreeable to you to join me in a glass of wine2" The guests will carry out the form by the mur- mured response, "Yes, Mir. President, with pleasure" Forthwith sherry, as a rule. is ordered in sufficient quantity. When the President is abstemious, this mock-hospitality serves very well, but should he happen to be fond of the bottle, or the agent of a wine house, with an eye on orders from that hotel, then woe to his entrapped associates He will see that new bottles are brought as fast as the previous ones are emptied, and will urge to deeper draughts. The impecunious drummer and the abstainer are alike helpless. They need not drink, to be sure, but they are bound to pay their share of the total cost of all that the rest have drunk. On most days this will be far more than the cost of the food, and the wonder is that the custom dies as hard as it does.
 Another observance, as admirable as this wine-levy is foolish, immediately follows the cheese. A waiter hands a plate to the President, who puts into it a penny. It is then passed around the table, and everybody contributes like amount. Meanwhile collection-box Of the Commercial Travellers Orphan Asv- lum has been placed before the Presi. dent, who as soon as he receives back the plate, announces the amount con- tributed, and deposits it in the box. This penny collection is said to amount to about $25, ,00O a year.
 Though each of the forty thousand bagmen are said to travel about ten thousand miles annually through the three kingdoms, no railways except the Great Northern and the Great Eastern make any concession to these steady and important customers.