Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-08-16
A WORD FOR THE UNDER DOG.
Another Lot that 10 Not q Hapuv One.

Next to the mule, probably the most unjustly
treated animal on the face Of the globe is the
hotel clerk says Louisville Courier osrna
gossiper. He is made tho butt of every para
grapher, he Is reviled. at by young girls and
made love to by the old ones, trusted super
cilously by young men and snubbed by the
old, held responsible for, delayed trains and
missing steamboats,, is in danger Of his life
through missing letters, has the wash-bill,
overeharges and underattention laid at his
door. is made eyes at by the chambermaids
annoyed by the walters, bullied by the porter
and hns his salary cut down by the gentlemaniy
proprietor. He must be able to tell q
real Russian duke from q fraudulent French
count. must judge a travellers responsibility by
anything from his baggage to the good clothes
ne doesn't wear. Is expected to be a revised and
corrected time table for all the railroad and
steamship lines in this country and a few In
Africa. must be able to convince a leading act
ress that the sixth floor back is every way more
desirable and fashionable than the second floor
front, must know when to bully kicking guest
and when to Weld and at all times see from his
post behind the counter that no man gets out OF
the house by the back door or fire escape with
out settling his bill. With all this, he is ex.
pected to be the glass of fashion and the mirror
OF politeness on salary of $40 month and
board.
The hotel clerk holds no sinecure position
Usually he stands up behind marble-topped
counter and submits patiently to the abuse OF
the travelling public tor from eight to twelve
hours at stretch. Talk about shop girls hay
ing to stand on their feet and having to work
hard They are hours, dreaming away their
lives in Mahomet's elysium compared to what
the desk martyrs must endure. A girl can sit
down once in while, when the foreman isn't
looking. and she can always relieve her feelings
by swearing under her breath. The clerk can't
DO that. After he has shaken hands warmly
with man who has stopped at the house fol
dinner three years ago, and inquired bandly
after his family, he must explain how impOssi.
Die 1t is to take forged check of 800 for 81
Dill and pay the difference in cash. He must dc
all this with grace that will make the guest
feel rather complimented than otherwise, or he
may be In danger Of losing his custom After
doing this a few years, the top of his head, may.
hap, takes on smooth likeness to the counter
in which his bland face has so long been mir.
rOred, but he must 60 on and on with a work
that is never done.
Yes, the way of the hotel clerk is not the way
OF pleasantness, and their paths are not often
the paths of peace. But in the course of some
years experience have found no cause for the
popular abuse of them. Now and then have
found man who has become 80 crazed with his
multifarious responsibilities that he fancies he
owns the hotel, but such are, happily, rare.
Taken as class, have found them gentle
manly set; with intelligence fully equal, if not
above, that of their brethren in the mercantile
ranks. True it Is, that they are not great wri-
tiers or speakers, but they are charming CONVEX
SatiOnalistS