St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-07-26
A Professional Waiter Gives the Result of
His Observation on This Par
ticular Point.
The Millionaire Makes Less Trouble
Than the Clerk at Ten Dollars
Week.
What Men Eat In the Small Ciun
Houses and How They
Eat 1t.

1ngS ana lOunu himself III Ollc VI InO AN'"
ing restaurants on Jackson street the other
evening. Ten minutes later the mans Or
der was filled, and as the food began to dis
appear like snow-bank in a hollow, the
waiter stepped over to where a GLOBE re-
porter was sitting and said:
''Say, I'll bet my weeks salary that man
never tasted tripe before, and doesn't KNOW
what it is. It's queer, but it's fact mat
at least a quarter of the people who come
in here don't know what half the dishes on
the bill of fare are and they often order
things they never tasted. Almost every
day some person will ask what a certain
dish is like or made of. One day last week
gentleman while looking over the bill OF
fare, read: 'Stewed duck with giblet sauce
4lIiblet sauce said he, Il did not know that
efbletS (pronouncing the hard were raised
in this state Now. that man wanted to
show that he knew something, and he was
simply one species of idiot that we see in
restaurant"
''Do you see more than one species of
idiot, as you call them?" asked the re-
porter.
Eyes. indeed l do" said the waiter, who
happened to be man of considerable eX-
perience. He had manipulated the gilded
waiter in New Orleans, artiStically arranged
the snowy napkins in Boston. and for a
long time superintendent the drawing of
champagne corl1S i'll the Union club house
in Chicago. His assertions were accord
ingly
SET DOWN AS FACTS.
eyes; with little experience a man can
tell by the action of a person i'll a restau-
rant whether he amounts to anything or
not. For instance, moneyed man comes
in for meal. He will usually sit down in
4l,n nr& aAlo Of hn1 mud
order what he wants in a quiet, umassum-
ing manner. There is never any complaint
about the length of time required in getting
what he orders. When it is placed before
him he eats it without saying anything and
then goes out in the same manner
he entered. When a man comes in as if he
owned the world and part of Minneapolis,
look out for him. He will look around for
a special hook to hang his hat Oh. Then
you will see him hunting for seat, as if
there were only one III the restaurant to suit
him. When he finds it he is overbearing,
important, cranky and generally disagreed
bic. He kicks about the napkin, perhaps
or his order, or something or other which
does not suit him, and when he leaves it is
with the air of one who thought he was
monarch of all he surveyed. A man of that
stamp can always be sized up for one who
gets about SO orEs12 a week salary, and all
of that he spends for his clothes"
''How does he live then?"
''He doesn't live at all; he only exists.
He will never order more than Is cents
worth, unless 1t is a holiday, and then he
may go 10 better. He is not willing to go
where his means will allow him, but tries to
be somebody by coming to good restau-
rant and eating scarcely enough TO keep him
self alive.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA
how nearly true it is that some people dine
on a tOoth-pick and a glass of water. In
the East such people come under the general
head of Goldfish Aristocracy.'"
''What other kinds of people dOyou meet
in the course of a month p
Almost every kind you can mention.
There are cranks and good-natured men.
men who are particular and others easy to
please. AnreXperienced waiter only has to
serve man q few times to find out what is
his disposition. Some men are always in a
hurry, and others take their time. When a
man comes in with a rush and hardly has
time to order what he wants, we never rush
ourselves very much, for the chances are
that the man will sit and read his paper for
half an hour after he has finished eating
his meal"
SIS there any similarity in mems tastes ?"
mot in the least. That is among
men who have money to get what they
want. do not think that five men out of
the number who come in here daily for din
ner viii eat the saline dishes except liz
meat. They are altogether different. Some
show partiality for one thing one day,
and another day for something else. But
they rarely agree, except possibly on one or
two dishes. There is another popularity
about the business, and that is the different
WAYS THAT PEOPLE EAT.
''Some get away with meal so quickly
thatone would not believe they had eaten
anything but for the empty dishes The
ducks back; and L suppose has about as
much effect.
''Other people eat slowly and get the full
benefit of the meal. Then there is the
other extreme, where men are longer put
ting, down their napkin than some are in
eating a whole meal. Business men
usually eat their midday meal or lunch
rapidly, but they spend more time in the
morning and evening. When men can live
in clubs, their time is not so precious and
they can devote more time to their meals.
In the Union club of Chicago
the men spend about an hour and
ashadf over their dinner. This is usually
tie best. They start in with CLANS or oys-
tors and sherry, followed by soup and
claIlet; then come fish and Sauturne, entrees
and-claGet, meat and claret, Roman punch.
salad and champagne, fruit and ices, and
finally cognac and little cups of coffee. They
live well, but they can well afford it."
rs there any difference between serving
ladies and gentlemen"
Ladies' as a general rule. are much
easier to wait on. They are much easier TO
please and seldom make any complaints.
Sometimes, however, an exception occurs,
and when it does the waiter has to look out
for squalls. AS a general thing it is much
more pleasant serving ladies'
''Where is the most congenial city for
walters, do you Think"
"Well, either in the East or South Bos-
ton and New York are good cities. Next
to them probably comes the South. The
only difference it makes to the waiter is the
question of tips
IN THE SOUTH
there is a great deal of tipping, and conse-
Quently it becomes a good place to work.
The game is done i'll New York to greater
or less extent particularly in the better class
of restaurants. Chicago was formerly a
good place for tips but it has fallen off
some. used to make a pretty good thing
out OF tips there. One week l got S67
which was the most have ever received
In ST. Paul and the West generally the
practice is, unfortunately, not carried on to
any great extent, so the position of waiter
is not very paying one. The wages all
over the country to walters range from IS
to S12 per week and their board. do not
know very much about lady WATERS, but L
think they make much more incidentally
than we do"
lis the popular demand for colored