The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-07-15
GUESTS OF rae olrY norrLs.
The Country Cousin has Vastly Improved
his Appearance.

The summer visitor is beginning TO ill
up the town" snid the clerk of an uptown
hotel yesterday as he leaned over the desk
and twisted lot of toothpicks into little
frames and odd designs. 81 noticed there
is great improvement in the manners and
appearance of the countryman since I went
into the hotel business, thirty-two years ago.
We no longer find that there is any necessi.
ty for putting up signs in all the rooms
warning the guests not to blow out the gas,
and the hat boy at the entrance Of the din.
ing room does not call me over to see
queer collection of head gear since 1872.
This hat boy Of ours, by the way, is verging
on his fftieth year, and he is as shrewd as
they make them. He is dried up little
specimen, and thinks of nothing else but
hats. He will take thousand hats from a
thousand guests, and return each hat TO its
proper owner three times day for twenty
years without making mistake. Prior to va
he would rush out to the desk mysteriousiy
and call me in to look OF the collection of
suburban hats. In those days countrymen,
particularly Southerners, felt that they
would be sacrificing their self-respect If they
adopted the custom Of the town and wore
garments that accorded with the prevailing
mode. They were afraid of being consid.
cred popular swells, and preferred to be re-
garded as guys. All that is changed, how
ever Tho travelling salesman, who is really
responsible for the advance in civilization
in America, has disseminated fashionable
hats, well-cut garments, and many of the
lighter knicknacks, and the fashions that
go to make up the dress of New York men
until change has been wrought every
where. There are no end of good clothing
houses in New York and Philadelphia who
have adopted the system of establishing
branch houses in small towns. Il is a good
deal like the breweries big breweries own
good portion of the larger beer saloons in
New York. A wide ewake young man,
with decent acquaintance in his ward or
in his particular street, goes to brewer
and puts in certain amount Of cash aoninst
the brewers beer and credit. These bio
clothing houses are run very much on the
same principle. They make 10, 900 suits Of
clothes and ship them all over the country
to their agents. The clothes may be good
bad, or indifferent, but the one unquestion.
able result is that the countrymsn learn how
to dress. They used to come here in the
middle of summer with black broadcloth
frock coats, doe-skin trousers, heavy waist
coats, and boots. Now they dress more
seasonable. It is very rare that man comes
to our house who is not presumably attired.
Even in the streets one seldom sees the
guys who formerly came in such vast num-
bers simultaneously with the bot weather. y
What is the usual programme Of visi.
tor ?n
!" Well, If there is burlesque show, it will
gather in the countrymen with force that
no power on earth can resist. II does not
make the slightest difference what the othei
attractions in town may be, who the visitor
is, whether parson or ploughman. he is sure
TO go to the burlesque show. At IL o'clock
he comes in tired out and ready for bed. At
5 he is out in the corridor or In the sm oking
room, picking his teeth and staring into the
street. He never thinks of eating after the
threatre is over, and eats his biggest
meal in the middle of the day. He makes
the best guest that the hotel can entertain,
for he is quiet and unobtrusive and con-
tent with decent treatment. He has q NOR
bid horror of running in debt, and is punct-
uality itself in the matter of payment.
Take him all in all, our country cousin ia
pretty square and solid sort of man, and
he always finds welcome at tho best no
tela