Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-09-02
4 oRow1No NUISANCE.
comnon-scnse Views Of the Now Almost
Universal Custom OF Tipping

Comm on Sense Views Of the Now Almost
Universal Custom of Tipping
No one thing is a greater nuisance
TO the travelling public than the now al
most universal custom Of tipping.
When one makes contract with the
owner Of a house, he Is not expected to
pay the agent for carrying out, under
the owners orders, the contract with
the tenant. When goods are purchased
Of a merchant, no one expects to
fec the clerk for giving right measure,
Or the driver Of the delivery wagon for
delivering the goods in good order.
Yet is It not just as reasonable TO fee
either of these employees as the waiter
who serves you at the hotel table or
the porter who carries your trunk to
your roomp The contract with the
hotel keeper includes these services.
Many advertisements Of popular hotels
make mention of "frst class service"
as means of attracting guests. For
tunate will the guest be II, when he
arrives, he does not find himself forced
TO put his hand in his pocket in order
TO see an example Of this much-desired
and comfort-giving experience-quick,
quiet-respecting and self-respeeting
service.
II is difficult to decide which is
most annoying, Indifferent, careless
service, or cringing, obsequious SER
vice. All that any self-respecting per-
son requires from servant, either at
home or abroad, is intelligent service
in the capacity in which they are en-
gagged. Few who tip walters or public
servants think OF. the injury they infiot
on the receiver, or the injustice on the
fellow traveller or guest.
Not many years ago hotel at one Of
the popular resorts in the northern part
of the State Of New York, where the
writer was n guest, the walters were
girls of the class usually found in such
employment. The tables accommo-
dated about eight persons, and one SER
want was assigned TO each table. All
went well until the appearance of a
young man and his wife. The man
had the appearance and manners Of n
smart clerk. After the first appearance
of the couple at the table the waitress
was demoralized; she had eyes, feet
and hands for no other person until the
young man and his wife were served.
The secret cause of this devotion was
understood even before the young man
remarked, When a dish not on the bill
of fare was placed before him: "Do
you suppose did not know enough to
grease her hands when | first cameP"
He was so dull Of comprehension that
he could not see the righteous indig-
nation of which he had been the object
for days. and which nearly burst upon
him when he made the coarse declara-
ton. He had obtained favors at the ex-
pense of every other person at the
table.
Never yet has a special service been
exacted by fee from any servant or
official that some other person has n OF
been correspondingly inconvenien ced
or defrauded of service or place TO
which they were entitled. Many times
fees are given for the sole pur-
pose of giving a feeling of inn
portance TO the giver. Men of small
minds get infinite satisfaction from SER
vile service, even when they know that
it is purchased, and not offered from
personal respect or admiration. Every
DOul lHWaIull plOttsNo hBdlnSt ictlnE'
What is needed is concerted action, or,
more properly, inaction, a position,
not Of protesting against the offensive
and rapidly growing custom, but re-
fusal to submit to 1t or be party to its
further development or continuance.
1t would be one way to develop moral
strength.
The silent but impudent protest
from house servants at fashionable re-
sorts against the individual who has
the temerity to refuse to pay toll when
passing through their domain is about
as much as moral kings and queens can
endure, and far more than the average
traveller can encounter with equa-
nimity. A man that can face the
mouth Of a cannon in the height of
battle quails before the thinly yelled
contempt of the hotel autocrats who
have climbed to their present exalted
position ON human weakness. To re-
fuse allegiance, from principle, to
usurped authority that holds such pow
er is a proof of moral and mental
strength above the average Christian
Union.