The Grenada gazette., 1888-12-13
THE QUESTION OF TIPS
A Universal Curse That Afflicts Rich
and Poor Alike.
Royal Persnnages No Exception to the
Rule -E40O00 Given In 'TipS" by
Emperor WilIiam-No Gold,
No Civility.

There has been little public discus~
sion this year on the burning question
of tips" Tho tourist has been
lleeced at continental hotels; the tray
cler who has chafel unlor the neglect
of railway porters lured from his side
by the bribos Of the unrtintipicd; ;
even the householder With the ch0IS-
ing dust-bn, who Gn1s that, i'll the
memorable words of Mrs, Willough-
by, 'the carts Of the west'y Is a de-
ception unless you stands bccr,0 have
this season maintained silence. That
they have suffered "a much as ever,
We doubt noti but, perhaps, they have
learnt from longfcIlow "how sublime
thing ii is to suffer and be Strong" "
Or possibly they may have found, by
melancholy oHporoneo, that ii ie isc-
less to complain of inhictions which
could only be effectively resisted by
concerted actiOn-from the nature Of
the case impossible the part Of the
victims, People can not be induced.
all over the. Continent, all over the
English railway system, Or even all
over the metropolis, to unite
in saying kindly but firmly
to the cXpcctnntS OF gratui-
ties: mo, our good wishes hay,
our blessings "A tract il you will; even
mcndicity tickot-but no tip" Such
an arrangement is impossible, for OBJ
vious reasons. Tho hotel guests, the
travellers, the house-holder5 are two
numerous to combine. They ore as
feeble folk as the comics; and for the
same reason-~innbility to cooperate
whereas the locusts of the hostelrv ailti
the railway station, "though they have
no king, yet go they forth, all of them,
by bands.' 1t is vain, in short, to cx-
pect concert among these vast masses
of unconnected individuals; but Euro-
pean sovercigns are Il much more lin
tied class of persons, who are never
thcloss compcod to ''tip" cxorbitantly
on all sort OF occasions, and would OBJ
viously be much easier for them
to write in sort OF royal
and imperial strike against the
system. II any thing could give
an impetus to such PROJECT. it
would be the recent experience of the
Emperor William on his travels. The
expenses of this august persons tour
in Austria and Italy are said to foot
up to no less a sum for tips" alone
than t4O,O0O He is stated to have
taken with him from Berlin eighty
diamond rings. one hundred and fifty
silver stars, fifty scarf-pins, all richly
jcweled thirty diamond bracelets, SIX
splendid presentation swords, thirty
large photographs of himself, with the
Empress and children, all in gold
frames; thirty gold watches, with
chains; one hundred cigar-casos, with
the imperial arms and monogram in
gold; and twenty stars in diamonds OF
the Orders of the Black and OF the Red
Eagle. These last, perhaps. as being
more properly honors than gifts. ought
not to be included in the catalogue.
Even an Emperor would not have to
'tip" foreign official an Order OF the
Black or Red Eagle, however exalted
his position or eminent his merits.
Such bestowals are always made more
or less by special favor, and the dis
tinction must always be at the option
of the donor to confer or withhold.
The distribution of the other gifts.
however-of the rings, the pins and
the bracelets, the swords, the watches
and the cigar-cases--was in all prob
ability determined by rules OF strict
ceremonial etiquette and tradition,
with regard to which the Emperor
himself would no doubt have very
much less to say than any ordinary
aourt chamberlain.
Forty thousand pounds is, undoubt-
edly, a good round sum to 60 in what
our grandfathers would have called
walls" and 1t can hardly be much
consolation to the imperial distributor
of this muniiicent largesse to know
that he has beaten--if, indeed, he has
beaten-the record. 1t is true that the
sum expended by the Emperor VIII"
ian is double that which the Car
Nieholas cot through In his visit 70