Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-12-14
THORNs IN NINE Loa,s SIDE.
What M"st he r. dured I'm Order 10
Avoid Gii q o lense TO Guests.

w 49, 4"'st tpS n 0ure0 OrQer
Avoid Civ q o iense to Guests.
frr-- a.. New vorl rrshun.
"fou with fate had made you hotel-keepes %
instead OF Newspaper man. do you2- sAid the
manager Of one Of New York's popular hosei
the other day. Il suppose you think our liza
all beer. beer and skittles,' en-? We've moth.
ing 10 do, Of course. but welcome our suesss
and take in their money-no hour. OF anxiety
about making up enormous rentals; satisfying
an exacting. fsultfndine public, trying 70
keep our help, with their half dozen .unions.'
from running us and the hotel and the guesss,
too; no fighting unjust laws that discriminate
against our business; keeping sharp lookout
for dead beats and scsmps and having 10 give
every woman that comes Q corner room on the
second door, with Q southern exposure-oh, mol
tell you, sir, the successful manager Of FIRST
class hotel In this city has no sinecure. Let
me point out 70 You some Of the lesser DIM
cuities we meet with. and then perhaps YOU can
lndge OF how much tact il requires TO overcome
the greater.
DO you see those two well-dressed men sit
ting over there talking. Look at the one with
newspaper file on his knee He's not one Of
my guests, not paying guest. should say
tnough he's with me pretty constantly. Hes
one of your regular hotel-loungers. and has 20
the other man, who is a paying guest into con.
versation. And there 6e will Sit, wearing ont
my best chairs and carpets. occupying the
space ana the newspaper that others should
nave, as long as his newly-found friend will
endure him. Icannot turn him out. of course,
Tor fear OF giving offense, but he aud many
otners IKE him seem TO think hotels are run
for their convenience. They make appoint
ments 70 meet people here block up the
passageways. NIL the parlors, drink the ice
water, monopolize the papers, and generally
make themselves an unspeakable nuisance &c
US; out never spend a penny il thew can help il.
why, one man. OF monumental cheek actually
got upstairs the other day and took a bath
before the hall porter cot ON 10 him. These
ienows never hesitate 20 ask for papers and
envelopes TO do their writing and IL hostage
stamps and messenger service were on the free
Ist 700, they would feel even more at home
with us than they do.
vAeARrEs OF THE PAYING GUESTS.
"Then, there's the guest who opens his let
lers right over the counter here wants 10 use the
register as a writing-desk to indite his replies
the sitting-room where the writing-tables are.
and when he does 60, invariably leaves some
OF ms letter lying open on the book, and
these must be sent after him.
"snorers give us not little trouble II
sometimes seems 20 me that when a guest feels
tired, or has taken little too much al the bar
ne steers IN bee-line for the parlor fops into
the most comfortable chair. straightwav falls
last asleep and then begins 20 snore TO the
great annoyance of everybody about him All
you can do is to send q boy TO wake him IN.
You can't scold him for il. or he gets angry and
goes over to a rival hotel; but YOU must watch
him. for he generally drops of again, End ouly
after several wakings does he take the hint and
60 to his bedroom
Petty thieving depletes cur pockets n good
deal in the course of year. too. People steal
our soap, napkins, towels and even bed-spreads
and pillow shams, kniyes, forks spoons etc
AKIN 10 these sneak-thieyes are the dead beats
VINO are constantly inyenting new lodges 20 do
us. fellow with an English accent worked
new racket on me the other day. He regis
tered.go good room and threw down two rail-
road checks for his luggage which he ordered
sent upstairs to him. After some hours spent
IN looking for the trunks. the clerk reported
that they could not be found. This threw the
Englishman into a towering rage. and he was
with difficulty persuaded that no doubt they
would be found by next morning Next norm
ing he went himself to complain at the station
about the trunks, and never came back. The
checks were bogus and had secured for the
scamp two meals and a bed
Then. there's the guest who breaks dishes
and spills things on the table-cloth MANY
people read their papers AT the table, and this
Is fruitful source of broken glass; Others in
putting on their overcoats manage 10 Knock
something off the table with flop Of the tails.
Cut glass and chinaware are expensive, and a
chip out OF the edge is as bad as a regular
shasn-up, lor chpped dishes nv guests will
not put up with, never ask people 70 pay for
/ accidental breakage, though over and over
again all the profit on that particular meal is
gone by the breaking of a wine-gass or the
stopper Of craet-bottle.
CHILDREN ARE NOT WELCOMED.
Children. too, seem TO delight in spiIline
orange-juice and other things that produce in
eradicable stains on the table-linen. In fact.
there's no money at all in allowing children in
side the doors Of hotel whose chief reliance
/ lie on transient guests. Business men won't
stand them prancing in the corridors and cry-
! ing in the dining-rooms, and no Meter how
many regulations you make for their control.
il is impossible to enforce the rules without
offending the parents.
People who get offended because you won't
cash their checks on the slightest AGO uaipt lance
l are another source of trouble to US Conf
] dence men, who endeavor to swindle our cuests
and hurt the reputati lion of the hotel: sharpers.
male and female, who write TO people staying
: here, claiming old acquaintance and what not
IN order TO get strangers into compromising
positions for blackmailing purposes: the diff
Guilty OF knowing just how 10 deal with women
travelling alone; couples who pretend to be
/ married but who are not; suicides that borrify
everybody in the house and make the cham
bermaids afraid to go near particular rooms for
months after, and particularly people who
come into your house with the germs of con-
tagious disease about them. are taken down
sick with il on your hands. and drive all your
guests away in q panic; all these and many
Others my boy. conspire to render the hotel
keepers path about as thorny as that of the
average man."