Wichita eagle., 1888-11-07
THE HOTEL BELL BOY.
ODD WAY IN WHICH he IS RE-
GARDED By THE GUESTS.


penetrating tang, as good anruncintor be0
will, one evening recsatiy, and the little mum
bered tag chat dropped at the same instan
indicated that che can came from . room
ewaJ up IL the hundreds and presumabl,
proportsenately far Up In the hotel. Th
clerk, iHtsrrupine bis perusal Of the evenin,
paper he had bought eve hours before ant
was just finding his drst opportunity Of read
Ing, awung around In bis chair, reached OF
bis hand Tor bis own sharper toned bell Il
summon q boy, and instinctively fixed hi
lips to call shrilly:
"FroptF
Before his hand touched the bell or SOUND
had left his tips one little bell boy put al
eager face over the desk and four more swuns
up in line almost at the same moment, every
one with bright and hopeful look ON hi:
face that seemed to show that, for them al
least, work was pleasure The clerk locke
at the one who had got to the desk first
glanced back at the number on the tag, and
said:
"Ten, 20 see what's wanted in three
"YeaSirp and without waiting for the res,
Of the sentence the boy was off, his compan-
ions slouched discontentedly back to their
seats. and the clerk, turning and twisting the
paper again, the numbered tag flying back 70
Its place with all almost irurcFceptiale click.
4 minute or two later there was another tang
from the soft toned bell, and the clerk again
reached around for his own bell, and twisted
bis mouth to say:
''Frontl"
THIS time he had to tap the bell not only
once, but twice, the second time with very
vicious touch indeed, and to call "Front!" in
bis very sharpest tone before even one bell
boy dragged himself up before the desk. One
Of the other boys had suddenly noticed that
his shoestring needed tying, another had to
stop TO button bis jacket and tie rest seemed
to DO tagging behind on general principles.
go see what Is wanted at gS0n
"Ve-e-syir;;" and the boy lazily dragged
himself away as slowly as good fortune pur-
suing an unlucky man.
Before the boy was fairly started the an
nunciator bell rang again for tale same num-
/ Der. The clerk calmly rave The crank a
| twist and restored TIE tag to its place. When
be had TO do the same thing a second time in
/ less than half o minute there YVES little en-
! phasis in tho twist, and for the third repeti-
ton OF the ring ho had rnuttered ezecra.ton
Of that buy but ho let the tag ht..lg down,
and any subsequent attempted rings by tho
occupant Of go interested tl,e cserk no more.
/ Somebody asked TIE clerk why bell boys
were SO Guir aud spry one n,emelt aad 50
lazy the ncs-. He smiled drJly aid said
They know what.they are going to get. y
Pressed further, he veuchsafed TIE inform
alton that tie first ring had come from
room whers the bell boy was pretty certain
10 get a tip, whiie tire second was from
room the occupant OF (Which did not believe
in encouraging the cigarette habit by giving
boys nictels
The little rasca1s see the number on the
snnunciator before | do,n he said, land
they're sharp enough III getting 70 the front
ii the call Is from IDoiI where they think
they are likely to gee anything
The clerks explanation was confirmed by
the appearance about this time OF the boy
sent out On the first call, with something in
his hand that he rubbed bright on his jacket
sleeve, Gnd then held up ta1talizing}y before
tie other boys before be put it In his pocket.
The boy sent ON the 5ecGld caA faay have
died ca sse way, or merely have been over
| taken by CHI ago and broken down, but he
failed to put IN an Appearance SO long as a
casual observer who took an interest in bell
boys waited, and repeated agitasions Of the
dropped down tag OF room $50 seemed TO in
iicate that some one there was Ia a frantic
state Of mind over something or ether.
At rlost,hotals the bel bey business nova
days has been reduced to SO saaicl OF q science
that this sort OF thing could not oecur Tie
effort OF tie clerks Is 10 reduce the boys to
machines, and taey have to hop lively when
the bell rings, and 60 and come quickly, no
8 txSo ls n.all rbpf I'M
poets OF tip It is a good deal easier for a
hotel to get new bell boy tslan for a bell boy
to get now hetel, aid the boys risk their
situations as little as possible The idea Of
bell boys as machines is net confined to the
hotel clerks, however. Tho guests whom the
boys serve, especially the women guests, re-
gard them in much the same light
If bell boys ever teld tales except among
Themselves great many women who live
al hotels would be ine1rrcssihly shocked.
Opium, whisky, rouge, morphine, be,!adonna
and The Foiios Gazsttc are only a few OF the
things that bell boys in any Of the big hotels
are sent after BY thu female guests almost
daily, while the carriage Of note TO such
locking gentleman Gu suca and such corner
or the caring for of epistles 20 be called for
By tail, handsome man with black mus
tache-aud Incidentally with quarter for
the boys an everyday nlattsr II never
seems to occur to a woman that q bell boy is
good deal Ike anybody else in noticing
things, putting this ard that together and
drawing cus-1usions, Occasionally women,
and Tsen too for that matter, have their at
tontiOn unpaeasantiy drawn to this fact by
the appearance OF an unexpected hotel EN-
ploye With missing link IN the evidence in
divorce suit, but generally the confidence
put II the boyy seems to be pretty well
founded, for they arc q Close Inouthed lot, as
any enc who has ever attempted to get them
to tell some cf their experiences viii admit
Family quarrris arc another thing with
which the bell boys in the ing hotels become
extensively acquainted BY actual ebserva-
ton The average husband and wife seem
to Think that q ball bay doesn't count when
they are having their little differences Of
opinion and the OCT waits IL the room until
It is settled whether a carriage snail be
o-dersd as for tbs thcarre on st 10 for the
bail; visSaer Che tTk.ai tour scaa end right
hezs as the ''ns,sy mean osd thing wishes,
or shall - KEPT W. for q week logger as the
wife desires 3sa who would b shocked at
anything approaching slight 70 their wife
hsferS "fo,ks' call her a hStis fool befors
bel ecys without cornpuncsioa, and the wife,
who Is always a picture Of humility when
"ttolkS7 are srouHd, refers to her bettar haH
as a wre;ea aud 8 brute when the hell boy Is
present, wi.hou. thinking twice about it,
New Yerk Sua-
STUNNING" IN LONDON.