, 1888-10-04
THAT BELL BOY.
The Curious Life and Surroundings OF n
"Front' In u First Class Hotel.


The Curious Life and Surrounding ofa
Front" In y First Glass Hotel.
IN, Y. Graphic) "Front!'
A slightly-built ,opened-eyed color
ed boy of from Is to % years probably, +,
clad In livery, and ceEtalnly with an
air OF fatigue and mild prostestation
AT being asked to do any work, rises
from the bench In the corner OF the
hotel lobby, shuffles over the counter
sagaciously standing TO one side to
protect his eyes from the glitter of
the clerks diamond pin, and listens
with an air of offended humility
while the autocrat of The register
tells him TO "see what 932 wants"
How we'll he knows that there are
six flights of stairs, the first covered
with ihickly-padded velvet carpet,
thickly padded, into which his tired
feet sink soothingly; the third GOV.
cred with common carpet, the fourth
oil cloth, the fifth painted and the
last innocent OF any covering what
ever, between him and "932." But
he starts Off like quarter horse and
continues at n reasonably rapid gait
until he Is out OF the clerks sight;
but then what change. lie steps
firmly on the first OF the stairs,
grasps the rail firmly and takes the
second step, and 80 on until he learns
what 1892" wants, IL the guest has
not by this time forgotten what II
was.
But he Is a very useful person, the
hotel boy is, despite his abundance
of leisure when busy, and his life Is
not "A bed OF roses
They see many queer things, too,
these bell boys. People much used
to living In hottl are apt to regard
the hotel boys a5 their own family
servants, aud cali, i,thcm nj all sorts OF
hours to do all sorts of things. A
congress man, not from the west, but
this time an eastern one, used to call
bell boy every night to perform
the duties of valet, helping him un.
dress, cutting his cofns aud similar
little offices.
The ladies are apt to push the
electric burton which calls the bell
boy on all sorts of things, and bell
boys often in answering call finds
the fair caller In the most Startling
sort OF dishsbille, and sometimes
with not even enough clothing on to
justify its being called dishabllle.
They "get the dots" on lots OF peo-
pie, too, these bell boys. An assidu-
Gus society bell, worn out With ex-
citement and late hours, hasa little
instrument with a hollow, needle
ike point, with which she wishes to
inject few grains of morphine un.
der the lily white skin--no, not OF
her arm, because the red blotch
would show every time she appeared
In evening dress for q week; but she
has no morphine. The bell BOY gets
some for her.
And II a well-known prob ibiti0nist
should want to have little drink or
bottle brought to his rom, who
would find 1t out before the bell boy?
But these boys are supposed to have
neither eyes nor tongues--nothing
but ears-and these only for the re-
ception OF orders.
Several noted and well-fought di-
vorce suits have been decided by the
testimony OF bell boys, though gem
orally In such cases the bell boy dis
plays the unretentive memory aud
inability to identify people whose
personality would be supposed to be
deeply impressed on his mind by at
tendant circumstances that insure
his retention In the hotel as long as
he chooses. The ease with which
the bell boys have forgotten the
most astonishing sort Of things
when on the witness stand h even
amusing.
sometimes, too, a brute (fOr brutes
are te be found on hotel registers as
well as Dywhere else) comes to his
room drunk and beats his wife, and
the bell boy Is rung up by the unfOr-
| tunate spouse to take her part. Some
OF the boys have been roughly hand
led, too, In such encounters as this.
But the end Is apt to be that the
brute sObers up the next morning
and ceases to be brute, and the
wife gets trunkful OF new dresses
and bonnets galore, and the bell boy
q watch and chain, and the event
never gets outside the family and
the bell boy. But what the stair
climbers--fOr they are not allowed
to rido In the elevator In Hrst.ciass
hotsls-hail with especial Joy Is u
quiet game OF poker. When a boy
gets wind OF one OF he such haunts
the corridor that communicates with
that room and claims the party as his
'meat." When the party inside
rings for boy he darts into the
room as soon as the hoy who comes
up stairs gets In sight, and does
what Is wanted done. He usually
finds some pretext to stay In the
room, acting as butler, or mther rs
barkeeper, and the SNAP is often
worth 81 TO $40 to him In 1 single
night. When he does anything FOR
a player he is usually given d chip or
two, and when he 'cashes I'M his pile
is bigger than that OF some of the
players. 1t Is the tips, by the way,
that the bell boys, at least In the ely
work for. The salafi s,are 0rthe most
part, almost infinitesimai, but the
tips bring the average up to quite
a respectable figure.
The ladies, strange to say, are
even more liberal In the matter OF
tips than the men, and many a hell
boy Is given dollar for purchasing
for an angle-faced girl French
novel that she would never think of