The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-10-29

The tell beneath the hhn'''l''"' "' '"'
Office Of a Broadway hotel cave gentle,
penetrating tang. as good amunclator bells
Scill ono evening recently, and the little mum
bored tag that dropped 40 The same Instant
Indicated that tnc call came from room
away up .a the hundreds and presumably
proportionateiy far up IN the hotel. lee
clerk. iniuIup;ing bis perusai OF the cYcnlns
papcr Inc had bought live hours before ana
was lust finding bis first opportunity OF read
ing. swnag around IN ni' chair, reacnet OUT
his hand Tor his own sharper toned BEL 10
summon @ Dos. and ils;i-c,vely hx'd bis
lips % cal shr.y:
Front
Before h.s hand touched ia9 ben or n sound
had left his ip. orc littlc bell hot pat aA
eager face over the desk c-d four more sfuaS
I'd in line alino 40 tie same moment, every
one witia Or -lt and hoYeiui look oA his
face chat -ec . % snow thot. for ihem NJ
least. wola ua. pleasure Tnor.efA looked
at the o.c who bad got % Tie dcs.. first,
glanced baca 40 tie number ou the tas, and
said:
"Ton. 20 see What, wanted in tlrco"-
"Ycss.rr and without waiting for iho rest
Of the scute1ra Oh. boy was of, lis c1inpan-
tons sloucnel ..eUutent,dly back q their
seats. and The c'cls, turning and twisting the
crank Of %. aenrnciator, sa5 down 20 his
paper again. tae numbered tas dying bac. 10
It's place wa sa "a. most imlelccpubie click.
A minute o. lu1 later there was another tang
from the soft toned bell, ana the c.cr, again
reached aY0a q Tor his OWN bell, aud twisted
his mouth 20 sag:
Front
This time lc hal 10 tap the bell not only
once, but twice. tlr secogd time with very
vicious touch ldccd, and 10 call Front" in
his very shallest zone before even one Tell
boy dragged Mri,cf up before the desk One
OF the other h1y- had suddenly noticed that
his sh0csiring needed tying, another had to
stop to button bis Jacket and the rest seemed
20 be laggins behind on general principles.
500 So t.hat Is wanted at 30
''Ycc-ss.r.' aHA the boy lazly dragged
himself away G3 slowly as good fortune pur-
suing an unlucsy man
Before the boy vas fairly started the an
uuncia;or bell rang again for the same num-
Der. Tho clc~s c4Nnly gave the crank
twist and re orcd the tag % IFS place. When
he had TO d. the sane thing q second time IN
less than half ID auto there was a lttlc en-
phasis i'm o. twist, and for the third icpcti-
ton of the ras 'ir had muttercl c~ecrItiol
OF that boy, bat De lc. the tag hang down.
and any subsequent attempted rings by the
occupant of 2}J interested the clerk 10 more,
Somebody cslcl the clerk why bell boys
were 20 Quici AID spry one moment and 50
lazy the No.. IT, smiled dryly AMI said:
'TEcy .ao1 waat they are going TO get
Pressed further. he yOuchs1icd TIE inform
ntiou that O., Grst ring bad come lro.n
room where .o lcl boy was pretty certain
10 got tip Who the second was from
room the occupant Of which did not believe
in cncouraci-s tie c.gare;te habit by giving
boys nicicls
Tho little rascals see the number on the
nnnuncator lcforo do" he said, "and
they're sharp enough il getting to the front
n the call j. from room where they think
they are likely TO set anything"
The clcrss explanation was confirmed by
the appearance G5out this time If tic boy
sent out on TIC l.st call, with something in
his hand that D., rlb5cl bright on bis jacket
sleeve, and taea h,idup tantalziusly before
the other boy before be Pat 10 IN bis pocket
The boy set Oh the second cal may Lave
died on the way. or merely have been over
taken 10y old as, and broken down, bat lie
failed to pat iI an appearance 50 long as
casual observer WHO took an interest in bell
BOYS waited, and repeated agitations OF the
dropped dOnu tag Of room 23J seemed 10 i'll
dicatc that some one there was IN a frantic
state OF ialnd over something or other
AT mos, hotel the bell boy business nova
DAYS has been reduced 10 so much Of science
that this sort oil tang could not occur. The
effort Of the CLERKS Is To reduce the boys to
machines, aud they have 10 hop lively when
the bell rings and 20 and come quickly, no
matter whose Is the call or what the pros
poc., of tiD IL Is "A good deal easier for
hotel to get . new bell boy than for n bell boy
20 get new hotel. and the boys risk their
situations Us little as possible The idea OF
bell bows as machines is not confined To tho
hotel clerks. however. The guests whom tho
boys serve, especially the women guests, re-
gard them in much The same light.
IL bell boys ever told tales except among
themselves, a great many women who 1.-Two
at hotels would be inexpresslbly shocked.
Opium, whisky, rouge, morphine, belladonna
aud The Police Gazette are only few of the
things that bell boys IN any of the big hotels
are sent after by the female guests almost
daily, while the carriage Of note to sach u
or the caring for OF cpistles to be called for
BY "a tall, handsome man With black mus
tache-and incidentally with quarter for
the boy--is an everyday matter. Ii never
secns TO occur TO a woman that a bell toy IS
a good deal like anybody else III noticing
things, patting this ard that together, and
drawing conclusions. Occasionally women,
aud men too for that matter, have their at
tention unpleasantly drawn 10 this fact by
the appearance Of an unexpected hotel en-
ploye with a missing link in the evidence IN
divorce suit; hut generally the confidence
put in the BOYS seems 10 be pretty well
founded, for they are a close moUthed lot, as
any one who has ever attempted TO get them
t. tell some OF their experiences VIII admit
Family QuaiIels arc another thing with
which the bell boys in the big hotels becomo
extensively acquainted by actual o5Scrva-
ton Tho average husband and wife seem
10 think that bell boy doesn't count when
they arc having their little differences OF
opinion and the boy waits ii the room until
II Is settled whether carriage shall DO
ordered at for the theatre or at 10 for tho
bail. whether the bridal tour shall end right
hero es tue nasty mean old thing wishes,
f.. ff,ro txaals lof.frYf. a. fsa