St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-01-26
THE QUESTION OF TIPS
A Universal Curse That AHicts Rich
and Poor Alike.
Royal Persoua@cs No Exception to the
Rule 10000 Given In sTlps" by
Emperor Wi!tiam-No Gold,
No Civility.

There has been little public discus
sion this year on tn burning question
of ''tips." The tourist has been
fieeced ut continental hotels; the trav-
eler who has chafci under the neglect
OF railway porterS lured from his side
by the bribes OF the unprincipled;
even the householder with the chok-
ing dust-bin. who finds that. in the
memorable words of Mrs. Willough-
by. 1.-The carts of the westry is a de-
ceptiOn unless you stands beer" have
this season maintained silence. That
they have suffered as much as ever.
we doubt not; bat. perhaps. they have
learnt from Longfellow ''how sublime
q thing it is to suffer and be s,rong.r
Or possibly they may have found. by
melancholy experience. that it is use
less to complain of infections which
could only be effectively resisted by
concerted action-from the nature OF
the case impossible-On 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 expectants OF gratui-
lies: mo, our good wishes-nay,
our blessings-a tract. il you will; even
a mendicity ticket-but no tip" Such
IN arrangement is impossible. for OBJ
vious reasons. The hotel guests. the
travellers, the hOuse-hOlders are two
numerous to combise. They are rs
feeble a folk as the comics; and for the
same reason-inability to cooperate
whereas the locusts of the hostelry and
the railway station. though they have
no king, yet GO they forth, all of them,
by bands" 1t is vain, in short. to ex-
pect concert among these vast masses
of unconnected individuals; but Euro
pean sovereigns are much more linn
tied class Of persons, who are never
theless compelled to Tip" exorbitantly
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. If 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 f.o.0ol. He is stated to have
taken with him from Berlin eighty
diamond rings. one hundred and fifty
silver stars. fifty scarf-pins, all richly
ieweled. 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-cases. with
the imperial arms and monogram in
cold: and twenty stars in diamonds OF
The Orders of the Black and of the Red
Eagle. These last. perhaps. as being
more properly honcrs than gifts. ought
not to be included in the catalogue.
Even an Emperor would not have to
..tip" a foreign official IN Order of the
Rlack 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
,;nction must always be at the option
of the donor to confer or withhold.
The distribution OF the other gifts.
the rings. the pins and
tho bracelets, the swords. the watches
.na the cigar-cases-was in all prob
ability determined by rules OF strict
etiquette and tradition,
with regard to which the Emperor
himself would no doubt have very
much less to say than any ordinary
sourt chamberlain.
Forty thousand pounds is. undoubt-
edly, a good round sum to so in what
our Crandfathcrs would have called
..vails;" aud it can hardly be much
to the imperial distributor
of this munificent largesse to know
that he has beaten-if. indeed. he has
record. II is true that tho
.um expended by the Emperor Will
lam is double that which the C,ar
Nicholas got through h his witt to