Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1890-11-19
In PUBLIC WASH-STANDS
Men Steal Soap, the Bowls, Combs and
Towels.
From the Cincinnati Times-star.

Men Steal Soap, the Bowls, Combs anu
Towels.
From the Cincinnati Times-Star.
''What class of men pay you best?'
was the query to Charley, the fat
bootblack at the Gibson House. ''Well,
1 guess drummers. / have had drummers
come in after making good sale. and
they would get cleaned up and shined
the change l tell you there's nothin'
too good for a drummer when he's
made a dandy sale. Some men, the
more they get the meaner they get, but
not your commercial traveller. He's
dandy every time. And then [ have
regular customers of gentlemen about
town. Gov. Foraker comes in. He
wants a good shine, pays for it, and
goes away satisfied. Sometimes we
have man come in who objects to pay
ing 10 cents. thinks nickel enough. and
will stand and argue the case with you.
Why, it takes nearly dimes worth of
backing to get around some mems
feet.
sometimes men think this is includ
ed in the board, and insist on not
paying for it. | have had men come In
here, walk up to the stand, cock up
their foot, get out the brush, open the
their own shoes. When I get over
being paralyzed at their gall tell
them to get up on the chair and III
blacken their shoes; that, / make my
living that way / had fellow do that
on me one day, and when | saw he was
about running my brusher rubbing the
mud off | told him to put it down, and
he did, and declared he would report
me. l told him to 60 ahead and re-
port. / was looking out for my own
property. | guess he changed his
mind Cincinnatians are purity we'll
shod as rule. They wear purity nice
shoes. How many towels, are used
here in a day? Three hundred or 400.
Sometimes we have to change them
after once using.
"Why, I've seen men come in here.
walk up and down till they saw good
clean towel, and then stand and wipe
the perspiration and dirt off their faces.
They will wipe and then look at the
towel, and then wipe again and look,
Just to see how much dirt comes off. Of
course that towel has to come down.
No, they DOM think of washing the dirt
off they want to see how much dirt they
can get off on the towel. They
take a dry wash. How many men
come in here to wash are guests at the
hotel? Not half of 'em. Why, we've
put men out of here often. Regular
politicians about town are the worst.
Got gall? Well, haven't they? We
stand 'em as long as we can and then
run 'em out Why, fellers come in
here who carry off soap. That's done
nearly every day. Before we had the
hair brushes and combs fastened with
rings, Just hooked on, they used to
carry them away. Why, there are
fellers who come in here who would
carry off the washstand if it wasn't
fastened.
''There are fellers who never see any
soap until they come in here, and
then sometimes we don't see it when
they're gone. Then good many men
don't half wash. They will just wet
the dirt on their hands and face, and
then rub it off on the towel. A man
came in here the other day, set down
his satchel, opened it, took out his
brush and backing and proceeded to
shine 'em up himself. l told him l
could do it better than he could. Well,
he 'reckoned not and finished the
job-made a good enc of it, too; and
then he had me brush him off nicely all
over; and paid me just the same as
though [ had BACKED his shoes, and then
he walked away. Funny fellow, wasn't
he? But you ought to see the towels
fly when the races are on and the hotel
is crowded, and especially at night,
when they come back from the races
all dusty and begrimed from head to
foot.
''Then we have to hustle up the clean
towels. But they're good fellows to
pay. I'll bet this is the most popular
wash room in town. But more men
wash here in day than at any hotel in
town. It's right here on one of the
busiest streets, in the center Of town,
and no trouble to drop in. Then there
is hot and cold water, and they and can
get a good shine, and IN five minutes
they 60 out again like new men. A
good wash braces a man up. There. see
that fellow. Wipe the dirt off; never
wash; that towel was just put up, but
down she comes" and so Charley and
his partner kept agoing all day long,
taking down and hanging up towels,
rubbing off the splashed marble
washstands, taking the soap out of the
water, emptying the bowls and keeping
the Gibson's wash room the ''slickest-
looking place in town." The reporter
visited the wash rooms of all the other
leading hotels of the city and found the
same conditions existing and the same
order of complaints.