Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-05-06
THE LINEN ROOM GIRL

A Portion Of the Hotel which the Ave,
rage Traveller Seldom Sees.
eyes said the presiding genius of the linen
room, as she glanced up complacently at the
precipitous white mountains ON all sides of
her, 'nobody ever catches things out of order
in this room while am around, which is
from in the morning till in the evening.
OF course, can't answer for it before come
down and after 1 leave it. 1t is unlocked at
o'clock in the morning, and not locked
again till ~ o'clock at night. The watch
girl takes charge Of it from to z, and again
in the evening. My girls mean well-there
are five of them that / boss-but they amt
always so particular as they might be, and
sometimes find towels and napkins, cleaned
and soiled, thrown around every which way
when come in.
snow, was brought up in the country,
where folks do try to keep things sort o. clean,
and SO l can't sit down as long as there is any
dirt or confusion in the room For that mat
ter, though, there is precious little sitting
down for me anyway, for just as soon as one
waiter gets out with his tablecloths and nap
kins here will come a chambermaid for sheets
and towels. Keep em in hundreds9 Thou
sands, you had better say. Ihave five thou
sand napkins, old and new, down on my books,
and, as for towels, amt never yet had pa
thence to add 'em all up. There is a continual
stream of 'em, or, you may say, two streams
running in opposite directions between hero
and the laundry, and l count, count, count
till sometimes my head is all in whir4. It
wouldn't be so confusing if l didn't
have to look every way at once, but,
il l am not on the watch, some Of
them sassy walters will come and help
themselves to what they want for the din
ing room, without saying with your leave,
or by your leave, to me; and then, if the
housekeeper finds it out, she comes tearing in
here, and takes my head Off Looks good ma
tured, you say? Oh, she's good natured
enough, outside of business. amt got moth
ing against her that is, nothing more than
I'd have against any woman that tried to
boss me- but having big hotel on her Shout
ders will make most any woman more or less
cranky in dealing with them that has to take
their orders from her.
"Does she scold when articles come up
missing from the wash? Not me. only
report 'em to her and then get out of the
way and let her have it out with the laun-
dresses. The more blowing up them women
get the better, for in spite of everything l
can say they will persist in saving themselves
work by using washing fluid or other things
that rot out the linen in just half the time it
ought to last.
did you ask was they linen or cotton? We
keep both kinds, so if the guests want linen
sheets land most of 'em do in summer time)
they can have 'em. There are some that wants
them all the year round. There was q man
from down south-he was a corporal or
general or something of the kind-and as the.
weather was cold naturally there was cotton
sheets put on his bed. Ugh says he to the
housekeeper the next morning, i felt last
night as if had been packed away in a pile
of seed cotton in the loft of a gin house, He
was different from a western man who
stopped here one summer By an accident
he got linen sheets on his bed, and he COM
planned the next day that he had come near
slipping out on the floor half dozen times
during the night.
However, don't hear much talk of sheets.
It's towels that there is the most grumbling
and growing about among the guests. There
ore folks who, know from the looks of 'em,
makes one towel land that one crash) last 'em
a week at home, that will make fuss if they
don't find at least two clean ones on their
washstand every time they happen to go in
their rooms during the day. 1t beats every
thing the airs they put on when they find
themselves paying their 81 day at the hotel,
so much afraid they won't get the worth of
their money in everything that's going
Them's the sort that accuse the walters of
giving them napkins that has already been
used, and that come pushing into here to see
las they say if we are really SO bad off for
such things as we seem to be. And my, the
towels that are called for in them bathroomsl
It's silly, that's what it is, to order so many
just because they can be had for the asking
New York Tribune.