The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-04-26

~NDsU@AS laasz
THE CHAMBERMAID'S VISIT
cided to take a siesta, so that my voice
would be Moe and smooth for the even
ing. put the bureau against the door,
profuSe slumber.
At this moment the door was rudely
burst open by a locksmith, who said that
he bad come to put new lock on the
door and fit key to it. This did not oc-
oupy over al hour or SO, and after that
he went away with the old lock, leaving
the door ajar while he got new and
more desirable lock. fell asleep again
then, for was worn out with the long
and weary miles of railroad travel Then
came bright young chanbermaid with
a fresh porous towel for the room. She
put her pass key into the door and
turned it two or three times. They al
ways do that, whether there is any lock
on the door or not. Even when the door
isn't locked they most generally sock a
pass key into the late keyhole, and rattle
two or three pounds Of brass key checks
on the outside. They do not knock-un-
less they have peered through the key
hole and observed that the guest is dead.
Then they knock timidly, shrink and go
away.
The chambermaid cannot understand
whya great big man should desire to oc-
cupy his room at the hotel during the
day time. That he should want to
write or rest in his room seems very
morbid to most Of them, and a man
does have to be pretty well worn out in
order to stay contentedly in the average
hotel room; but he does sometimes get
where even a second hand grave with a
lock on it would be welcome.
But the room l refer to was an aggra-
vation in another way. l could not get
anybody to come when 1 rang. People
whom l did not care to see dropped in
every little while, but when l rang no.
body came. Afterward / was told that
had occupied what is called ''theatri-
cal room" 1--WE are annoyed very
much" said hotel clerk the other day:
''by certain kind of actor-the one
who plays the smaller parts on the stage,
and who tries to manage the universe
between times. He generally plays the
part of the associate villain, or the death
bed, or the unsealed doom, or something
like that, and at the hotel he appears as
its first mortgage. Well, we give him
a room that has an electric bell wire
but it does not connect with the Office.
1t Is attached to the coffee mill in the
kitchen, SO that when he imagines he is
ringing his bell he is really grinding the
coffee for breakfast, BY some mistake
you weresupposed to be an actor-though
any one who had ever seen you on the
stage would know better than that-and
SO you we're given the theatrical room"
And yet the death rate in Austin is very
highly spoken of. In 1887 it was fourteen
per thousand. In 1883 it was twelve to the
thousand, and In 1889 it was only ten.
liked Austin very much indeed. There
is no malaria there, and the legislature is
restricted by wholesome sanitary regula-
tons, SO that Austin is very healthful
and handsome place. The capital build
ing has fame that is world wide. 1t is
a very handsome building, resembling
the Capitol at Washington, but built OF
a beautiful chocolate colored stone in
stead of marble.
The latitude of Austin is the same as
that Of Jacksonville, Fla, and the eli
mate IS peculiarly copious even at this
season Of the year. was told in Chica-
GO that / would lose fifty pounds while
travelling through Texas, as the hotels
were exceedingly bad. l have gained
eight pounds, and the weight of my ex-
cess baggage has also increased while
here. l now feel like new man. am
no longer afflicted with low spirits,
dread of 8 violent death on the scaffold,
night sweats, constant craving for food,
ringing in the ears, repugnance to work,
or moth patches.
The hooking bird is quite common in
Austin. 1t is heard very often in the
wild wood putting up p9an at early
morn or set of sun. l heard one the
other morning that could give very
good imitation of guinea hen. 1t was
30 good that no one could tell the differ
ence. So she might about as well have
been q guinea hen, so far as the listener
was concerned. We should learn from
this to initiate only those who are worthy.
Here was a sweet voiced songster of the
woods who could have surprised and de-
lighted every one, but she had prostituted
her talents to an ignoble end, and
through the long hours seemed content
to cluck and rattle with the monotonous
and metallic CHATTER which characterizes
the vacant mind Of the guinea hen.
The railroads Of Texas are very good,
with two or three notable exceptions.
They are so generally good that l viii
only refer TO one of the exceptions. That
Is the narrow gauge road running from
Houston to Shreveport, La. Here Hous-
ton Is pronounced Hyoustun, and not
Havstuo. As the street in New York Is