The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-01-06
The Hotel Clerks Memory.

81 have travelled pretty extensively
during the last fifteen years." said Eu-
gene g. Burton, of Omaha, at the Hotel
Cadillic, land I have made a special
study of hotel clerks memories. You
are aware, of course, that a good memory
for names and faces is one of the most
desirable faculties that a hotel clerk can
possess. The majority of men who travel
are just vain enough to er;oy being re-
membered and called by name when they
enter a hotel after an absence Of several
months, or v years, and the man be-
hind the Office counter who can always
'scall the turn is specially valuable to
his employer. The most maryellously
gifted man in this respect that I ever
knew was a clerk in the Palace Hotel
in San Francisco. Not being blessed
with a good memory myself, I am unable
to recall his name, but that is immaterial.
As an illustration of what this man to
whom / refer could do in the line of re.
membering names and faces, I will relate
an experience with him of my own.
When the Knights Templars conclave
was held in San Francisco in 1883, !
landed in that city early n afternoon
with a party of Eastern knights who
made the journey over in q special train.
More than 400 of US went to the Palace
Hotel, which can accommodate a small
army, you know, and as rapidly as pos
sible we filed up to the register, inscribed
u names thereon and were sent to wi
respective rooms under the guidance OF
bell boys. I took a bath, changed my
linen, and in the purse of an hour or
two strolled down to the Office to see il
there was any mail for me. approached
the clerks desk. but before I had time
to utter a word Mr.. Clerk nodded pleas.
antly to me, and with apparent solicitude
inquired: "How do yon like your room,
Mr.. Burton, does 306 suit you9" Well,
sir, I was dunbfounded. This man had
never seen me before in his life, except
for the half minute I had stood before
him while I wrote my name on the regis
ter; fully 425 persons had passed before
him inside of two hours, and yet he was
able without the slightest effort to re-
member my name and the number OF the
room he had assigned me to. As you
see, there is nothing whatsoever out OF
the ordinary in my appearance, and for
the life of me 7 couldn't understand why
I should be so readily recollected by this
mild. mannered clerk. Well, in order to
satisfy myself that I wasn't the only
member of our party who could be thus
remembered, I lounged around the clerk'e
desk for fully an hour, aud I hope to be
deprived Of all my rights as q citizen OF
the United States if I didn't hear that
wonderful clerk call fifty of my acquaint-
ances, none of whom had ever been IN
San Francisco before, by name and ask
them the same question he had put to
me.
"George segur, who was for many
years clerk at the Metropolitan Hotel in
New York, was another such man, and
had a truly phenomenal memory. The
first time I ever saw Segur I registered
late one night at the Kennard House in
Cleveland, where he was then chief
clerk. Ileft at daylight the next morn
ing, 50 that he had scarcely an oppor-
tunlty of siz ng me up, and yet when l
walked up to the clerks desk in the
Metropolitan in New York, five years
afterwards, segur, who was there on
duty, held out his hand, pushed the
register towards me and said: 'Hullo,
Burton, old boy, how are all the folks in
Omaha 2 "-Detroit Erie Press.