Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-05-16

Mr. Lamb said thatlhe was.a teacher. in New
York, but went through the regular course
In the university and during all four years
did some service as clerk In the Van Ness
house -ls90.ls03. His examination, con.
Quoted by Mr.. Wilds, proceeded thus ::
o. While you were acting in the capacity Of
clerk in that hotel how did the guests of the
hotel obtain ent artainment in respect'of I'M
toXicating beverages, IL they. did, and II you
know A. could not say positively that
the guests received any liquors; the only
way | could guess at such thing was the
fact that the bell boy would get permission
to 90 on an errand, and when questioned
where they were going they would say to
the drug store; they would 90 to any drug
store they wished, sometimes boy would
go to La Fountaine's or Stems, according to
his choice.
@. What was the process by which those
boys could be sent out on those errands! a.
When n call was made from the enunclator
a boy would be sent up. and the guest would
want him to 90 on an errand for lin, he
would come to the office and say he wanted
to 20 out for the guest.
O. What followed: A. He would say he
was going toa drug store or perhaps to q
clothing store, a man wanted collar, and
perform his errand or message and come
back.
o. Did the bell boy always have to make
known to you, as the clerk, where he was
going! A. He would make it known, per-
haps, occasionally know occasionally
boy was allowed to go out without my know
ing precisely where he was going, just simply
on an errand.
o. But generally he made known to you
where he was goingy A. Yes. generally.
Q. And did you furnish him with funds
to 90 on his errand? A. In case he had not
enough money; occasionally he would not
have any money; very often | suppose the
guest would give him the money if there was
any purchase to be made, and ut other times
when the boy hadn't money he would Dor.
row the money of me.
q. Where did you get the money from! A.
would borrow the money of the till and
make an account of 1t.
Q. Where did you make the account! A.
memorandum rs a reminder; would some.
times, always in fact, put the amount l loaned
the boy, calling 1t cash on the ledger, on the
register rather In lead pencil, so that 1t could
be erased as soon as the boy paid, and that Is
the only record of the account that was kept.
Q. Was the entry on the register made OPP
posite the name of the guest from whose
room the call came! A. Yes; on the regis
ter the same line that the name was of the
man occupying that room.
q. And how was the house reimbursed for
that money? A. In different ways; at times
the guest would pay the charge with his bill ;
at other times, and rs was preferred and the
boys directed, he would collect the money
himself from the guest and pay me back
| what had loaned him.
Q: When guest paid his bill at the office.
II it had not been paid before, the money
that was furnished at the office was then paid
by he guesty A. 1t was paid by the guest.
o. Paid at the office by the guest? A.
That was the only place he could pay yes.
Q. Some of the time the boy collected the
money Of the guest and returned it to the
directly at the desk? A. Sometimes he
would get the money from the guest and pay
me the money had loaned him.
q. But did 1t happen not infreqnently that
the guest paid himself at the office! A. l
don't know exactly aboutinfrequently more
frequently 1t was paid the other way.
Q. Less frequently it was paidat the office
by the guest? A. Yes, less frequently.
Mr.. Lamb went on testifying about the
packages brought in by boys after they
returned from these errands, saying that
they were Of various sorts and sizes, and
said that he thought boy went out to drug
store at least once a day. He continued
Q. Did you ascertain what these boys
went to the drug stores for? A. Never.
q. Did you try to! A. 1t was none of
my business what they brought into the
house, if they didn't bring explosives or any
thing of that kind, l didn't care what they
brought in.
Q. Did you try to ascertain what their
errands were A. Never that l can recall
did ask boy what he was going to buy he
would get so much money, perhaps as much
as 80 cents-then | must take that back, l
think what I said about asking the boy;
when he would ask for a large amount of
money, say matter of dollar and a half. |
would ask him what he was going to get,
and he said he would have to get bottle of
claret or bottle of champagne, then would
know 1t was all right to let him have the
money.
Q. And when the amount of money that
the boy applied for was above trifing
amount, that is above half a dollar, was it
your custom to inquire of them what they
wanted 1t for! a. II it was up to that
amount, If 1t was in that vicinity, should
always ask the boy, because / would want to
know what it was for.
After some questions as to card parties,
ETC., in rooms evenings the examination con-
tinued In regard to bell boy errands:-
Q. Was there any reason why you didn't
care to know what their errands were?
A. Well, from my first experience | knew
the prOprietOr's feelings in the matte Of pro-
hbition, and while have never been spoken
to directly about 1t, was little fraid of at
my time being called upon to explain why
let the boys 90 out for liquor by Col.
Woodbury.; he was colonel then.
q. Did you ever have any instructions
from any Que in TIL, management of the hotel
with reference to the furnishing of intoXicat-
ing liquors to the guests, with reference to
your duties as clerk in that respect? A. |
think my knowledge Of the proceeding was
from observation l noticed what Mr.. Clark
did when boy came down and don't recall
that he ever told me what to do, but fol-
lowed his example.
Cross-eXamined by Mr.. Foster the witness
said that there was never any liquor in the
house owned by the house to which servants
could go, but that guests sometimes had wine
Of their own from which they were served.