The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-09-14
TRICKS OF FRENCH WALTERS.
How the Alert Partisan Increases His
Ponrboire.

Life In Paris is avowedly expensive,
and is made more SO by that voluntary
tax which gradually has become matter
Of course, and which under almost any
circumstance is paid and received under
the name of "pourboire. The French
metropolis has achieved certain classic
reputation in the matter Of tips, for more
or less everybody pays them and demands
them, particularly from strangers. The
house owner takes it, since he makes the
tenants pay the janitor; the letter carrier
the messenger boy, the cab driver, the
washerwoman, the bus conductor, the
ticket taker at the opera, up to the Depu-
ties and Senators-eyerybody takes it,
and If the opposition papers are to be be-
lieved, there are even Cabinet Ministers
ready to take "pourboire" whenever it
is offered.
Among all the tip takers the Paris
waiter is foremost. But the tip alone
does not form his entire income. The
Partisan waiter grasps every opportunity
for the oldest trick, which he never omits
in trying to turn an ''honest penny. ~
1t Is a Partisan custom never to give a
waiter the exact sum wanted, but to
change large note or gold piece. The
most common tricks In giving change are
the following: The first Is that Of not
giving enough change, figuring upon the
habit OF many to pocket small change I'M
counted. If the trick succeeds the waiter
is SO much ahead, If not, he plays stupid,
pretends to have made mistake, puts
ftr<av nA |.,<~ rrv%& ~
expects In silence what will br left on the
plate for him. If everybody would refuse
to give tip, when such ''errors" occur,
all inclination to commit them would OF
once disappear. Most OF the guests of
Partisan restaurants, however, are too
soft, and sanction these attempts at
fraud by giving tips, anyhow; although
they do away with the only means of
protecting themselves.
Another walters trick consists in Civ
ing the correct change but holding so
confines piece under copper coins with
one or two cents. Since the latter are
usually left to the waiter, the silver coin
sometimes passes unnoticed, and the
waiter Is ten cents ahead of the game
Another and much more common trick is
the smuggling in of counterfeit. money
and which can be disposed of only at a
loss. Spanish, Papal and South Ameri-
can silver money are much In favor with
the walters, for they are made to repre-
sent pieces worth twice their value.
Small Italian, Servian or Belgian coins,
which can be bought for so per cent. of
the face value are almost as great favor
ties as small coins from the time of Napo-
leon or Louis Philippe, which are no
longer current, and which the walters
can buy at one-haf Of their face value.
In spite Of all this, the walters are not
SO much to blame, for they themselves
are made to suffer great impositions.
They do not receive AGENT of salary from
the hotel keepers, although they work
from early morning until late at night.
On the contrary they have to pay the
proprietor for permission to wait in his
place. Paris restaurant keepers are scan
dalously mean in this respect In we'll
known cafe on the Boulevard walters
have to pay for all the newspapers, for
the cleaning apparatus for the silver, for
breakage, and besides must deposit eight
francs ($i.60) in cash every morning be-
fore beginning to serve, whether they earn
much or little. When these conditions
are considered, one is almost ready to re-
gard THAR aftttyI1a urito