The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-03
Hypnoti1ed Appetitcs.

'One Of the oldest things 1 ever saw"
remarked a physician in a small party Of
Washington story teners, according to the
Star. Il saw in kind OF hotel or
rather feedery at the Chicago stock
yards"
Men or cattle?' queried a listener.
Men; and good men. wasn't boarding
there, but 1 knew the proprietor of the
place, and had been his physician before
he went to Chicago, and after he got
there he made money enough 10 pay me
10 come down and look over his family
about twice a year. 1 lived only a nun
dred miles away and usually made my
trips between daylight and dark, taking
my MONDAY meal with him. at which time
his main dining room had from one to two
hundred diners in 1t. A great many of
these were transients, and very many
more were green and unsophistieated
young men from the country who had
come in with stock and were utterly I'M
used to city ways. >T]
on the day in question I sat with the
proprietor a his little lookout desk, from
which he kept an eye on the business, and
watched the people eat, which is not 3s
bad show as you might think If you
never witnessed such performance AS
we sat there 1 noticed one waiter dark
skinned, Svengalt-looking chap, who, in
stead of having a territory assigned him,
seemed to work all over the dining room.
He was worker, too and first attracted
me by the way he handled his people
spoke to the proprietor about him.
and he told me to watch him, and he
would tell me about him as soon as he
had time. l followed his advice, and saw
that the waiter would apparently spot a
man as he came in, and when he reached
a chair he would be there with bow and
smile ready to wait on him. The man
would seem to start as if recognizing him,
and would sit down and begin to look
nervous.
The waiter in the meantime. kent his
eye on him, and would take his order Of
ten the order was extremely light, cover
ing only d-cup of tea or a piece of meat
and bread, or possibly a glass of milk, or
a bowl of bread and milk. The waiter
would smile and seem to insist on the
guest taking more, but the guest shook
his mead, and soon finished his frugal re-
past As a physician, l wondered how
men who worked as these did could get
along with so little food.
That afternoon the proprietor smiled
when / asked him about the peculiar
waiter. He's a jewel, he said, and he's
worth more to me than any waiter I've
got, though I'm always a little afraid of
him, and to keep him in good humor
pay him about 50 per cent. more than
do any of the others. l don't know what
he does, and l never speak of it to any
body, and only to you because you are
my family physician, but he has a way
of picking out the people he wants to
wait on as they come in, and when he
gets hold of them he makes them eat
what he wants them to.
Sometimes a big, hearty fellow will gag
and apparently get sick when he sits down
to the table, and after a bite or two he
pays his bill and goes out. That doesn't
happen often. though His way is to make
his people eat just little of the cheapest
things-its a thirty-five-cent dinner, you
know-and many times a glass of milk
and bread or a piece of pie will be all they
want and they will go out perfectly salts
fed to pay thirty-five cents for it, 1t
isn't any of my business to ask about their
health or their appetite, and I don't l
leave my waiter to do that and the pro-
prietor smiled innocently rather than in
guile.
I didn't want to spoil a good thing. but
l thought l ought to-" concluded the ply
stefan, land 1 proceeded to tell my friend
that the waiter was a SVengali-by the
way, he had never heard of such a person
and was defrauding the patrons Of the
restaurant by hypnotizng them and send
ing them out filled only with suggestions.
and that while it might be extremely re-
munerative, it was not right at all and the
waiter should be sent away. Then think
ing my advice would be followed of
course, took my departure. Six months
| later came back, and the first man I
| saw IN the dining room was Sevngah I
| fancy" and the physician sighed. the
Chicago climate or something must have
had an effect on my friends moral sensi-
/ bilities."