Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-23
TIPPING OF GROONS.
How They Work the Blacksmith. for
Brides.


Brides.
From the st. Louis Globe Democrat
Neat, dapper and faultless of attire the
modern groom. and especially his tins fur
| nished the topic of conversation with a
number OF master horseshoers in the ro-
tunda of the LinCeIl Hotel yesterday.
Stories of the English groom and his WAYS
passed hom one to another until finally
J. e. Buckley, ex-president of the National
Horseshoels' Association. SAID: what you
say reminds ME of a story told by a friend
or mine, delegate from New York city,
as ne is not present I'll try to tell his story
myself. His first name is Joe Most OF
you know mis- other name. He has one of
the pest places in New York city, and his
Iuii snare OF the best custom. Among his
acquaintances or friends there was n gem
tieman OF wealth and refinement, who mar
ried lady equally fortunate as himself
In this worlds goods. AS result of this
marriage, of course, Joe's friend had to
get several carriages and pairs of horses
in order to live in style commensurate
with ms torture, and, equally, as a matter
OF course, he had to have an up-to-date
groom TO look after them. Knowing Joe
ana liking him, as matter of course his
horses were sent to Joe's shop to be shod
On the first visit neither the groom, who
was a very swell-looking groom indeed nor
Joe said anything outside of the usual
formalities of business. ice noticed the
horses when they first came in. and
thought that they hardly needed, shoeing
but he gave the order for the work. and
it was DONE
1T was only couple of weeks after that
That the same horses were brought in to be
shod again. This time Joe was so we'll sat
1sfed that very little was necessary that he
only had the shoes taken off and the same
shoes put back. TIE groom, however, was
not so well satisfied, and suggested to Joe
the expetiiency of a little tip on his own ac-
count. To this proposal Joe gave a point
blank refusal The groom said nothing but
1t was hardly a week before he was back In
the shop with one of the horses that had
lost a shoe. A day or two later he was
back again with another horse. This kept
up until finally Joe's friend called around
at the shop and said: See here Joe,
can't stand this kind of thing, you know
There's something the matter, that these
horses shoes keep dropping off in this way
and something's got to DE done L know
it, replied Joe and the only wonder is
you haven't dropped to it before
He then told the story about the groom
and Joe's friend, after listening attentively
until he was through. said: Well. that's
all right. You were perfectly right, old
man; only the next time the groom asks
for his tip just give it to him and charge
| 1T to me in the bill. / have to have the
groom, you know, and / guess the tips will
have to come along with him.
Ed Butler. jr., of ST. Louis who heard
the story, said: That reminds me of a
case in my own experience. / won't give
any names. for none is necessary, but not
long ago one or the leading citizens of st.
Louis, who is at the head of corporation
which is good customer of mine. came
to me and asked how often it WAS neces-
sary to shoe pair of carriage horses.
answered that it was necessary whenever
the shoes wore out He laughed. and ask
ed me if l thought a horses shoes could
wear out twice a month. 1 saw what was
the matter, and said that while a horses
shoes might not wear out in fifteen days. a
groom might need tip i'm that length of
time. He then asked If the groom didn't
get 80 cents of the $50 charged for a set
of shoes. and 1 told him that it was more
likely that the groom got every other $50
that was charged for shoeing the horse
The matter seemed to strike him in a new
light, and he said he wanted me to shoe
all of his carriage horses, but If he ever
heard OF my giving the groom the CUSTOM
airy tip he would not only take away from
me his private trade, but would take away
the business of his company. AS this bust
ness amounts to over $I75 a month, YOU
may be sure there are no risks taken of
losing it,"