St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-01-02

svENGALl WAITER.
Chicago Eestaurant Employs > Man -
Hypnotize ApPetitcs Away.

SvENGALl WAITER.
Chicago Eestaurant Employs > Man ss
Hypnotize ApPetitcs Away.
Zone of the oldest things l ever saw" "
remarked a physician in small party
of Washington story-tellers, i saw in a
kind of a hotel, or rather feedery, at the
Chicago stock yards"
'Men or cattle?" queried listener.
''Men, and good men. wasn't board
ing there, but 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 to
pay me to come down and look over his
family about twics.s year. l lived only
q hundred 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 100 to 200 diners in it.
A great many of these were transients,
and very many more were green and
unsophisticated young men from the
country who had come in with stock
and were utterly unused to city ways.
''On the day in question l sat with the
proprietor at his little lookout desk,
from which he kept an eye on the bust
ness, and watched the people eat, which
is not as bad show as you might think
if you never witnessed such perform
ance. As we sat there noticed one
waiter, dark-skinned, Svengaii-look'
ing chap, who, instead of having ter
ritory assigned to him, seemed to work
all over the dining-room. He was q
worker, too, and first attracted me by
the way he handled the people.
Il spoke to the proprietor abou: him
and he told me to watch him, and he
would tell me all about him MS soon a
he had time. l followed his advice, and
saw that the waiter would apparently
spot . man as he came in, and when hs
reached q chair he would be there with
a bow and a smile to wait on him. The
man would seem to start, as il recog'
nizing him, and would sit down and
begin to look nervous.
"The waiter, in the meantime, kept
his eye on him, and would take his
order. Often the order was extremely
light, covering only q cup Of tea or q
piece Of meat and bread, or possibly q
glass Of milk or . bowl of bread anG
milk. The waiter would smile and
seem to insist on the guest taking more
but the guest shook his head and soor
finished his frugal repast. As physi
clan, I wondered how men who worked
as these did could get along with so lit
tie food.
THAT afternoon the proprietor
smiled when I asked him about the pc
culiar waiter. He's jewell he said
and he's worth more to me than any
waiter I've got, though Tn always lit
tie afraid Of him. and to keep him in
good humor pay him about so per cent
more than I do any of the others.
don't know what he does, and neveI
speak of it to ybody. and only to yo'
because you arc my family physician
but he has way Of picking out the peo
pie he wants to wait on as they come in
and when he gets hold Of them HI
makes them eat what he wants them to
Sometimes q big, hearty fellow viii
gag and apparently get sick when HI
sits down to the table, and after bite ol
TWO he pays his bill and goes out. That
doesn'thappen often, though. Hisway j:
tomake his people eat just little OF the
cheapest things-it's a 3s-cent dinner
you know-and many times glass Of
milk and bread or piece Of pie will b.
all they want, and they will go out per
fectly satisfied to pay IS cents for it
1t isn't any of my business to ask about
their health or their appetite, and
don't. I leave my waiter to do that,
and the proprietor smiled innocently
rather than in guile.
Il didn't want to spoil good thing
but I Wrought l ought to-" concluded
the phy5leian, land proceeded to tel
my friend that the waiter was Sven
gali-by the way, he had never heard oi
such a person-and was defrauding thu
patrons of the restauran: by hypnotic
ing them and sending them out filled
only with suggestions, and that while
it might be extremely remunerative. II
was not right at all, and the waiter
should be sent away. Then, thinking
my advice would be followed. Of course
/ took my departure. Six months later
L came back, and the first man saw il
the dining-room was Svengali.
fancy" and the physician sighed. "ths
Chicago climate or something must
have had an effect on my friend moral
es.".Washington Star.