The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-02-27
The ELEVATOR BOY.

| Renting an office OF the agent OF a build
| ing Is matter of dollars and cents. Keep
| ing the respect asd friendship OF an e.s-
| vator boy is a different thing altogether.
As soon as convenient after getting set
tied In your Office call the elevator boy NJ
and have a frank friendly talk. Give hin
fun Information in regard to your bust
! ness affairs. and show that you also have
| a friendly interest In his career.
| Never attempt TO deceive the elevator
boy az TO your financial standing and the
amount Of business doing 1t rests with
| him whether your creditors get up TO youi
room or not. He can turn them all down
| as fast as they come. or he can rush q
dozen a day in on you.
In your private talk with the elevator
/ boy IL IS not necessary that you give yeIr
self dead away in regard TO family mat
| tiers. Should you remark that there are
| good reasons why a long-jawed, gray
| eyed woman with 4 mole on her chin
| should be frozen out in case she inquiries
for you by name. the boy viii understand
that your home has been broken W
through no fault of yours.
A tenant of a sky-scraper may haS a
| father-in-law hunting for him with j
gun-a brother-in-law who wants TO bor-
row money-a mother-in-law who has
vowed TO snatch him bald-headed on sight,
but unless he takes the elevator boy into
his confidence how are these dangers 10
| be turned aside?
There are tenants who begin their ac-
quairtance with the elevator boy by polk
! ing him in the ribs and joking with him.
This is all wrong. Owing to the fearful
| responsibilities resting on his shoulders
the elevator boy never jokes while on duty,
and any undue familiarity is certain 10
prejudice him against tenant. BE
friendly but don't overdo 1t.
A tenant on the eighth floor who wishes
to form the acquaintance of a cookbook
ing stenographer on the seventh makes a
great mistake when he leaves the elevator
boy out of his scheme and pays the scrub
woman % cents to hand in bouquet and
his card. The affair is bound to reach the
ears of the elevator boy within a day or
two, and he at once proceeds TO take
measures to squash that eighth-fioor
mans fond dreams.
There are tenants of a sky-scraper who
think it necessary to begin with the eleva-
tor boy by saying:
Now, then, you cub, / want you to keep
your nose out of my business. If l find
you hanging around or pumping my Office
boy, I'll have you bounced forthwith
That style doesn't wash with an eleva-
tor boy who knows his gait. Inside OF a
week he has got things down pat and is
carrying up full loads of creditors and
summons-servers to make it interesting
for the bulldozer.
Inviting an elevator boy out to lunch in
order 10 pump him about the blonde in the
insurance office or the brunette in the Ia
per pattern agency is bad form. He feels
that an attempt is being made to betray
his confidence through his love for to-
mato soup and roast beef, and he loses his
respect for the would-be betrayer. 1t is
much better to call him into the Office,
hand him 81 to play tip on the races.
and state your case plainly.
When the elevator boy is handed a note
and asked to deliver 1t at a certain room
the sum of 80 cents should always accom-
pany it. This is in no sense bride. 1t sim
ply saves long winded explanation. The boy
at once recognizes the fact that the note
is strictly a business affair-probably re-
lating to the interest on mortgage or
the purchase of real estate-and he loses
no time in placing it in the hands of the
typewriter to whom it is addressed. He
also feels morally bound not TO mention
the matter 10 any other tenant.
The janitor OF a sky-scraper has certain
powers, and the agent is a man to be de-
ferred to, but any tenant who leaves the
elevator boy out of his calculations will
get badly left 1t was only last week that
the young man in the wooden goods
agency planned to get down to the front
door just at IL o'clock TO ask the girl in
the hoOk-and-eye room to lunch with him.
He had not taken me into his confidence.
Between the seventh and eighth floors
stuck the elevator for twelve minutes and
the hook-and-eye girl walked off with the
glassware man and Yves lost forever.
One day / was taking up the suspender
man and the girl in the railroad supply
office / noticed him smiling at her in a
melting way He knew that | noticed II,
ana dIlef she H1u got Oul SAUL
''Sammis, aid you know that girl was an
orphan"
mo, SIR
well, she is. Yes, she is all alone In
this world, and her job is paying only 81
& week"
"And you were smiling to encourage
herr"
Exactly, Sammis Yes, wanted her to
realize that although the world at large
was cold and heartless, there were yet a
few people whose hearts were not entirely
frozen up
Hadn't you better take me into your
confidence. sir?' l asked as he got out.
IN take you by the hair Of the head
instead, you young reprobate! he said as
his face got red.
The next day l went 10 the railroad sup
ply girl in u fatheriy way and told her of
the suspender mans wife and seven chill
dren, and the next time he smiled at her
she poked him in the chin with her UNI
brella and threatened to haul him into
court. SAMMIS.
The Elevator Boy.
Copyright 1900 BY c. 3. Lewis.J