Evening star., 1900-06-28
A VILLAGE UNDER ONE ROOF.
What Must he Done for Guests in n
Huge Modern CaraNannary.

''The modern hotel" said the manager OF
one of Washington's big hostelries, has de-
veloped into a municipality in itself. The
business has undergone a great change
within the past fifteen years, and build
ings and methods then in vogue have been
greatly enlarged and modified. With the
Waldorf-Astoria it was considered that the
limit in hotel construction and manage
ment had been reached. and there are now
few hotel men who will venture a prophecy
that this immense structure will ever be
relegated to second place l have no doubt,
however. that within fifty years the metrop-
oils will have a hotel as large again. l be-
lieve that within twenty years the older
hotels of Washington, which Is one of the
best hotel cities in the United States, will
all be rebuilt. Most of them have recently
been improved.
Brooklyn. a city twice the size of WASH
ington, looks like 80 cents in comparison
with the capital on the score of hotels, and
for years it enjoyed the distinction of hav-
ing but one hotel, on the Heights, and that
was a small affair. Commercial travellers
and others went to New York to sleep.
This sounds far fetched, but 1t is true. Re-
Gently couple of modern structures have
been put up. but the city of churches Will
never be hotel town..
washington has several fine shelters for
strangers. and in a few years will have
couple more big fellows But without jeal-
ousy hotel men all over the country accord
the PAIN TO the W aidorf, ana Wnat Is ac-
complished under that single roof every
day is fairly monumental.
1T operates a post office, doing as much
business as an office in a good-siZed town,
handling about 5000 letters daily, requiring
the services of four men who act as postal
clerks exclusively. Callers send up 5000
cards daily to guests, through pneumatic
tubes, to the respective floors, where they
are received by the hall boys. There are
sixty telephones, with a switchboard re-
Quiring three operators. All communication
between the different departments, sections
and hotel employees is done by telephone.
There are enough clocks in the building to
stock a large store, the number being LOO,
and two men are employed to keep them in
order.
IF you say a regiment Of employees you
speak the truth, the total number of
employees on the pay roll is 1.400. There are
in addition about l 800 guests daily in the
hotel during the winter season, and $500
people sit nightly at dinner in the two res
taurants, two palm gardens. gentlemen's
cafe and private banquet!ng halls 1t re-
quireS the services of ninety-six cooks to
feed these hungry folks, and the kitchen
force alone is nearly as large as battalion
of troops. the number being over 300. They
consume $50 tons of Ice a day, and no one
knows how many highballs. gin rickeys and
small and large bottles.
There are nineteen elevators and $50
hall boys and pages. A hotel which has
hall boy force Of twelve or fifteen Is a large
one. AS many as 400 guests will arrive from
the ocean steamers in one day and as many
more will depart for Europe. From 2o00
to $500 pieces Of baggage are handled and
accounted for every day. The office clerical
force consists Of twenty-eight clerks OF
whom six are room clerks. 3,O00-horse-
power electric plant supplies the power to
burn every night $4,000 incandescent lights,
more than in many good-sized cities. Nine
boilers for steam consume 100 tons of coal
a day and heat 1.500 rooms"