Evening star., 1900-04-11
IN HOTEL CORRIDORS.

can l distinguish guest from 'chair
lounger?' said an old and popular clerk
at one of the uptown hotels Yes. l can,
because / know who the guests are The
anpearance of men in hotel lobbies, as else
where, is often very deceiving- Take that
little fellow sitting over there denureiy
and half ashamed in the corner The aV-
erage man would declars that he Is a
lounger. Certainly anybody would. He Is,
however, Boston millionaire, who Is on
his way home from a winter spent In ex-
travagant style in Florida He pays US $50
a day for accommodations for himself and
family-a small one, too.
III Is not as easy as 1t looks. Any OBJ
serving man who Is a stranger to the place
may come in the lobby Of this hotel and at
tempt to segregate from those occupying
chairs the guests of the house and the
guests of the lobby In five cases out OF
ten he would mark the wrong men. In a
large first-class hotel like this its lobby
frequenters are, as rule, gentlemen, who
are well dressed and easy of manner. They
have business often with our guests, pa
tronize the bar or cigar stand, or make busi-
ness social appointments here with their
friends This type OF hotel frequenters Is
not to be classod with the lobby lounger.
AS rule, thsy are friendly to the house
and we receive at their hands hundreds of
recommendations. of which. of course. we
have no direot knowledge, but which help
just the same
In second and third-class hotels 1t is
comparatively easy matter for man IA
miliar with men and used TO the ways of
the world to mark out the goats from the
sheep. Hundreds of men in this city spend
their evenings In these places. and after a
while becoms lobby statues in a sitting
posture. well known to the clerk and others.
They occupy the chairs to the exclusion
i o1,- ~,
tionery and would ask for stamps, too, if
they were supplied free. This type of lobby
lounger is a parasite. He never spends
cent in the house and uses 1t merely as
place to loaf
He is a recognized pest Of American fo-
tel life, whose constitution is immune to
frequent applications of rough on hotel
loafers.' There is no way to eradicate him.
and rather than stir up fuss We allow him
TO become a fixture. and, therefore, fail to
observe his presence.
1T is vastly different abroad. A person
not guest, on entering a hotel in Paris.
Tor instance, is approached by man who
Is there principally for this purpose. and
his business automatically and politely in
quired in any and every language from
Russian to Chinese. No free public use of
fires: chairs, music and the usual public
privileges Of an American hotel. And the
people, knowing that they have no such
right. do not attempt to assert it The
hotels in Europe are for the exclusive use
81 those who pay for it
Americans have a great deal OF fun out
Of the reputed obtuseness of the English, -
Said Alfred Dalrympls. an English traveller.
IT the Shoreham. but We retalIaae In kind
ea certain wsll-known 'Americanisms' and
peculiarities. and We have our amusement.
too, at your expense
There Is ons misconception of class of
wage earners in England entertained by you
which tallies with the popular idea that
el Ensiishmen are as Your actors picture