New-York tribune., 1901-11-03
WATERS AND WALTERS.
THEY RANGE FROM THE ARISTOCRAT
OF THE GENEVA CLUB TO THE
TALKATfIE EAST SIDE
SERVER.

subject but those people who think they know
sag that there are no fewer than fourteen thou
sand walters in New-York and that the NUM-
Der is certainly no less, and propapiy more
This small army includes representatives from
nearly every country. and. as there are no rules
and regulations regarding the age when men
may enter as recruits, and as there IS no age
limit, the ranks contain men of all ages from
eighteen to sixty-five The number of Ameri-
cans is small, the great majority OF WATERS
being Germans. natives Of countries where Ger
man is the popular language, or of the BRUSH
Islands. There is large French and Seahoi-
nayian contingent in the walters army, anu
besides these there is a large body of negroes
There are more classes than natlo1aAlles
among the walters Of New-York, and the man
who casts his lot with certain class usually
remains in il. The aristocrats are the men WHO
came from Europe masters OF their husl-
ness They usually belong TO a walters or
ganization like the Geneva Cub which mas
branches in all large cities They must nave
served their time as assistants and at least
three years as sub-waiters before they c"u'u
. become members of any Of the first class
walters clubs One Of the requirements is that
the man shall speak English German and
French and besides knowing how to serve, he
must have some knowledge of cooking. how 10
dress a salad and how to carve Inc waiter
who possesses these qualities may aspire 10 'he
highest honors in his line of business anu
though his direct pay is not much more 'hah
that Of his colleagues in the lower grade, he
holds himself aloof and belongs to an exclusive
class His pay amounts TO So $50 month,
but his income is usually four times as much
The walters Of this class have travelled, and
those who consider themselves in the first rank
have worked their business IN most OF Inc
Furopean capitals Some of the first class walt
ers wear closely cropped side whiskers- but
never q muStache.
Just as soon as you man of our busl-
ness raise a nustache." said a Fffth-aVe waiter,
you can make up your mind that he Is gong
TO travel or get work in downtown restaurant
OF cheap uptown club. The waiter who travels
in Europe does the right thing he sees strange
countries and learns languages. and the more
he has gone about the better he is able 10 com
mand good pay and steady employment But
the waiter who is constantly on the go IN TINS
country is looked upon as an undesirable man.
In Europe the waiter says With pride, I've tray
elled all over here he says. in order 10 make
himself solid, i haven't been out Of NeW-Iork
in ten years That's the difference between
this country and Europe
The places near the border lines Of France.
italy and Switzerland furnish many Of the wait
ers of the better class and an old waiter says
that this is 10 the fact that the men have
the advantage of knowing something Of three
languages when they enter the business. and
need not travel to acquire any language except
English
of course he said, one must have a season
or two in Paris because that's where men get
their polish. but after that America is the place,
and the walters there know that man
who knoygs his business make more money
ip this country than in any other place
The Geneva CLUB has meeting place IN SIKH
ave where the better class Of New-I ork walt
ers make their headquarters When they are
out of work the club looks out for places hof
them and when they i'll the club pays them
IS a week
The men who stand a shade lower IN inc
waiter fraternity have several clubs IN New
York the largest one of which is in Lexington
ave To become member, one must have heen
able to speak English, German and French
This cl,Ib also paws its sick members SS a week
and the house committee finds work for unem-
Moved members In this club, well as a
similar club in Third-aYe-, the members are not
smooth shaven but wear their boards as they
please Many Of them have uptown jobs IN
the evening and from II O'Clock in the morning
untiI - work in downtown luncheon places
There is also an Irish walters club IN Third
ave with a large membership This club was
originally an employment agency In seVeral
~large hotels Irish walters were employed almost
anfK