Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-03-07
THEGAIT OF THE MAN
ONE PLACE WHERE 1T BRINGS OUT
HIS CHARACTER.

An OId "Chnir Warmer" Says That
Watching Men as They Cross the
Lobby of Fashionable Hotel Is IL
Great study of Human Nature.
You can tell with probable certainty
q mans character, disposition and sta
ton in life when you see him cross ho-
tel lobby" said an old lobby lounger The
other day as he sat down in a chair in
one of the big hotels.
Did you ever sit and watch the people
pass? It's an interesting study in human
character and the result of human eXpe-
rience. Pride, timidity, assurance, weak
ness, conceGtration-all walk before you.
They say that these things can be told
by a mans manner of walking on the
street or anywhere else, but start him
over the marble corridor and see how all
his traits are emphasized and accentu-
ated"
Just then two buds of manhood entered
the lobby where the lounger sat. They
wore high white collars. They walked
hard and laughed loud. One of them
stopped at the cigar stand to light a ciga-
rette and called to his comrade to wait.
Then they deliberately walked directly
toward the bar They did not try to con-
ceal the fact that they were going toward
the hotels barroom. They did it openly.
They even advertised it. Probably they
were going to get very wicked drink.
"Do you know" unused the lounger,
that there is a certain atmosphere that
can be found only in first class hotels?
1t is an atmosphere of what might be
called snnrtv 0nntilitv 1t makes men
feel i'll it ease unless their clothes are
good. To enter the lobby of a fashion
able hotel causes some men TO talk III
words and on subjects that are unusual
to them-to put on airs, as it were. Men
never hesitate to say:
81 was in the - hotel, you know,
when | met So-and-so, and he told me-
etc.
Those two young gentlemen that you
just saw enter the bar feel all this. They
feel that they would acquire certain
position in the social scale by appearing
to be at home in this lobby. But their
noisy manner makes it apparent that they
wish to advertise their presence, and thus
they destroy the impression which they
try to create.
"To cross a hotel lobby is something Of
an event to a man who isn't used to it"
continued the lounger, and that Is why
personal characteristics stick out all the
stronger when he does. Now, the gentle
man who is proud of his looks is sure to
give a free exhibition of himself as he
walks across the smooth floor. lie will
square his shoulders and hold out his
chest and throw back his naughty head
and strut like n proud, plumed thing.
You can almost imagine that you see hot
flames bursting from his nostrils. He
glances from right to left to be certain
that he is being closely observed. He
acknowledges the smile nf the eisor girl
with q sweeping salute. He raises his
hat and bows grandly to the telegraph
girl, and when he has reached the coun-
ter where the clerk stands there is feel
ing in the lobby not unlike that in the
street after the circus parade has passed.
1t is a feeling that all is over.
mot so with the timid, modest gentle
man. He will walk hurriedly, as though
glad to have the ordeal past. He does not
dare to look about him, but he will prob
ably rub his nose or stroke his chin as a
shy man does who walks down a long
church aisle. He is ashamed to be max
ing himself so prominent. If you speak
to this man afterward, you will find that
his voice is mild and his manner self de-
preciative.
"After ALL" continued the "chair board
er," "the most interesting sight is that Of
a man whose feet are at home on grass
or plowed ground making a voyage over
the marble floor of the hotel lobby. Such
n Sc ;p,,rnyCnl NTH tho yufnlDaSS nf
the thing. He is panic stricken to begin
with, and, then, the stone is so solid that
1t gives a shock to each foot as he puts
it down, so that he lifts it high with each
step, like a chicken walking in the wet
grass, and, then, there is the constant
peril of slipping. The distance across the
lobby seems miles. | have seen man
take 1t by easy stageS-walk hrst to
chair and sneak into it, and then rise
gingerly and grit his teeth and start out
again full of grim determination. Such
n man is sure to be noticed. Just because
he longs to be unobserved unkind fate
fastens every ones eyes on him.
"There is one type, however" unused
the lounger, that no one notices. lie is
the man who lives in hotels. He walks
across the lobby with as much unconcern
as he would into his own house. In fact,
| believe that men who have been guests
year after year at the same hotel grow to
assume sort of ownership.
There is another set Of individuals
whose habits and character are unmis-
taxable when they appear in the hotels.
| belong to this class myself. They call
us chair warmers lobby loungers' and
other things. In the summer time we nll
the row of chairs on the sidewalk in front
or sit with our chairs in the street in
front and our feet on the edge of the side
walk. We are always on the shady side
of the building and in the path of
breeze, if possible. In the winter time
we are in the lobby, where it's warm.
You can tell us by one certain sign. We
are always sitting.
"And the panorama of the lobby goes
on-men who strut fiercely and show that
they are petty and vain; men who shy
and hurry and show that Shey are tlmld
and nervous: men who walk anxlously
and uneasily, showing that they are new
and green; men without concern or
thought of themselves, showing that they
have had experience in such affairs and
have business ahead; men who have
hunted look, as though they hadn't paid
their laundry BILL young men, who want
TO be as 'bIooded' as the older men; idle
men with nothing else to do; bold men,
timid men, busy men, vain men, modest
men, prosperous men and ne'er do wells
It's picture that is before me daily as l
sit here, an Interesting picture that L
study and muse upon" - Kansas City
Star.
martyr TO PrincIpIe.
"Ah, poor thing! Her end wac sad in
] l.,