The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-13

1t may not seem a pleasant thing to
write about. but 1t conduces very greatly
to the comfort of guests, that in this
house one woman has done nothing for
twelve years-and worked steadily-but
poison the beds to keep them free from
bugs. Each day so many beds are stripped
of bedding and mattresses, and 'Pizen
Mary goes over them with cameps-hair
brush and can of fluid.
Besides the regular repairs is a long list
of special ones. The housekeeper reports
a window cord missing. chairs broken, the
legs of a table snapped by someone who
sat on it. Some tobacco-chewing guest in
careless aim at the cuspidore in his room
has spattered the wall paper so that the
whole room must be repapered. Various
waste pipes have been stopped up by corks,
faded flowers patent medicine bottle wrap
pers, cherry stones, a whisky flask or some
other testimonial of an erratic guest To
meet these particular needs is a small
army of special workers, engaged by the
week-upholsterers, painters, carpenters,
plumbers. paper hangers and the like.
They come on duty at s o'clock, and not
until the last man of the crowd is sent
about his business does the manager feel
at liberty to sit down to his coffee, roll and
steak.
MANY PEOPLE TO SEE.
During the meal he is disturbed by the
cards of various salesmen-the man who
has the only greatest soap powder" or
baking powder, a man who sells linens,
and another who sells silverware. A man
wants to make a contract for next years
stock of coal, and another who raises
mushrooms wants to arrange to supply
the house with his speciality. Finally
hallboy tells him "a lady in the parlor
wants to see him at once, SIR
AS this individual may be guest who
has a real grievance that deserves atten-
ton, the manager hurries his last swal
low of coffee. and leaves his steak. to go
upstairs and find well-dressed, genteel
woman who explains with some diffidence
at first that she has seen better days, but
that unfortunately, having been forced by
circumstances to earn her own living now,
she has decided to take position as house
keeper in a hotel and she has come to
apply for such a place there
The manager asks what experience she
may have had to fit her for this work.
and the applicant replies with pride that
she has always kept house and has always
been considered neat, If she does say it
herself. Asked if she knows what the du-
ties of hotel housekeeper are, she admits
that she does not but feels sure that she
can give satisfaction. After the manager
explains to her that he expects his house
keeper to get up at 6 o'clock. and has
named a few of her duties, she departs a
sadder and wiser woman.
An interview with the proprietor follows,
which is interrupted by another hallboy
with a card. The boy says the man who
sent the card wants to see the manager
lat once" This man, when found, explains
promptly ard emphatically that he has
been grossly insulted by your clerk.
sir" He came in the night before and,
on registering, was asked to pay for his
room in advance. Inquiry as to luggage
showed that he had only a small hand
satchel The manager explains-as he has
done several hundred times before in sim
liar cases-the rules of the house in such
a case as this and, if he has good luck,
Gains the wrath of the guest.
The next kicker is harder to deal with
To pay for one nights occupancy of 81
or 81 room, this man has rendered a 500
check, drawn quite as likely as not on San
Francisco. The cashier has no way of find
ing out if the check is good, and declines
to cash it. This man, too, says that he
has been grossly insulted, and when he
finally gets the money and pays his bill,
he goes away declaring that he will notify
all his friends never to patronize the house
again. Such threats do not do much harm.
In most cases the man knows i'm his own
heart that he is in the wrong, but he
wants TO say something TO relieve his feel
ings.
The manager is next called to meet a
man and his wife who have a small dog
with them. The dog having been sneaked
in the day before in a covered basket, and
thus got past the clerk. has spent the night
comfortably in one of the rooms 1t is
the kind of dog whose hairs it will take
a chambermaid half a day to get off the
carpet The girl having found the dog,
reports il 10 the housekeeper. and she in
turn TO the Office. These people when sum-
mOned 10 the office and told that they
must find "A place for the dog other than
their room, or vacate the room. are high
IL indignant and usually the matter ends
by their leaving the house saying, Where
Fido can't go. we don't go" II they are
reasonable they let a porter take the dog
TO be cared for in the basement The pets
cared for in this way range from goats