The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-11-15

| N ONTINUING my observations of kS last Sunday on a visit to Eu- O rope the little things which oc- cur to give one pleasure, or to mar ones pleasure, are interesting to recall. ldke- wise they may be interesting to. those who contemplate a visit abroad in either the near or distant future.
 When one starts from New York, the tip business begins. Your steamer trunk and grip are marked with your name and the number of your state room. Yet one porter must be paid to put them on deck, and another quarter or half dollar goes to a steward to have them placed in your state room
 On ship-board the excessive tip busi- ness starts. You must give five dollars to your dining room steward, five dol- lars to your state room steward, one dol- lar to the bathroom steward, a half dol- lar to boots" a dollar or two to the deck steward, and a dollar or more to the smoking room steward. If you want any thing extra at your meals, you must give the second steward from two to ten dol lars as you see fit. Then if you hap pen to be sea sick and call in the ship surgeon, you are supposed, at the end of the voyage to enclose an amount in an envelope and send It to his office. He is not allowed to charge anything, but he is usually much better rewarded than If he made the regular charges.
 Landing al Liverpool, you have no trou- ble about customs duties unless you hap pen to have quantity of tobacco. The duty on any sort of tobacco in England is seventy-five cents per pound. Even leaf tobacco which costs ten cents a pound here has to pay seventy-five cents a pound to get into England
 A special train for London is at the dock in Liverpool when the ship arrives, and within thirty minutes after the pas sengers leave the ship, this special train starts for London, 205 miles distant The run is made in four hours, and first class fare is seven dollars. The cars are compartment cars with an aisle on the side something like the old Man boudoir cars formerly used in the south There are comfortable dining cars on this train, but the meals served do not compare with those served in this country. The prices, however. are the same except luncheon, which is served for two shill- ings and six pence. This and all other railroads in England are double tracked and there are no grade crossings Rail- way accidents in England are extremely rare.
 Baggage wagons are apparently un- known quantities in London. One gets A carriage or bus and loads all of his baggage on top. The price for an ordin- ary cab for two is twenty-five cents, and but small additional charge is made for baggage.
 Formerly the hotels in London were very moderate in their charges. The ma jority of them are now moderate But few hotels have been built for extray- agant Americans and in these the price lists would make some of the Florida win ter resort hotels blush with shame. Upon the recommendation of an acquaintance, whom l afterwards learned was travelling upon an unlimited expense account, I chanced to go to one of the latter hotels It is true the attention at this hotel was perfect. Lackeys in gaudy uniforms and all sorts of servants and attendants were stationed everywhere to wait upon the patrons. Of course each one expected and