Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-11-14
The True Waiter.

New York has undoubtedly the Very
best specimens Of the genus waiter"
said the munger Of one of the biz ho-
tells. Very few of them. though. have
the opportunities that made many other
walters rich III few years while work.
ing in some of the great restaurants OF
Paris.
"Waiters. have many more oppor-
tunties t" rise t" higher positions in
this country than they have abroad.
Good head walters ;jl'rc - ofren re-
ceive royal gifts i'll th,. ;tj;v OF money.
but i'll America a head waiter or amy
waiter who pieaSeS on" ~ oj:r railroad
or stock exchange Y-tss-'-l'"* is quite
apt to receive valuable iE- th:lt enable
him to speculate tn advantage. In
some cases rece tiy walters have been
rewarded by patrons with trips abroad.
legacies ard other important favors.
The i'rench waiter. like the old Eng
lish type Of waiter and the southern
tiaIky waiter celebrated in story, has
become almost extinct There are
some French walters in the great hotels
abroad and n few here. but the .Austri-
ans and Swiss are the most plentiful
here, as they are on the other side.
They abound on the Continent. and
even in Ireland there are no Irish watt
erS to speak of in the big restaurants
but all are French. 50 called and so
described in the hotel circulars. but in
reality they hail from Austria and
Switzerland
They are extremely raw and a little
bit stupid but after the schooling
,rh hini, al
nowadays before they are admitted to
4 trSt-c'ass di'iuS-room they become
very efficient. Even when they are be
+;inners they lack a great many Of the
principal faults which make a bad
waiter unbcarabIe.
"AWkwardness is really q slight fault
in waiter. Absolute cleanliness. so
briefly, Il respectful manner and intelIi-
Gence in taking orders as they are Civ
en- are the first requisites A SLOW. i'm
pertinent or intrusive waiter is not to be
endured by the class of people that pa
troiiiZe the d1nlng-room of a good hotel,
put degree of familiarity is permitted
III some q the chop houses where
iFlSh walters are employed that is
rather Startlin" to one unaccustomed
TO thtt particular manner from A wait
er.
oddly enough. with this fault usual
ly i'll evidence, Irish walters when
they are good are among the hest
They are particularly fortunate in the
chop houses frequentcd by sporting
men. getting tips on the races that
OFTEN come out all right.
In good hotels walters make a
If
they serve well. Americans tip as a
general thing more literally than any
other people. A days tips during
the luncheon hour in the restaurants
of the fashionable Fifth avenue hotels
Will leave a waiter paid for his work
by four O'Clock. Even when women are
the principal patrons there are tips.
This is one of the innovations that the
new woman has adopted.
THE school of walters which was
begun in one fashionable hotel some
seasons ago is now the rule at all i'm
portant houses. A waiter is drilled
and rehearsed and his ability deter
mibed before he is allowed to take his
place in the dining-room. |
walters are apt to be honest in
good hotels for the reason that under
the. systems now in use they will be !,
Immediately detected if they are other |
wise. The value of good place is
worth great deal more to a man
than anything he could steal.
There are walters in some of the
big hotels associated very closely with
the nations politics within the last
few years whose "reminiscences would
fill volume of exceeding interest. In
their observation of notables they
seem to get at a very human side OF
their characters and one that is not
usually in the limelight of publicity.
"There are only few of these men
still in service. for it. is amazing the
way in which a popular and faithful
waiter can accumulate a small fortune
by saving money. This sort of waiter
saves rather than CANDLES and the
sums that he wins in stocks are prac-'
tically presents, as the men through