The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-28
MIR. BOX, OF PHILADELPHIA, ON
 THOSE AWFUL NEW YORK TIPS
1.-The Influence of the Vulgar, Ostentatious Rich of New York Has So Exaggerated the Tipping Evil That It Threatens to Be
 come National Plague. "

HSew York World.
 Edward Box, the lively and observ- ant editor of The Ladies Home Jour nal, has a way of dropping into New York and riting up it's yuigaritiee, particularly its tipping" system, that is beginning to attract general atteh- ton; so 1t was only fair to drop Tn on MT. Box at his office in the solemn pen umbra Of Philadelphia.
 .sThe custom of tipping servants ana other employees is rapidly spreadins from New York to other parts or the country." he said. Tt is becoming serious nuisance It is simply iorm of graft. There can be no douot tnae its Increasing evils are que to the cru ely blatant position Wnich hoho' holds in New York"
 "Perhaps 1t is because you live Tn philadelphia that New York seems 10 put on this wicked dazzley
 ~No. I lived in New York eighteen wears ago. and now that l nave been away from the city for a few years, can go back and see things Tn propor- ~y,ew them too close at hand. It Is the s-fiuence of the newly rich in New York that is exaggerating the tipping nuisance so that it threatens to become a national plague. New York IS tne worst of all American cities In that respect, It is the centre and exempiar spf senseless and vulgar extravagance.
 MT Box sat in a spacious room, Trimmed with dark woods, fringe or green plants at the windows. softenlng the view of Phi1adelphia's roofs. Tne click of countless typewriters soundeo through the quiet building. In spite or the fact that his office is the seat or enchantment for the American femlnlne Q world the confidence of quiet currents of philosophy from tobacco wo- man kind, MT. Box smoked cigarette.
 MT. Box was born in Holland. He Is Al years old. It is not so hard for him to live in Philadelphia. because ne passed his boyhood in Brooklyn. When he came to America he could not speak English.
 He is tall, straight and strongly made. His long, lean shaven face has fhe melancholy look of the profes- sional humorist. He has keen hazel eyes. He s frank, direct and simple. When he laughs he seems ten years younger.
 MT. Box travels a great deal, meet ang authors who write for his journal and writing shrewdly of the things he aees in his whirls about the country. He is one of the most highly paid edi- Sors in the world.
 "It is all very well to talk about tips as signs of generosity" he said. put
 
 Ah tin in New York is becoming charge upon the public from which one cannot easily escape, and 1t is getting to be so elsewhere. The tip today IS a bribe by which one person hopes to get better service than another. In many cases it is pure blackmatl As ! said before, New York IS the Worst oA- fender in the country.
 "It is a mistake to attribute the neavy tips demanded in New York to xhe influence of foreigners. Foreigners hold that sort of thing in contempt. 1t is we ourselves who are doing lt- 1he vulgar, ostentatious rich or New iYork, and the thousands who go to New York to spend their money New York 9s setting the pace for America. Where Noes 1t lead? Nowhere It stamps out all courtesy. I don't know more boorish city than New York. This dis- regard for the value of money, spring Sng from the desire for display has al- raSdv revealed itself in the gross man. nars and morals of street life in New work. lady cannot walk in the day time on portions of Broadway with out being stared at in the most or- 9ensfve and suggestive manner by men. This is simply a reflection Of the coarse spirit bred of the pomp of money.
 s1Uhen I go to New York and walk m upper Broadway at night, l Ind blaze of light; everything hard and Sordid and cold: everybody reaching out for your money; no slightest cour- tesy unless it is paid for. Fortunately, this cannot be said to the same degree of other American cities, of Boston for instance, or even of Philadelphia. One finds at least some Of the naturaI cour- 4sv and moderation characteristic of inc normal American outside of New York. x,-,- ...,,.. A 10-cent tip would satisfy waiter in a restaurant or a hotel porter That tip grew in time to be 25 cents Today ths waiter or porter expects 50 cents