The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-02-20
DIR. TUBES. AND TIPS.


 nicious Practice.
 Missouri has aligned herself with her neighbOr Kansas in the ranks of those states whose legislatures are affected 1 with freak legislation. One of the Missouri Solons, Dr. Alonzo Tubbs by name, would legislate the practice of tipping out of existence in the State.
 One of the first bills introduced in | the lower house of the Missouri Leg islature this year was his anti-tipping bil- The legislature was only three 1 days old when he introduced this act for the benefit of the travelling part of humanity. From the moment that Dr. Tubbs presented his, little bill in the House he was a marked man.
 The Tubbs bill has brought no con- siderable satisfaction to any one, save its author in his contemplation of a good deed. Although it is aimed at the employers of the benefciaries of tips, it has excited the ire of the employees to a greater extent than that of the employers. Of course, the employers, at whom it is aimed are not enthusias- tic about it. The general public when 1t does not sheer or seoff, Waxes indig- nant at an attempt to restrict personal liberty and a paternal regulation of the | outlay of money.
 The Tubbs anti-tipping bill makes it ! misdemeanor, punishable by fine, for | any proprietor to allow any of his em- ployees in restaurants or hotels to ac- cept tips from patrons. There were | two classes who took the measure ser | iously. One was Dr. Tubbs himself, and the other was the walters, porters, bellboys, ehambermaids, pages, cabmen and all who expect and generally re- ceive 9 gratuity over the above the price of their services No sooner had | the tidings of the measure spread from 1 the State House than a lobby of port CTS and walters in Jefferson City was formed against 1t. They hope to fight | it to it's ultimate death. '@-- 1 In St. Louis the Walters Club met l to discuss the pernicious bill. They found nothing good in it nor in it's au- thor. They predicted its defeat as a measure that aimed at the liberty of 1 the individual who had every right to do with his money as he chose. They 1 pictured the consequences to the pa- l tron of hotel and restaurant should the measure become law. s@ | The picture of Dr. Tubbs was passed about, and each waiter adjured to look long and earnestly upon It. that his features might be remembered by those whom he sought to destroy, and 1 threats were made that the advent of 1 Tubbs at a hotel or restaurant would mean a sudden paralysis of activities l on the part of those who should serve l him.
 It looked bad for Dr. Tubbs should he appear in St. Louis and be recog- nized by waiter, porter, bellboy or chambermaid
 ! But in due time Dr. Tubbs did appear in St. Louis. He tdid not herald his coming. He had achieved all the no- toriety he cared for, and wished to make his advent at a hotel where he would not be known. He chose one of the smaller hotels. which had the rep utation of discouraging tips to it's em- 1 ployes.
 l When he entered the lobby of the St. 1 James carry his suit case the night porter gave one Hook at his features and stepped back. Before he had ad5 l vanced to the desk the single word
 "Tubbs" had been passed around to all 1 the bellboys, The ready smile on the ! countenance of the hotel clerk faded when he glanced at the name, ''Alon- 20 Tubbs, 'Gasconade Mo-" and 1t was
 with a frosty infection that he said:
 "Front, show ther. gentleman to this room." But Dr.. Tubbs stuck to his guns. He distributed no largesse and met stony looks with an untroubled | face. .., e+ ,s-, '
 The next day however, only one short l week from the date of the introduction of his famous bill, the community was electrified and his admirers cast down by the report that he had faRn from grace and had given a 10-cerf tip to a bell-boy of the St. James. :.f..:.i
 In vain Dr. Tubbs protested publicity and vehemently that it was a base islander; that he had never retrenehed even dimes worth from his stand | for humanity; that neither. bellboy, | waiter, porter, chambermaid, cabman 1 nor any other of those who look for | tips had sprofited at his hands beyond the amount of the regular fee. With the vehemence of. injured innocence, Dr. Tubbs asserted that mistake had been made; that in all probability the bellboy who claimed to have received a benefice at his hands had in reality been rewarded by an unregenerate ! friend of his, one Alonzo Prather by name, who had the same given name the same kind and color of chin whis- kers and who occupied the room ad- l joining his. ......~-. 7
 But the hellboy, chung to his story,
 and the incident remains an issue of | veracity between the legislator and the
 bellboy. The latter is Zoe" Housky fourteen years old. Do I know I Tubbs!' repeated the boy, when asked