The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1906-11-23

eaten, and al this IL bad, both Tor the
walter and for the house, becauNa the
oissatisfied guest will not tip and will
not come again. Such man does not
know what he wants, and therefore
the walter must know"
It Is surprising what an insight into
human nature the waiter possesses.
He can instantly read new guests
character and discover his social stand
Ing, yet he prefers old customers.
knowing how to treat them, as well
as how he himself will be treated and
tipped.
Regarding this question of treat
ment." says Auguste, I'VE walters, like
everybody else, have often to meet
many who are not gentlemen. When
. man snaps his fingers at his at
tendant and speaks as If he were call
ing a dog, we naturally know where
to place him. and that person does not
get better service than others, to say
the least. But the waiter must exer-
else judgment. Sometimes man has
stayed up too late the night before
and may have taken more than is
good for him. His nerves are on edge:
he has two headaches-one over each
eye-and the world is jet black to him.
The good waiter understands all this
at q glance.
"Or perhaps the man has been a
good fellow ten times, but the eleventh
time he is brute. Well, we compre-
bend. Something has gone wrong-he
has lost money or there has been
trouble of some kind. He is handled
with kid gloves by his waiter and is
stroked, as it were, with hand Of
velvet, gently, soothingly, sympathet-
ically. AS like as not the guest be-
comes ashamed Of his i'll temper, and
the waiter gets conscience money in
the shape of dollar instead of a
quarter tip"
The waiter himself is under too strict
discipline ever to show irritation or bad
humor. In a great hotel like the Astor.
where the staff employed in the four
dining rooms numbers go regulars, ex-
elusive of the host of subsidiary attend
ants who assist behind the scenes,
everything is organized with the utmost
precision.
In each dining room there are three
watches, consisting of twelve men and
six omnibus boys. Two of these
watches are called steady and the third
the reserve. The reserve is always on
hand and helps the steady watchers al
ternately. At the end Of the week the
reserve staff becomes steady for that
week. and one of the steadies relieves
the reserve. The first watch comes on
at 6 o'clock. opens up the place and
goes off at 12 O'clock Then it returns
at in the evening and stays till closing
time-say about 100 a. IN. The next
morning the watch which has closed up
does not come on until IL and stays
until 8. and thus alternately, so that
every day there are different men on
the different watches. The opening up
and closing are the really hard work of
the room.
No man has the same table or even
the same side OF the room twice con-
secutively. in order that there may be
no favoritisn and that he may get
handy and experienced in every part of
the room. The stations of the captains
are also changeable. Another item of
interest is that each piece Of work has
three men t2 look otter it.
Some people are fond of asserting
that these imperturbable purveyors, in
stead Of being paid by the hotel pro-
prietor not infrequently have to pay
for the privilege Of working in the es-
As a matter o. tact, the
best New York walters get $25 week
and their clothes. Their tips, it has
been calculated, run from 500 to 1925
a month, generous salary, but one
which is certainly we'll earned.-New
York Tribune