The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-11
Stray Topics From Ne.D York

lE li IlaI lHl Ilnl IIAA IlNl lRl H uI Bg UN1 | New York, Dec. 10.-Among the | many clever features that have been ] recently devised by several of the great department stores to attract GUS | toners are the fully equipped play grounds. These are generally installed | in the toy department. and are filled with the apparatus that is usually seen ! In the out door fairgrounds. There are numerous sand boxes, swings and irocking horses for the smaller children. while for the more grown up boys and tsirls are chutes. flying rings. trapeze and sealing ladders These play gtounds are proving themselves not on- | ly good business proposition, because mothers may leave their children there | fin Charge of attendants while they do their shopping. but they have proved to be a source of unbounded delight to the | li1tle ones.
 in spite of constant protest the tip ping" custom in. New York continues to grow. It is no longer confined to the walters and the porters, but now the barber cahman, boot t-black, eypressman and janitor must be paid Ia excess of thair regular charges in order to get good service. And each one of these servants expects a certain amount as tip. and are apt to spurn anything
 smaller than they are in the habit Of receiving from the average patron. The custom obtains, for example, In most hotels, for man to give as tip | ten per cent of the amount of his bill; | but anyone who has a fifty cent lunch l con, would be regarded scornfully by the waiter if he laid down a five cent piece. Similar standards hold in the other occupations. The cab man ex- poets quarter at least in addition 10 rfs fare, the boot black gives few extra fiourishes of the brush in the ex- pectation of nickle, and the barber who charges fifteen cents for shave. l in the best shops receives as rule ten cents as a tip. The expressman of furn- iture mover is tipped anywhere from | ten cents to two dollars. in order to make him careful of the wood work and wall paper. The custom has grown so fast, that New Workers are wonder ing what class of servants will be next
 to demand gratuities.
 The latest popular malady with New York's fair sex Is "sh opper head ache, which seems to be the outgrowth of the large department stores. with their varied and numerous bargains that at tract women to the store early In the morning, and hold them there till late in the af ernoon. A manager of one of the big stores remarked the other day tn at most of the headaches were due to
 the fact that the women went without their luncheon. He said: There is no work more nerve-trying than shopping
 and a good substantial luncheon will help much. Women should take an
 hour for rest and luncheon, thinking as little as possible of the errands they must do in the afternoon. believe that
 women who live in the city have little excuse for doing more tnan half
 day's shopping at time. I think great many suffer from shoppers headache", and this Is one reason the afternoon trade is harder to please than the mornings.
 The crowd of New York CTS who are not able to make use of either the sub- way or elevated trains in getting from | their homes to their offices. but have to depend upon the surface cars are look ing forward with interest to the new Montreal type of cars that are soon to run on the Madison and Fourth Avenue line. In the first place 1t is planned to limit the number of passengers that
 will be carried to sixty-five, and not al-
 low anyone to stand on the back plat
 forms. At present passengers are all lowed to- crowd on till every available
 inch of space Is taken. With the new
 style of cars the passengers will pay
 their fares upon entering at the rear platform. It is probable that the new cars will be uSea extensively through
 out the city if they prove satisfactory
 on the Madison Avenue liney
 Although there are many signs in the
 Zoo at Bronx Park that request visit
 ors not to tease the animals, yet the
 rule is frequently broken. However,
 Sultan, one of the big African lions
 took the law into his own hands the
 other day. and proceeded tp give an ob-
 ject lesson that will insure peace to
 himself at least in the future. A wo-
 man was teasing the big fellow, by
 thrusting an umbrella through the
 bars of the cage. and the lion at first
 was apparently oblivious of her pres
 ence, but suddenly he grabbed the um-
 brella like a flash, and tore 1t into sh reds. while the unhappy owner look ed on much grieved, to the amusement of crowd of spectators. Sultan has already to his credit the destruction of a huff. boa, hand bag and parasol be- longing to people who would break the rules. The throng of visitors that come to New York daily are most interested in going at once to see the new Singer Building, the giant sky scraper that has just been completed on Broadway. Although the structure Is the highest in the world next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. still it is disappointing as rule to those who stand in front of 1t and look up to the flag pole that sur mounts its dome. This is due to the fact that the buildings all about 1t are so tall that 1t doesn't show to its best advantage. However, from a vantage point like the Brooklyn Bridge it seems to tower above the entire city.
 Roller skating seems to be much of a fad with both the boys and girls as bicycle riding was few years ago. But the new pass time is enjoyed by the poor as well as the rich. The streets are full of skaters. and the smooth as-
 phalted streets make 1t possible for
 the children to skate back and forth to school The sport seems to be univer-
 sal throughout the city. and there are
 as many to be seen skating in the slums as in the fashionable residential sec tions. The custom of playing hockey on the sidewalk has become.so common, that IL Is probable that a law will have to be passed, as it was against cyclists. forbidding them to use the sidewalk. The fad, however, is not confined to n.