Los Angeles herald., 1910-04-25
In Hotel Corridors

The hotel bus from the midnight train,
Brought only one passenger through the rain;
commercial tourist weary and sad,
For trade had been dull and collections bad
Not a single order was on his book,
The disgust he felt was shown in his look:
With a careless hand ho wrote his name
On the page of a book unknown to fame.
The drowsy night clerk the signature scanned,
Then a letter placed in the drummer's hand,
See how he starts, what smile of delight
Comes over his face at the welcome sight.
Open, the envelope is quickly torn,
And over his face weary and worn
Now fits like a sunbeam after a storm,
Smiles of JOY as the message takes form.
Thus clouds of despair that will often appear
To the travelling man sometime in the year
Are quickly dispelled by such simple means
As one friendly letter-How queer 1t seems.
SO wives, sweethearts, brothers, chums,
If you know where we'll be when Sunday
comes,
Write us-if your time will permit
Draw at sight and we will remit
OUR THANKS.
N UESS several travelling men who
IL are now in Los Angeles don't
~ Know Just how the boy felt who
wrote that. He extracted a promise
that his name would not be mentioned
in connection with it, but take this
hint-you all know him, and he is
staying just at preent at the Hayward.
Some one started a hard-luck argu-
ment yesterday in the Angelus. A
travelling man complained that it was
too hot to live; another that his sales
were rotten; the night clerk that he
couldn't sleep in the daytime, and a
reporter that news was scarce. 1t all
started Clerk Fred Woods on the hard
luck route, and he told this one:
Several years ago this fellow, of
whom L am going to tell, was day room
clerk in a leading hotel in Frisco. He
lost his job and started east. He got
into Denver and found himself broke.
He didn't have the price of one square
meal. He didn't have the price of a
sandwich, and his clothes were hardly
presentable. He was UP against the
world good and strong, as they say. He
went to one of the hotels, told his
troubles to a clerk and got sympathy
and that's about all.
IF you hear of anything he said,
let me know and the clerk promised
to keep him posted. Then he wended
his way to a free soup house, took
nourishment with the hobos, and that
night slept in a tramp apartment. On
the third day of his stay in Denver a
bartender quit his job and the Frisco
boys new friend, the day clerk, let him
know about 1t.
"If you want a job and are willing
fn fn1A oh
It pays $S5 a month and good board,
and it's not so bad
" Never mixed drink in my life,
responded the fellow in hard luck. I
can't draw beer, 1 don't believe, but
I'll take the job
Now, the bar was in a hotel-and
good one at that-and the bartender
was supposed to be able to mix any
kind of a drink 1t was a most diff
ficult task. especially for a man with
out minutes experience.
1.-THE man on the other watch was d
good fellow, a former hotel clerk, by
the way, and showed the newcomer
how to draw beer, mix Manhattan
cocktails and several of the other more
popular drinks, and he gave him 9
small book, called the "Barkeeper's
Friend" which showed how to mi1
about eight hundred different drinks
"His first day was uneventful Or
ders came over for beer, whisky
straight, whisky cocktails, Manhattans
and other common drinks and the new
barkeep got through all right.
ION the second day fat gentleman
and an old and good patron of the
hotel, came in and greeted our friend
with a CHEEKY Good morning. The
new man smiled. This fellow was all
10 4l,o,1,f Hfsc ctra tohf whisky
or Manhattan sure The fat man.
whose name happened to be Fletcher
yawned some and then asked, in an
unconcerned way, for a soda cocktail
1.-THE new barkeeper's heart began
to flutter A soda cocktail? Who in
vented that drink? He had never heard
of it, but he had lots of nerve and
needed his job. so he picked up the
biggest glass he could find, scooped
It half full of shaved ice and grinned
broadly. He had gotten that far, but
no farther. What in thunder was the
next Ingredient? 1t was a moment of
agony even if he did smile, and he
realized that something must be done
quickly. He looked at the fat man for
a moment. There was hypnotism in MS
eye. In confidential tone he said:
Mr. Fletcher, how do you like your
soda cocktails and at that he set the
"Td rather have a lump of 'ice,'
said the fat man.
1.-THE shaved ice was dumped in a
second and a lump substituted, and the
new bar man reached for bottle OF
white soda.
"'Will you have a lump of sugar?
he asked, trying to conceal his timid-
ity.
{" Two of them said the man.
"The barkeeper's heart leaped for
joy. He grabbed a lemon peel, twisted
it and dropped it in the glass, being
sure that would do no harm.
"And 1 prefer Angistoria bitters,
continued the customer.
"And then, wholly unconscious that
he was helping the barkeeper out of a
tight hole, ordered him to fill the glass
up with white soda. And that was a
soda cocktail. A lump of ice, lemon
peel, a dash of bitters and white soda,
strained into a smaller glass and
served with a straw. The fat man
declared, that it was one of the best
sedas he had ever tasted and told the
boss so. 1t made that barkeeper IN