Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1911-08-31

warmth communicates itself to hk
cold bones-if it is winter they are
sure to be like icicles-he discovers
that it is deceptively light and deli
ciously comfortable. In Switzerland
the beds attain a little more heigh@.
but it is in Germany that they become
of such an altitude as to necessitate
a pair Of steps to mount them.
Tricks Played on the Traveller.
Sometimes in European hotels the
tourist is taken solemnly to one side
and told that by paying a few francs
or lire more he can have the royal
bedchamber. A certain hotel in Sor-
rento, where a dozen or more royal
heads have lain in one season, is even
more generous, for If the rooms are
empty they make no extra charge.
And the traveller lives to recount when
he Is back On his native heath how his
had been used by the little queen of
Holland or the king Of Saxony. But
that is not a purely European custom,
for to this day in a certain Boston ho-
tel the sacred chamber occupied BY
Prince Henry of Prussia is listed at
about SO a day more than any other
| room in the house.
Most American travellers on their
first trips abroad are astounded when.
upon the day of their departure from
a hotel they are presented with their
bill by the head waiter instead Of by
the landlord or by his chief clerk. But
it is the custom and this important in
dividual is thus assured of his tip.
The traveller thinks it a little
strange that coffee is always extra at
luncheon and dinner, but when he or
ders coffee, at an average of 5 or 8
cents extra. the cup, it is freshly made
expressly for him and is not the cot
fee that has stood for hours in the
pot. Another thing that strikes him
as funny is the fact that there are ele-
vators to go up, but that he cannot
use them to 60 down. One European
sign in a small hotel reads: mo one
is allowed to descend in the elevator
but invalids and the aged" In the
larger hotels the lifts are used as
they are in America, but SO ~leisurely
are they that one usually prefers to
run downstairs on shank's mare.
Economy in lights is another trait,
and where, as usual, there are two
electric lights in the room, one over
the bed to read by and another in
the ceiling. n cannot be turned on
without turning the other of. But q
young American engineer solved the
difficulty by ~unscrewing the porcelain
cap of the switch and sticking in q
hairpin to make the connection. He
had two lights, and no one was ever
the wiser. And his conscience? II
never troubled him at all; it was one
Of those elastic ones you read about
It does not take long to remember
after you once know, that If you
want to buy salt In Italy you must 60
to a tobacco shop to get it; for both
salt and tobacco ire government mo
nopolies. And it is a pleasure to learn
that in France you can buy stamps
and postcards at tobacco shops, which
are under government Jurisdiction
there as well. Also that in both coun
tries you can send kilograms at as Low
a rate as Ia cents for ten words, and
that special delivery letters will "a
for 6 cents in Paris II you remember
to write across your envelope "Pneu
matique," which means that the letter
will be shunted through a pneumatic
tube in no time at all, and delivered
almost as soon as a telegram.