Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-03

When We Become "Peevish" With Ourselves


deal more than 55 cents. But that wasn't
or isn't the question. Why should any
hotel on the globe-supposing even. it to
be the greatest and grandest hotel on the
| globe-charge a human being, or even an
| inhuman one. for milk at the rate of 81. 10
per quart? Wasn't that doing a little
| more than crowding the mourners? 1t
! has been my understanding, for a num-
| Der of years, that hotels, on big con-
| tracts. get the best milk in the market
| the kind we ordinary soft marks pay 3
cents quart for-at the uniform annual
rate of cents per quart. This. then,
would have made the rate for the pint
of milk the hotel dished out to me just
J cents. Therefore, the hotel charged me
a little more than eighteen times its
own cost for pint of milk. l call that
little more than imposition; / call it
degradation, and I think a little bit more
than half of the degradation attaches
to the man who Is crazy enough to per-
NIT himself to be SO imposed upon. | put
up plaintive and petulant wall about
that charge. of course. and, equally, of
course, without the least result Nobody
ever acrompishes the least result by
kicking about charge on a hotel bill. in
any part of the world least of all in any
part of the United States
But, always, in such circumstances, we
at least enjoy the privilege of disliking
| ourselves for a little brief time: and that
| is what | did.
At hotel in Portland. Me. not so very
| long ago. either. l had another expert
| ence to match this l had a little inno-
! cent party in my room one evening. The
nervousness of the party is demonstrated
| by the fact that. when the question of
what kind of refreshment would be the
| right sort of thing went around the
| general announcement was in favor of
milk punches When half a dozen folks
declare in favor of such mild little
beverage that 1T is easy to see at
the very first glance that they are I'M
used to the ways OF the blithe, whlrlful
world, say. of the Great White Way.
Now. the writer hereof is marvellous
manufacturer of milk punches. and he
took real pleasure in ordering the in
gradients for the contrivance Of the milk
punches. His delight was Increase. when
he was patted merrily and unctuously
upon the back for the success with which
he accomplished the fashoning of the
punches.
That delight was turned to visible and
seething rage, however, when he got the
bill for the ingredients for the milk
punches hereinbefore mentioned. / was
charged 81 cents for one-half dozen eggs
1t does not need mathematical mind
fitted to frame hypothesis as to the
fourth dimension to perceive that this
was at the rate of $50 per dozen for
eggs. and eggs. up there In Name, are
almost a feature of the landscape, they
are so plentiful
All last winter. in Atlantic City. l paid
for household eggs at the rate Of 30
cents per dozen, and every time the
chatelane of the household brought the
weekly grocery bill around and l saw
that sixty cents per dozen charge for eggs
made noise like the fog buoy over
at Brigantine Beach and raced around
my workroom in eccentric circles and
generally felt a sense of outrage which
1t took seven-mile walk on the Board
walk to dissipate.
But 81 so q dozen for eggs, just because
they were served in a room at a hotel.
If | had the least remnant of an angora
left that was the finishing touch that
got it utterly. But the howl | made at
the desk was only met by bland smiles,
and of course I had to dig deep and far
into the nankeens and produce the coin
for those eggs.
l had the fun, of course, of becoming