The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-03-16
TIPPING EVIL
IS A MENACE
DECLARES TIPPING sYs-
TEN HAS OPENED WAY FOR
CHEAP ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF SMALL BRAINS AND FAT
PURSES BUY DISTINCTION.

The evil that tips do is not confined
to the poor devil Of a serYitor whom
they degrade, the slick proprietor
whom they enrich and the hapless
wayfarer whom they impoverish- In
this country (when some of US are glad
that there is no recognized privileged
class OF persons who can demand IA
vorable discrimination as Of right the
tipping system has opened UP a way
for persons Of small brains and fat
purses to purchase a sort of gilt dis
tinction that sets them apart from
their fellow creatures, writes Frederic
j. Haskin in The Sample Case.
An ordinary American essays to en-
ter a restaurant in the hope of salts
flying his hunger even at the total
sacrifice of his assets. A second"
waiter mods to him and places him at
a table in the dark, where he can, If
he looks sharp keep his elbow out of
the mountain Of butter on the serving
table at his side. The head waiter has
not seen him, the captain is oblivious
to his existence. Even the bus, the
lowliest Of the lowly, fails to provide
him with a glass of water until it has
been thrice demanded. Obviously, this
ordinary American Is an undesirable
citizen. The reason is that he ate
breakfast in the same place and tip
ped the waiter only a measly 10-cent
piece after having paid $1.25 for fruit.
bacon and eggs and coffee. He is
a marked man.
Comes now the extraordinary Amer
lean. Two slender jackals in blue uni
forms relieve him of his hat and stick.
The head waiter, captain, two seconds"
and three walters bow low before him
and escort him in triumphal process
sion to a big round table full in the
light and far removed from serving
tables and their clatter. A whole bat
talon of BUSES go into action and
produce, one Of them a glass of water.
another a salver of bread, another a
hillock of butter and crushed ice, and
another a footstool, while the others
hover around him in tense expectation
that the great man may require an
ash tray or a roc's egg. They have
no prejudices such as burned the soul
Of the slave to the lamp of Aladdin.
and this great man has but to utter
a wish TO have it filed.
The head waiter brushes aside a
scurrying bus with his own puisSant
hand, moves the glass of water two
inches to the right IF where it was
before, and then condescends to select
from the menu the things he will per-
NIT the great man to eat-eXpensive
things, you may be sure. He does not
permit this extraordinary individual to
confirm the selections, but he n .kes
them. And then, when the food is
served, the head waiter &C mes himself
to speak sharply to the waiter, and.
perhaps, to look at some dish in dis
gust and send it back to the kitchen
with instructions to say to the cook
that this is for Mr.. Douceur.
Mr.. Douceur is not a duke by vir-
tue Of any successful robber high up
in his family tree, he is not a military
demigod by virtue Of any modern Cae-
sar's uniform, he is not decorated with
the two swords of the Samurai, nor
does he wear the peacock feathers of
the Sons Of Heaven. His distinction
arises not from love Of the old, rs does
that Of the English earl, to whom
every cap is lifted, every foretop pull
ed; it arises not from fear Of the
strong, as does that of the German
army officer, who takes the high seat
in the restaurant as a matter of
course; it arises not from honor of
courage as that of the Japanese noble
for whom the common people fall
aside; it arises not from respect for
great learning, as does that of the
Chinese mandarin, for whose walk the
streets are cleared.
Mr.. Douceur's distinction arises from
the fact that he tips, he tips freely, he
tips lavishly, he tips absurdly. His
bill at that hotel will be, say $12 or
SIS a day, and his tips will be $40 a
day. He is determined to be above the
common herd; he courts the cape and
stare Of the curious; the smile of the
lunky is grateful to his eye, and his
ars tingle with joy when the elevator
'oy calls him by name. He is an
American "aristocrat"-the flower of
the tipping system.
So it is with Mr.. Douceur in one of
the great hotels of New York, but
/ his tribe and clan is scattered all over
the country. from Seattle to Miami.
rom Bangor to San Diego. He doesn't
always give $40 a day in tips, but he
gives enough to buy that particular
distinction which gives him the place
that he desires, and that reacts in dis
comfort and bad service on his fell
.oW-men.
He is the man who can always get
through the gate at the railroad sta
ton to see his friend off on the train
when the common herd is held back;
he is the man who gets inside the
Ire lines, where he has no earthly
business, the man technically known
to the firemen as a BUFFALO he is
the man who holds up the line by talk
ing sweet nothings to the blonde CASH
Ter in the cheap eating house: he is
the man who goes by the g~atekeeper
at the ball park with a Hello, Char
| in.m IN chnrt he iS The man mhn