Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07
Silver Rooms of Hotels
Represent Vast Capital

strong, on shelves above the cook stoves:
they rise in shining columns on every
side.
When one thinks of hotel silver one is
apt to forget that things are brought up
from the kitchen on silver trays which
are never placed on the table. But the
auditor Of accounts has the fact borne I'm
upon him, for every one Of those trays
costs from S. to 81. and their number
runs into the thousands.
Perhaps $4,000 is too little to put as
the value of these trays which the
guests never notice, and as for the sill
yer dishes on which food is served. they
are Just about twice as numerous. To
wash and polish and repair this silver
requires. even with the best machinery.
the work Of from fifty to one hundred
men, according to the size of the hotel.
The repairing is an important part of
the work. Denied silver cannot be used
on the table. and, in spite Of all the
care. accidents happen.
Every year or two the entire stock is
renovated. while every day the silver
smiths look over the stock that has been
use to see il there is anything that re-
quires attention.
1t goes without saying that hotels pro-
tect this property of theirs SO far as pos
sfble, but it also goes without saying that
protection cannot really do much. IL a
young girl coyly decides TO slip coffee
spoon into her muf as a souvenir of a
delightful luncheon the waiter may see
but he may not speak. 1t is the fate of
hotelkeepers to be robbed by souvenir
hunters, and there Is nothing to do but
bow to the inevitable.
4
When q hotel is new and everybody is
rushing to see its heralded splendors.
then, indeed, come the dark days Of the
keepers Of the silver. People have not
much conscience about hotel silver at any
time, but at the opening they apparently
have none at all. Mostly the guests take
coffee spoons and ice cream forks, but
sugar tongs have a fascination Of their
own, and even sugar bowls may disap-
pear.
In fact, anything that can be slipped into
the pocket or tucked into a mum is likely
to be among the missing during those
weeks in which sightseers crowd new
hotel.
The novelty past, hotelkeepers can
breathe more easily. The souvenir
hunters will always be with him, but
there will be more moderation. From a
condition Of distraction and OF uncer-
he can begin to calculate pretty ac-
curately the loss from stolen silver. 1t
is not fair, indeed, to call all OF 1t stolen;
some is really lost. And, again, the
employees of the hotel do their share
in making the silver disappear The
guests do not carry on the work alone.
1t can be calculated that from 6 to 8
per cent of the value Of the silver will
be- lost during the year. This means
that from fifteen to twenty-five thou
ly in the large hotels. There Is no
way of stopping the leak. In the
midst of such profusion the loss of a
few pieces cannot be discovered until
the stock-taktng, and it is frequently
impossible to fix on the culprits among
the employees.
When the loss is running too high
there is a stirring among the heads Of
the departments, but this does not
often happen. Dishonesty among
guests and employees averages about
the same year in and year out.
A hotel loses most heavily on the
occasion OF banquets There is some
thing about the conviviaiity of a ban
Quet which leads men to pocket the
spoons. 1t is a curious expression of
good fellowship, but the fact remains,
that after a few songs and a round of
toasts the silver begins to depart.
Doubtless each man thinks himself
an impulsive, dare-devilish sort of fell
low. little suspecting that the manager
could have told him hours before Just
how much Of that sort of gayety would
develop in the course Of the festivities.
Most hotels refrain from remarks on
such occasions, even when the loss
has been heavy, as it sometimes is
after banquets. Once in a while an
irate manager will charge the associa-
ton that has given the banquet with
the amount OF silver lost, but this
rarely happens. For the most part,
the loss is taken with the philosophy
every good hotelkeeper must possess
II he is to succeed at his eXacting
trade.