Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-12-31
Extraordinary Increases Of
Hotel Charges In Last
Two Decades
Tipping System Fosters Graft
and ExtOrtiOn at
Every Turn
Fabulous Prices Demanded
for DeIlcacies Served On
The Road
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.

BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Washington. D. c., Dec. 29.--This is
a kick against the high cost OF living
l do not mean at home, where one cal
figure on the food in the markets and
object IL the butcher puts his elbow
on the scoles when he weighs nut you,
steak. 1t refers to the high cost of liv.
ing to the travelling public. / have been
going. up and down this country and
others for the last thirty years, and with
in the last ten or twenty the cost oI
all things has been steadily rising.
l a remember when a commercial
salesman who had IN allowance Of 81
a day to pay his expenses was ooked
upon as a king, and when. il the dis
tances were short, SO or 81 sufficed. Now
a high class drummer does well il he
spends less than $40 a day. and If he
makes long jumps between towns the
price runs as high as SIS and upward.
During the last two weeks ! have been
moving rapidly from city to city. I start
ed at New York and went north as
far as st. Paul. From st. Paul I jumped
to St. Louis. and thence to New Orleans
and from there to Atlanta, Cincinnati and
Washington. I lived at good hotels and
took taxis when needed. The cost of the
journey was more than Sis n day, OF
almost twice what it would have beer
Is years ago.
american Plan" Disappearing.
1t used to be that the most OF oul
hotels were on the American plan. You
paid a fixed sum for room and board
n there were no extras to speak Of
Outside the large cities 50 was the or
binary day rate, and one could get good
accommodations in the larger cities fol
as low as IS. At that time the best hote,
in the United States was the Fifth ave-
nue., in New York. Its charges were s.
a day, and for that one lived like a lord
Today the American hotels rave about
disappeared. Nearly every large house is
on the European plan. You pay n fixed
price for our room and a price for eacl
dish that is served to you in the dining
room or the restaurant. The room rates
are now equal to the price You formerly
paid for both room and board. and often
much higher.
Take The high class hotels of New
Yor.. There are few where n can get
a room for less than 50 or IS, and this
often means a room facing a court. and
so small that inside Of it you could not
swing the typical cat by the tail. A
room with bath costs more, and if one
really wants comfortable quarters he
must pay 81 or IS and upward.
In Chicago, at some. of the bigger no.
tells, one can get an inside room with
bath for $3.50 or $3, and this is so IN
Minneapolis, st. Louis and New Orleans.
I stopped at a hotel in Chicago which
has 1900 guest rooms, and whose lowest
room rate is 50. Suites range from 500
to $50 a day. That hotel is fairly we'll
taken, and its average occupancy the
year through must be 800 rooms. These,
at an average rental Of 81, must bring
in $4,000 q day. or more than 81 100000
a year for room rent alone. I am told
that there arc several hotels in New
York which are clearing more than ST.
900, 900, a year, and that the big city
hotels everywhere arc piling up money.
Extraordinary Charges for Meals.
And, indeed. it is hard to see how they
can help it when ono thinks of the past.
There is first the Increased rate on the
rooms, and also the extraordinary
charges which one now pays for meals.
In the good old times one could get a
dinner anywhere, almost, for from 50
cents to 81. AS l remember it. the Fifth
Avenue hotel charged s1.M and the Pal.
mer and Grand Pacific Of Chicago each
charged 81. Now almost any meal dish
on the menu costs from 80 cents up
ward, and 9 tenderloin steak runs from
Is cents to 50.
During my two weeks journey ! have
saved some of tho hotel restaurant bills,
and a dozen Of them now lie before me-.
The charges are about the same every
where. 1 will give you some of the items.
Let us start with the oysters. A half
dozen raw cost 80 cents, which equals
about IS q quart or $50 a gallon. Little
neck clans cost the same. Do you want
relish? You can have a slice OF smoked
salmon or a bit of herring for 40 cents
or q dozen olives will cost you a quarter.
Soups are filling but not satisfying. a
cup Of consomme costs ,25 cents. Scotch
broth with barley costs 30 cents. and
green turtle is higher.
AS to the fish, that is one OF the cheap
things on the menu. A piece of broiled
bass costs 50 cents, broiled bluefsh the
same. and a portion Of live lobster broil-
ed is 81, 25. Entrees are dear. can buy
a guinea hen almost anywhere in Vir-
ginia for 50 cents, but y piece OF the
fowl cut from the breast costs SIPS, and
a half of spring chicken just the same.
Spring Duckling 81.
When you come to order special dishes
the prices 60 up. For; a spring duckiing
the charge IS 50, roast chicken 81, and
II you want a Philadelphia capon the
price Is high. It will take forty minutes
to cook . "a capon, d YOU may know
you are paying just 40 cents for each
minute you wait. You can get a whole
spring turkey for the same sum.
i have just received an offer of cents
a pound for some hogs on my farm in
Virginia. On these bills Of fare Virginia