The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-12-30

us more than five times as much II
our pockets can stand it.
In addition to these the regular ex-
penses Of travelling. is the custom or
tipping, which has swept over the
United States, north, south, east and
west. 1t is common on the railroads
and in almost every hotel, and there
are certain hotels where the tipping
is farmed out to outsiders. The streets
are given over to certain taxicab com
panies, whose charge is about that OF
the regular rates, and the ~cloakroom
attendants are supplied by companies
which pay dividends out of the fees |
which the travellers give them. Tips
are commonly expected by the wait
ers at meals. and the percentage which
is commonly paid is higher in our
country than anywhere else in the
world. The lowest tip possible is 10
cents If the bill runs under a dollar,
and rs cents if it is $1.25 or more. A
fair rate for large bills is considered
about 10 per cent Of the sum.
The fees begin as soon as one enters
the hotel. The porter who takes in
your bag expects a fee and you give
from 10 cents to a Quarter to the boy
VINO shows you to your room. It used
TO cost from so cents to a dollar to
get from your train to the hotel and
back 1t now costs more than twice
as much. The red-capped boy at the
station expects rs cents to carry YOUR
bag to h taxi and the taxicab
charges from SO to rs cents to the no.
tel. while the driver looks for an addi-
tfona fee. Then there is the 10 cents
to your room and the rs cents back
to the taxi when you leave. There is
a taxi charge to the train and another
quarter to get to the cars. In London
initial taxicab rate is Is cents
and you can go a mile or SO for a
smiling. TuppenCe there is equal to
a dime here in the way Of fees, and
fees are now less common than here.
Speaking Of the fees on the trains
the sleeping car porters should be so
we'll paid that the passenger will not
be expected to give rs cents or more
every a in addition. The
which owns most Of the sleeping
cars is said to pay low wages on
the basis that additional sums will be
given by the passengers. That com
pany is now stocked at $3.50, 000, 900
and 1t has been paying dividends Of 8
per cent for more than twenty-five
years. In 1898 it gave it's stockholders
a stock dividend Of SO per cent and in
: 1906 it cut another melon by which
, they received gratis another stock di-
: vldend Of 36 per cent. The stock OF
[ this p has, at times, been
worth upward of ESQ on the market,
: and nevertheless it expects the public
TO a for the service of making up
the berths for which it charges 50 per
t night.
r Another unfair tax upOn the travel
e ing public is the extra charges at the
neWsstands Of the hotels and in some
cases at the railroad stations. In the
n Union depot in Chicago l picked up q
e pamphlet guide of that city of the
e shape and size of similar guides tc
d Boston, Philadelphia and Washing.
n ton which sell for rs cents There was
= no price mark on the Chicago bool
and when I asked the newsman tolc
me the price was IS cents. I objected
whereupon he said: Il tell you thu
price is rs cents. II you don't believ,
me you can go to the stand at tn,
other end of the station"
- But what does the book cost in tn,
- stores down town."
He replied: 1T costs only SO cent
le down town, and if you don't like thi
- price you a better go there and ge
le it"
here was a combination between
N the publisher, who failed to put on tn,
n price mark, and the railroad to tax,
!. a rake-on OF % cents from the travel
A. ing public. Such things are mani
&c testify unfair.
"a And then there is the extra chare
r at many hotels for one cent additions
for every newspaper there sold. Their
ne is n hotel in Washington where
We daily which sells for 2 cents on tn
r street IS sold for 5 cents in the hote
-. and it is we'll known that the Ne,
DIS York sunday papers bring from
10 cents each outside the city. accord
ing to the caprice of the seller. A
most Of the Atlantlc City hotels tn
price for the Sunday papers in I
" cents, and the same price prevails :
- to many Of the New York papers o
20 railroad trains throughout the Soutl
n In many hotels staple articles a,
AK furnished at exorbitant charges owe
er. mineral water from Neu I.na,a.
nd which is solo all over the ~conntr.
a the drug stores in bottl,
Iay at % cents. The water in the 20,