Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-12-31
Of TRAVEL gone
UP over 800 PER CENT

nam cOstS ~ CENTS Tor TWO slices. TIVE
lamb chops, each as big around as d
dollar. are served for Is cents.
| object also to the prices of the veg
etables fruits. l know tina apples
are scarce this year. and that the prices
are high. But. nevertheless, 25 cents
Is too much for u single baked apple.
which outside the hotels. on the fruit
stand. could be bought for q nickel. Set
aside S cents for the cream and the cook,
Ing. and he hotel gets 20 cents for the
apple alone. a
Its apples are bought by the barrel
and at the Tow estimate of 300 apples
to the barrel makes me pay at the rate
of $50 a barrel. This / right high for ap.
pies.
1t is the same with potatoes. During
this whole trip have had to pay 20
cents and upward for one or two baked
In the skin. which must he at the rate
of something like $50 a bushel. Spinach
Is sold at about the same rate, and lima
beans and cauliflower bring 25 cents
for a good double handful.
1t used to be that the price for ice
cream was 10 or Is cents a dish at almost
any hotel Now You pay 30 cents for each
portion, and tho same is true Of water
Ice favored with lemon, orange or rasp-
berry. The fancy kinds cost more, and
IL you are SO eXtravagant as to desire a
portion OF charlotte russo, as big as
you can buy almost anywhere in . con-
fectionery store for q nickel. the charge
at n hotel viii he 40 cents. A slice of
apple pie costs 20 cents, deep dish peach
pie costs IS cents. and a cup custard Of
ten costs You a quarter per person.
Tipping a New Exaction.
In addition to these, the regular cx-
penses of travelling, is the custom Of
tipping, which has swept over the Unit.
ed States, north, south, enst and west.
It is common on the railroads and in al
most every hotel, and there are certain
hotels where the tipping is farIned out
to outsiders. The streets are given over
to certain taXicab companies, whose
charge is about that Of the regular rates
and the cloakroom attendants are sup.
piled by companies which pay dividends
out Of the fees which the travellers give
them.
Tips are commonly expected by the
walters 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 Is cents
if it is $1.25 or more. A fair rate for large
bills is considered about 10 per cent Of
the sun. "gt .- "
The fees begin as soon as n enters
the hotel. The porter who takes in your
bag expects a fee and you give him 10
cents to a quarter to the hoy who shows
you to your room.
1t used to cost from so cents to a dol
lar to get from your train to the hotel
and back. 1t now costs more than twice
as much. The red capped boy at the sta
ton expects 25 cents to carry your bag
to the taxi and the taxicab charges from
so to rs cents to the hotel, while the driv-
err looks for an additional fee. Then there
Is the 10 cents to your room and the 25
cents back to the taxi when you leave.
There is a taxi charge to the train ana
another quarter to get to the cars.
In London the initial taxicab rate is
lS cents and you can go a mile or SO for
a shilling. Tuppence there Is equal to a
dime here in the way of fees, and fees
arc now less common than here.
Pullman Company Finances.
Speaking OF the fees on the trains, the
sleeping car porters should be 50 we'll
paid that the passenger viii not be cx.
pectcd to give Is cents or more every day
In addition. The company which owns
most Of the sleeping cars is said to pay
low wage on the basis that additional
sums will be given by the passengers.
That company Is now stocked at $120,.
000. 900 and it has been paying dividends
Of s per cent for more than twenty-five
years. '
In 1898 it gave its stockholders q stock
dividend of so per cent. and in 1906 it
cut another stock dividend of SO per cont.
Tho stock Of this company has. al times,
been worth upward of $50 on the market,
and nevertheless it expects the public
to pay for the service Of making up
the bcrths for which it charges 50 per
night. H
Another unfair tax upon the travelling
public is the extra charges at the news
| stands of the hotels and in some cases
at the railroad stations. In the Union
depot in Chicago l picked up n pamphlet
guide of that city in the shape and size
Of similar guides to Boston. Philadelphia
and Washington which sell for 25 cents.
There was no price mark on the Chi
cago book, and when ] asked the
man told me the price was II cents. /
objected, whereupon he said: II tell you
the price is rs cents. If you don't be-
lieve me you can go to che stand at the
other end If the StatiOn.n
But what does the book cost in the
stores downtown"
He replied: 1T costs only so cents down
town. and if you don't like. this price
you had better go there and get it,"
Here was q combination between the
publisher, who failed to put on the price
mark, and the railroad to take a rakeoff
Of Is cents from the travelling public.
Such things are manifestly unfair.
Extra Charge for Newspapers.
And there is the extra charge at many
hotels for 1 cent additional for every
newspaper there sold. There is one no..
tel in Washington where 9 daily which
sells for 2 cents on the street is sold
for scents in the hotel. and 1t is well
known that the New York Sunday papers
bring from Z to 10 cents each outside the
city, according to the caprice of the
seller. At most of the Atlantic City no.
tells the price for the Sunday papers is
10 cents, and the same price prevails as
to many Of the New York papers on rail-
road trains throughout the south.