Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1913-08-28
TIPPING IN GERMANY
Secret Marks Put on Baggage OF
Tourists.
Americans Too Lavish With GratuL
ties Until They Find They Are
Made NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Of Two Hotel Employees.


/ ployes In Berlin, charged with dam.
aging trunks, lts led to the revela-
ton Of an international secret signal
system between hotel employees on
the subject of the generosity of guests
The system is similar to the old sign
language of the American hobo" who
left on the fence Of the solicited farm
house a hieroglyph concerning his re-
ception.
Half a circle with q line drawn
through IL, marked with chalk or lead
| pencil on the travellers trunk indi-
Gates In the light of secret intelligence
that the guest has plenty Of money
and pays no tips. II In the corner
Of the trunk is marked a triangle with
small cross, the hotel employe trans
lates: THE man has money, expects
every sort Of service and remunerates
not at all or only with cigars" A
wavy line signifying the snakiness Of
the guests character means He ex-
poets the best Of service, promises
large tips, pays his bill at the last
minute and then sends a porter from
the station for his baggage"
The real disgrace is to have the
initials IL. 4" on the trunk, for that
is translated "Im bruch," meaning, in
good United States, busted! Such
a one is visited by the servants as
soon as he is in his room and he
must pay in advance.
If the guest is a gambler a playing
card is sketched on his luggage. II he
wins he pays good tips; if he loses
there Is nothing.
Then there is still another form of
signal, the much coveted hotel label.
If it is stuck on with a great deal Of
glue 1t means "he doesn't pay tips"
Such a practice is sometimes supple
mented by using acid in the glue,
which eats the leather. AS a rule the
more hotel labels there are-if they
are neatly affixed-the more generous
the guest.
The luggage is not alone marked.
There is an inner circle of conspira-
tors, the shoe sinners. The watchful
boots" can read from a mans shoe
the history Of his generosity. And
II the guest does not watch out the
servant may mix vitriol in the polish.
One form of revenge, fortunately
not often practiced, is to smear a
trunk with one little dab of a Chinese
essense used in the filling of stink
bombs" The trunk is then marked
for a long season, and from station
L 90 CO hotel 70 hotel ~
claims the stinginess of the traveller
These forms of secret signaling may
have had their origin in the practice
of the police of one country in passing
on a suspicious traveller Of marking
little secret sign on his passport,
which was interpreted to say: I'VE
have nothing on this man, but we sus-
pect him Keep your eyes OPEN" The
hotel mark is an evil that is hard to
combat The anti-tipster, who exam
ines his baggage carefully and re-
moves all chalk and pencil marks and
who forbids the affixing of labels, will
soon be suspected for the very fact
that he evidently knows the code and
becomes thereby a thrice dangerous
man.
European tipping. on the whole, is
not such an expensive necessity as in
| America. In Germany smaller tips
are accepted with thanks almost ev-
erywhere. The 10 per cent rule is &C
copied by every one and few and far
between are the walters who would
refuse IA pfennig g "a cents) for a
35 cent meal. The cabby never ex-
poets more than 10 pfennig e IL
cents) for a rs cent fare, with his
tip increasing proportionately with
the amount of the fare, The taxi
driver is equally modest. Tipping on
the street car is common. though by
no means universal.
| The American in Germany, unaccus-
toned to German methods, has won
a reputation for braggadocio tipping.
which makes it expensive to be known
as an American. Thinking in the
| coin of his own realm, he hesitates to
leave so Insignificant a remuneration
for the waiter as 10 pfennig after a
| cup of coffee or q glass of beer. But.
instead of winning respect from the
waiter. the larger tip impresses the
waiter with the fact that the customer
is "greenhorn" and doesn't know any
better. In time, the American becomes
conscious Of this. and. beginning with
a minimum tip of 10 pfennig in a res
taurant. he sticks to the 10 per cent
rule and is spared the miseries OF
wondering whether the waiter thinks
him stingy. In the hotel he will pay
from 10 TO Is per cent of his bill,
dividing it carefully, so as not to for
get the unseen hands which black his
i nh.nn 80 a rrt- hlc ItInnnRn