Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-07-30
JUST ASKED THE HOTEL
WOMAN PLANNING VISIT WROTE
THIRTY LETTERS.
Proprietor Had to Tell Her All About
Everything, including Theaters
in New York and Side
Trips.

A hotel manager whose face usually
wears a genial smile, was looking
downcast when bearded in his den the
other day. On the desk before him lay
what was evidently a bunch of CORE
spondence, says the New York Times.
Look at that!" he exclaimed. That
pile contains 80 letters and replies.
Would you believe that all that CORE
spondence was necessary to rent
double room and bath al four dollars
day for ten days? If the public only
realized some of the things a hotel
man had to undergo in order to get
people to his establishment and make
them satisfied, it would set him down
as martyr.
1t was away back In December that
this woman, who lives In a town In the
middle West, made up her mind that
she and woman friend of hers would
pay their annual visit to New York the
latter part of February. The first let
ter l received made inquiries as to
rooms and prices. 1t also asked vari-
Gus questions regarding seats at the
theaters and various other matters. I
made prompt reply A few days later
came letter which was brief repeti-
ton of the first. To that l replied
promptly.
Two days later came q third in
Quiry about charges for meals served
In rooms. About January 1 a fourth
letter said the writer would take five
dollar quarters, and wanted to know
about railroad fares and timetables.
Also 1t contained full and explicit di-
rections as to seats for the theaters
and their locations. The fifth letter
gave up the short railroad trip out of
New York that had been planned, but
wanted a list of attractions in New
York The sixth said the four-dollar
room had been decided upon. The
seventh wanted an estimate on what
board in the hotel might cost. The
eighth specified more theater seats
that were desired. The ninth referred
to the same. The tenth made changes
in seats already specified. The
eleventh did the same So did the
twelfth. So did the thirteenth. The
fourteenth warned me that they were
coming, and made still more changes
in the theater program. The fifteenth
was just like the fourteenth. Each of
these letters l had to answer, and l
had to buy, exchange or return about
forty theater tickets, and pay postage
on ever so many timetables and
theater lists. If you consider the
amount of personal labor | put oa the
thing, don't see where l profted. But
you can see from this quantity of cor
respondence that this is life Of de-
tail
About the queerest request l have
had in long time came the other day
from a North Carolina lawyer. | did
not kuow him, but he evidently spent
more money in New York than he had
intended. He sent me letter telling
me that he had lost a pawn ticket, and
asked me to find the Canal street
paWnbroker that had executed a loan
for him on a certain date. He did not
remember his name, but the ticket
called for q diamond ring. He believed
that the pawnbroker's establishment
was the first one on Canal street. II
there was more than one pawn shop
on Canal street, he said, he was will
ing to pay my man for his extra trou-
BILE Strange to say, we did succeed
in locating the place where the lawyer
had hooked his ring"