The Washington herald., 1916-11-16
A Practical Philosopher
By JOHN ID, BARRY.


man who, for nearly forty years, had
lived in one Of the local hotels. To
many OF the employees he left beQuests
some OF them of considerable sums Nat
urally the will excited public interest 1t
suggested that the man. In a life that
most people would consider lonely, had
maintained friendly relations with the
people about him that must have helped
to make his days happy. To him that
hotel was not merely a public hostelry.
II was a place alive with cheerful hu-
man associations and interests. In the
best sense of the word, Il was a home
A few days after / read about that
will I happened TO be lunching at the
hotel. asked a colored waiter II he
ed. "Oh. yes. SIR" he said. He was
q great friend Of mine. He left me
$500" Then he went on to tell me some
thing Of the mans geniality. humor and
friendliness. You couldn't have no
trouble with him IL you were to try, sir.
II anything went wrong he didn't seem
to mind. He never did no kickin'. But
we all knew Just what he wanted and
we liked to get It for him IL we could
He was a splendid gen'man."
During the luncheon that waiter how
cred around, trying to talk about his
friend. From his comment / gathered
that the man had treated all people alike.
HE wasn't much Of a talker. Oh, no.
But he had a pleasant way with him. sir
very pleasant way. Sometimes he'd
ask about the folks at home and II any
body was sick he'd keep inQuiring till
they got well. Best OF all he liked q Joke
and good story. My, it just did your
heart good to hear him laugh"
/ began to suspect that the old gentle
man had enjoyed talking with these
colored walters. His humor must hav.
ter. Meanwhile other guests at the hotel
had probably gone on from day to day
missing his enjoyment perhaps hardly
aware OF the presence OF these servants
in the serene detachment 30 often char
acteristic Of the socially important The
old fellow might have felt that in making
these bequests he was merely recognizing
an indebtness. Then, too. he must have
been very different from those people
who had the habit of dwelling on what
the world owed him. completely forget
ting that they owed the world
| knew highly intelligent fiction readers
like that old man in their attitude to-
ward characters in stories. They revel in
skillful character delineation we'll
drawn servant is as interesting to them
as well-drawn millionaire They are
not like those snobbish fiction readers
who detest stories dealing with humble
life and wish to read only about mice
people" But toward the world they are
much less democratic They let fine
chances for enjoyment of character go
by. They don't realize that life is a
OF the greatest OF all artists. They are
exclusive. And like all the exclusive peo-
pie, they exclude themselves.
That veteran hotel dweller had doubt
less learned from the walters of their
trials TT is astonishing how inconsid-
crate well-bred people can be-" the wom-
an manager OF a large hotel once said
to me, and how needlessly they will
keep servants running. n they would
take just a little thought they could
save the servants a great many steps"
About twenty years ago, when Walter
Wycon started without money TO look
for manual labor so that he might study
at close range the lives Of day laborers,
he had a brief experience as a waiter
in hotel. Through his own tribulations
he discovered how brutal hotel guests
could be, even women. with anger and
bitterness they would denounce the wait
ers for slow service when, in the crowded
kitchen. the walters had been desperately
struggling to fill the orders.
Hardly a day passes without scenes OF
this kind in every hotel and restaurant
in the world. The wonder Is that. in
such places, there are so few assaults
and murders. But walters have been
trained to a subservience that is a d.
rect Inheritance from European servility
I once witnessed a scene where a man
sitting with his wife, abused a waiter
severely and then found he was in the
wrong. You ought to tell him you are
sorry." heard the woman say In
stantly the man became indignant again
Apologize to a servant! Do you think
I'm crazy"
On the other hand. there are those who
make a point OF being polite to those
they regard as their interiors on the
principle OF "nobleesse oblige." But
where does the nobility come in? Is there
any nobility in treating a fellow-creature
with ordinary courtesy Those people
give themselves altogether too much
credit They think they recognize merit
where no real merit exists. When we
do an act for the sake OF being noble or
showing that We are noble We try to
deceive others and we succeed in deceiv-
ing ourselves. ana we fan to recognize
the nature of the act
I wonder II that old gentleman during
his hotel life may not have enjoyed a
freedom rare among men. and II he would
not have been happy almost anywhere.
His staying so long at one hotel sug-
gested fondness for the familiar and
the customary, a deep-seated human in
terest But If he had been uprooted and
forced by circumstance to live elsewhere,
he would doubtless. In a short time have
found himself surrounded by the same
happy relations and human interests