The Washington herald., 1918-01-26
BY O. O. M,INTYRE.

SpeCl1l TO The Washington Herald-
New York. Jan. 25.-Hat snat-
chers. cloak grabbers and the wash
room pests are floating around in
haze of gloom The intimation
that Uncle Sam may take over all
big hotels presages the death knell
of all tipping and reveals the real
silver lining OF the war.
After the news was spread-eaGled
on the first pages breathless jour
nalists bearded such hotel pro-
prietors as George Boldt, John
Mex. Bowman and others in their
dens and exacted the information
from these bonifaces that govern
ment control might indeed end
tipping.
The idea is simple Of explanation.
To tip a waiter. hat check pirate
or other gratuity grabbers would
be bribing government employees. a
fat fee for a waiter could be easily
construed as bribery for the waiter
to bring extra portions. And gen.
erosity to the hat check pirate
might mean getting a better hat
and so on down the line.
Already a number of hat snat-
chers are disposing OF their limous-
ines and keeping only a single town
car in anticipation Of coming hard
times. Others are deserting their
country estates for their town
houses. Economy is their watch
word.
There are a great many people
who talk jestingly about hat pirates
wealth as mere food for pungent
paragraphers. The truth is that the
concessionaires for cloak and hat
privileges are mostly millionaires.
They pay at one Broadway hotel
s65,O0O year for the tipping
privileges.
But they have their own troubles
with their employees. They have
them searched nightly from head
to foot. They wear pocketless tight
fitting clothes, but still they get
away with the gentle art OF
knocking down." One method un-
covered recently was unique. The
employees had confederates who
came in evening clothes and they
simply slipped their loot into the
overcoat pockets in checking the
belongings. Later they met their
confederates and reclaimed their
share of the money.
They gave another wild ball
down in Greenwich Village the
other night. One of the star mid
night attractions was Little India
-Quivvering Rose of the Desert
in a Muscle Maize" All of the
celebrities of Broadway were there
to watch the long haired poets and
bobbed haired cigarette smokers
dance the Barbary Coast dances
The dance was watched with great
interest to see how the new admin
istration looked upon the degener-
ate affairs. Not a policeman showed
up so it is being taken for granted
that the Greenwich Village soirees
will continue until the public be-
comes blase.
Broadway whiners-the army oi
beggars who complain that they
cannot get work and are starving
are having a rough winter. The
public realizes that there never
was such a demand for labor ano
are consequently giving the beg
gars the stony stare.
In the World the other morning
there were fifty three columns oi
Help Wanted advertisements aver
aging seventy to the column. Thai
is more than $500 persons are SO
badly in need of workers that they
have to advertise for them.
Stores in New York are so anX'
ious for workers that in their ad'
vertisements they offer to train
them and pay them during the
days of apprenticeship. There seems
to be a job for everybody includ'
ing the mendicants.
William Raymond Sill is the press
agent for William Courtenay, the
actor. They had never met unit
Sill was engaged. Then Courtenay
recalled something that Sill hat
written when he was dramatic
editor of a New York newspaper
1t was twenty years ago and read
And William Countenay appeared
oh, my God" That was all. but
Courtenay declared it changed hi:
career and made him determined tt
study and succeed and now be en-
ployes the man who gave him th'
waking up.