Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-08-21

recently dawned in the lives of New
Workers. Both walters and restaurant
managers are now considering the advis-
/ ability Of adding a straight ten per cent
/ tip for service to meal checks, instead
of leaving the size of the tip to the
| judgment of the diner.
! Such plan has already been install
led in the Fifth avenue pastry shops,
| with encouraging results The walters
have declared themselves to be satisfied,
and the public has shown it's apprecia-
! tion by eating pastry as it has never
eaten it before, and by contributing to
the fund for INDECENT walters in the
boxes provided for this purpose in front
of the shops. There is no question as
to the popularity of the ten per cent
system here, but the old factors respon-
sible for the rise of the tipping evil are
/ checking its adoption elsewhere.
/ A visitor who patronized one of these
/ shops one day went into hotel restaur-
ant FOR luncheon the next day.
| What do you think of the ten per
cent tip? 2" he asked the waiter when the
meal had been safely served and there
was no danger of arousing his suspic
! ions as to the size of the tip he was to
receive.
We don't favor it." replied the waiter
quickly. You come in here and are
served with luncch that costs say $1.1O.
You wouldn't think of tipping less than
a quarter
| Any resolutions the visitor may have
/ formed Of putting the new system into
effect were Immediately destroyed With
sigh, he obediently tipped the waiter
as that gentleman had suggested
According to William lehman. seere
/ tary of the walters union here, walters
/ would be distinctly in favor Of the ten
per cent tip If their wages were raised
sufficiently to make up the difference.
Walters" declares Mr.. lehman, ARE
opposed to tipping. They recognize. far
more keenly than the public they serve,
/ that it is seryile and degrading. But
under present conditions tips constitute
about two thirds Of their weekly wages.
If they came out in favor of the ten per
f cent tipping SYSTEM and then their wages
were not raised to make up for the cut.
it would be greatly to their advantage
4 commission of restaurant employers
and walters is soon to be formed, ac-
cording to Mr.. Lehman, to fix stan
/ dard minimum wage for walters, with a
certain tip guarantee. The ten per cent
plan is one of the chief features it will
consider. It is estimated that the very
smallest wage a waiter can get along
on, and meet the present high cost of
living. il $50 week. Two places in
] New York which specialize on their
non-tipping service pay their waters
this wage. In the Fifth Avenue pastry
shops the walters are paid only s. a
week, but they are guaranteed SO a
| week iii tips. Some places, where the
/ tips arc So large and so frequent, that
the walters make 500 n week, pay no
+! wages Mt all.
/ On the first floor in the local union
headquarters several waters were found
engaged in the Pleasant pastime of eat
ing sandwiches drinking something
which might hage been beer. or near
] beer. and payi3g cards When asked
what they thot Of the ten per cent TIP
ping plan they al expressed favorable
| opinions. and one of them prophesied
that in a few more years the system
would he universally established.
There is no reason why employers
/ can't pav MS enough TO let the public
| off with ten per cent tip declared he.
Waiting is & skilled trade, and a good
| waiter has To he above the average in
/ tcligence. Some Of us must wait on as
many as twenty-four persons at time,
and If you don't believe it requires some
/ skill to get all the orders straight. try
IT, In some Of the larger restaurants
and cafes waters do all Of the table
decorating in addition to their other
work We feel that we have the right
! to claim that we should not be looked
/ upon as mere domestic servants or OBJ
iects If public charity
j One of the men explained that candi-
/ tions in the waiting trade are much
better now than they were few years
ago. Then hundreds of walters wore
working fourteen hours day for SD
a month. and paying expenses OF lnci-
dental breakage. Now a maximum stan
Il Il orfj IT. II
! week has been established at a weekly
wage of SD. Furthermore. all respon-
! sibilitv for hreakage has been removed
from the waters shoulders. The old
! practice of docking Il waiter for dishes
! or other property damaged by him ~
performing his work-a practice which
was often taken advantage OF by un-
| scrupulous employers has been finally
/ eliminated The other day a waiter
spilled a cup of coffee in the lap Of a
| guest at one Of tho nearby beach hotels.
/ and The management docked him four
i dollars. But the money was later re
! funded To him
An English waiter who recently came
10 this country takes the optimistic view
that the ten per cent tipping system will
come into vogue because II is progress
i slrn measure.
Conditions arc getting better for us,
Il Nii ItA 1AiiHtiF'i tt1ttiftt fttiIN - tt Hht
7 down u heavy tray Of food. Is now
/ the salaried people who arc getting the
worst Of the high cost Of living prob
lem In Europe, he said, in most places
n restaurant proprietor was regarded as
being slightly out Of his mind If he paid
wages 10 Il waiter. 1t was not unusual
for walters 10 pay for the privilege of
waiting in certain places and in others
! they even paid for the matches used by
i the public But the war put an end to
most Of these praetices-iust how he
! wasn't quite sure.
With the walters favorable to the ten
| per cent tipping system. the question ot
its adoption is now largely one OF the
restaurant men to decide. year ago.
there would have been little hope of
getting such measure thru. The res
/ taurant men naturally are in business
| for profit. and if they can make the
/ public pay for its service i'll tips, why
should they take the burden upon them
/ selves? But this year there is new
factor in the sitnation-prohibitio Al
I ter January /, there seems reason 10
believe that New York will be actually
/ dry, and this is expected to have de-
| pressing effect upon the cafe business.
! Already some individuals claim that they
notice a falling off in tips. Thus, It is
being widely predicted that next year