Evening star., 1924-08-14
THIS AND THAT
ny c. T.. TRACEwELL.

cage than the clerk behind the lobby
desk in a great modern hotel. Iron
bars confine the one, his salary holds
the other.
If it were not for the thought of
his bread and butter, and the wife
and children at home, yonder desk
clerk, Immaculate and cool, with his
neat bow tie, would HE himself away
fishing.
He would choose to be any place
but here,swaiting on persons he never
saw before. and the great majority of
whom he will never see again.
Yet this Washington hotel, lately
taken to advertising in the national
magazines. is an interesting place to
the desk clerk, no doubt, as 1t is to the
chance spectator who takes a seat in
a soft cretonne covered chair in the
lobby
The clerk smiles. yet with the right
amount of touch -me-not" atmos-
phere, as the naughty young fellow in
the white suit filings key upon the
desk. The clerk knows just how to
job as greeter, as he PAGES back and
forth like a Gagged lion.
X X x X
Here in the hotel lobby are not
just guests. Success walks here, in
the shoes of every one of these men
and women. Only the well-to-do come
here, and being well-to-do is success,
from one standpoint, at least.
1t is interesting, therefore, to take
a comfortable seat in the lobby, and
get a grandstand view, as it were, of
From the everyday, material stand
point, a man has arrived: in America
when he. can go to a big hotel and
stay as long as he wants to. One has
to have money to do 1t.
All these people. constantly coming
and going, as the tall clock chimes
out the quarter hours and booms out
manhood and womanhood. Let us see
what We shall See.
i A big -nosed man, whose probosis
sits becomingly upon his large head,
sinks into a chair in keeping with his
huge frame. He is waiting for some
one
This is the chief function Of a lob
by, it seemS-a place in which to wait
for some one. All this coming and
going, all this hurrying to and fro.
eliminates when the expected one
arrives.
Then there is a rising to the feet,
clasp of hands, sinking back
again, perhaps, in n more secluded
spot, or going away together.
Everybody seems to be waiting for
somebody.
In bustles a dark-haired, spry man
in his early 30s, before the gray has
had time to creep around his temples.
He is looking for some one-sure
enough, he rushes up to the big-nosed
man. The big -nosed man jumps up,
and his face is wreathed in a big
L
backed against a table holding two
huge lamps. which send their golden
glow over the lobby. Daylight is not
enough for this high-ceilinged room.
bellhop walks by, his head
thrust forward. a card in his hand.
If a bellboy would hold his head up
and look the world in the eye he i'm
mediately would cease to be a bell
hop. Undoubtedly this Transformation
he would be assistant to the manager
within a year, perhaps he might be
made night desk clerk.
l know of no profession in which
the mere mechanical detail Of cor
rect posture would bring such results.
Every bellboy with an ambition to rise
in the world ought to study posture.
Is that couple just married, or are
they father and daughter?
They saunter out the front door;
one thinks them newlyweds. They
rush back in; the interested observer
changes his opinion, declares them
father and daughter.
They go out again-well, now, they
may be just married Bless my soul.
here. they come back again. Yes.
they must be father and his daugh-
a oh
does wear her skirts much too short.
The bellboy slithers along again.
Senator Standfield!" he calls. Sen
ator Standfeld." Somebody wants to
see the Senator from Oregon.
Perhaps no man in the world, not
even a Senator, but feels important
when he is PACED. 1t thrills the soul
of man to feel that his name is be-
ing shouted through the halls .of
time.
Wonder who that disting guished
gray-haired man is waiting for, he
who sits there so stiff and straight,
with yellow cane in his right hand,
his left clasped over a newspaper?
The chimes ding out the quarter of
10 o'clock.
Here comes another man, who
gentleman. The latter springs to
ment always witnessed when the
lobby waiter sees him for whom he
waits.
Women walk along, with that nice
air of theirs of not paying any at
tention to anybody.
Two girls seat themselves on a
davenport, with the yellow lamps
shining over their shoulders.
A tow-headed boy leaves the desk,
swinging key given him by the
Gagged clerk.
A cripple guest follows slowly a
bellhop who lives up to his name,
hopping across the lobby with a
cricket-like stride. as If the two
heavy valises he bears are nothing
at all. His head is down, though.
Pity that man studying a time
table. Whether man tries to fathom
a time table in hotel lobby or at
home, it is one and the same job.
Surely the men who get up the in
come tax blanks must have served
their apprenticeships at railroad time
tables.
Sons of the rich consume countless
cups of water out of paper cups. This
is one of the mysteries of nature.
child at home will refuse to drink
water. But let him get aboard a
train, or in hotel, and Immediately
he is overcome with a burning thirst.
Who has not rallied at the ceaseless
plodding Of little feet to and fro in
the aisles, as the children attempt to
drink up all the water in the cooler?
In hotel lobbies it is the same. 1t
must keep the hotel management
hard up to furnish paper cups for the
little drinkers.
BY George. here comes a third man
to greet Big-Nose and his compan-