The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-09-11
In New York
By PAUL HARRISON

 New York = At this writing
 Broadway hasn't a single "bis spender'' to toss $100 bills around
 am6ng the taxi-pilots and cigaret- girls. But there are thousands who, measured by their modest purses, are being almost as extra vagant.
 As a matter of fact, it's we'll known among all who get gratui- ties that the wealthier and bluer- blooded their patrons, the smaller their tips. Ordinary business peo- pie who have to budget their pleas ure are the ones who tip gener- ously, and often over-tip. And the reason is simple; half of Bill Citi- zen's fun in having 8 fling is i'll l trying to behave like an Astorbih. l What he doesn't realize is that the Astorbilts are used to having ger wants around them all the time, and so are not especially grateful for the most obsequious atten- tions.
 Many New Workers, and cer- 1 tainly most visitors, allow them selves to be bullied, or at leas- coerced. Plenty of surly taxi
 drivers, especially among the night cruisers. make a point of never l having change for a dollar. Some doormen keep their noses inside departing cars until the occupants pay him to allow them ito move
 on. And certainly 1t takes a yer | tain spinal stamina to put a dime ] beside the decoy quarters while
 recovering a hat from a beauti- full check girl.
 An Ideal Ignored.
 Once I entertained the quaint idea that tips should be gratuities for special services rendered. But
 I never got around to putting It into practice. I tip cab drivers who wouldn't think of opening the door for me. I bestow largess on walters who mix up my orders. deliver bounty to cigaret girls in night clubs in addition to pay ing an outrageous price for their wares. I know that the latter re- ceives straight wage of $16 a week, and aren't allowed to keeI
 the tips. The money goes to sym dicates which in some of the big
 
 year for the right to check hats and peddle cigarets and gardenias. Some of these attendants have
 provided a little data about tip pers. penurious and generours. Women customers are notoriously frugal. but parties of males pay
 handsomely. Show people are very liberal, and so are gamblers, but | only the newly-rich and the intox- icated are ostentatious in matters of tipping. Walters say that gour- ! mets, are the only ones who ap-
 preciate and reward the perfect service of a dinner-and that there
 are mighty few gourmets. Testy customers who complain and send dishes back to the kitchen are likely to leave larger tips than diners who don't seem to mind
 whether the soups cold or the
 melon fibrous.
 Taxi Troubles.
 Taxi drivers tell me that Eng lishmen are "dime people," Sc
 are travelling salesmen and nearly all women. Bridegrooms often for get to give anything at all. The best prospects are ordinary white collar citizens, Italians and drunks. Society people think nothing a hailing cab for ride of single block; whereby the driver loses his place in the back line and has to come back and wait his turn for another fare.
 A telegraph messenger confides that gamblers, bookmakers, actors and poor people provide the larg- est tips. Tenement folk rarely re- ceive telegrams. he explains, so they make quite fuss over them.
 Most recipients of wires tip ac- cording to whether they're pleased with the news they contain. Once he took a death message to an a.
 partment and fidgeted uncom- fortably while a man opened it with trembling fingers. The f1ng- CTS, it turned out, were trembling
 more from eagerness than an-
 xiety. Aunt Agnes is .dead!"
 shouted the fellow to his wife. and gave the boy five dollars. Scarcely any progress has been
 made toward the European scheme of adding a 10 per cent service charge to dining checks. It's done with some success by the Long champs restaurants and by the Cafe. de la Piax in the St Moritz.
 But other places have found their | patrons paying the extra charge as some sort of tax-and then | tucking proportionately larger tips | under their napkins.