WHEN THE WAITER
CETS HIS TIP
GEO. ■. HILL
There Is a great deal of discussion
going on in Xew York just now over
what is termed "'the tipping evil" and
an effort will be made to have the
state- legislature pass a law during its
present session that will practically
do away with the custom, throughout
the state.
As the practice of tipping lias become
more- general in cafes than in other
public pilaces it may be interesting to
know how some of our great men and
others regard tliiis custom, if their ae
tions in some of the Pacific Coast cafes,
truthfully reveal their feelings.
I did not receive the tip, kit I know1
that William Jennings Bryan, on
Ids visit to Seattle, rewarded the
waiter with $2.50 one evening in the
Butler, after the waiter had served the
statesman and his two lady companions
with a very nice dinner.
1 know it was a custom of the Ex
Vice President, while in Seattle, to
pass his waiter $1.00 after he and usu
ally a companion had been well served
in a strange cafe.
If Colonel Roosevelt consideres tip
ping an evil it is one of the evils he
has never tried to remedy in the "Out
look*'. In fact the great editor is said
to he extremely liberal for a news
paper man.
It Is a custom among the rich
and the great of New York to have all
bills, including the occasional restaurant
bill, sent to the home or the office for
|<ayment. This custom, however, has
not been extended to include the
waiters tip, which is nearly always
fortlicoming at the end of the meal.
Very rich men and women, as a
rule, give very small tips.
At a banquet given to a dozen or fif
teen members of the Seattle Brewers'
Asssociation in the Butler one evening,
the waiters received $13-"» during the
evening for their services. Of course
this is not the record tip, but it will
serve to show how tipping is regarded
by different classes of meu. I did
that one of the waiters received &£ !j
and a kick on the uutzard. dur- |j
I
mg tine three and a Stall lnmr< he was
engaged in tilling the hopper?.
Here is another one. Thi? one is
' rather painful to relate as it comes
closer to home. 1 did not receive the
, donation—thank heaven—hut tine story
is true nevertheless. You have lueard
of the liberality of the Alaskans.—Well
this will illustrate it:
One chilly evening in Frisco, in a well
known cafe. I raised iny eyes from my
s«»up and saw. sitting at a table near by,
live northern men. Two of the number
were leading legal men of l>awson
and the other three were big busi
ness men from Fairbanks—they were
l>«nker? and such like and one of them
will be tried somewhere in Alaska this
summer, but not for the crime I am
about to relate.
Tine northern men had just arriwi in
the liolden t«ate city, coining out from
their northern homes over the ice. Thev
appeared to he delighted to see each
other and the affair may have
been in tine nature of a Ictnquet
as they seemed to he having chicken
fricassee all around. As I wanted to
speak to one of the gentlemen and as 1
did not want to interrupt the feast,
I finished my meal and quietly took a
seat nearby to wait until the fricassee
haul been sopped up. Well, patience
receives its reward. The northerners
finished their meal; the cheek was paid
and then one of the gentlemen turned
to the waiter and handed him a dime.
The others edged out on the hr
side of the hasher. That waiters face
was a study. He turned the dime over
in the palm of his hand and then with
out raising his eyes from the diminutive
coin, said in a tone of reproacli—“And
you told me to hurrv too.’’ It’s a fact
that one of the flunkies emploved in
that cafe tried to commit suicide shortlv
afterwards. I never found out whether
or not it was the slightly hnilt voung
fellow- who received the dime. I
only know that as I passed out into
the street I looked hack and the
slender waiter was still standing like
a tableaux of despair with his eves
focused on something that lay in the
palm of his hand.
It would be decidedly unfair to;
I Alaskijs# t«> slop lhi< slonr ri^lil lieiv. j
Hmn#e there are a "real many very l
liberal Alaskans. One of the pioneers
of Fairkink« district who secured i
perhaps tine richest claim on Fairbanks
creek was a fremuent visitor to the
Coast op to a few years ago. This little,
weatherbeaten old fellow liad ideas of
his own in regards to tipping. When
he would reach Seattle or Frisco
i (no one with ready money stops at
j Portland), he would hunt around
until he found a restaurant where
onlv girls were employed, then, it made
no difference to him whether it was
a la carte at twentv-five cents or table
'
dehote at fifteen: if the young lady who
waited on him could smile or was Messed
with a lair amount of good looks the tip
was never less than five dollars. Well,
the old fellow lisas long gone through
with his money, hut there are still
Frisco waitresses wearing his clothes
sand who knows hut whsit some day
Peter may say : “Tiabriel. kindly
give the gentleman from Fairbanks the
seat in front of Mr. Carnegie”— v on
the next toboggan).
BISHOP ROWE
HAS ARRIVED
Bishop Rime irriveil in Tatiana yes
terday. having left Seattle on Mania
9th. He reports an enjoyable trip, lie
will hold services at the Episcopal
chnrch tomorrow.
Gilbert t'eok, Walter Thomas, tlrd
Clirisinan and Ingersoll Wertenlaaker
have gone North on an extensive hunt
ing trip. They will return before the
breakup.
Mrs. J. Harmon Caskey, the well
known actress is said to have broken
her wrist while |>erforniing on the
stage in Fairbanks recently. Mrs.
Caskey has the sympathy of the entin
commnnilv.
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OF THE
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TUESDAY
APRIL 9th
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