



Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed
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 GUIDE

 TO

 HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING




 BY

 MARY E. PALMER

 1908




 Copyrighted 1908,

 BY

 MARY E. PALMER




 THE TRIBUNE PRINTING CO.
 Charleston. W. Va.




[Illustration]




CREDIT TO THE HOTEL WORLD.


The greater part of the contents of this book was published, in
instalments, in The Hotel World, of Chicago.




A FOREWORD.


My chief purpose in writing this book was to place a few guide-posts
along the route of hotel housekeepers to warn them against certain
errors common to women engaged in the arduous and difficult occupation
of keeping house for hotels.

If anything that I have set forth herein shall make the work of hotel
housekeepers easier, more inviting, or more efficient, thereby
contributing to the satisfaction of proprietors and to the comfort of
patrons, I shall feel amply repaid for writing this book.

 MARY E. PALMER.

 Hotel Ruffner,
     Charleston, West Va.
 March 1, 1908.




THE MANAGER AND THE HELP.


The average hotel manager is only too prone to complain of the
incompetency and the inefficiency of hotel "help."

It is true that it is difficult to secure skilled help, for there is no
sort of institution that trains men and women for the different kinds
of hotel work. Each hotel must train its own help, or obtain them from
other hotels.

Thus there is no uniform and generally accepted standard of excellence
in the different departments of hotel-keeping.

A good word should be said in behalf of the Irish-American girls, who
constitute a majority of the laundry help, waitresses, and chambermaids
in American hotels to-day.

With a high regard for honor and rectitude, handicapped by poverty, they
find employment, at a very early age, in hotels, and perform menial
duties in a manner that is greatly to their credit.

The Irish-American girls are not shiftless, remaining in one place for
years until they either marry or leave to fill better positions, which
is the privilege of every one living under the "Stars and Stripes."

Some improve their spare time in study, thereby fitting themselves to
become stenographers and bookkeepers. Some adopt the stage as a
profession, one instance being that of Clara Morris, who takes delight
in telling of the days when she washed silver in a hotel.


_An ex-Governor Peeled Potatoes._

Ex-Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, boasts of the time when he peeled
potatoes in a hotel.

The success of hotel-keeping depends largely on the manager. He should
possess patience, forbearance, and amiability. He should know that the
best results are obtained from his help by kindness, and that good food
and good beds mean better service.

The manager should realize that the working force of a hotel is like the
mechanism of a clock: it has to be wound occasionally and set going. No
novice can operate this wonderful piece of mechanism; it requires a
skilled mechanic.

The proprietor of a hotel should be a good loser; for there are periods
of the year when the employes outnumber the guests, and the
balance-sheet shows a heavy loss.

One of the most successful hotel men of the writer's acquaintance is Mr.
Louis Reibold, formerly of the Bates House (now the Claypool),
Indianapolis, Ind. Mr. Reibold's fame rests in his liberal, kindly
treatment of his help. He never called them "help," but always referred
to them as "employes." Reception, reading, and writing-rooms were
furnished for their use, and he himself saw that good food was provided
and that the tables were spread with clean, white table-cloths once a
day.

He remembered his employes at Christmas, each one receiving a gold coin,
some as much as $20.

When a girl in his employ lost her arm in a mangle, he presented her
with a house and lot, provided her with ample means to furnish the house
and to keep her the remainder of her lifetime.

Mr. Reibold is a multi-millionaire, and he has the admiration and love
of every woman and man that ever worked for him.




FEEDING AND ROOMING THE HELP.


Employes, such as housekeepers, clerks, cashiers, stenographers,
stewards--though few stewards use the privilege--and bartenders, are
permitted to take their meals in the main dining-room.

Other office-employes take their meals in the officers' dining-room,
from the same bill of fare used in the main dining-room.

Chambermaids, bell-boys, and other "help," are served in the "helps'
hall," from a separate bill of fare. Their food is good, as a rule; when
it is not, the fault usually lies with the chef in the kitchen. All
proprietors want their help to have good food.

The housekeeper can do much to make the help comfortable. She can see
that their rooms are kept clean and sweet, and free from vermin. She can
give them soft pillows and plenty of warm covering. It is her duty to
add