Chapter IX: Part 9

The bedrooms are heated by steam and also have fireplaces. Of course, they are lighted by electricity. The bedroom in which this is penned measures twenty-one by thirteen feet. As there is no step-ladder at hand I must guess at the height of the ceiling--about fourteen feet. The dimensions given do not include a very large clothes closet built in the wall and a very small washroom, too small, indeed, but supplied with hot and cold water. On either side of this bedroom are similar rooms each having two heavy, double doors of oak, so that while the rooms are “communicating” the sound is not “communicated” from one room to the other.

The walls are painted and frescoed in tints to match the wood-work, which is of light varnished oak. Part of the furniture is of dark, highly polished oak, the rest of cherry, covered with olive or old gold plush. These hues in turn match the Wilton carpet which is bordered, and upon which, here and there, is a handsome rug.

The curtains are of reddish-brown plush, lined with old-gold silk; inside these are lace curtains, and against the windows are Venetian blinds of oak. The windows are of plate glass, large and massive--much too heavy, in fact, or else the sashes are not put in by a master hand. They are raised or lowered with great difficulty, notwithstanding a pair of brass handles is attached to each lower sash. For such large, weighty windows they have a better plan in the Windsor Hotel, London. Long, loose ropes with light, wooden handles attached are fastened to the upper and lower parts of the upper sash, and by this method the heavy windows are raised or lowered with perfect ease.

But I have wandered away in thought from my apartment in the Auditorium, which is lighted by a handsome, seven-lamp electrolier pendant from the ceiling, with a convenient tap just inside the door to turn on or off as you enter or leave the room.

There is an electric dial in each room, the invention of the New Haven Clock Company. Upon this dial the inventor and hotel-keeper combined have anticipated as many as twenty-four wants of the guest, from a chambermaid to a doctor; from a telegraph blank to a hansom cab. Max O’Rell may poke fun at this anticipation of so many wants in American hotels, but if they had such an arrangement in Continental hotels, their system would be greatly improved.

You need not trouble yourself about good air or bad air at the Auditorium: the house is ventilated automatically, by machinery. Among other modern improvements is a letter chute which extends to the top of the house. Your letters from any floor drop into a locked United States post-office box, opened at intervals by the official carrier.

There are four hundred and fifty rooms. As hotel men usually reckon “about one and a half guests to a room” there is accommodation for six hundred people. Charge for rooms: European plan, $2 to $5 per day; American plan, $4 to $6 per day.

The house is managed by James H. Breslin and R. H. Southgate. It is not necessary to explain who these men are, and to commend them, at this late day, would be no compliment.

MAX O’RELL ON AMERICAN HOTELS.

M. Paul Blouet (Max O’Rell) is a brilliant writer and a clever, entertaining talker, but in his article in the _North American Review_ for January, 1891, entitled “Reminiscences of American Hotels,” he shows that he lacks fairness as a critic, and that he writes without the necessary knowledge of his subject. His remarks concerning the American methods of conducting hotels may be amusing, but when he makes comparisons between English and American hotels and their systems, it is evident that as a critic he is open to criticism. In his opening page he says:

“When you enter a hotel not a salute, not a word, not a smile of welcome. The negro takes your bag and makes a sign that your case is settled. You follow him. For the time being you lose your personality and become No. 375, as you would in jail.”

The facts are just the contrary. The clerks, porters and waiters in American hotels are only too glad if they can learn your name. They will pronounce it and announce you on the smallest possible provocation. Max O’Rell’s remarks on this point would exactly fit if he were writing about some large hotels in London patronized by Americans. At those houses, the Langham excepted, you do not enter your name in a register, and you are known only by the number of the room you occupy. If a friend calls, his card will be carried about on a silver salver by a little page whose duty it is, in going through the halls and public rooms in search of you, to bawl out at the top of his voice not your name, but the number of the apartment you occupy; and to this you are expected to respond.

But people are not so apt to know the hotel customs which obtain in cities where they live, and that may account for M. Blouet’s ignorance.

This French-English humorist tries to make it appear that in every American hotel the fire-escape consists of “twenty yards of coiled rope.” I believe that the New York State Legislature expects all hotels in that State to make such provision, but if it is done in New York it is certainly not the case in other States, as I know, for I have lived at hotels in many States of the Union during the past few months, westward as far as California, and as far south as New Orleans.

Mr. O’Rell feels very much injured because order and method reign in the dining-room. He says:

“When you enter the dining-room you must not believe you can go and sit where you like. The chief waiter assigns you a seat and you must take it. I have constantly seen Americans stop on the threshold of the dining-room and wait until the chief waiter had returned from placing a guest to come and fetch them in their turn. I never saw them venture alone and take an empty seat without the sanction of the waiter.”

Chaos would reign indeed if the regular guests of a hotel had no regular seats, and if every newcomer were allowed to sit where he pleased. Of course the head waiter assigns seats. This good custom obtains in England and France as it does elsewhere; without it there would be confusion for all concerned.

It would be strange if such a close and keen observer, as Max O’Rell certainly is, did not make some good points in such a labored article. He makes one when he objects to the solemn, almost funereal air which pervades an American dining-room. People can be well mannered and yet be and appear to be, in good spirits, whereas we seem to make a business, a sad business of eating--it cannot be called “dining.” You seldom or never hear such a thing as a laugh in our hotel dining-rooms, and yet everybody knows that laughter is the best aid to digestion. There is a time for everything, and when should there be good cheer if not at dinner time?

O’Rell shows that he is unfair and uninformed when he is discussing some of the important features of our hotels, but he scores another good point when he talks of the shameful waste of food in American hotels. I quote in full his remarks on that head. They cannot be too often repeated:

“The thing which, perhaps, strikes me most disagreeably in the American hotel dining-room is the sight of the tremendous waste of food that goes on at every meal. No European, I suppose, can fail to be struck with this; but to a Frenchman it would naturally be most remarkable. In France where, I venture to say, people live as well as anywhere else, if not better, there is a perfect horror of anything like waste of good food. It is to me, therefore, a repulsive thing to see the wanton manner in which some Americans will waste at one meal enough to feed several fellow creatures.”

* * * * *

THE HOME JOURNAL,

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* * * * *

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* * * * *

ATLANTIC COAST LINE

VIA WASHINGTON.

SHORT LINE

----BETWEEN----

BOSTON, PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK, BALTIMORE, WASHINGTON,

----AND----

RICHMOND, SAVANNAH, WILMINGTON, BRUNSWICK, CHARLESTON, ALBANY, THOMASVILLE, PALATKA, JACKSONVILLE, SANFORD, ST. AUGUSTINE, TAMPA, PUNTA GORDA,

=ALL FLORIDA POINTS, AND HAVANA CUBA.=

EASTERN OFFICES:

_229 Broadway, New York._ _33 South 3d St., Philadelphia._ _228 Washington St., Boston._ _106 East German St., Baltimore._ _511 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington._

* * * * *

----TO ALL----
WINTER RESORTS
----IN----
South Georgia, Florida, Cuba, the West Indies and Mexico,
Via HAVANA, CUBA,
REACHED BY THE
Plant System
----OF----
_RAILWAY AND STEAMSHIP LINES_,

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=JACKSONVILLE, ST. AUGUSTINE, TAMPA AND
PORT TAMPA, FLORIDA.=

FAST AND COMMODIOUS STEAMSHIPS BETWEEN

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261 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.

FRED. ROBLIN, TRAVELING PASS. AGENT,
261 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.

H. B. PLANT, PRESIDENT,
12 WEST 23D STREET, NEW YORK.

* * * * *

THE DE SOTO,

SAVANNAH, GA.

One of the most elegantly appointed hotels in the world. Accommodations for 500 guests. Special rates for families and parties remaining a week or longer. Tourists will find Savannah one of the most interesting and beautiful cities in the entire South. No place more healthy or desirable as a winter resort.

Send for Descriptive Illustrated Booklet.

WATSON & POWERS.

* * * * *

_PARIS._ =HOTEL= _PARIS._

ANGLO-FRANÇAIS,

6 RUE CASTIGLIONE. 6

This first-class Hotel, situated in the best part of the metropolis, opposite the Hotel Continental and the Tuileries Gardens, is highly recommended for comfort, cuisine, moderate charges and sanitary arrangements; Otis American elevator.

VARGUES, Proprietor.

* * * * *

HOTEL BINDA,

11 rue de L’Echelle,

AVENUE DE L’OPERA, =PARIS=.

Large and small apartments; lift to each floor; smoking and drawing-room; bathroom on each floor; table d’hôte, 6 francs, from 6 to 8 o’clock, at separate tables; restaurant a la carte.

* * * * *

ADVANTAGEOUS ARRANGEMENTS MADE WITH FAMILIES WINTERING IN PARIS.

* * * * *

Electric Light all over the House.

* * * * *

CHARLES BINDA, PROPRIETOR,
Late with Delmonico, New York.

* * * * *

London, Chatham and Dover
RAILWAY.

A. THORNE,
Formerly at H. B. Claflin & Co.’s, New York,

AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE IN ENGLAND,

London, Chatham AND Dover Railway,
VICTORIA STATION, LONDON, S. W.,

Attends the arrival of the principal steamships at Liverpool and Southampton, and arranges for Special Saloon Carriages upon either the North Western and Midland Railways from Liverpool, or by the South Western Railway from Southampton to London, and thence to Dover from Victoria Station by the =London, Chatham and Dover Railway=. From Dover to Calais (the shortest sea passage to France) by the magnificent S.S. “Calais-Douvres,” “Empress,” “Victoria,” and “Invicta,” owned and controlled solely by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Company.

A. THORNE secures Private Deck Saloons, and from Calais to Paris and other prominent points Special Saloons and Sleeping Cars as required.

* * * * *

=TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: “CALDOVER,” LONDON.=

* * * * *

The London, Chatham and Dover Company’s trains run from Victoria, St. Paul’s and Holborn Stations through the prettiest and most picturesque parts of Kent, and passengers have the privilege of stopping over at Rochester to visit the Cathedral and the Castle, and at Canterbury to view the Cathedral (containing the tomb of the martyr Thomas à Becket), and other places of interest.

* * * * *

ARE YOU GOING TO EUROPE?
EDWIN H. LOW,
Low’s Exchange and General Steamship Office,

947 BROADWAY, MADISON SQUARE,--NEW YORK.
57 CHARING CROSS, TRAFALGAR SQUARE, LONDON.

=Choice Berths= secured on =ALL LINES= without =extra charge=.

Cabin plans of all European and Coastwise Steamers on file, and complete list of sailings of all Lines to any part of the world. Full and reliable information given.

WHILE IN EUROPE

have all your Letters and Cables sent care of Low’s Exchange, 57 Charing Cross, Trafalgar Sq., London; they will be registered and numbered by =Mr. Low’s own system=, whereby it is practically impossible for one to go astray or be lost. They are promptly forwarded to any part of Europe, according to instructions.

POSTAL RATES: 1 year, $10.00; 6 mos., $5.00; 3 mos., $2.50; 1 mo., $1.00.

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is a handy little volume published by Mr. Low for cipher cabling. The cost of cabling is twenty-five cents per word. By purchasing two copies of this code you have 10,000 cipher words and phrases by which you can reduce the expense at least four-fifths. It is alphabetically arranged and so simple that anyone without the least knowledge of codes can understand it. =Price, 50 Cents, bound in Cloth=.

* * * * *

THE CALIFORNIA,
BUSH STREET, NEAR KEARNY,
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.
THE ACME OF PERFECTION ATTAINED IN AMERICAN HOTELS.

It is a recognized fact that San Francisco has made, from time to time, the greatest effort to surpass all other cities in her Hotel accommodations, and it must be conceded that the acme of perfection has now been reached.

The California was opened last December, and there is nothing on the Pacific Coast, so far as artistic taste, elegance of appointments and lavish expenditure go, which can compare with it.

The California is unsurpassed in style of service by the best hotels of the United States. Heretofore there has been no strictly European-plan hotel in San Francisco.

A visit to this city is incomplete without seeing the California, unquestionably the most beautiful and luxuriously furnished hotel in America.

A. F. KINZLER, MANAGER.

* * * * *

MONTEREY-CALIFORNIA.

MIDWINTER SCENES

AT THE CELEBRATED

Hotel del Monte,

MONTEREY, CAL.

AMERICA’S FAMOUS SUMMER AND WINTER RESORT.
ONLY 3-1/2 HOURS FROM SAN FRANCISCO
_By Express Trains of the Southern Pacific Company._

=Rates for Board=: By the day, $3.00 and upward. Parlors, from $1.00 to $2.50 per day, extra. Children, in children’s dining-room, $2.00 per day.

=Particular Attention= is called to the _moderate charges_ for accommodations at this magnificent establishment. The extra cost of a trip to California is more than counterbalanced by the difference in rates at the various Southern Winter Resorts and the incomparable HOTEL DEL MONTE.

=Intending Visitors= to =California= and the =Hotel del Monte= have the choice of the =“Sunset,” “Central,” or “Shasta” Routes=. These three routes, the three main arms of the great railway system of the =Southern Pacific Company=, carry the traveler through the best sections of California, and any one of them will reveal wonders of climate, products and scenery that no other part of the world can duplicate. For illustrated descriptive pamphlet of the hotel, and for information as to routes of travel, rates for through tickets, etc., call upon or address =E. HAWLEY=, Assistant General Traffic Manager, Southern Pacific Company, =343 Broadway, New York=.

_For further information, address_

_GEORGE SCHÖNEWALD, Manager Hotel del Monte_,
_OPEN ALL THE YEAR ROUND_. =MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA=

* * * * *

This new but already popular seaside resort is located on the Pacific Ocean, under the shelter of the prominent headland known as Point Vincent, while to the south and east are the Palos Verdes and other hills.

The Redondo Hotel has been spoken of as the “crowning effort of all hotels on the Pacific Coast,” covering over an acre of ground, reposing gracefully upon a slight eminence “where the broad ocean leans against the land,” with fine vistas of sea and shore meeting the eye in all directions. Of the 225 rooms, every one has a sunny exposure at some hour of the day, every one is well ventilated and lighted, every one is an “outside room,” and every guest feels that his is the best suite in the house.

The building is supplied throughout with modern improvements. It has incandescent electric lights in all the rooms and arc lights on the grounds. There is cold and hot water and grates in every room. The halls and lobby are heated by steam. The latest and most improved hydraulic elevators are in use.

On the hotel grounds is the best tennis-court in the State, well-arranged and complete in every detail, with club-room, baths, etc. There is also a nursery of several acres and a large green-house, where the most beautiful and delicate flowers bloom the year round, and the hotel draws from this source the freshness and fragrance of perpetual spring.

Redondo Beach is cooler than Cape May in summer, it is warmer than San Fernandino in winter. The temperature of the water of the ocean varies less than ten degrees in the course of a year, and surf bathing is always enjoyable. The bathing beach is the finest on the coast, and is provided with a commodious bath-house and every appliance for the convenience and safety of the bathers.

Special rates made for families and permanent guests.

For further information address

=REDONDO HOTEL CO.=,
Redondo Beach, California.

* * * * *

Located upon the Bluff. Commanding a view of Ocean, Bay, Beach, Mountains, Flower Gardens, Tennis and Croquet Grounds and Promenades.

JOHN T. SULLIVAN = Prop.

125 LIGHT AIRY ROOMS:
:FIRST CLASS SERVICE:

SANTA CRUZ: CALIFORNIA.
]

The Sea Beach Hotel has large, light rooms, affording extensive views, wide verandas, surf bathing, fishing. Livery. Electric lights and electric bells. Rates from $2.50 per day. Illustrated Souvenir mailed free. Address

JOHN T. SULLIVAN, PROPRIETOR.

* * * * *

WINDSOR HOTEL,

NEW YORK.

HAWK & WETHERBEE.

* * * * *

CONVENIENTLY SITUATED ON FIFTH AVENUE, NEAR THE GRAND
CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION, ELEVATED AND SURFACE
TRAMWAYS, THEATRES, PLACES OF AMUSEMENT,
CHURCHES AND CLUBS.

* * * * *

HAS BEEN RECENTLY FITTED THROUGHOUT
WITH THE LATEST MODERN SANITARY
PLUMBING.

* * * * *

THE DRINKING WATER USED IS CHEMICALLY PURE AND THE ICE
IS MADE FROM DISTILLED WATER.

* * * * *

CUISINE AND SERVICE UNSURPASSED.

* * * * *

COOL AND ATTRACTIVE IN SUMMER.

* * * * *

COMFORTABLE AND HOME-LIKE IN WINTER.

* * * * *

STAGES WHEN DESIRED, WILL MEET ALL STEAMERS AND CONVEY
PASSENGERS AND LUGGAGE DIRECT TO THE
HOTEL AT MODERATE CHARGES.

* * * * *

RAILWAY TICKETS, SLEEPING CAR AND DRAWING-ROOM CAR
ACCOMMODATIONS CAN BE SECURED IN THE HOTEL; CABLE
AND TELEGRAPH OFFICE, RUSSIAN AND TURKISH
BATHS, AND EVERY COMFORT AND
CONVENIENCE FOR TRAVELERS.

* * * * *

WELL-LIGHTED AND VENTILATED SPACIOUS PUBLIC ROOMS, CORRIDORS,
DRAWING-ROOMS AND PARLOR SUITES, SINGLE
OR DOUBLE ROOMS WITH OR WITHOUT BATHS.

* * * * *

ALL LANGUAGES SPOKEN.

* * * * *

YOUR ADVERTISING

IS SOLICITED.

HICKS’ NEWSPAPER
ADVERTISING AGENCY.

ESTABLISHED
1869
WILLIAM HICKS.
--150 NASSAU ST., N.Y.--

PROMPT CAREFUL & EFFICIENT
SERVICE.]

Estimates, containing Selected Lists of Suitable Publications with Rates for Advertising, furnished free on application.

* * * * *

AUDITORIUM HOTEL,

Michigan Ave., Congress St., and Wabash Ave.,

_CHICAGO._

The most massive hotel structure in the world, built entirely of stone and iron, ten stones high, absolutely fire-proof. Overlooking Lake Michigan, situated within four blocks of the business centre of the city. American and European plans.

BRESLIN & SOUTHGATE.

GILSEY HOUSE,

Corner Broadway and Twenty-Ninth Street,

_NEW YORK_.

European Plan.

J. H. BRESLIN & CO., PROPRIETORS.

* * * * *

VISITORS TO EUROPE!

CIRCULAR CREDITS. FOREIGN EXCHANGE.

_Cheque Bank Cheques are the most convenient of Exchange to carry._

_They are issued in books from £10 up to any amount._

_They can be cashed at 3,000 Banks and 1,000 Hotels._

_They are cashed in the currency of the country visited, free of
commission._

_They are no good until signed._

_Special letters of identification are issued._

_Travellers’ mail matter promptly attended to without charge._

* * * * *

Send for circulars and testimonials, list of Banks and Hotels, etc., or apply to

E. J. MATHEWS & CO.,
Bankers’ Agents,
2 WALL ST., NEW YORK.

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

laden four-house truck=> laden four-horse truck {pg 22}

previous arragements=> previous arrangements {pg 48}

but it it worth half=> but it is worth half {pg 55}

where they had aparments=> where they had apartments {pg 57}

in their minuest detail=> in their minutest detail {pg 63}

but a concensus=> but a consensus {pg 89}

an Amerian host=> an American host {pg 96}

not actuatly fond=> not actually fond {pg 104}

describing the _modus operandi_=> decribing the _modus operandi_ {pg 110}

Nelson moument, the city prison=> Nelson monument, the city prison {pg 112}

more commandiug site=> more commanding site {pg 112}

his later opportunies=> his later opportunities {pg 121}

thoroughly agreeably place=> thoroughly agreeable place {pg 126}

that you most come a little later=> that you must come a little later {pg 158}

the new Oglethrope at Brunswick;=> the new Oglethorpe at Brunswick; {pg 156}

the Oglethrope=> the Oglethorpe {pg 168}

its cleanly and aristocratic air=> its clean and aristocratic air {pg 180}

Landed and Offical Classes=> Landed and Official Classes {pg 183}

skilled landscape gardner=> skilled landscape gardener {pg 194}

owners in Pasedena by the hundred=> owners in Pasadena by the hundred {pg 229}

there is a grand cafe=> there is a grand café {pg 244}