96 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



feared the very mention of it would deter 

 and discourage a good many from attending. 

 Now, inasmucli as I wish to say in thiscliap- 

 ter a good deal about want of charity in re- 

 gard to the existing slate of things, I want 

 to show you how much I was mistaken in 

 my criticisms. At this hotel the officers of 

 the convention found they could get two 

 beautiful rooms on the ground floor, free of 

 charge, providing the bee-men made their 

 headquarters there. The use of these two 

 rooms for three days would save us an ex- 

 pense of from twenty-tive to fifty dollars, in 

 a great city like Utica. So, even if our 

 board did cost pretty high, we should save a 

 great part of it in the rent of a hall. Fur- 

 thermore, the hotel made a concession that 

 brought the board down to only about $2.50 

 a day, instead of $4.00, and, at the same 

 time, just as many as chose could put up at 

 other liotels, at an expe use of from $1.00 a 

 day upward, and at the same time have all 

 the privileges of these beautiful and conven- 

 ient rooms. Under the circumstances, it 

 would seem that most of the bee-friends 

 would choose to patronize this hotel, but it 

 seems that many of them did not. 



Now, wherever duty seems to call me I 

 try to look about me and discover what use- 

 ful lesson God has for me to gather up, and 

 I was not disappointed in this case. The 

 ([uestion came up in my mind, as it has, per- 

 haps, in many of yours, " How can anybody 

 afford to pny four dolUiva a day for l)oard and 

 lodging V and how is it that such expensive 

 houses receive patronage ? What do they 

 do to induce people to stay with them at 

 these enormous prices ? '' I am going to 

 try to answer, and through these answers 

 lies a lesson for us all. Why is it, my friend, 

 that you and I do not get better pay than we 

 do now V Shall I tell you V No matter how 

 much I travel, I always feel more or less 

 embarrassed, and ill at ease, iji going into a 

 hotel, especially the large hotels in our great 

 cities ; and I have reason to feel that others 

 share this feeling with me. Well, the Baggs 

 Hotel, in the first place, is situated right 

 close to the depot. A beautiful walk leads 

 from where you step off the cars, tlirough a 

 bit of garden, as it were, right to the 

 spacious doorway that admits you. At 

 night, this bit of garden is lighted l)y gas 

 and electric lights. As soon as you step in- 

 side you are welcomed by pleasant and in- 

 telligent-looking clerks, almost as heartily 

 as you would be if you were visiting friends 

 who were expecting to see you. Almost be- 

 fore you can ask the question, you are di- 



rected where to go and where to put your 

 things. The nice boy who takes your over- 

 coat looks pleased to have somebody to wait 

 on, and he is pleased because he is working 

 for the reputati(m of the house. There is 

 no lack of waiters in this great hotel. There 

 are seats right by the office, where one or 

 more of them are constantly watching for 

 the opportunity of making themselves useful. 



Not very long ago, at a hotel in another 

 city, the check-boy was missing, and the 

 man behind the desk rang and called until 

 he got augiy, then ran around to the cloak- 

 room himself, and handed out the overcoats. 

 At that same hotel, the colored waiter who 

 showed me where my room was, got mad and 

 indulged in oaths and curses because one of 

 the guests wanted a pitcher of water. At 

 the same place, my wife asked to have a fire 

 built in the grate. We rang twice for the 

 waiter, then went down to the desk, and 

 pretty soon a man came up with a bucket of 

 coal and some kindling. He spilled the coal 

 on the carpet, scattered the ashes every- 

 where, and when he succeeded in making a 

 tire, he went off and left my wife to brush 

 up. She declared that nothing could induce 

 her to have such a man around at any price ; 

 but when we settled our bill, it so liappened 

 that we had to pay fifty cents extra for hav- 

 ing a fire built in this manner. At the 

 breakfast- table a slovenly- looking girl 

 brought me a cup of cold coffee. When I 

 suggested to her that she had made a mis- 

 takt>, and brought me cold colfee, she pertly 

 told me I was mistaken — the coffee was all 

 drawn from one urn. All this was at a 

 house where they charge S2 50 a day. 1 do 

 not mean to say you can not get good ac- 

 commodations for $2.50 a day, but I want to 

 suggest that there is a great field for improve- 

 ment in this line. 



At the Baggs Hotel you never need ask 

 for a fire, for the whole establishment is 

 warmed by steam and neat l>ase-burning 

 coal-stoves, all the while, hot li day and night. 

 You can lay off permanently your overcoat, 

 and your cap too, and go anywhere, without 

 any intimation that there is zero weather 

 outside. This is accomplished by having 

 extra sashes to the windows— storm-sashes 

 perhaps you might call them. These sashes 

 were put in from the outside, and held by 

 suitable fastenings, leaving nearly a foot of 

 space between the regidar windows and these 

 storm-sashes. No frost was to be seen on 

 any window. Within the hotel you find a 

 postoffice, railway ticket-office, telegraph- 

 office, telephone-office, and, in fact, almost 



