TOUR WITHOUT A TIP.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 93, 17 October 1906, Page 3

TOUR WITHOUT A TIP.

A WEALTHY MAN'S EXPERIMENT. Herr Graver, a wealthy German hotel proprietor, has carried out «n experiment wilh amusing results on the tipping custom (says the London Daily Mail)? He i h ? d A * hcorv . that all hotel employees I should be paid a living wage,; and that tipping should be abolished in hotels. So he started acomnanied by his wife and daughter on a three weeks' tour of the chief German and Swiss hotels, determined not to spend a sou on tips, in order to test his opinion. One week's experience of the consequences was enough for his wife and daughter, who returned home disappointed and indignant with Herr Graver for the discomfort and insults to which hi had led them. Mysterious hieroglyphics and secret signs — known only to hotel employees — announced -the arrival of the Gravers "the non-tippers" at the various resorts they visited. The result was always the same — nobody seemed to want them. I At the stations they were, told that 1 the particular hotel they wished to stay at was full ; the hotel omnibus was merely "waiting for a few old clients to depart." When they insisted on entering the ominbus there was nobody Ito carry their luggage, and railway porters had to be employed and paid. Arriving at the hotel their henvy baggage was unceremoniously thrown on tho ground, and the boxes were damaged. Tho maid took half an hour to answer the bell, and tho "hott water," when it did arrive, was cold. At table d'hote the Gravers were always served with the last portion. Th© concierge "did not know" of any interesting trips in the neighbourhood, and was generally "busy" when they descended to the hall. Complaints to the manager were futile. Herr Graver, who persevered with his three weeks' tour to its unpleasant end, sums up his experiences as including the following: — Lost three trains; luggage unable to be found. Had four pairs of boots, two being new, ruined ; "cause unknown." Two suits of clothes, one dress, three blouses mysteriously contracted inkstains. Horr Graver now believes that tipping is a necossary evil, with still a lone life. °