NEFARIOUS PRACTICE

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3288, 6 March 1926, Page 10

NEFARIOUS PRACTICE

THE GENTLE ART OF TiPPING Unpleasant, But Universal Custom WHEN NEW ZEALAND TRAVELS ABROAD (By Herman Seifert.) Ko sooner docs the traveller start on a journey towards the ; / United States or Europe than •f the question of tipping must be considered, and it is well for the traveller to give some thought to this part of his general expenses. To whom should a tip be given? What amount should he give? There Is the porter who shifts your baggage at railway stations and steamers, the k taxi driver, the porter and bell boys in hotels, barbers, bootblacks, waiters and waitresses and chamber-maids. On ships there are wallers, cabin stewaids, bath stewards and deck hands. Who Should Get Backsheesh? Go to prominent buildings and places of interest, and someone Jakes an interest in you, shows you things and explains the points of special interest. Now, are any or all of these entitled through custom fo a tip? If so, how much? This is the question the traveller must askl Ihimself presently, and must make a \ decision. Where is Information , to -, be had? He asks some acquaintance who has travelled, expecting to get some definite and reliable pointers on the subject, and is perhaps told that there does not appear to be any fixed rule, but about 10 percent, of the amount paid is some guide. This seems all right as far as it goes. J?ay 10s and give a tip of one shilling; pay out £IOO and the tip should amount to £lO. You think you have plastered the art and that everything is now plain sailing. Suppose you pay £SO steamer fare, should the tips total £5 divided between, waiter, cabin steward, bath steward and the deck steward who attend to the games? If that is the amount due in tips, how should it be divided? Perhaps you consult your cabin fel- ' low passenger and he tells you that •Vie thinks 7s 6d or 10s each to the first three and 2s in the hat for the deck steward is quite sufficient. You are told that you pay for service and where there is no service there is no pay. The next man you ask tells you a pound each is about right and Bs to the deck steward. As a matter of fact there is no rule except that a tip should be given. Creating An Impression. Some men wish to make out that they have money to burn and want or hope to get a special service by throwing it about. Some give tips far in excess of a reasonable amount during the early part of their journey because they do not like to appear mean, or they wish to appeal liberal, and they do not know what a fair tip is. Others do not tip at all, perhaps when custom demands a tip. For instance, when New Zealander goes into a barber’s shop to get shaved and is charged 2s Id for a shave only, not even a comb or brush put on your hair, he thinks he has paid plenty without tipping the barber 10 cents as well. I have paid, without going into a high-class shop, 7s to have my beard trimmed and a shampoo. The more you pay the more you should tip. It is not pleasant, but it’s the custom. Suggested Schedule. To give something definite, I am going to take the risk of giving a list of what may be considered a reasonable amount in tips and who are entitled to them. Bell boy: Every time you require his services 3 5 to 20 cents; pullman sleeper, 25 cents for attendant night or day; barber, 10 or 15 cents; porter at railway station, 10 or 15 cents; waittors or waitresses at meals, 10 per cent, of the charge, but never less than 10 per cent. If the charge be anywhere from 50 cents to one dollar the tip should be 10 cents. If the bill be under 50 cents then 5 cents would do. Now this is where the fine art comes in. Where you have a tablecloth and linen serviette and are waited on at the table and the charge is moderate, say 5 to 6 shillings, the tips are about as above. If, however, you go to a high-class eating house and require any Special service, say two tables placed together for your party, the tips go as high as 20 per cent. If, however, you go to the cafaterias, coffee shops, or to a eating house where there is no tableclothes, but say a marble-topped table, and you get service at the table, it is not considered necessary to tip. I have been told that some eating houses do not pay the waiters and waitresses. They are supposed to get their pay out of tips. At others the attendants are paid full wages and all tips are supposed to b i; handed: over to the proprietor. Abuse of Tipping. i Of course there are abuses, and it' cannot be expected that any list will meet with universal approval. This cannot be expected where each tipper is inclined to go on their own. opinion, or where a rich bounder wants more than other people and tries to get it by throwing money about. He gets servility, not service. Where it is the custom to tip one should keep within reason and where the sendee is of an extra nature a little more than I have stated jnav bo <dv«n, cut it out al-

together where the service has been bad. I think it fair to lay down a rule that a tip should be earned by th c receiver by giving reasonable service all things being taken into! consideration. ; Germany Bends thc Way. ' I In Germany the lips are added to I the bill on the railway dining cars [and hotels where I stayed. They make sure that the traveller pays In jlhat way, and it is more satisfacitory than the plan of leaving the jamount to be given by the customer. jWhen you pay for your room an adjditional ten per cent, is added to I the room charge also, ns well as f all meals, which arc paid for as you r got them. L An “Obliging” Peeler. j f When I landed at Southampton r from New York it was necessary to f get th e baggage into the railway j van to go to London. One of the j porters was hanging round waiting a for the job—and a tip, of course— g during the time the Customs officer v was making an inspection. After r getting the luggage on his barrow to i take it to the guard’s van, which r was about; thirty yards away, I offer- 'j ed him a tip of Is. He demurred at j j this and did not offer to shift his s barrow. I then offered another 6d, k making la fid in all; he still made r no move, so I asked him what the e hell he did want. Before this I had asked the same question, and got c the reply: "I will leave it to you, L air.” Ho did not leave it to me \ long when he thought the tip was i \ too little. However, another fid, f making 2s in all, put a little life c Into this obliging porter. It began to look to me as if tipping was go- i ing to bo worse In England than in f America. I “Consulling John Peel.” c When we arrived in London it ” again became necessary to have the; baggage shifted, so I asked a police- j man what was a reasonable tip. He | told me that just what I felt lilcel® giving. That sort of information' did not convey much knowledge, so I persisted in asking him to name the amount. “Oh, fid or Is is ampie,” he told me, so on this decision I gave the porter Is, which he took with a cheerful “Thank you sir.” I mention this just to give readers a sample of what the traveller runs up j against at times. f No Need to Tip. a a When I next- paid a visit to the c office of the shipping company who o employed the first-mentioned porter s I told them what had happened and c asked them what was considered a reasonable tip. They told me that k they paid all porters a reasonable t wage, and whatever I felt like giv- r ing was reasonable. When I press t ed them to name an amount I wa. I told that fid or Is was ample. They r told me that what I should have a done was to have taken my Is back and then told him to put the lug- 1 gage In the van without giving him t anything. a Another of Same Breed. 1 I had another sample of the same * breed of porter to shift my baggage T at, Brussels. It became necessary 0 for me to change trains at Brussels on my way to Antwerp. Railways stations are large on the Continent, j. and Brussels la no exception to the t rule. It is almost impossible for a - stranger to find his way about from one train to another without making inquiries. Makinig inquiries when j one docs not speak the language Is (• not so simple as it Is in your own country. I knew my tim e was short j and I would have to change trams j quickly, or I would miss the train to e Antwerp,, and that meant missing K the boat to England. "When the train stopped I put my head out of 0 the carriage window and cabled out: “Can anyon e here speak English?" j One of the porters standing near called out “I can,” and along came j another official in uniform with Interpreter written on the front of his cap. t Payng Belgian In English. f I told this gentleman what I wanted and ho told me the porter would a show the way and carry my lug- a gage. After I had got a seat I of- ® fered the porter Is, as I had no 1 Belgian money on me. I had come through from Cologne, Germany, t and did not expect to need Belgian e currency for a few hours’- train ride r through that country. The porter, c like the .Southampton tip seeker, was not to be satisfied with Is, how- I ver. He just stood by until I had s increased the tip to 2s. t Interpreter's Quota. I was no sooner clear of the por- r ter than the interpreter came along t and asked to have another look atlv my ticket. Ho sat down beside me lb in the carriage and seemed muchjc interested in my ticket. He asked j several questions and gave me some ladvice about how I was to proceed 11 to catch the boat, I could not do|t otherwise than dip down into my 1 1 pocket again and give this import- [a ant personage 2s also. You see 11 c could not offer an interpreter less I than I give the porter, so it cost me 4s in tips to. shift from one train a to another. My baggage consisted r of only two small hand-bags. It Is S hard to say what it wou'd have cost b had I been heavily loaded with bag- e gage. t Franc Still A Franc In Belgium. j The strange thing about this la c [that wages and hotel accommoda- a tion in Belgium are low. Bed and t breakfast at an ordinary hotel costs 0 4s, and dinner Is Bd. Thc head of a department store receives about 1200 to 1500 francs per month, j equal to say from £l2 to £l4. Lab- q ourers receive about 700 francs, v equal to a little over £7 per month, t and find themselves. A coal miner j receives about 8s 4d per shift. In t Belgium the franc is still a franc in the eyes of the people, notwlth- v standing that It will not purchase s anything like as much as it did be- s fore the war. The par value of the f [franc was 25 to the pound sterling, c As I write it Is about 110 francs to C th e pound.