1
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY l,l922. -
, ; . . -v-r'--'' '"..,,i'".'i'S'-'!.-s.-.:.
THERE are about tony; first-class jap staaranta ta America
with clothes tree "oo the door" and. Jry to get teto one
of themt They havewaiting list. Th re hTt th, ,
check system and tht cold eontewot of their patron ' ,
It took a mind like that of. Captain Kidd 0 Tlsuxlije. end
realize a fortune la discounting the sheepish cowardice o hi, -fellow
men. Elace be originated It, whoever he was, tt b Pfe
standardised and la now regular M"t of ery caff and
regulai liability of every diner, ' ' '
Few ImproTeraentf bate been pad on the trtt prlncfplea of
the method. The moat Important of the few baa beam the. Intro-'
auction of pretty ejirle to act aa separator. It thrt wa one
thine more needed to make a reluctant boot) coma ecros ft wag
The restaurants sell the 'privilege b the year, aid omV
times for many year in advance. . Not fa w fashionable eating
places here been angeled entirely by tha checkroom financier
build in upon the known gullibility of eitlgen at large, banking'
on the tribute' they will pay to redeem bat not yet designed and .
coats not yet ordered, - i
The only demand that these cunning crook make la that
diners be told it la against the rules to bring detached apparel
Into the eating quarters, The system, the girls, tha analysed and
proven weakntsses of men will do tha rest. Girt art then en
gaged, also men. There are probably four or lit girl per man. -The
man remain In the background, being the "manager" of
each stand. Ha sees that all tha dimes and Quarter go Into
box, a box with a slot, locked with a combination and lined with .
burglar-proof wall. "Hi Job la not to trust the girl. ' And those
who employ bin) don't trust him. if a, pretty ethical business,.!
aay way you take It.
The girlg are not dime-diggers at heart if they vera they'd
tad means to bold tba loose change they get They gre hired.
They are instructed. They bare to spring the phoney smile, Just
M chorus girls have to kick their limbs they pat no heart In ft.
It's aU in a day'a wprk, '
The busy men, aa a rule, pay very slight beed to thamr Tbey
hare long.since given np any idea of openly quarreling with, the
atrocious imposition, and pay their orthodog sum each; time, Just
ab they pay (wo cente for a stamp. The act is defensive rather
than either affirmative or yielding to the psychological extortion.
Not to tip make them .conspicuous, put tba poor girl in as.
embaraasihg situation, makes them feel like bora thieve. It is
cheaper to slip a few measly nickels and hare, don with the
principle of tba thing and a weight on tba conscience. So thor
oughly do tbey accept the preposterous, custom that when a
luhcher.has a guest be shore forward with two dime and
whispers to tha girl Twof Toll, t fa, to recognised, and tba .
pifrer who chafes at U and tba iconoclast who rtsea against it are
alike classified aa cheap skates who would rather kick up a
scandal than kick in a couple of Jits,
' al then an unusually pretty girl catehea herself
broke" or sufficiently devoid ot conscience) and Imagination to
enter' the ranka of the trim trimmera, and then aba, like other
pretty girls who bare to meet atrangera, is mora or less exposed
to flirtations, witless wheeses, odious ogle, raw rejoinders and
other quick-wprk advance.
Being. la ah indefensible position to begin with, and baring
to take money (and chicken-feed at that) from all sorts and de
grees of stranger of the hostile sex besides, tba pretty hat.
room girl is In an ultr abdicate atUtude. She cannot bristle up
and grow luflammably Indignant, because nobody asked her to
be there at all, in tba first place; aha cannot choke and gulp and
pull the "honest working girl" racket, because the akim-swillera
ahe works tor won't stand for choking and gulping, she isnl
honest, and the only work aha doea la working tba victim. She
cannot walk away, because there is no place to walk to. She.
cannot yell for a cop for many obvious reasons, either.
What, then, can aba do? Bha ean endure it aj long aa she
Oan down her nausea, and then she can beat it If she stands
tor it .it will go on in mora or iesa irregular but dependably
recurrent manifestations; f she Ukes the oaone, aba is up
against starvation or deprivation, on one hand, or a. return; with
alight variatlona at best to another Job, W the other.. 8o most
of them stick to it until tbey get married, die. go Into the movies,
go to the dogs, or fall upon some other misfortune to emancipate
them from tb Ufa of cat'spaw to the kitty and go-between for tha
Slimy sharks who scale the fish.
Blonde girls are, aa a rule, preferred for type" by the
canny pickers. There la a theory (probably fallacious) that
blondes are mora adaptable, durable and applicable to fast and?
email toucbea than tba darker of the species, who are credited
With more power lor galvanic -vamping and bigger but fewer ex
tractions. -Tha stock musical show will usually consist of a
dosen small, blonde ponies and one large, raven-haired prima
donna siren. For popular consumption. I think it incontrover
tible, the flapper-style blondle is the surefire commodity. When
it cornea to badger games, breaking np established homes and
such heavy saf flowing as that redhaired ones are considered
specially endowed.- But for the common and lower forms oi
- quantity alipoters, ligbt hair and baby face run aa the standard
Jxed product . 1 ,
Therefore Tessl James bad no difficulty getting an assign
Jnent to one of tba better (braver) Broadway hotels in the Times
Square area. She waa given a shiny satin uniform with cotton
on the under aide, neat white collar and cuffs, and an axpoi. of
the same without a pocket He hosa were sheer by request
and her spruce young limbs were fetching by nature. The rules ot
the conspiracy ware Imparted to bar by rote, and she went to It
' Tessle bad neither the soul of a doormat 'thief nor tba
asbestos armer ot a salamander. She hadn't been especially
trained or designed ton this method of making an underdone
' livelihood, though aba chanced to fit the picture and her financial
clrcumstenoea chanced to fit the need. She waant graced with
. si protuberant Intellect, nor waa she anybody' cluck; aha wasn't
vicious, nor was she prudish. She bad been reared on the aide
walks and in the pnblle primary schools and in the subways and in
a toothpick-factory and in the world aa mncb. of the world aa a
girl of her attributes would rub and Jostle against In some
eignieen year m metropolitan and cosmopolitan adventures
She bad a mother, but no father. Why la it that of All tha
known female kalf-orpbana 7 per cent hare mother but no
fathere? Tba pitiful little ones usually have father, tut no
snothera. How come, hen, that whan they grow to the danger
ons and mmaau ax tbey have mothers, but no fathers? How
veMfa so. It WM certainly "so Sn, the. case of Tessie, whoso
mother had taken in sewing toy years, until Tessie was old
enough to lie a certificate out of her teacher that aba waa at. v
teen, which, was vtea aba wag fourteen, at vhicb ttaa ana
- entered commerce. .
' Tessie's commercial ontleok bad shows' Itself, tram tba first,
t be restricted. She bad no specialized education and no asocial
:S v" V' . ..VI
- si t,y .s f '-A-i ; v. .... . - " . j
"-in I : " ' .. f ! i- i
. jCc;.;J.."" 4 f
li i: ! t A' ty ,Y -f
f'l :; I J 's'', '-" ' --mi
business gifts. She
wasnt even ambi
tious to discover
r develop any. She
worked because ahe
knew no other way
to get on, and she
worked at what
ever came along or
whatever she could
come up- with, as
aba needed jobs.
She bad engaged
in c b c k rooming,
with it penny-ante
bla ekmaiiing.
neither bee anise
ahe had any pro
nounoed sympathy
with its shabby
technique nor
5 . i-
against any scru
ples that shrank
from it It was Si2
sv week, and she
knew of- nb place
wexa aha could
get $13 a week, 4e
aently. ' v . I--V
TeBsle Wet Jnany men. Her post was Jus outside tba grffl.
where only males foregathered only prosperous male tor it
wak no place for economising. Jessie waa a returner," That
means Chat her division of labor waa to band back the bat and
coats. The pretty -ones are picked for this part of tba surgery.
Tba plainer ones may bo trusted to take tha bats and coat,
baeanaa no money is passed at that stage, and, therefore, the at
txactiTaneap t the 'operator doesn't (count But tba returner is
cart in the breacb it that aiMecisiTa moment wben tba Tictim
must not be lost He must neither balk nor forget A pretty
girl will nsually hook enough attention in this emergency to Jar
tha patient mto remembering, no matter how preoccupied; he
; !-, fQ International Feature Servloe, loo.
may have been, and to
sham him or attract
him ' into dlgglngr no
matter bow wrought up
he "may have been over
the shameless machin
ery, of tbe graft
As a returner Tessle
came Into close contact
thus, with numerous and
superior men. . She helped
them on witn their coats,
she banded them their hats
and sticks. She, never
sought their eyes, and al
most always carried the im
personal and abstract mien
of the human automaton.
But tbey wouldn't always
let her get away with that
Lots of men want a good
deal for ten cents. Tbey
stood out tor at least a
smile, and when Tessie
didn't grin at them in re
turn for their own smirks,
they tried bromides. Some
of them tried to pinch, ber
round arm, and now and
, then a fresh bird bent down
as be bold bis silver
clutched between thumb and
finger, knowing she bad to
concentrate on him until be
opened np and dropped it in
ber palm, to ask Her in a
boorishly surreptitious or
boobishly flagrant way .what
she bad on after awhile, or
something equally pointed. .
It was not for Tessie to
deliver lectures on ethics er
-disorderly conduct She
wasn't rent with poignant
shame over ber exposed po
sition, nor did man's Hot
tentot attitude toward
woman generally wring ber
finer consciousness. She
iwa there with peat foot--work
and could block aU
the leads n the common manual without upsetting anything or
ataging a, scene. 6b bad been "otOced" before in tba shops,"
en tba street everywhere. It waa ilka tba cold wind of the
Winter, putdoora there it was; she didnt Invite it, nor could
aba Tory wen squawk: about it; and, to tell tba truth' and to carry
along tba accidental aimlle, It now and then gent a tingle into
tb flood. ; - v " '
; Tba tingles cam only now and then, Tessie cared little tor
men as a JoblQt. But aba waa susceptible to a few who looked
good, wbo weren't too almighty frea and easy with ber, and who
wore nice clothes, . Tessie, though she bandied bat and coat
professionally, shared tba error ot most of Jiar s let era, that tba
"dresser la rich and elegant She bad not observed that some
of the important ones, who were mainly the men wbo shelled '
out without even looking down at ber, wore wrinkled aoft hats
and coat more notable for their lnconsplcuousness and wearing
?ualitiea than toy their lend linings or smart cut - . . . . r
Tessl was young end the people. Bha Judged men by
tbeir profiles, their clothe and tba amounts of their tips. Tha
tips meant nothing to her, but a man who freely parted with s
quarter must be a sport, and a-man wbo bad green satin draperies
Jasid big Tetoqr IceSr, especially if ft had a gold-gaper initial
. pasted oai it, could not be less than a mimpnaira. By tba oppo
site token, a ten-cent-tip man, wM sror a ajoppy. rainproof :
throw-on couldnt 'amount to much. ; , "
That, accounted tor her idealizing Mark Tares from tbo firi
Gse& Britala Blghta Beserved "
Sheldealiicd
Taven, from the
,Firt Timet She
Helped Him on
with HU Ulster,
Handed Him Hi
Cane and Lid, and ,
Found in Her Hand
Half-Dollar. ,
tlme'that she helped him on with bis
pearl-gray ulster, banded blm bis rosewood .
cane and seal Ud, and found in ber band a
. half-dollar. Tessie always had ft dim '
palmed in her right band for Just such'
miracle a, and, of course, aha mad tha
switch before tba rat-faced Up-detective,
spying on her from the recesses of tba
checkroom, knew that bis thieves had been
trimmed. . Tessie waa 'on tba make", two
hours after ahe bad started on the Job in
that aba was following tb lead of almost
everybody els on earth wbo handles cash
belonging to someone else. If not bow
did a lot of men make fortunes inventing
; cash registers T v
Tarea.gave her a look more euisslea!
than penetrating. She smiled in acknowl
edgment of the extravagant band-out' and
moved on to tha next customer, but she
did turn ber head and give blm a shrrt
slant as he turned the corner to the outr
door, and be did do the same for ber at
the same Instant, And Tessie hoped
Taven would come again, and Taven knew
he would.
He did. lie came: ovary day tor days.
Ha never pressed himself on Ti. He grew more familiar
with ber rapidly because he wanted to because, in fact be was
campaigning hard to--and because she wan disposed to help it
along a tar a aba could without belnjr silly or unwomanly,
Tbey got to exchanging pleasantries quickly and ta tb
fly, for Tessie could not stop proceedings to talk lengthily to
Taven, no? could ha make himself a Joke and a scandal fey
obviously prolonging a tete-a-tete. -
The tips kept coming. They kept growing, in truth. Terea
would empty hi change pocket into the girl's hand, and U took
finesse and speed to get f MO in miscellaneous coins and turn la
fifteen cents' and make the sllver-sieutb like It Fifteen casts
waa the diplomatic sum to band across, too. Tb snooper bad
noted, with his quick rat-eye; that Tessie gave the tall, good
looking dude more service than she did the come-and-go grist
But the fifteen cents made it more than, all right Fifteen-cent
men were rare. The public dlmed the girls to tleath. On day,
when Tessie ventured to let Taren bend over rapidly and whisper
In her ear. at which she blushed tout nodded she passed la
twenty cents. And the lookout regarded it as splendid business
to offer no protest
. The whisper bad been an invitation to meet him. .outside tb
hotel at three, the hour ot ber departure from the lunch trick. .
It had taken two weeks for him to find out that she was
liberty then, which door she took for exit whether aha waa
sufficiently interested to listen to a "date," whether aba wag
Buuicienuy "soia to assent to one.
And that afternoon Tessie met Taven.
Her blue eyes sparked, her perfect young cheeks were pink
and alive, her lips were ajar. Tessie bad "met" men before
But she confessed to herself that Taven was about the sOfttes
dresser and the grandest looker she bad ever more than, Just
seen, and this meeting meau much-.
Taven had a car outside. He took ber to It without a word
beyond a pleasant "Hello" on the sidewalk. He opened the door
and she stepped in. .
Into the park tbey rode, through the thick traffic, without
much being spoken. Tha park was more free and less hazardous,
and Taven lolled at ease aad carbureted a few platitudinous
pleasantries. Tessie did not Jump put of tba roadster at these.
She bandied them with him.
She told htm sh had to be back in the hotel by five, and b
made no demurring answer. And he bad ber back by five. '
Taven was no dumbbell broad daylight in Central Park, with ft
girt used to strangers and talking a Bronx dialect waa no
place to forget that be waa a gentleman. He liked the kid. lie
had no intention ot marrying ber. He scarcely could have enter
tained any such intention, in view of the Wife at home, though
that obstacle isnt as convincing any more as once It was. Nor
was be the villain in the play, deliberately framing to delude gbd
to destroy.
He did put bii arm around bar part of the time, along oa
of the backstretcb sections of the road. She was docile, though -not
fervent in this situation. It was to be expected. She would
have felt neglected bad Taven ailed, even on the first ride, to
exact some mensure of tribute tor bis gas and oil. Tessie bad
leirned from the world that It spun pretty much on a momentum
of so much for so much. She reserved to herself, secretly, a -prejudice
against too much tor any amount but a little tor a
bit was O. K.
After Taren let ber out of his machine aad saw bar tripping
springily np the hotel steps', be smiled and shook bla bead and
told himself Tessie "had made a hit with-him. Tts, be -would '
surely play that game along--it bad blm interested.
That night be thought it over, alone and at length. Every
body has a weak spot. a weakest spot He bad quickly seen
Tessie's she had a poor kid'a respect for spenders. He knew,
too. that ste "held out" all bat a few nickels of the tips be bad
given her, for she bad told bim the entire Inside of the entire
system, most of which be bad known, anyway. And then be got '
the big Idea. -
Tessie war aU gooseflesh next moon, waiting for hint Bha
saw the older and less prepossessing "taker glye Taren the
check as a receipt for his hat coat and stick.
The girl within had Taven's props, ready before Tessie bad
oven turned to the check? for she knew by then, his things.
Tessie helped bhn with the coat She stood with the bat and s
B. -but, instead of taking them. Taves stopped to put on bis
gaovea. That was a good trick, and Teafle warmed to U; ber
was a man who had Invented something. -?.
He finished gloving. He took the bat and put it on. He
gTasped the crook of the cane In bis left band. His right hand '
alid down Into bis change pocket Tessie had ber two dimes
ready for the magic, for she knew that be would be generous. .
Ha slid something Into ber palm and, without a perceptible
motion of the lips, whispered through his teeth: . .
. Three o'clock same lace."-
- She felt the something in her palm. It was1 a bin! Tavern
had given ber more than a dollar in silver several times. But
never in all ber bat-room xperienc bad ahe ever been beaded
currency pilL It took her off ber guard for one aeoond. Tba '
nickel-copper In the cage saw her confusion, thought an instant
then moved rapidly toward ber from behind. Tessie noddedT
VTeuent along. Tessie turned and. holding np the two dimes. '
gtarted for tho coin box. The "manager- atopped her.
"Open that hand" be commanded. - n.
Tessie. -caught with he goods." had no ready "out- He
aelxed her band and, wiuxout a great deal of resistance front
her. opened it There waa tha bin. , -
lought to fire you he said. ,X
Well, why don't yont Ton do, and row dont get the bOL"
IU blveWtoSel or her. with that hnnk V
; -2 aa given to ma, - V
Not to keep." v
"Notr asked I Tessia. TXd yon ever hear ot a man gtrtcx .
FU oranrbody like you a buck for getting a bat an coatf
Tha'L n o your business. It waa gave to you as our
reperesenftre. an' you'll come rlean."- w ,
- W hof." ald Tessie. "And U you try to make ma, HI
toller. IU raise row right here, an - . M ;
"AH right keep tba dollar an take the air."
Tessie reached np for her bat and coat She pnt them ee
and walked out-giving the tyrant a snippy sneer. Then she -thought
to unfold the bill, which was still clutched. ta o TsmtJl
wad in her hand.. Sh almost keeled over it waa lie. Tessl
had never even seen on before.
. - "I ought to meet him at three aad give thfe back to aim.
aha told herself. "A few dlme are all right but this Is rotrji -fiaz
"O, it M't safe. . A man who would five
am a century .... well, im serve bim right ni atasA -
up. . . ,l seed a few weeks' rest, anyway.i -
4 .