first-class hotels of Europe by all who can accommodate themselves to the manners of the country and do not demand everything precisely as they have been used to at home. The luxury of some of the leading American hotels is, indeed, seldom paralleled in Europe. The charges are little, if at all, higher than those of the best European houses; but the comforts often afforded by the smaller and less pretentious inns of the old country can seldom be looked for from American houses of the second or third class, and the traveller who wishes to economize will find boarding-houses (see p. xxvii) preferable. When ladies are of the party, it is advisable to frequent the best hotels only. The hotels of the South, except where built and managed by Northern enterprize, are apt to be poor and (in proportion to their accommodation) dear; many of the hotels in the West, on the other hand, even in the newest cities, are astonishingly good, and California contains some of the best and cheapest hotels in the United States. The food is generally abundant and of good quality, though the cuisine is unequal (comp. p. xxvii). Beds are almost uniformly excellent. The quality of the service varies and may be considered, though with many exceptions, as one of the weak points of American hotels. A distinction is made between Hotels on the American Plan, in which a fixed charge is made per day for board and lodging, and Hotels on the European Plan, in which a fixed charge is made for rooms only, while meals are taken à la carte either in the hotel or elsewhere. No separate charge is made for service. The European system is becoming more and more common in the larger cities, especially in the East; but the American plan is universal in the smaller towns and country districts. Many hotels in the large cities offer a choice of systems. The rate of hotels on the American plan varies from about $5 per day in the best houses down to $2 per day or even less in the smaller towns; and $3-4 a day will probably be found about the average rate on an ordinary tour. The charge for a room at a good hotel on the European plan is from $1 upwards. Many of the American hotels vary their rate according to the room, and where two prices are mentioned in the Handbook the traveller should indicate the rate he wishes to pay. Most of the objections to rooms on the upper floor are obviated by the excellent service of 'elevators' (lifts). Very large reductions are made by the week or for two persons occupying the same room; and very much higher prices may be paid for extra accommodation. Throughout the Handbook the insertion of a price behind the name of a hotel ($5) means its rate on the American plan; where the hotel is on the European plan (exclusively or alternatively) the price of the room is indicated (R. from $1). The above rates include all the ordinary requirements of hotel life, and no 'extras' appear in the bill. The custom of giving fees to the servants is by no means so general as in Europe, though it is becoming more common in the Eastern States. Even there, however, it is practically confined to a small gratuity to the porter and, if the stay is prolonged, an occasional 'refresher to the regular waiter. In hotels on the American system the meals are usually served at regular hours (a latitude of about 2 hrs. being allowed for each). The daily charge is considered as made up of four items (room, breakfast, dinner, and supper), and the visitor should see that his bill begins with the first meal he takes. Thus, at a $4 a day house, if the traveller arrives before supper and leaves after breakfast the next day, his bill will be $3; if he arrives after supper and leaves at the same time, $2; and so on. No allowance is made for absence from meals. Dinner is usually served in the middle of the day, except in large cities. On reaching the hotel, the traveller enters the Office, a large and often comfortably fitted up apartment, used as a general rendezvous and smoking-room, not only by the hotel-guests, but often also by local residents. On one side of it is the desk of the Hotel Clerk, who keeps the keys of the bedrooms, supplies unlimited letter-paper gratis, and is supposed to be more or less omniscient on all points on which the traveller is likely to require information. Here the visitor enters his name in the 'register' kept for the purpose, and has his room assigned to him by the clerk, who details a 'bell-boy' to show him the way to his room and carry up his hand-baggage. If he has not already disposed of his 'baggage-checks' in the way described at p. xxii, he should now give them to the clerk and ask to have his trunks fetched from the station and sent up to his room. If he has already parted with his checks, he identifies his baggage in the hall when it arrives and tells the head-porter what room he wishes it sent to. On entering the dining-room the visitor is shown to his seat by the head-waiter, instead of selecting the first vacant seat that suits his fancy. The table-waiter then hands the guest the menu of the day, from which (in hotels on the American plan) he orders what he chooses. Many Americans order the whole of their meals at once, but this is by no means necessary except in primitive localities or inferior hotels. The key of the bedroom should always be left at the office when the visitor goes out. Guests do not leave their boots at the bedroom door to be blacked as in Europe, but will find a 'boot-black' in the toiletteroom (fee 10 c.; elsewhere 5 c.). Large American hotels also generally contain a barber's shop (shave 20-25 c.; elsewhere 15 c.), railway ticket, express, and livery offices, book-stalls, etc. The following hints may be useful to hotel keepers who wish to meet the tastes of European visitors. The wash-basins in the bedrooms should be much larger than is generally the case. Two or three large towels are preferable to the half-dozen small ones usually provided. A carafe or jug of fresh drinking water (not necessarily iced) and a tumbler should always be kept in each bedroom. If it were possible to give baths more easily and cheaply, it would be a great boon to English visitors. At present a bath attached to a bedroom costs $1 (4s.) a day extra, while the charge for using the public bathroom is usually 35-75 c. (1s. 6d.-3s.). No hotel can be considered first-class or receive an asterisk of commendation which refuses to supply food to travellers who are prevented from appearing at the regular meal hours. Boarding Houses. For a stay of more than a day or two the visitor will sometimes find it convenient and more economical to live at a Boarding House. These abound everywhere and can easily be found on enquiry. Their rates vary from about $8 a week upwards. At many places the keepers of such houses also receive transient guests, and they are generally preferable to inferior hotels. Furnished Apartments are easily procured in the larger cities, from $4-5 a week upwards (comp. p. 9). Soap, curiously enough, though provided in hotels, is not provided in boarding-houses or lodgings. Restaurants. In New York and other large cities the traveller will find many excellent restaurants, but in other places he will do well to take his meals at his hotel or boarding-house. Restaurants are attached to all hotels on the European plan (p. xxvi). A single traveller will generally find the à la carte restaurants rather expensive, but one portion will usually be found enough for two guests and two portions ample for three. The table d'hôte restaurants, on the other hand, often give excellent value for their charges (comp. p. 9). Soup, fish, poultry, game, and sweet dishes are generally good; but the beef and mutton are often inferior to those of England. Oysters, served in a great variety of styles, are large, plentiful, and comparatively cheap. In America wine or beer is much less frequently drunk at meals than in Europe, and the visitor is not expected to order liquor 'for the good of the house'. Iced water is the universal beverage, and a cup of tea or coffee is included in all meals at a fixed price. Wine is generally poor or dear, and often both. It is much to be regretted that, outside of California, the native vintages, which are often superior to the cheap imported wines, seldom appear on the wine-list; and travellers will do good service by making a point of demanding Californian wines and expressing surprise when they cannot be furnished. Liquors of all kinds are sold at Saloons (public houses) and Hotel Bars (comp. p. 10). Restaurants which solicit the patronage of 'gents' should be avoided. The meals on dining-cars and 'buffet cars' are generally preferable to those at railway restaurants. Tipping the waiter is not as a rule necessary or even (outside of the large Eastern cities) expected, but it may be found serviceable where several meals are taken at the same place. The custom, however, is by no means so firmly rooted as in Europe and should not be encouraged. Cafés, in the European sense, are seldom found in the United States except in New Orleans (p. 366) and a few other cities with a large French or German element in the population. The name, however, is constantly used as the equivalent of restaurant. VI. Post and Telegraph Offices. Post Office. The regulations of the American postal service are essentially similar to those of Great Britain, though the practice of delivering letters at the houses of the addressees has not been extended to the rural districts. The service is, perhaps, not quite so prompt and accurate. The supply of letter-boxes is generally abundant, but the number of fully equipped post-offices is much lower (proportionately) than in England. Stamps are sold at all drug-stores, and hotels, and often by letter carriers. All 'mailable' matter for transmission within the United States and to Canada and Mexico is divided into four classes: 1st. Letters and all Sealed Packets (rate of postage 2 c. per oz. or fraction thereof); 2nd. Newspapers and Periodicals (1 c. per 4 oz.); 3rd. Books, etc. (1 c. per 2 oz.); 4th. Merchandise and Samples (1 c. per oz.). Postal cards 1 c.; reply postal cards 2 c. A 'special delivery stamp (10 c.) affixed to a letter, in addition to the ordinary postage, entitles it to immediate delivery by special messenger. Letters to countries in the Postal Union cost 5c., postal cards 2 c., books and newspapers 2 c. per oz. The Registration Fee is 8 c.; the stamp must be affixed to the letter before presentation for registration, and the name and address of the sender must be written on the back of the envelope. Undeliverable letters will be returned free to the sender, if a request to that effect be written or printed on the envelope. Domestic Money Orders are issued by money-order post-offices for any amount up to $100, at the following rates: for sums not exceeding $ 5, 5 c.; $5-10, 8 c.; $10-15, 10 c.; $15-30, 15 c.; $30-40, 20 c.; $40-50, 25 c.; $ 60-70, 30 c.; $60-70, 35 c.; $70-80, 40 c.; $80-100, 45 c. For strangers these are not so convenient as the money-orders of the Express Companies (comp. p. xvii), as identification of the payee is demanded. Postal Notes, for sums less than $5, are issued for a fee of 3 c., and may pass from hand to hand like ordinary currency within a period of three months. Foreign Money Orders cost 10 c. for each $ 10, the limit being $50. Telegraph Offices. The telegraphs of the United States are mainly in the hands of the Western Union Telegraph Co., with its headquarters in New York (p. 14), and the service is neither se cheap nor so prompt and trustworthy as that of Great Britain. In 1891 there were in the United States 187,981 M. of line and 715,591 M. of wire, while the number of despatches was 59,148,343. The rates from New York are given at p. 15, and from them may be roughly estimated the probable rates from other parts of the country. In 1891 the United States contained 240,412 M. of Telephone Wires, used by 202,931 regular subscribers (comp. p. 15). Telephones are in operation in all large, and many of the small, towns throughout the country. VII. Glossary. The following short list of words in frequent use in the United States in a sense not commonly known in England may be found of service. The speech of the cultivated American, of course, varies little from the speech of the cultivated Englishman, and no misunderstanding is likely to arise in their verbal intercourse; but it will not unfrequently be found that railway officials, cabmen, waiters, and the like do not know what is meant by the British equivalents of the following expressions. It must not be understood that the under-noted words are all in use throughout the whole of the United States. A New Englander, for instance, may tell you that 'he never heard such a word', when you use a term in regular use by all classes in the West or South. The list, which might be extended indefinitely, does not attempt to enumerate the local names for different kinds of food, implements, etc.; nor does it mean to include words that are solely and avowedly 'slang'. Purely technical terms are also, for the most part, avoided. Comp. p. xxi (railway terms), p. xxvii, etc. Clerk, shopman. Clever, good-natured. often used in much the same sense. Cuspidor, spittoon. Cutter, light, one-horse sleigh. Dirt, earth, soil (e.g., a 'dirt tennis- Drummer, commercial traveller. Dumb, (often) stupid (Ger. dumm). Fix, to arrange, make, put in order, Grip-sack, hand-bag. Gums, overshoes (see Rubbers). Hack, cab; hackman, cabman. Help, servant. Rooster, cock. Rubbers, galoshes, overshoes. Hitch, harness; hitching-post, post to Run, to manage, carry on (a busi tie horses to. Horse-Car, tramway. Lot, a piece or division of land. Lunch, a slight meal at any hour of Mad, vexed, cross. ness, etc.). Sack, Sacque, jacket. Safe, larder (meat-safe, etc.). Ship, to send goods by train as well by sea. Shoes, boots not coming above the Shortage, deficiency. Mail, to post; postal matter; postal Smart, stylish, fashionable. Sophomore, student in his second year at college. Students of the first, third, and fourth years are named Freshmen, Juniors, and Seniors. Span, pair of horses. Spool (of cotton), reel (of thread). Street-car, tramway. Take out. An American takes a lady Ties, low shoes; railway sleepers. Waist, body (of a dress). In the United States First Floor is synonymous with Ground Floor, while Second Floor corresponds to the English First Floor, and so on. Throughout the Handbook these terms are used in conformity with the English custom. VIII. General Hints. The first requisites for the enjoyment of a tour in the United States are an absence of prejudice and a willingness to accommodate oneself to the customs of the country. If the traveller exercise a little patience, he will often find that ways which strike him as unreasonable or even disagreeable are more suitable to the environment than those of his own home would be. He should from the outset reconcile himself to the absence of deference or servility on the part of those he considers his social inferiors; but if ready himself to be courteous on a footing of equality he will seldom meet any real impoliteness. In a great many ways travelling in the United States is, to one who understands it, more comfortable than in Europe. The average Englishman will probably find the chief physical discomforts in the dirt of the city streets, the roughness of the country roads, the winter overheating of hotels and railway cars (70-75° Fahr. being by no means unusual), and (in many places) the |