It Will Not Be Out Of Place Here To Give A Sketch Of The Peculiarities Of
The American Hotel System,
Which constitutes such a distinctive feature of
life in the States, and is a requirement arising out of the enormous
Extent of their territory, and the nomade life led by vast numbers of the
most restless and energetic people under the sun.
"People will turn hastily over the pages when they corne to this" was the
remark of a lively critic on reading this announcement; but while I
promise my readers that hotels shall only be described once, I could not
reconcile it to myself not to give them information on "Things as they are
in America," when I had an opportunity of acquiring it.
The American House at Boston, which is a fair specimen of the best class
of hotels in the States, though more frequented by mercantile men than by
tourists, is built of grey granite, with a frontage to the street of 100
feet. The ground floor to the front is occupied by retail stores, in the
centre of which a lofty double doorway denotes the entrance, marked in a
more characteristic manner by groups of gentlemen smoking before it. This
opens into a lofty and very spacious hall, with a chequered floor of black
and white marble; there are lounges against the wall, covered over with
buffalo-skins; and, except at meal-times, this capacious apartment is a
scene of endless busy life, from two to three hundred gentlemen constantly
thronging it, smoking at the door, lounging on the settees, reading the
newspapers, standing in animated groups discussing commercial matters,
arriving, or departing.
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