I Cannot Say That I Like The Hotels In Those Parts, Or, Indeed, The
Mode Of Life At American Hotels In General.
In order that I may
not unjustly defame them, I will commence these observations by
declaring that they are
Cheap to those who choose to practice the
economy which they encourage, that the viands are profuse in
quantity and wholesome in quality, that the attendance is quick and
unsparing, and that travelers are never annoyed by that grasping,
greedy hunger and thirst after francs and shillings which disgrace,
in Europe, many English and many continental inns. All this is, as
must be admitted, great praise; and yet I do not like the American
hotels.
One is in a free country, and has come from a country in which one
has been brought up to hug one's chains - so at least the English
traveler is constantly assured - and yet in an American inn one can
never do as one likes. A terrific gong sounds early in the
morning, breaking one's sweet slumbers; and then a second gong,
sounding some thirty minutes later, makes you understand that you
must proceed to breakfast whether you be dressed or no. You
certainly can go on with your toilet, and obtain your meal after
half an hour's delay. Nobody actually scolds you for so doing, but
the breakfast is, as they say in this country, "through." You sit
down alone, and the attendant stands immediately over you.
Probably there are two so standing.
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