Like Swearing When They Meet

1916

LA CROSSE, Wisconsin — Clerks in the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light & Power Company offices sat up with a shocked and startled expression when a stranger walked up to a desk and announced his name. It sounded like an outburst of profanity, but it was only a Chicago book salesman introducing himself. The salesman was G. O. Tuhell, and the man he met was Chief Clerk S. Damm.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 7.

Hotel Clerks' "Kittie"

1910

Box Into Which Excess Change Is Dropped to Make Up Possible Shortages

"The 'kittie' is the latest thing for the protection of hotel clerks," said John Rohman, chief clerk at the Old Inn.

"The 'kittie,'" he continued, "is a strong box with a slit in the lid in which we drop any excess change that comes along.

"For instance, if a guest overpays his bill and gets away before the mistake is discovered, we drop the extra money into the 'kittie,' which is never opened until some of the clerks find themselves short. The other day one of our boys came up two dollars ahead in his accounts. One of the guests had evidently paid two dollars more than he should in settling his bill. There was no way to locate the guest, and the two dollars went into the 'kittie.' A day or two later I came up two dollars short, so I went into the 'kittie' and got out the two dollars.

"The management of every hotel makes the clerk or cashier stand for any shortage of the cash drawer that occurs on the particular clerk's watch. The 'kittie' is an invention of the clerks at the French Lick hotel, but many hotels have adopted the plan." — Louisville Times.