The plutocrat bellhop's next imitation was to apply for the most
expensive suite in the hotel. They just laughed Hon. Burns off, telling
him there was nothing but standing room left in the inn and try to get
_that!_ But Guy Tower came to the rescue and got Jimmy the suite, as Guy
wanted to keep his experiment under as close observation as possible
while making notes for his play. Once settled in his gorgeous apartment,
Jimmy swelled up like a mump and run his former colleagues ragged
getting him ice water, stationery, telegram blanks and drug-store gin.
He staggered around in the most fashionable lobby in New York making
cracks like "Hey, d'ye think Prohibition will ever come back?" to
astounded millionaires and their ladies. Honestly, he was a wow I When
one of the fellows he used to work with called him "Jimmy," the nee
bellboy angrily insists that the manager fire him for undue familiarity,
remarking, "A guy has got to keep them servants in their proper places!"
He sent a wire to the Standard Oil Company asking if they couldn't use a
younger man in Rockefeller's place, paid the dinge elevator pilots a
dollar twenty times a day to stop the car and tie his shoe laces,
panicked the highest priced tailor in Manhattan by ordering seven suits
of "mufti," having read that the King of England occasionally dresses in
that, and generally misplayed his hand till everybody was squawking and
in no time at all Jimmy Burns was about as popular as a mad deg in the
St. Moe hotel. He failed to go through college like he promised he
would, but he certainly went through everything else, and only for Guy,
Jimmy would have been streeted fifty times a day!
The next desire that attacks James is the ambition to see his name in
the newspapers, so he advertises for a press agent. The first publicity
purveyor who showed up made James think he was good by using nothing but
adjectives in his conversation and asking for a honorarium of $250 the
week. Mr. Burns thought the salary was more than reasonable, but as he's
the type that would ask President Coolidge for a reference, he demanded
one from the candidate for the job. "You have asked the man who owns
one--just a minute!" says the press agent cheerily, and not at all
abashed he dashes out of the room. I heard all this when he stopped at
my switchboard with Jimmy and asked me where the writing room was. In
five minutes he's back, waving a paper in Jimmy's face. "Look _that_
over!" he says.
James read it out loud for my entertainment. According to this
testimonial, the bearer had did about everything in the publicity line
but act as press representative for a school where middle-aged eagles
are taught how to fly. James seems to get quite a kick out of it.
"I think I'll take this guy," he remarks, as he looks up from the
reference.
"Fine!" says the delighted applicant. "That's a good thought. I'll snap
right into it and----"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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