Cover (tablecloth and napkins, or paper) 2.50 Marks Two bottles of Yquem 90. Wine tax on same 18. Half-bottle Lafanta (ordinary wine) 13.50 Tax on same 2.60 Hors-d’œuvre (radishes, foie gras, etc.) 150. Roast veal (very ordinary) 80. Potatoes (cost, 1 mark in the market) 12.50 Asparagus (plentiful in Berlin) 54. Charlotte (a tasteless dessert) 20. Ice 6. Bread (one very thin slice each—black) .60 Cigars (three horrible cabbages) 18. Butter 4. —————— 471.20 10 per cent. for service 47.15 —————— Total 518.35 Thankfully received, May 8, 1919 FRITZ REICH. At that day’s rate of exchange this amounted to something over forty dollars; at the pre-war rate, which was still in force so far as the German clients were concerned, it was about one hundred and twenty-five dollars. Small wonder the clientèle was “select” and limited. Before we end this round of restaurants let us settle with the waiters. About the time of the revolution the majority of them refused to have their income any longer subject to the whims of clients, a movement which had spread through all the larger cities of unoccupied Germany. In most eating-places a charge of “10 per cent. for service” was now added to the bill; in a few cases it ran as high as 25 per cent. How soon they will be demanding 100 per cent. is a question I cannot answer. There were suggestions that before long they will expect to get free-will tips in addition to the forced contribution, especially after the first flock of American tourists descends upon the Fatherland. In many hotels the bills were stamped “10 per cent. added” so faintly that the unsuspecting new-comer was often overgenerous by mistake. At some establishments the waiter was required to inform the guest that the service fee had been included, but the majority labored under no such compulsion, and those who did frequently whispered the information so hurriedly that only ears sharpened by financial worries could catch it. Another favorite trick was to find it so difficult to make change that the busy client finally stalked out without it. The advantages to the customer of this system were dubious; the waiters, on the whole, seem to like the new arrangement. “We may not get any more,” I was assured in a wide variety of cases, “or even as much; but at least we know what we are getting.”