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Show RIGHT UP TO DATE MODERN HOTEL ASTONISHED DELAWARE FARMERS. Accustomed to Simplicity of Country Inns, They Marveled at the Richness Rich-ness Displayed Course Dinner Din-ner Especially Puzzling. On i! of Delaware's senators Is known to a good many persons In rural parte of the stnto from tho fact that a hotel at Dover bears his uaiuu. The father of tho senator astonished Delaware about a quarter of a century ago by starting a hotel ou the modern plan, tho ilrst of tho kind that Dover had ewr had and tho only one ot tho kind that many visitors to the capital had seen. When first opened tho house was a matter of the utmost curiosity to' visitors. vis-itors. Hural legislators and their friends looked with astonishment at its thickly carpeted halls, Its many bathrooms, Its heutlug arrangements, Its electric bellx, Its lights and all its modern conveniences. Hardest of all to understand was tho hotel dining-room. Instead of one or two long tables It had provision for seating guests In groups of two, three, four or more. This, however, was tho smallest Innovation In-novation of tho hotel dining-room. Farmers accustomed to drive to town with a feed of oats In tho wagon for their horses und to dine at tho gcnoral table of u small Inn at a prlco sometimes some-times as low as 25 cents, never abovo half a dollar, heard with sceptical astonishment of tho doings at tho now ho'tel. The dinner was served, they learned, In as many as six courses, with chceso at tho end that smellcd dreadful and coffee without milk in little cups that did not hold moro than two tlilmblcfiils. Somo of tho farmers sneaked In shame-facedly and tried that dinner, which, of course, was served at midday. mid-day. The experience of having fish served as a sepnrato courso immediately immedi-ately after the soup was alarming, for some feared that there might be nothing noth-ing else to come. Then those queer mado dishes that came after the fish wero puzzling. It was only when tho roast came on with tho familiar vegetables that tho furm-ers furm-ers began to feel themselves at homo, anil oven then the shifting of plates und knives was embarrassing. They reckoned tho hotel must have a big bill for dishwashing. Some, noticed that a few guests had wine bottles at their places, nnd nt this the farmers from tho back country coun-try shook their heads, und wondered what Delawnre was coming to. It was all well enough for a mnn to slip Into tho barroom and gulp a glass of whisky alone, or with a friend If ho happened to bo thirsty, but this thing of drinking drink-ing wine with your meals was a bad sign. When tho dessert time came everybody every-body ordored everything on tho bill of fare, as, Indeed, the farmers had mostly all tho way through the meal but tho cheese wus sent uwny In hnste untnsted, and there was a firm demand de-mand enrly In tho courso of the dlnnei for coffee In largo cups with milk Thero was a good deal of grumbling when It was found that, cat as fast ut u man might, lie could hardly got through tho dinner In less than hall an hour, and much surprise was expressed ex-pressed that somo of tho guests sat the better part of an hour nt table. Thoso farmors who were not too much ashamed of what they had done went homo nnd told their wives about that dinner. Tho foolish extravagance Df yio blamed thing, especially In tho matter of plates and cutlery, was what improsscd tho popular Imagination. Imagina-tion. News of the thing traveled all over tli state. Thero were hotels like that up at Wilmington everybody had heard, whero you could got your din ner as late as two o'clock In tho afternoon; after-noon; but nobody expected such an Institution to bo set up at Dover. Tho senator's nuiiui has for yenrs been conspicuous con-spicuous in business, but to many of his constituents It connotes first of all that now-fungled hotel. |
