The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-01-11
A Practical Illustration OF ho5bTtsiie
DeadbeatishnCss. ..

A system of cheating and dcffaudlnS thc
honest pcope ofthis and other countries, put
particularly Of this country, has OF lite years
been reduced to the government Oh asc1 loriii
of rules by which the moral outc'Sls VINO
thrive thereon are guided i'll Their raScal!y
tricks. There is probably no profession III
the practice Of which can be found Il greater
variety of natures tlohlemcn than i'll the pro-
fesson of" beating it, ,
There is the gcntlemanly "bcll, VINO
talks you into bIi&sful Ignorance OF the E'ct
that ajou are paying for all the drinks, ana
that he is especially IGNORING you ny per-
hitting it. iou may meet Inn ALTER
church." or YOU may not; it all depends
upon where your inclnatiolls may lcs'a you
after Divine service. Watch him, and Whcli-
ever YOU see him again have revenge upon
him by pouring forth upon his dc'olcd ileau
whatever of biblical lore that you may nave
sllmbcringly heard in church. lie Is Il
snIndid listener, and will doubtless profit by
your holy efforts.
Among others of the above class is the no.
torious "hotcl beat" Of whom we have now
,hc opportunity of--writin% a grain OF. fact.
II appears that about. two weeks ago there
arrived in this city, ut the Arlington, an
a.Idcrlv gentleman Of the I'D. B." order, who,
after having registered his name as }. L.
Meolcr. residence Buffalo, n. L., made
known the fact to the awc~Strickcn curiosity
seekers that he had come to Washington for
the purpose of, lobbying the soldiers home
stead bin through Congress. After he had
been stopping ut the Arlington for week
or so the suspicion of Mr.. d. f. Balcom was
aroused rs to his not being call right"
Pursuing his notion that the fellow was a
fraud. Mr.. Balcom fell to watching his
movements, and in no very long time had
his suspicious confirmed. Upon the eve Of
a third week Of the lobbyists stay advantage
was taken of his absence from the hotel, the
| door of his room was locked, and the key
thereof was taken to the office. Upon his
| return, the lobbyist, as usual, proceeded to
his room, and finding it locked, made full sail
for the office to ascertain the why and where
fore of the strange proceeding. Approach
ing the counter, behind which Mr.. Balloon
was standing, the following colloquy took
place:
Lobbyist with dignity: My room is lock.
! ed, sir please hand me the key.
Mr.. b.: Your room has been locked, sir, by
my direction, and / have taken possession OF
Lobbyist (archly) Well, sir, 1 don't under
stand the meaning Of this strange proceed
| ing. e,.,, wow,
not having settled that "little BILL"
| Iobbyist (recklessly): Why has not my bill
heen handed to me ere this? Whenever yol
want your money, sir, it shall be forthcom
ing.
MIR. B.: That is satisfactory, sir; perfectly
50; and, if convenient, / will take the none!
now.
+ Lobbyist: II will hand youa check il
the morning.
Mr.. b.: Very well; / will allowyou to re
main during the night, but in the morning
will expect immediate payment.
The lobbyist then departed to his room
and Mr.. Balcom at once directed q servant II
keep watch by his door, and by 10 means t.
allow him to escape. The darby took III
his position. Us directed, and the next morn
! ing discovered that his game was making
} preparations for q removal of his camping
ground. This fact he at once communicates
. to the office, whereupon he was ordered t
follow his man, and not, upon any consldera
ton, to leave him unless he had secured tn
money due or check that would be en-
dolSed by some responsible party. In
colored individual then started out on hi
mission Of escort, and after an absence OF tw'
hours returned 10 tilS lOtcl Will titc ioDDfEs'
the latter confessing that he was a "beat Q
the first water and had no money at all
either in possession or expectancy that hi
name was not rs he had registered it, but on
entirely different, and that his residence ii
Buaalo was likewise the result of hYel,
Imagination.
His real name he then gave as H. G. MAR
and his residence, he said, had once beef
Warren, Pa. After this revelation Of delib
4 crate fraud, Mr.. B.tconsidered it his duty Il
have the fellow punished and made an ex
ample of. He accordingly dispatched mes
|senger for an officer, who, arriving, tool
charge Of the delinquent. His next appear
ance in public was at the "justice shop" o
Judge Smell. where he remained NIL Of tn
4 day awaiting the pleasure of ''his Honor"
i After Mr.. Balconi had made statement Q
the case he was told that he might retire. ii
did so, and, returning to the hotel, was yer,
naturally much surprised to find that the lob
/ byist had arrived before him, and was thel
comfortably seated in a chair. In respons
to the bewildered gaze of Mr.. Baleolm b
simply asked for his carpet-bas, which wa