The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-10-01
BIRDS OF PREY.
The Hangers-0n and aarpies Of Hotels
Who Delude Foolish Wives and Wrong
Ungaspecting Husbands.
who Was the ssSincinnati Blonde" Who
Became a Mother in the Absence of Her
B0sOm's Lord.
New York Mercury.l

Recently Joe started on his own account, and
being thus at liberty to speak freely, his rev
Citations of certain phases of hotel life viii
be read with interest:
THE HOTEL Washers.
ssThere is said he, "a class of men who
hang around hotels whose sole occupation is
to make the acquaintance of those ladies who
are young or rniddle-aged and good-iooking,
and whom they think are likely to become
their victims. These fellows are. as a rule,
men with no specified means of a LIVELIHOOD
some have money enough'to keep them in a
quiet way, but as a rule their means are very
small. They come to the hotel early in the
morning and scan the register, and from the
clerk behind the desk, with whom they have
:, speaking acquaintance, learn who the peo-
pie are whose names are on the list, whether
they are young or middle-aged, etc. This
done, the hanger-on waits about the hotel
until lunch or dinner hour, when he goes to
the dining-room and finds out from the wait
er where Mrs or Miss has her seat at ia
bic. and gets him for trife to place him as
near her as possible. This is all he wants.
Good address and effrontery do the rest, and
before the MEALS over he has managed to
scRAPE AN ACQUAINTANCE.
After this it is plain sailing He calls first
ladies Teception-roofn, and later becomes on
such intimate terms that when he comes he is
shown to her private suite of apartments.
Once having become sufficiently intimate to
be shown to the private apartments of those
he calls upon, the hanger-on loses but little
time in still further increasing his intimacy.
He accompanies the lady on a shopping tour,
or for walk. She, of course feels lonely.
her husband being absent and she stranger
in the city, and jumps eagerly at
the new acquaintance's offer of escort.
Returning from one or other of these
tours, what more natural than that both par
ties take some refreshments? This is the
thin end of the wedge and in few DAYS the
favorite beverage of both the lady and her
new friend are both known to the nattv bar
tender, who mikes the drinks with sly
wink as he asks the waiter to what number
it is to be charged, and gravely hears the an
swer, as the servant planks down a bill,
that these drinks are not to be charged at all
A curious thing in connection with this is
that seldom or ever are the refreshments
thus ordered permitted to be charged in the
hotel bills which the
HUSBAND WILL HAVE TO PAY.
On the contrary, this portion of the hotel
business is a cash one, and the walters are es-
pecially feed so that they keep their mouths
closed Perhaps, though, to the head house
keeper, they will on the third, feurth,or fifth
visit to the bar for the fiavorite liquors of
those they are serving, drop word that
gives the whole thing away, but such conf
dences are like confessions to priest--held
sacred You don't need to be told that the
person who pays for all this is the visited,
not the visitor, nor does it require any great
stretch of the imagination to picture what
follows. All this happens between the hours
of the husbands leaving the hotel and his re-
turn between five or six in the evening, by
which time the friend has taken his depart
ure and madam is found suffering from a
nervous headache something the kind
which prevents her leaving the room. All
that l have said SO far may be considered
as generalities. Now l shall give you few
actual facts about cases of this kind that have
come under my own personal notice. :
LADY FROM NEW ORLEANS.
sWithin the last eight months lady and
gentleman from New Orleans came to a GER
tain hotel here. She was very handsome,
magnifcently formed woman, a Southerner
by birth, while her husband was quiet, cool
Northern born and bred man. They occupied
one of the best suites of apartments in the
hotel, and were evidently extremely wealthy.
The husband was frequently away owing to
DuSlutsS, anu HIS wiz WIZ QiO ilOG appear
to have any friends here, was left great deal
alone One of these people l have been tell
ing you about made her acquaintance. Il
ripened, and after Il week or two he was with
her the greater portion of the day. The
amount OF money that these two spent upon
wines and special lunches and suppers in the
lady's private apartments was something
wonderful and astonished even the hcte
clerks. The way it came so prominently
under notice was this: At first every thing
that was ordered during the day by No
would be paid for After time, though
either the lady began to find her pocket
money running short or grew careless, an(
all orders were charged. Her husband pait
the bills without question, and, of course, i
was nobody's business to tell him what wa
going on in his absence Every thing wen
on smoothly for, / guess, better than tire,
months, when there came
SUDDEN AND MOST UNEXPECTED ENDING
1t came about in this way. The husband
had been out of he city. for two or tire
weeks in Chicago, and was not expected bacl
until 10 days later. His wife consequent,
considered herself perfectly safe and had he
friend with her constantly. One evening, o
rather one afternoon, between and o'clock
who should walk into the hotel but the colonel
returned SO much earlier than expected III
went to the Office, spoke two or three word
to the clerk, and then got into the elevate
and went upstairs. Their apartments wer
on the second floor, and it takes about min
uts to get to them from the office. mentio
this because within two minutes we were a
star led by terrific noise upstairs Proprie
tor. IS, porters, hall-boys, all made fc
the scene. As | ran up the stairs from tn
bar-roosn-we were just at the moment bus
"a maa rushed past the landing at the hea
of the. stairs, followed by man holding
PISTOL IN HIS HAND
and swearing ike the very deuce. Up I
the staircase at the far end of the hall the fis
ure ran; up the stairs followed the pursue
whom l recognized as the colonel. Along
passage and up another staircase, the curiol
crowds of guests and employees following
Snapi an explosion The colonel had fire
but fortunately missed the object. Ere
could fire again some one caugl