Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1881-08-31

Excuse me, sir, but have you q
checkY
''Yes, here it is, and the guest passed
out his little brass ticket to the clerk at
the Linden and was soon on his way up
stairs.
1--WE have to insist" said the clerk to
a reporter who was standing by. '1t's
no use. With all my experience 1 can't
tell one of those fellows yet"
'You have met with many desd-beats
in your time?"
"WeIl, should say I had. There
have been very few cases in this house,
principally because everybody is so
closely watched, but at other places
where / have been the work Of this kind
done has been tremendous"
''Whst is the usual lay with hotel
dead beats ?"
"Oh, its as variable as the weather in
Colorado. They try all kinds of games.
A fellow comes in, signs his name in the
register and then appeals to me about
his baggage. Sometimes he even has .
check. 1t has been left somewhere, it
is behind, something is the matter. He
remains day, expresses his disappoint-
ment that his truck has not turned up,
goes out the next morning to look it up,
and we see him no more. Most hotels
now make il q rule that no man without
baggage can stop without paying his
bill in advance. We can generally tell,
however, and We do not draw the rule
too stringently."
'Do you often get left by not drawing
the rule too tight?"
"Oh, yes," the clerk replied, while
another, who was standing near, laughed
long and loudly. ''Before came here
an old gentleman, or rather q id old
seoundrel, took me in nicely. He looked
30 good, and venerable, and noble-hke,
you know. He registered his name, and
then he told me that his son had left
him at New York, expecting to be In st.
Louis as soon as he was, that he ex-
pected him in that night, that he was
unable to get along without Charles
care, and all that kind of thing. After
dinner he cane down to inquire again,
and iIsome way he found out that used
to live down East, and he soon knew all
about me. Well, 1 guess I got kind OF
stuck on the old rooster. He remained
threa days without putting up anything,
and the proprietor began to kick, but l
said, can right, I'll be responsible,
and then he said, "All right" On the
fifth day, the old gentleman, mean the
well, never mind-showed me a tele-
gram from his son dated Chicago, and
asking should he come on. The old
gentleman asked me to write the answer,
which he Immediately sent, telling him
TO come at once. That afternoon the
old man thought he would take walk,
inquired about the Courthouse and
other public buildings here, saIntered
down Fifth street leisurely and was
never seen again. He cost me 1913 20.
'Did You ever near from him?'
'cNo. I never expected to. 1 tele-
graphed the house in Chicago where he
said his son was staying, and l found
that another fellow about his age had
been working the same racket there,
waiting for his father and all that.
They played it fine on both of us, but
the experience is worth the money
lost"
"You are sharper than that now, are
you not?"
'"Well, it don't do to be too smart.
You may make mistakes the other way,
which are twice as bad. The other day
a man, rather dilapidated, came in here.
He had not much taste in dressing-had
shed his collar, and his shirt was by no
means as clean as it ought to be. He
registered, said nothing about check,
and was SAINT up stairs. By and by 1
wrote him q short note and sent it up by
the bell-boy, stating that it was custom
ary with people who had no baggage to
pay their bills beforehand. He told
the boy he would be down presently,
and sure enough down he came. He
excused himself, said he had forgotten
about his checks and handed me over
four of them. Then he asked me if 1
would keep little property for him in
the safe, and of course I said yes. He
began to disgorge, and you bet opened
my eyes. First he hauled out roll Of
Centuries in which there must have
been at least one hundred bills. He
followed this by raking out rolls from
nearly every pocket he had, and then
giving me nearly 81, 900 worth of dia-
monds belonging to his wife to put away
for him. was very much set back.
He never even smiled, never remarked
that he guessed he was good for his
bill, never showed the least signs Of
being angry about my suspicious against
him. If he had gone to the proprietor
and made kick, you see would be in
d. of fix"
"How%
"Well, hotel proprietors are usually
very queer in their ways. Anything
that goes well is all right, and vice
versa. The clerk must shoulder all the
responsibility. II you let a man pass,
deceived by his appearance, and he
bilks you, You are to blame. II on the
other hand you draw the rein too close
and some guest like the one 1 just told
you about gets pinched and mad and
squeals to the proprietor, then you also
catch blazes. So you are on the ten
terhooks all the time"
'1s the old game of loaded carpet
sacks and trunks worked much at pres
ent?"
well, no, although every house gets
a deal of this standard ruse now and
{bap an, clad 70 sav that ~ "a dviu0