Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-01-22
SpOIiing the spoilers.
49,. IT.

lDeI present system Ol epOllluB is
q pretty clever way of heading of dis
honesty" said the reporter to a sleep
ing car porter who was brushing him.
81 presume it works like a charm2"
"0h, certainly works like a charm.
That is,it costs the company thousands
Of dollars where It saves the company
thousands Of cents. We Just sit still
aud let those fellows get on to us-we
do" aud the sleek mulatto chuckled
audibly as he again applied the brush
10 the reportorial o%yercoat. Every
spotter il known to US the moment he
sets bis foot upon the platform, and
il is seldom one of the bloOdhouuds
has an opportunity to do any spotting.
We tumble to him in a minute, aud
if any stealing took place ordinarily,
it would certainly stop short while
the spotter was in sight
do the porters stand in with the
conductors2"
The porter is the dishonest con-
ductor's best bower. Ii it we're not
for us the spotter system would be, to
some extent, a success"
"How do you help the conductors?
why, we spot the spoilers, so to
speak. We have a way OF marking
every mothers son of them, and that
is how | know that that man l pointed
out to you is a detective. | ahined
his boots a while ago, and discovered
who he was. I've got his bools 10 here
now, aud if you will come in I'll show
you one of them, and you will easily
guess how | know him to be a spOtter.'
The porter led the way to one Of the
apartments OF the car, and picking NJ
one Of the boots held the sole upper.
most, showing three KS cut on the
heel.
That's the way 10 size 'em up
said the nerter With .~sGmphsSi
smile. ut was a close call, and if ]
hadn't shined his boots he might hav,
gone through unobserved. Of courS,
everything would have been all righl
anyway, for my conductor is a square
man, but I like to be onto these fel
lows who pry into our business. LII
a cold day when they get ahead Of the
conductors aud pOrters, | can tell
you"
What do these three Ks on the
heel Of the boot mean2"
Why, that is just the point. II i
a private mark by which | recognize
the man as a spotter. He was proDa-
bly, marked some time ago, and he haI
been wearing those boots around jus
the same, never dreaming that he was
giving himself away right along. |
could not be palmer ii he wore a stal
bearing the word 'spotter'."
How do you find out these men /,
start WITH"
That's easy enough. Do you thinI
we have no friends at all TO tell III
about these thingsl Well, we have
in the company, and outside, too. FoI
iBstanee,a spOtter gets on at st. Louis
or Chicago, or Kansas City, or New
York. Somebody goes to the conduc
tor aud says: You've got a spOtter on
board tonight, watch out Tor aim.
A description is furnished, and | e,
in, and in backing his boots mark on
of the soles OF his boots with my thre
KS. This ends his usefulness as
detective until he buys a new pair o
boots or shoes. That is one way /,
get on to them, but there are others
A conductor sometimes receives a not,
something like this: "A spotter will q
out with you to night. II
is a tall man, with sandy mUstaoh,
and we'll dressed. Yours, J.
The writer is sometimes an employ,
Of the company, aud stands in will
the men. This is not often the case
but, at any rate. we don't have muol
trouble in tumbling to the detectives.