Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-10-22
Polite to n Grain Merchant.

| The detective of an uptown hotel
stood in front of the desk picking his
teeth in a leisurely manner and watch
ing stutfy-looking little man who
stood at distance of perhaps twenty
feet talking to famous Wall street
speculator. The speculator's fortune
is rated at ten or twelve millions, and
he is man of power and name in the
community. He seemed rather enter
tanned by the chatter of the stout little
man ut his side. Presently the great
operator nodded agreeably and strolled
away, followed by the cnvious eyes of
| half the men in the corridor. The
other man, whom he had left standing
in his place, looked at his watch care
lessly, sauntered over to one of the
benches and sank down heavily in the
corner. He was a most pretentious-
looking little man. His blonde mus
tache was neatly waxed, his mutton
chop whiskers carefully trimmed, and
his beaver hat was the glossiest of its
kind. He was in evening dress of the
latest mode, wore light gloves and
cream-colored overcoat, and played
dUSClt-lnluuSuly Will oilFCl-toppCu
stick. His legs were crossed, and
his fat face wore most important
scowl. ~ H' 'a'
.'What do you think of himp" said
the detective, with more or less discon-
tent in his voice. HE used to be
clerk in this very hotel, and now he
has the gall to come in here and cut
the old gang dead; or, if he pretends
to notice them, it is with such con-
descending air that man feels
worse after he has been noticed than
he would if he had been ignored. They
say he has cool half million, and it
! would not surprise me if he had, for he
has been flying high. He has a suite
of rooms on Fifth avenue, keeps val
ct, four horses, and a I cart. He's
got a seat in the board, and he has hit
the bulls so heavily that he is known
to every Wall street man in town.
There is great change in him since
he was clerking behind this desk.''
How did he get out of the hotel
businessp" F" '@
'There is big Chicago grain mer-
chant who comes to New York four or
five times year, and he always stops
at this house. He is bluff, easy-go-
ing old snoozer, and, as the clerk was
always very polite to wealthy men,
he soon struck up an acquaintance
with him. One day the clerk asked
for bit Of information on the market,
and the old man gave him pointer on
grain. What do you think the clerk
didp He pawned his diamonds, sold
his repeating rifle, and an interest he
had in billiard table down stairs,
borrowed every cent he could lay his
hands on, and plunged. Through all
his exertions he only managed to get
a few hundreds together, but I'm bless
ed," said the detective, with a sigh,
IF he didn't land winner
HE did not pay back any of the
money until he had made one more
deal under the direction of the old
Chicago grain operator, and he sud-
denly found himself the possessor of
thousands where he formerly had been
almost poor. From that moment he
got to be too big man for the boys,
and he laid himself out to please the
wealthy Wall street men who lounged
into the hotel. They soon got to know
him, and almost before anybody knew
what he was up to he had paid his
debts, retired from the hotel and gone
down into the street. Most hotel
clerks are, by the way, sharp, and some
of them fall into just such good things.
They cultivate the men who can do
them some good, and, as they are not
noted for their modesty in asking fa.
vors, can make their acquaintance val
liable in more ways than one. Agreat
many well-to-do men nowadays were
formerly hotel clerks, but it is singu-
lar fact that none of them like to re-
fer to it. y New York San.