The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1885-08-28
POLITE 70 a MERCHANT.
Hotel Clerk Who Improved His Oppof
tunlty-Now He Cuts the Old Gang.

Hotel Clerk Who Improved His Oppor
tunity-Now He Cuts the Old Gang.
The detective of an uptown hote
stood in front of the desk picking hi.
teeth in leisurely manner and watch.
ing stufy-looking little man who
stood at distance of perhaps twenty
feet talking to q famous Wall street
speculator. The speculator' 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 at his side. Presently the great
operator nodded n; .reeably and strolled
away, followed b, the envious 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 most pretent'ous
looking little man. His blonde mus
tache was neatly waxed. his mutton
chop VIII skers 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
absent-mindedly with silver-topped
stick. His legs were crossed. and his
fat face wore a most important scowl.
what do you think of him?n asked
the detective. with more or less discon-
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 condescending
air that man feels worse after he has
been noticed than he would if he had
been ignored. They say he has cool
half a million, and it would not sur
prise me if he had, for he has been fly
ing high. He has suite of rooms on
Fifth avenue, keeps valet. four horses
and q 7 cart. He's got a seat in the
board. and he has hit the bulls so heav-
lily that he is known to every Wall
street man in the town. There is a
great change in him since he was clerk
ing behind this desk
How did he get out of the hotel
business?'
There is big Chicago grain mer-
chant who comes to New York four or
five times q year. and he always stops
at this house. He is bluff, easy-going
old snoozer, and, as the clerk was al
ways very polite to wealthy men, he
soon struck up an acquaintance with
him. One day the clerk asked for a
bit of information on the market, and
the old man gave him a pointer on
grain. What do you think the clerk
did? He pawned his diamonds,
sold his repeating rifle and an in
terest he had in billiard table down
stairs. borrowed every cent he could
lay his hands on. and plunged. Through
all his exertion he only managed to
get few hundreds together. but I'm
blessed" said the detective, with a
sigh. IF he d dn't land winner.
He did not pay back any of the
money until he had made one moro
deal under the direction of the old Chi
cago grain operator, and he suddenly
found himself the possessor of thou
sands where he formerly had been al
most poor. From that moment he got
| to be too big q 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. re-
| tired 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 favors, can
make their acquaintance valuable in
more ways than one. A great many
well-to-do men nowadays were former
lyhotel clerks, but it is q singular fact
that none of them like to refer to it =
IN Y sam.