, 1885-01-15
AT THE HOTEL DESK.
THE oMNlscIENT FUNcTloNARy IN
AUTHORITY THERE.
The Roles n Hotel Clerk Has to FIJI and
the RnIss He Has TO Follow
Detective and Actor
Case in Point



A hotel clerks daily experience Is like a
leaf from a romance or a police blotter.
Every variety OF people pass under his scru-
tiny. He has 10 discriminate on the instant
between the chnff and the whoat, and deter
mine at a glance whothor the seedy old party
with the sun-browned face Is a millionaire,
or tho natty young swell an impostor. He
must make up his mind without delay II the
aladios" affixed TO the names OF Messr-
Brown, Jones' and Robinson In the register
are really Mrs Brown, Mrs Jones and Mrs.
Robinson He must determine whether the
weighty trunk Is frcighfed with stones or the
light vhllso has anything In Il. he must
learn at once II HCoLH or HGen." or aHon."
So-and-So, who have just como In with a
lack Of baggage, which is only moderately
atoned for by chirographical dash and a fas-
cinnting melody OF athe gnb," are 10 be per
mittsd to remain through the week or are to
be tolerated only on . C. o. d. basis An
these things the hotel clerk must weigh and
pass upon without inquiry or reflection 81
And then, ~thronging upon him. a thousand
other questions hat appeal as directly to his
Judgment and experience. Here are q family
coming down by the elevator who want 70
start right away for Chicago and must know
at once just when and just how they should
70. Tho young man with tho favor in his
b~uttonhols has his new made bride In tho
parlor and Is awaiting a suggestion about
the incest theatre, what Ia played and paid
there, and where Is the best place to SIT Tho
trio OF bluff, loud laughing mortals at the
counter are awaiting n tip on an itinerary OF
the town, and the two youths with tho In
solvent mustaches are inquiring the proper
ingredients for enthusiastically frescoing tho
metropolis In an essentially lurid way.
III addition are a hundred inquiries about
business, finance, the market, differences Of
time, latitude and longitude, the price Of
bonnets and bouquets, tho inadequncy Of
room No. $50 on the upper floor, and tho i'm
paired light OF room 10 on the lower floor,
the absence Of the chambermaid, the inso-
lence Of the boIl-boy, the expansive charges,
the lack Of facilities-all come pouring in
over the counter like a food; but staunch
and all undismayed by tho onset, with his
perpetual smile on his lips and his solitaire
beaming its rofulgence upon the wide
dclugo Of intsrrcgations, the hotel clerk
stands, never overpowered and never dis
concerted. Such a man one could well be-
lievo must have the wide diversity of knowl-
edge possessed by an encyclopedias and the
control OF temper required TO pass with fly
ing coIors through an eight-round glove
fight.
He has 10th.
~Its a part Of the business, - said a down
town hotel clerk to a reporter, Ito getposted
on everything. Most Of US have not a great
deal Of school education. But we read the
papers closely, and, above all, we listen.
Would you believe I'll A big percentage Of
the business of the country is done at the
hotel counter. All sorts meet there-msr-
chants. politicians, professional men Each
has his hobby and nowhere else he ventilates
It more. As "a result, any man with average
ears and ordinary understanding, who is a
hotel clerk long must become educated. He
may not be up on ancient history or the dead
languages, although he has = shy at them
now and then too, but on all subjects that
concern everyday people he has the biggest
opportunities to be well informed"
Hasn't he 10 study human nature closelyf'
AMore than any other class-more than tho
detective or tho actor. II is his constant
study. and indeed he has to play the detec-
tive and the actor moro than you would sup
pose. You see the city Is beset with hotel
beat. The clerk has TO spot them whan they
appear. II they were shabby looking fellows
or had worked tho route before, Of course it
would be easy enough to mark thom aud fire
them as soon as they appear. But hotefbeats
are not that kind Of cattle. They are always
dressed In the best. Sometimes they come
up with a coach and a big show OF finery.
That's the most dangerous kind Those fell
lows will wait for their remittances till you're
cleaned out Of house and home. Well, the
hotel clerks business is to DO eQunl to those
fellows with all their devices and TO penetrato
eyoiy disguise or subterfuge behind which
roguory may hid ITSELF
AMY other detective workf' l3 .
"Of counsel 6potting offenders Guests
wouldn't be comfortable with sneak thieves
In the next room or burglars In the same cor
H. D4A1--.I~-kr 49, ..-uI IAkI - ~.
undesirable In the ladies' parlor and the din
ing room. The hotsi clerk has to single out
professionals of whatever class and bar them
out. Then in spite of precaution thefts
sometimes occur in a hotel Where the
orders are obeyed and the valunbles arc dis
posed In the safe they are rare. But somo-
how you can't get people to carry out these
directions closely. The result Is that some
thing ~disappearL The clerk Is the first to
hear OF H. II there Is a hotel detective in the
house Of course he takes the matter in hand.
II not, the clerk generally has TO do tho de-
tecting, and he has the guests and help and
any outsider that may have strayed in 70
choose from. No easy contract, IA itr'
"No But does be succeed oftenP'
very often. Why. here's q case In point
A travelling ieweler stopped hare onca He
had some trinkets stolen. Search high or
low, they could not be found. Think and
think, no suggestion Of the thief offered IL
self, A couple Of months passed and 1t was
all but forgotten. Ono morning the clerk,
coming into the elevator suddenly, discovered
the boy in charge with his jacket of, sweep
ing the place. He hurried tho garment on,
and the clerk noticed he made haste to cover
a stud in his bosom. Quite swell, that but
ton,' said tho clerk, deliberately opening the
Jacket Yes said the boy; only it's O
faxed stone The clerk saw it. It was a
diamond. That night the boy was in prison
and the jewolsr had identified the diamond
and found tho rest Of the swag In a pawn
brokers'
HYou said the hotel clerk had TO be an
actor as we'll as a detectivef
"And hasn't hei Hasn't he to adapt hi
face to the mood OF every guestsi He must
DO jolly with one, reserved with another,
smiling and aifabls with a third and almooi
lugubrious with a fourth. have known II
necessary In order to dislodge a beat TO play
q downright theatrical part .Oh, lisa great
little world Is n hotel, and the clerk Thereof
plays In it many parts"
Rifles Turned Out