, 1885-03-10

AhA ~ = RArA3Hr n1@a ~
hotel man.
Money, . laconicaiy replied the guest
Have you a check for itri
NO
But ! gave you one"
Il guess not"
well, wen ses,v said the clerk, as be
slapped to the safe and took thsrsfrom an
envelope ON the back Of which was pasted a
ragged slip Inscribed with the name, or what
was left Of IT. OF the owner. r.H.t'
"This Is the package" said the clerk, land
tho name on the slip WA writtenb by yourself.
You observe that the slip on the envelope is
torn in two. The missing portion l gave you
when you left the package Perhaps you
did not pick 1t up. but II we had 1t here it
would be found that the two pieces were
originally one. and you would have no difii-
Guilty in proving your ownership Of the
money. However, Us l remember your Civ
ing me this package. ! will return IL TO you.
but IL I had forgotten the circumstances and
you were a stranger l think ! would hold ON
to II for awhile"
The guest paid his bill and departed, and
the reporter who witnessed the affair sought
out an attachs OF the house and asked him
when such n novel plan had been adopted TO
prevent sharpsrs from imposing on hotel
keepers
ut is not original with u.s. said he, Abut
is generally known among the fraternity.
II is a sure preventive against swindling on
tue part Of the guests, and In all frst-class
hotels has superseded the old brass checks
we formerly used. The hotel business Is a
most peculiar one in many respects, one OF
which is the constant dealings we have with
people who are entirely unknown to us, and
who, perhaps, we may never see but once
We have scores OF regular customers, 1t is
trina and thaW oIuuoUa efon hora UbaunUar
they come TO Detroit. but the stream of
travellers who daily arrive in the city are
not all business men Among the strangers
who stop at this hotel are undoubtedly many
who IL they can capture a few stray dol
lars by a slick trick, will not hes
itata TO do 30, and IL we did not
use every possible means to prevent swim
ding we might sometimes get tripped up
and lose large sums Of money. The paper
sip which you saw on the ~envelops is the
best and only sure way we have Of circum-
venting any attempt which may be made to
swindls us out of money packages which
have been left in our charge for safe-keep-
ing, and / will show you why this is the
case.
Hardly a day in The year passes~but we
are requested by a greater or less number
OF guests to tako charge Of their valuables
while they remain with Us We tako the
articles and, wrapping them securely in a
package seal 1t up in the presence Of the
owner, This done, he is requested to
write his name on a slip of paper, which Is
torn in two in an irregular manner, one
half being given TO the guest and the
other portion pasted ON the package, which
Is put in tho safe When the guest Is lsavin
and asks TO AVE his property returned, h
must produce the slip OF paper We gave hin
in order to identify himself. Tho piece he
gives US ami the piece on the package are
then placed together. and il they match, as
they certainly should. he gets his valuables,
and We say no more about It, Tho safety
consists in the fact that a swindler, no mat
ter how cute he may be, rannot tear a piece
of paper so that it will correspond with the
piece on the package. You might try 1000,
600 times, but you would fail to accomplish
1t, because it cannot be done, except after a
pattern. and even then it would taxa much
longer to do 1t than VIZ keep the packages In
our possession.
with the old cheek system it Is altogether
different, because it II an easy matter fol
anyone to get one OF the hotel checks and
have a duplicate made. it only being necss-
sary TO W. the number Of the duplicate
correspond with that OF the check In the
safe