Omaha daily bee., 1885-02-20
NO GAME THERE.
The N5Nsf Plan Adopted Ivy Hotel
keepers to Protect Themselves
from Imposition.

of the hotels yester isy to the clerk In
charge.
"What kind of a package was it2' said
the hotel man.
Money llconicllly replied tho
guest.
Have you a check for III"
No.
But gave you cne."
al guess not"
"W.ll, we'll see,' cad the clerk a, he
stepped to the safe and tlok therefrcm
IN envelope 90 the back of which WAS
pasted a ragged slip in ibsd with the
name, or what was left of it, of the
owner.
chs is the package" said the clerk.
land the name ON the alp was w,it;en
by yourself, You observe that the slip
on the envelcps is torn In two. Tho
missing potion | gave you when you lett
the package. Perhaps yoa did not pick
it up, but If we had it here 1t would be
found that the no pieces were originally
one, and you would have no difficulty IN
proving your ownership of the mo1ey.
However, rs | remember you giving inc
the package, | will return 1t to you, but
if | had fo,gottsn the cicumst ,ncs and
you were q stranger | think l would held
on to it for a viii e.
The guest paid his hi aad DEPARTED,
and the report ter who witnessed the affair
sought out an att4che of the house and
asked him When such a novel plan had
becn sdop'ed to prevent sharpers from
mp siug on hotel keep, rs.
at Is not original with u.s." said he,
"but is generally Known among the fra
terui'y. 1t is u sure preventive against
swindling on the p,rs of guests, ard in
all first. class hotels has entirely super
seeded the old brass CHI ok, " c formerly
use. The hotel business is a most pecul.
ar one III many Iespects, ons of whi,h Is
The constant d~eGliYgs we nave W h peo-
pie who are entirely uukuo8n to us, and
who, perhaps, we may never see but
onco. We have scoles of regular cus-
toners, it Is thu, and they always stop
hare wneneycr they coms to Dc'roit, but
the stream of travellers who d. ily arrive
i'll the city are not all business men.
Amon1 the strangers who stop at this
hotel are undoubtedly many tho, if they
can capture q few stray dollars by q slick
trick, will not hesitate 20 do 50, and If
we did not use every possible means to
prevent s~windling we might sometimes
get trippsd up and lose largo sums of
money. The or slip which you saw
> on the envelope Id the best and only sure
3 way We have CT circumventipg any at
8 temp which may be made to twi1 die us
D out Of money psckages which have been
left Ia our charge for safe keeping,
and | will show you why this is the case.
Hardly a day In the Yesr passes but
we are requested by a great r or les,
number of guests TO take charge of their
/ valuables while they remain with us. We
take the articles, ard, wrapping them &C.
!, curely In q package, seal 1t up in the
presence of the owner. Tnis done, he is
? request d to writs his name on a clip of
) laper, which is torn In two in an irregu.
lar manner, one half beipg gwen 10 the
iguest, and tie other poIti II pa,ted on
the package, which is put in the safe.
o When the guest is leaving and asks tc
il have his property returned, he must pro-
duce the slip OF paper we gave him In or
Ter to identify hin self. The piece he
gives us and the pitcs on the package are
then p'acei toge her, and ii they match,
q as they certainly should, he gers his valu'
& ab!es, and we say no more about il. The
t safety ~consists in the fact thst a %swindler,
8 no matter h w cute he may b., can not
e ear a piece of paper 30 hat 1t will cor
8 rttpond with the liece on the Iackage
You might try a million t'mes, but yov
e would fail t. accomplish it, except alter
pstteIn II, and even then it would tax,
is much long r to 20 it than we keep TIL
10 p ,cks , III our possession.
"Mlth the old check system it Is alto
g;ther different, because it Is an cas-!
~ .tfar for O n n nnn RI nnk nnn nf tho hnfn
checks AMI have a dupIica c male, it onl,
y being necessary to have the number OF
the duplicate correspond with that of thu
check in the ssf'. If a guest leaves hi
is monty with III, and we psy 1t out to tn,
al wrong ian that Is our loss, end II wheI
the owner presents his check for tn
n properly we tell him That he ha, it al
ready, he would laugh at US, and If tn
matter wa, tsken into the courts h
would have 20 difficulty in getting judg
a. ment for the sm)unt. So you see
9 tan'v be any too careful in haIdl ng prop
20 er y that oOea II t oelorg to us. Nor
10 e. pecia iy when Our guesls are nesIly al
in stIang, rs
"Have you ever been be,ten out @
= any consider abls amount In the way yo
merit NJ
y, mo, we nave been fortunate IN ths
respect and never have lost a cent upde
Il, either the tras:-che,k or slip system
III But other hotel pIoI r ctoIs have not be
an as lucky IS we have, and thu re srs nun
i. erous instsnces where they favo bee
I'd mulched by guests. A c,se Of this kin
j. hal nsd 1T the st. Nicholas hotel
le New York, ,n'y a shot time Ego, an
- still another at st Louis, Mo. In bot
ne Instances the losses were quite heavy an
ds the hotel proprietors had to make the
good, but IT hey had used the slip racl
ct. as We do, there would have been 4
trouble. You can see for yoUr.e'f no
ais cay 1t Ia TO beat a man who uses III
IRE CHI, OK ryst'm. 1tke tie coat ind HI
d. rome, for instance. Here the Gus ONE
to are 80 numerous, that it keeps The Goa
boy h~ustlipg trJund to att, nd to then
and he taunot remember TIL faces of q
eli III SO who leavs their wearing apparel
on his care, and We cannot use the slips, b.
cause the guests might object to hsvir
~ TIE Innings OF their coats and hats ditiiI
~, urtd and bstmeartd with mucilsge an
d, bits If psper, The boys are Halle
make m'stak,s that the Zip tystsm woul
obyia'e, and 10 Ike tie mtrcny in Il
N Thermometers, fOma meu will az sctn nd
low that they can readily have dup lca'
I'll checks made and ca oture oyercc ats an
.on hand satch els. But III bet IA thousar