The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-05-20
has to be pretty well trained. Taking

| double the number of berths, it may,
however, accommodate considerably
larger number of passengers, as each
berth often is occupied by two persons.
| But the thing most likely to confuse a
| novice in our service is whenever the
| same berth is sold twice during single
night. A passenger, for instance,
| leaves the train shortly after midnight,
and another is directly afterward
| turned into the vacant berth, merely
allowing the porter sufficient time for
changing sheets, etc. In eventualities
of this kind it depends largely upon the
detectives faculty of familiarizing him.
self with the features of each passenger,
and thus at glance observe any change
or augmentation of the total number.
The life railroad detective is not
a very enyiable one, I can assure you.
He is hired on the express condition
that instructions, however repulsive to
his character, must be strictly COM
piled with. Furthermore, he has no
abiding place whatever. The interest
of the service requires a continuous
shifting around with the men from one
road to another in order to reduce as
much as possible the chances of attract
ing suspicion by the conductors and
railroad employees in general. 1t is
thus a usual thing for d spotter to travel
through every State in the Union in the
course of few months, and his work
is really harder than most people would
imagine. Naturally he must assume
different roles to meet any emergency
and throw off suspicion. You find him
posing as land speculator, insurance
agent, merchant, missionary, gambler,
newspaper man Or politician, all ac-
cording to the particular job ON hand
and the character of the section through
which he travels.
''The general course is to assign one
agent to each car, thus checking every
passenger, but the entire registration
must be done mentally. The art con-
sists in evincing the least possible con-
Germ, and the spotter should always
have straight story to tell when he
engages in conversation with other
passengers or pals of the conductor.
At the end of each trip the detective
makes out an elaborate report covering
certain car and sends it to head
quarters, where it is compared with the
conductors balance sheet. The spotter
is frequently instructed to pay cash
fares himself, and the most conclusive
proof is derived by holding out the
tempting bait in such a manner rs to
entrap the conductor. When the evil
dence is found to be of very dam
aging character all formalities are dis
pensed with and his walking papers
served at once. Nevertheless there
are some shrewd conductors who man.
!, age to delude detection in spite of all
vigilance. They possess a sort OF in
tuitive tact through which the presence
of so-called Hawkshaw is revealed.
The conductors, without exception. en-
tertain bitter hatred to the detective
service, and in this age of dynamite as
an agent of redress for supposed griey-
ances it is rather surprising that no at
! tempt has so far been made to blow up
the spotter headquarters. Vengeance
has. though, been executed on several
of our men out in the Territories,
where the public, as rule, is in SYM
pathv with the conductors, and reioices
in the sport of hunting down an awk-
:, ward spotter.
: "a favorite scheme with the con.
i, uuCbOTS Is OCCdSIOudllf W Jul Ii III q Ahi I
I or two in excess of the number really
! collected, for the purpose of creating
. an impression upon the company tha
? the spoilers report is untrustworthy
. at all times Now and then the trair
!, employees suspect an entirely innocen
: person, and it is amusing to behold thu
! puzzled mien of such passenger wher
: he encounters the strange looks be
slowed upon him by conductor ant
!. porter. The mutual interest existins
; between these functionaries tends t.
overcome race prejudice, and conse
. quently they are both on th'
| alert to get on the track o
. their sworn enemies. One way, prac
:. ticed with view to extending a secre
y ~ warning to colleagues on the differen
? lines, is to cut notch in the heel o
2 the supposed spoilers shoes while tn
. porter ostensibly subjects them to
i i first-class shine. identification is b
= this and other devices made quite easy
: and the further use of the shown u
detective is seriously impaired.
s s'The unwary traveller on entering
v palace sleeping-car is likely to becom
4 impressed with the notion that an al
V of distinguished responsibility is per
s vading every visible object alike
5 Whether he may cherish this idea t
= the end of his journey, even in case tn
;s passengers are somewhat mixed, de
n pends largely upon the conductor
r talent to manage each party in defer
d ence to their particular wants. Shad
re individuals, professional gamblers, etc
N are, of course, not permitted to operat
s upon the trains, but smart con ducto
"a can arrange such things to suit a
i parties concerned when he is decentl
II recompensed, and, consequently, yo
,r might make an interesting study in th
+ dubious art of high-staked poker
If YOU happen to drop into the smoking
to saloon OF sleeper after eleven p. m
d. 1.-The professional spotter has to kee
~ an eve on all transactions of this kline
IN and his report affords frequently SON
m very spicy reading. There are, beside
y a number of other duties he is require
e. to perform, such as observing whetht
&c all tickets and checks are properly cal