St. Landry democrat., 1888-12-15
SOME HOTEL HAWKSHAWs.
The Men Who Have Become Indispens'
able to Cur Donifaces.

The Men Who Have BECOME Anoa0pe
able to Cur Bonifaces.
s.Oh, he's a hotel detective, Is neF
Well, what on earth good is @ hotel &C.
tective9 What do hotels want with de-
tectives, anyhow9'
This remark, made In petulant sone'
was uttered in the corridor OF the tioh'
man house the other afternoon 10y
western racn vino was On Visit 10 1sle
metropolis and he'd been looking at the
art treasures Of the cafe. lie eyed III
contenapt1cus way the well dressed little
man. with s,cuch hat, who was lean
ing against Iii. Of trunks near the ele'
vator. A friend showing the western
man the city sights had happened Incl
dentally to point out Detective jacobs az
one of the features Of a big metropolitan
hotel.
Ten minutes later the westel1ler saw
the little detective step up to "eh
dressed man III group OF three WAC
had lust saun,ered into The art gallery:
.'I'il have TO ask you 10 move OIL, SIR
the detective said.
WHO are you?" .growled the man.
angrily, ''what 20 5eu mean ny 's'iA''ls
to me that way2'
Just what / say, and mean ii. v the
little man replied, undaunsed, ''ino
here's who aul, and l know you per"
fecsly WE'LL 49,
The little detective threw open his
coat and showed his gl;ste,ing detective
shield. The we'll dressed man cut short
! his buster instantly, and walked quickly
out into the street.
lie was a local Eurko man, who had
casually dropped into the hotel cafe With
! two out of town crooks, The conTcrsa-
! ton with the little detective was ANNA
ted. but not SO loud that anybody i'll the
! art gallery could understand 1t. The
! Gothamite who was showing the west
erner around knew what was up, though,
and turning to his friend said playtully:
That's some good 4 hotel detective Is.
That was a confidence man that tie
talked to. Maybe he'd have caught on
To Won, If it hadn't been for the deiec-
tive"
1t was en- apt illustration OF ono OF the
duties Of the hotel detective. la Inc
marvellous perfection Of the equipment
OF metropolitan hotel in the list tc"
years tie private detective las come To
be an indispensable detail. ard today
there is not q hotel in lown that enjoys
any select patronage ct all that does ncs
en7DloY Il guardian, who is empowered
TO make arrests if necessity arises. Some
Of the detectives are men specially as
signed from the police force, and whose
salary is guaranteed bS the hotel i'll con-
sideration of the rOGceman's exclusive
service. Often, however. the special
guardians are regular private detectives.
They are men well trained i'll detective
methods, and enjoy the advantage Of i
wide and varied acquaintance with the
faces of metropolitan rascals and the
confidence operators Of the country
Keeping the hotel clear Of this class O!
crooks, however, is only a small part OF the
hotel detectives work. Upon them de
wolves In most cases the supervision Of
the porters and hall boys, and all the
army of help that big Gotham inn has
to employ II e guest loses anything II
the hotel, or outside Of it either, he Il
sent at once TO the hotel detective to con
suit about lis recovery; aud if chamber
maids or porters find articles that have
} been nlislaid or lost, they are expected t
bring them direct to the hotel detective
i, and he, III turn, hands them over to tn
hotel proprietor, or his representative, t.
, be delivered TO lie owner,
!, It is also the detectives duty to PRO
J tee, his employers from the nuinerou
) aud persistent ;,rmy Of pests known q
. tho hotel beat, ard it is cue to the pres
, ence Of detectives in every wei regc!atet
} city hotel, that New York hos ceased Z
be spot where this peculiar gentry Cal
thrive. The petty tllieyery Of guests
valuables has also come to be a rarity
and nowadays the man of means. stop
, Ping at any well regulated New York lo
til, can feel as secure Us il he were t-.lv
cling with private station house OF I'll
. own IN tow. Mere than all, however
, the old time harvest Of victims that Hun
, gry Joe and his PALS used to gather iron
hotel corridors is sll cut OIL.
All this the detective has to 60 for tn
) regular salary, but he has legitimate le!
q,lis;tes. These are the more Or less lit
eral fees that good natured out-ci
, touners, who want to see what the IL
Of big city really Is after dark, pay 70
: straight tips on the places where the Gle
, phant ..cuts up his most aan,boyant an
, startling sl,intiigs." II is worth hand
, some cum to the hotel detective VII
r pilots party Of Strangers through TIA
multitadinous and more or less pictti
, esque maze Of after dark spectacle
9 known to the experienced man abot
|, Town as 1.-The sigass" And there al
: few more experienced men about tow
than your quick witted hotel detective.
New York Sun.