The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-04-26
A HOTEL DETECTIVES LIFE.
He Looks Out for Sharks and Tells Guests
of City Sights.
New York Sun.

New York Sun.
A tall, wel.built, and handsome man stood at
the Broadway entrance to the Fifth-avenue Ho-
tel one day last week. He wore a pretty red
flower in the buttonhole of his coat. and his new
spring suit fitted well He seemed rather alb
sentminded until red-faced, loudy-dressed
man passed rapidly through the swinging doors
into the hotel
Then he turned on his heels, and followed
with a long stride. In moment he had over
taken him of the red face. and Familiarity placed
his hand on his shoulder. The man started,
saw who had approached him, and puckered
his lips into whistle
whittier away. Charleyf' asked the first
1--WE just come in to get some tickets for the
Casino" was the reply. 81 knew this would be
good place to get them I'm only in town for
few days.
s.Au right, my boy; but be sure to get out of
here as soon as you have bought your tickets"
IS Then Detective Pryor sat down on settee next
the window and waited for Chicago Charley.
the noted hotel thief. to get his tickets and
leave the hotel A moment later Charley came
back With the tickets and went out.
II am not as busy / used to be, say Ave
years ago." said Mr.. Pryor to friend who came
M and sat beside him. "There was a time
when hotel guests came to me to learn about tn
sights of the city. They wanted to see the ele-
plant, get into gambling houses, to visit the
dives, and all that. The average countryman
wants to see life, by which he means the wicked
sights, when he gets to New York. That is es-
pecially so when he is with friends and the
wives at home. When they started out at
night on tour of the city they paid detective
from $40 to $25 to pilot them around. That isn't
done now any more"
'Why notn
Because there is nothing to see The town
has become moral in comparison to what it
used to be. There is not one dime museum
now to FIVE that existed seven or eight years
ago, and the same is true of gambling houses,
dives and other places where the elephant is
supposed to swing his trunk. During the time
that there was a deadlock in the police board
about the vacant inspectorships, there was a
great deal going on in the city. Police disci-
the dive-keepers and faro dens chance. When
strangers came to New York they visited these
places After the deadlock was over and there
was an inspector in each district severe en-
forcemeut of the laws made amends for the pre-
vious relaxation.
when strangers went around to see the
places they had read about in newspapers, they
found nothing to This dives remained open,
but they were almost correct as Sunday
schools. The only gambling-houses that passed
unscathed by the police were the club houses;
that is, only the regular frequeDters could get
in, and they had private keys. The concert
halls had become desolate th rough the law that
forbade the combination of music and beer, and
the women OF the town were driven to refuge
elsewhere Seeing the elephant went out Of
vogue, and it has never come back"
pryor, come and identify me-" interrupted
gray haired man at this moment.
The detective excused himself. In a few
minutes he returned
There's one of the things am called upon
to do he said; "that mans millionaire but
he wasn't known at the bank. and had to idsn-
tify him before he could get q check for 81, 900
cashed."
A slender, pale-faced man passed up Broad
way, swinging cane.
That's Kid Miller" said Pryor. che is going
to the dogs. He's an opium fend. There are
lots of thieves and confidence men that come
around here. Fellows who give tips on Wall
street and on the races are among the worst
swindlers. They pretend to have inside
formation and worm thousands of dollars out
of their victims Sometimes of course their
tips prove good, but that is by chance,
and the man who believes in them is sure to
lose in the end. They come into the hotel,
single out a prosperouslooking man.. whom
they deem a stranger. and then approach him
boldly. It requires fnesse my part to get
them ont. for sometimes the victim believes in
them. and objects to their being summary dis
nosad Of