The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-12-29
HOTEL. hAWKsAAWS.
The Men Who Havc BECOME fndiapcnsa-
Ii, IN. Ih..uif

J Nell, Wnat goOu on curln Is u nOUei
detectivcp What do hotels want with
detectives, anyhow?n
This remark, made in petulant
tone. was uttered in the corridor of the
Hoffman House the other afternoon by
q Western man, who was on a visit TO
the metropolis, and had been looking
at the art treasures of the cafe. He
eyed in u contemptuous way the we'll
dressed little man, with II slouch hat,
who was leaning against pile of trunks
the Western man the city sights had
happened incidentally to point out
Detective Jacobs as one of the features
of big metropolitan hotel.
Ten minutes later the Westerner saw
the little detective step up to u we'll
dressed man in a group of three who
had just sauntered into the art gallery.
"I'll have to ask you to move on,
sir" the detective said.
"Who the deuce are you?" growled
the man, angrily. "What do you mean,
hang you, by talking to me that wayP"
"Just what say, and mean it,"
the little man repliod, undaunted,
land here's who | am, and l know
you perfectly we'll"
The little detective threw open his
coat and showed his glistening de-
tective shield. The well-dressed man
cut short his bluster instantly, and
walked quickly out into the street.
He was local bunl1o man, who had
casually dropped into the hotel cafe
with two out-of-town crooks. The
conversation with the little detective
was animated, but not so loud that
any body in the art gallery could un-
derstand it. The Gothamite who was
showing the Westerner around knew
what was up. though, and turning to
his friend said, playfully:
That's some good u hotel detective
is. That was a confidence man that
he talked to. May be he'd have
caught on TO you if it hadn't been for
the detective"
1t was an apt illustration of one Of
the duties of the hotel detective. In
the marvellous perfection of the equip
ment of metropolitan hotel in the
last few years the private detective
has come to be an indispensable de-
tail, and to-day there is not hotel in
town that enjoys any select patronage
at all that does not employ guardian,
who is empowered TO make arrests if
necessity arises. Some of the detect
ives are men especially assigned from
the police force, and whose salary is
guaranteed by the motel in considera-
tion of the policeman's exclusive serv-
ice. Often, however, the special |
guardians are regular private detect |
ives. They are men well trained in
detective methods. and enjoy the adj
venture of wide and varied acquaint-
ance with the faces OF metropolitan |
rascals and the confidence operators OF
the country.
Keeping the hotel clear of this class
Of crooks, however, is only a small .
part of the hotel detectives work.
Upon them devolves in most cases the
supervision of the porters and hall
boys, and all the army OF help that
big Gotham inn has TO employ. If a
guest loses any thing in the hotel, or
outside of it, either, he is sent at once
to the hotel detective TO consult about
its recovery; and if chambermaids or
porters find articles that have been
mislaid or lost, they are expected to
bring them direct TO the hotel detective,
and he, in turn, hands them over TO
-he hotel proprietor, or his represents
tive, to be delivered to the owner.
1t is also the detectives duty to pro-
tect his employers from the numerous
and persistent army Of pests known as
the hotel beat, and ii is due to the pres
ence OF detectives, in every well-regu-
lated city hotel, that New Yorkohas
ceased to be spot where this peculiar
gentry can thrive. The petty thievery
Of guests vaiuables has also come to
be a rarity, and nowadays the man of
means, stopping at any well-regulated
hotel, can feel as secure as If he were |
with private station-house
Of his own in tow. More than all, how
ever, the old-time harvest of victims
that Hungry Joe and his pals used to
gather from hotel corridors is all cut
off.
All this the detective has to do for
the regular salary, but he has legit-
innate perquisites, These are the
more or less liberal fees that good
natured out-of-towners, who want to
see what the life of big city really is
after dark, pay for straight tips on the
places where the elephant "cuts up
his most fiamboyant and startling
1t is worth handsome
sum to the hotel detective who pilots
. party of strangers through the
and more or less pict-
lresque maze OF after-dark spectacles
Known to the experienced man about
own as "The Sights" And there are
lew more experienced men about town
han your quick -witted hotel detective.
NJ T. Sun.