The morning call., 1890-07-21
PETTY " BEATS"
Various Devices Employed to
Cheat Caterers.
Retired Lunch Room Man Tells of Many
Tricks to Obtain Meal for Nothing.
The Ceckroach Dodge.

Local restaurant and lunch-room proprie-
tors have not yet found it necessary, as
have their Eastern brethren of the guild,
to organize and form an association for mu-
tual protection from "beats" and sharpers,
who practice all manner of tricks on them
to escape payment for what eatables and
turntables they consume, frequently ex-
pending S. worth of ingenuity and schem-
ing to avoid paying for 10 cents worth of
food.
While this nom banding together against
fTee-foragers is somewhat of a compliment
to local honesty it must not be supposed
that attempts are not made daily to get
something for nothing from the caterers.
The attempts are made frequently, but the
sum total lost by the raids is not Orge
Besides, the proprietOrS are pretty shrewd
themselves, and know the time O. day as
we'll as the next one.
A retired capitalist who, in graduating
from an all-night 10 cent coffee-stand to
full-course French dinner, wine included,
for % cents, archaeological maison, accu-
mulated vast fortune, which he is now
enjoying, gave a CALL reporter few point
ers on beats" and ''sich," and their yari-
Gus little games, the other day.
THE "No CHANGE" RACKET.
ga very effective lay and one much in
favor with the dead beat is the mo
change racket 1t takes a $50 gold piece,
however, to work, with 80 chances in 100
in favor of its success. The only place. to
work this is the small stands that can only
accommodate fifteen or twenty customers.
and where the business is booming all at
once, say between II 80 and / o'clock. The
beat eats 10 or 20-cent lunch, not more,
and hands the proprietor. who is generally
cook, waiter, bottle-washer and general SUI
perintendent all in one, a $50 piece, saying
that is all the money he has, and that his
small change is all gone. He promises,
however, TO come in tomorrow for lunch
and square up both meals at once Sooner
than exhaust all his change on hand, or run
out for more, with q number of customers
hurrylDg him up, the lunch man says all
right and that's the last he sees of the fell
low. This dodge works almost every time,
and know some sick little dudes that hardly
ever miss making it stick, though after
while their range gets eaten down, as it
were, and sometimes they strike million
aire, who Is keeping place simply Tor the
wholesome smell, and then he bursts the
combination of dude and $50 piece quicker'n
wink.
LEFT To HIS HONOR
again some beats enter q lunch place
where no checks are used and where every
thing is left to the honor of the customer.
They gorge themselves up the neck with
six bits or dollars worth of food, watch
busy moment at the counter, lay down
10-cent piece and rafting a little loose
change in their pockets slip out with the
crowd. This is a favorite trick, too,
but is little dangerous, for an incensed
and muscular lunchman when certain he
has been Swindled Will often vent his feel
inUS nv hOOt1uu tna heat ont into the put-
ter.
There is another swindle which, how
ever, is only feasible through the c0nni-.
vance or carelesSness of the waiter. With
the walters aid. If a friend. or perhaps,
for q 10-cent tip, the beat gets 15-cent
check for a 50cent banquet. This is hard
trick to detect and is very frequently prac-
ticed. In this case the beat beats the pro-
prietor out of so per cent Of the total price
at one fell clip on the walters invoice,
which is supposed to be correct. l am not
aware Of many, very many, instances where
a customer if given 50-cent check for
10-cent feed does not object, but pays up
like Prince; or, again, when given, with
out connivance OF the waiter, 10-cent check
for a 50-cent meal that he Invariably asks
for a change 10 be made. In this latter
case TO fleece the proprietor is considered
by many a laudable thing, just as some
people think it perfectly, justifiable to avoid
paying car-fare if possible. The company
A DUPLICATE CHECK.
Then there is the swindler, and he is
generally the more unprlnclpled the richer
he is, who frequents good class of restau-
rants where checks are used until he IS per-
fectly familiar with the checks, has dupli
Gates made and then pays for 81 dinner
with 50-cent check. 1t is risky business
this, but if caught he bluffs it out by laying
the blame on the waiter, and by his re-
spectacle appearance it generally goes,
though | know of one rich business man in
this city who was caught at it and had to
pay up for a years bad debts incurred at
the restaurant by beats to avoid being ar
rested on a charge OF conspiracy.
4" You must also add to the list the fellow
who sits down at the back end OF the res
taurant, eats a 10-cent piece of pie, gets
check for the amount, moves his seat, Or
ders 50-cent meal and pays for both with
the 10-cent check. This requires quick
gulping power, as he must not remain too
long over the second meal for fear Of being
spotted by the cashier.
"There are also the fellows, who, after
going regularly for a few weeks to place,
stand Off the proprietor until Tomorrow
and then avoid the place as If smallpox
was raging there. | have known men to
bait the ground as it We're for weeks to get
two-bit stand off,
A CoCKRoACH.
"These are the the tricks most frequently
played on us. though new ones are con-
tinually being tried and show the vast in
genuity of the beat. There's "a new one
said to be quite popular in the East that
may get here belong long. It's the cock
roach trick. A fellow eats big meal and
then just at the end finds a big cockroach
crawling about his plate. lie calls the
waiter and is just beginning TO give way to
his feelings when the proprietor is called
in, shown the roach and to avoid scene
tells his customer that 1T is all mistake,
very sorry, never mind the BILL all TO avoid
a scene before the other customers and in
iure his trade OF course the beat brought
the roach with him and placed him on his
plate after having eaten all he wanted. III
say one thing, however, in favor of the fair
sex, and that is that they are sguarer than
the men, though they will take all the adj
vantage they can in the way of small checks
for big meals, but they never come in de-
lberately bent on robbing the proprietor as
the men do"
FREE LUNCHES.
Inquiries about beats" at the free
lunch" counters of the saloons around
town were answered to the effect that the
woods were full OF them. At some of
these dispensaries of liquid per1ition ex-
cellent lunches are spread OF soup, several
kinds of meats, vegetables and many little
delcacies for customers of the bar. In the
noontime rush many onslaughls are made
without taking the necessary drink. But
both bar-keepers and lunch-serverS are
very sharp, and if a customer eats without
drinking els bounced in quick order and
rolled into the gutter. liz many cases his
hat is goboled as a prize, and some saloons
have enough head coverings to start a store
with OF course lie may drink without
eating and not fear bouncing.
Some time ago it was proposed to start
kind of n restaurant and lunch-rOOm
rogue's gallery, pictures to be obtained by
SNAP camera shots, but the game was not
quite numerous enough to warrant the
bother aud the matter was dropped.
MILLIONS In LIE.