The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-31
THE ART OF SECRET TALK.
Labels Employed by Hotel Keepers
to Show tho Standing Of
Their Guests.
Expressions Used In Stores to
Warn Employees Of Crooked
Characters.
And the Sign Language Understood by the
Great and Growing Army
OF Tramps.

OF Tramps.
Cryptoerahy, or the art Of secret writing.
has been practieed at all times and in all
countries since the day of Cadmus and
probably long before that period by states
men, diplomatists. merchants, distressed
lovers and thieves. while modern tramps
and bsggars have a highly comprehensive
Photographic tongue OF their own, says the
London Telegraph. 1t Ia not 10 generally
known, however, that the labels which the
proprietors Of continental hotels are so
careful to have pasted on to every article
of tho luggage of their guests have been
for some time past made the occasional
medium of occult information rs to the
means, character and disposition of the
guests which is thus transmitted to all
other landlords who are members OF the
label ring. According to the variation OF
the color of the border or the lettering OF
the label itself, tho innkeeper is enabled to
discern whether the guest who seeks
quarters ct his house bears the repute OF
being good, open-handed. not too exigeant
or easily pleased, or whether he is to be re-
Rardsd a. troublesome. arrogant, fussy and
nigaardly. Yet another variation Of the
label may be made to denote that the trav-
eler is "shady"-in other words, that he is
either impecunious or one of the impostors
known a. 'bilks''-in which case he Is to be
avoided altogether. 1t stands to reason
that this highly ingenious scheme could
only be found practicable so long as Rbso-
Lutte secrecy was maintained by the sub
scribers to the ring; but it is snid that the
secret of the travellers label language was
revealed through an ill-conditioned Ger
man hotel pcrticr, who in sheer maleyo-
lence labeled a highly-respectable custo-
mer's trunks as 'shady, > in consequence of
which stigma the wholly innocent tray
eler was refused admittance at a first
rate hotel in the next city where he broke
his journey. He was informed that the
hotel was full, whereas, in truth. there were
plenty of vacant apartments. Shaking the
dust from off his feet on the threshold OF
tho inhospitable hostel, the gentleman
went to another house, which did not be-
4. long TO the label ring, and was made cor
daily welcome. The means by which the
label mystery was solved were sufficiently
curious. Nemesis. logging the footsteps
of the mhlevolent PORTER, caused him to be
discharged, and by the oldest of coinci-
uouCtb IL pUtdlDeu q nIIuuploAA 10 ko
at the very same house where the
Injured was ataying, and making
himself deservedly popular both with
his fellow guests and with the servants. A
spirit of revenge rather than remorse
prompted the cashiered porter to confess
the trick which he had too successfully at
tempted. The traveller forthwith trans
mitted an account of the affair to the local
newspaper, and it ia stated that for this
ki,,,a ~ Ia nut tho oyctan, nf inSuipr Orvrtn-
graphic labels has been discarded by the
German hotel proprietors.
We are not, however, prepared to main
tain that landlords are ethically wrong in
devising among themselves some code of
symbols, signals. or warning signs. by
means of which they can communicate to
each other what they they think or what
they know of the means and general char
actsr of travellers. Some kind of secret
information system has been from time
immemorial made use Of in almost every
trade or. business. Thus, assistants
IN drnpers' and other shops use the express
sion two upon ten" when Il customer of
suspected integrity makes his appearance,
cious manner with the goods submitted to
him or her for approval. The phrase
obviously refers to two eyes upon ten
fingers which can be contracted as a
term of money value to two pun ten.'
When a suspected shoplifter ia under
ooaUl WY INV ian
other If that Two pun ten matter was ever
settled" At once it is known b is
meant, and a careful watch is kept on the
person who is being served. 1t it be not
convenient to exchange spoken words, a
piece of paper is handed to the assistant,
bearing the to HIM significant reminder "sE2
1O.'' SHARP John Orderly" is an analog-
GUS form of warning. The s%hopwalker IN
this case. in a voice loud enough to be gen.
orally heard. would ask, Has MIR. Sharp
c,p,a in vo} 23 sSNc - Ucu1h he tho roplv
"but he is expected every minute" Another
analogue of the monition is to mention the
name of John Orderly;" and this last sig
nal il said to be borrowed from tho vocabu-
wished to curtail the performance
and refill the booth, we're accustomed
to thrust their heads through a crew
ice in the tent and inquire whether
John Orderly was there. At once
the curtain fell and the audience were
of spectators. The only drawback to the
practibility of such secret intelligence
would naturally be the notoriety which the
system in process of time acquire among
the shoplifters themselves; They would
either invent methods of battling the in
genuity of the assistants, OF. directly they
heard the words of warning, they would
make a straight bolt for tho outside and
show this shopman y clean pair OF heels.
Thus, in very large establishments it has
OCCA iS0iAN oAPOAAuhe ~ hSCp aOAo
detectives on the premises; and it is prob
able that most shops, large or small, have
their own mode of private i~ntetcommuioa-
ton between the assistants, founded upon,
but varying in expression from the conven-
tional two pun ten" and SHARP
and "John Orderly" danger signals
which are to be found IN all the
slang dictionaries, and of the meaning of
which it would be idle to assume ignorance
on the part of the criminal classes. 1t has
been the fate of the art Of cryptography
proper to be practioed by the very highest
and the lowehto of humanity; and side by
side with cipher has t1ourished for ages u
complete code of hieroglyphics employed
by rogues md vagabonds to convey useful
information to their allies. The
nomads who wandered over the
country as peddlers Of small wares, or as
downright tramps or mendioants. have not
only a secret language, but a copious sche-
dnle OF private marks and symbols, which
thov inscribe in chalk lines at street
corners, on doorsteps or ratings, or on
houss-steps. BY these marks IRE scored the
successes and the failures Of the begoars