Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-03-24
PETTY THIEVES AT hotels.
They Do Not Consider T1cmselve
Thieves, But They steal a Great Deal

They DO Not Consider Themselves
Thieves, But They stcal a Great Deal,
Nevertheless.
New York Evening Sun.
There is on the counter in the office
of every well-rcgulated hostclry a
square box, in which are kept dozen
necessary things--letter. heads, envel-
opcs, pens, ink, matches, toothpicks,
blank cards, blotters and the like.
No one notices ii twice, yet that self
same box is serious item Of expense to
every well-conducted hotel. 1t is drawn
upon in two ways-by the guest for
whose use it is kept UP and by the man,
the plague Of all hotel keepers, who
lives around the corner, but makes the
hotel his headquarters. This latter
worthy is always spotted by the fact
that he never spends cent in the place,
but takes anything the hotel can be in
duced to give away.
To run the aforesaid little box on the
counter costs any self.respecting hotel
of fair size from $1,000 20 $1,000 II
year. The biggest item in its list is the
paper and envelopes furnished free to
everybody. These are usually ordered
in lots Of 100000 at time, and they
disappear like chaif before the wind
when the deadheads that infest every
public place of entertainment are in
need of stationary
Five hundred envelopes and 1000
sheets of paper is the estimate which a
frequented hotel on Broadway puts on
the daily consumption Of its stationery.
Stamps, in conjunction with these, form
another item of expense. Occasions
arise so times day where the hotel is
obliged to stamp letter for nothing.
II may be guest who has his letter
stamped, and remarks, "I'll owe II to
YOU or a deadbeat, who bustles into
the writing room, helps himself to the
best chair, indites his correspondence,
and, sneaking up to the desk when the
clerks back is turned, leaves his letters
there as if by accident.
They are unstamped and the clerk is
at loss what to do. They may be a
guests who has forgotten them. At any
rate they are stamped and the amount is
charged to profit and loss. Twenty dol.
lars month goes in this way.
Guests always demand clean blotters,
so the beats get them too. The plotting
paper bill for hotel averages $40
monthly. Ink disappears mysteriously
too. II is kept tightly corked and
doesn't evaporatc, but it goes all the
same. Guests and beats alike carry it off
in the little patent bottles in which it is
/ placed TO avoid leakage. So small an
item as ink costs 50 a month.
Even the comparatively insignificant
toothpick costs money. Everybody takes
a handful, and before the month is up
it means 10000 to $1,000 toothpicks.
They will cost $3.50 every month. II a
guest has pocket matchbox he fills it
at the counter. So does the beat. Be-
tween them they carry off SIS worth
monthly. Pens and penholders disap-
| pear at the rate of dozen day. At
five cents each it means 90 cents day
and SIS month.
| So much for the little box on the
| hotel counter. II costs the management
| $l20,50 every month, or about lao
| annually. In smaller hotels this will be
much less; in large ones it will be a trifle
more. The estimate is for an average
tirst-class hotel on Broadway. But this
is not the only waste. Downstairs in
the lavatory the soap and towels are
disappearing and upstairs in the cham
bers the same process is going on. The
people who help the process along are
different from those who only take
what is nomiDally free-they steal.
Anything loose, from cake OF soap TO
a silver ice-pitchcr, is their legitimate
prey.
| All the watching Of the help does no
| good Those little nickel plated affairs
which grind powdered soap into the
soilod palm are not highly successful.
| Country guests don't know how 10 use
them and under the harsh usage Of city
guests they become clogged and re-
ffuse to work. Ore hotel, where S25
worth of soap was stolen monthly, tried
the device, but gave it,up in six weeks,
after numerous complaints and inquiries
us to how the "darned thing worked"
and "Where in tarnation is the soap?"
Towels go in quantities almost'incon-
ceivable. One hotel on Broadway
figures its annual loss in this way at 100
dozen. Al So II dozen the loss is appre-
ciablc. Tides from the chairs and sheets
from the beds so too in large numbers.
One clever man though the had in
vented something TO prevent the waste
of matches in Il hotel. He made the
safety match which could be lighted
only on the box. For awhileit worked.
People didn't take the matches, and the
saving was evident Then instead Of
taking handful of matches as before,
they took the whole box. A few tool,
10 carrying match safes provided with a
coating of the composition on the boxes.
Not long ago person absconuel
from large hotel on Fifth avenue,
leaving behind trunk, big bill and
q mourning host. After while the
trunk was opened. Ii was overlooking
with the ho.e!s stock in trade. ali
stamped with the proprietor's name,
There were any quantity Of knives, forks
and spoons, towels, sheets, pillow cases
napkins and the like. Soon. after the
bill was paid and the trunk taken away
The proprietor never heard any com