The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-11
A CLEVER swINDLE.
Described by Hotel Clerk who Was
the Victim.
From the New orleans PIcayune.

From the New Orleans Picayune.
Talking about thieves" said the hotel
clerk, meditatively chewing the end Of a
pencil, but you never see them to such
advantage as we do"
"How's that?" said the reporter. Most
everybody says we have the inside view
of life"
Everybody is wrong, them"
The reporter knew that the hotel clerk
was hshing for an opening, and so he
kept quiet and waited for him to tell the
story that was sure to come. BY and by
the hotel clerk resumed:
Funniest instance Of attempted thiev-
cry that ever came TO my notice occurred
one night at a hotel of which / was clerk
| was standing behind the counter, when
TWO men stepped up TO 1t and spoke to my
assistant. one was a gambler by the name
of Smith; he was under bonds to appear
before court on a criminal charge. and
| was one of his bondsmen. The other fell
low didn't know. Smith said to my as
sistant that he was a friend of his He
wants to deposit a small sum with YOU
for safe keeping he added; can't YOU ac-
commodate himE Are you a guest? ask
ed the assistant Certainly answered tine
stranger, and he pointed out his name on
tne register. or course no objection could
be raised to taking his valuables, and so
the clerk handed him an envelope into
which the stranger put a very large roll
OF bank notes. l was watching casually
and noted that the outside bill on the roll
the envelope, which could just contain
the bills, and tossed 1t carelessIy to the
assistant, who without glancing at The
packet tossed it into the safe and locked
the door.
Two or three hours later the stran-
ger came in and asked for his money
MY assistant opened the safe and took
out the envelope. Imagine his astonish-
ment TO find it open. The stranger got
very angry when be saw the flap open.
took out his money, counted it, and then
robbed. Some one has stolen the bill /
had wrapped around the outside of the
roll he said. But, sir, it is impossible
/ haven't opened the safe since YOU were
in here last, and no one has been i'm here
except myself protested the clerk Then
you've robbed me of $780, shouted the
stranger. As soon as he said IT, / per
ceived that # was a clever swindle. and
that, although l could not see how the
envelope had been opened, he was trying
to beat the hotel. 50 | stepped up to the
bill was which you had wrapped around
the outside of your roll? / asked "A
hundred-dollar BILL he answered. We'll
sir l answered, there is one way for
you to get it; that is, through the courts
You can sue US, and If you win, we will
II thought that would bluff him off
but 1t didn't, and the next day he brought
suit. Well, II looked as though we would
have to pay the 800, as l was positively
sure that my assistant was right and
not to blame for the loss, though how to
prove that the stranger lied about the
size Of the bill he used as a WRAPPER L
was pretty cure II was a so; he claimed
1t was a 800, and so there we We're Well
one night / met Smith and got him drunk
Then / threatened 10 quit his bond, un-
less he told me how the trick had been
worked. To make a long story short
he was frightened into confessing 1t
seems that the stranger knew that lot
OF bills rolled up very tightly, could be
put into that receptacle and sealed llp
but that the moist glue would not be able
to resist the pressure Of the bills as they
swelled and unrolled inside. 1t would
therefore burst open ia a few minutes
after being sealed up
Did you ever try it?" asked the news
paper man skepticaly.
Certainly We put Smith on the stand
and he told the story. Then we tried the
experiment and it worked TO a charm.
We won our case hands down"
Ever try Il SINGER
NO" said the night clerk sadly
Haven't had the money"