The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-11-25
HOTEL DEADBEATS.
SHARP RAScALS WHO ARE TOO MUCH
FOR THE SHREWDEST CLERKS.

Also Borrow Money-Empty Trunks and
Bogus Packages.
Despite every ~precauti0n taken by
shrewd hotel clerks a large number Of
Persons are constantly engaged i'll sccur-
ing board and lodging by fraud.
1t is usually supposed that when a
guest arrives at a hotel without bag
gage he cannot secure accommoda-
tions unless he pays in advance, but the
tricky "~deadbeat' not only will live
in the hotel free for & week, but in
many cases will secure a loan from the
unsuspecting gentleman behind the desk.
The ''deadbeat' constantly evolves
new tricks to "do up the hotel man,
and it was not many days ago that a
we'll known hotel was defrauded in a
very skillful manner Of a weeks board
and some of the cash in the till. The
''deadbeat" walked into tie hotel lob
by and in a confident manner placed his
name on the register as hailing from
Chicago. He was neatly dressed and
carried a small grip. He informed the
CltIh tuht Ito WCS Il tIdNc1luR LAuu oA
his first trip to the coast.
Travelling men are good customers, SO
the new arrival was assigned to a good
room. He handed two baggage checks
to the clerk and requested that. his
trunks be sent for from the depot. In
an hour or two he inquired why his
baggage had not been eht up to his
room. The porter was sent for and ex-
planned that the transfer company had
not been able to find it. Inquiries were
made by telephone, but the railroad
people could give no information Of the
missing baggage.
well, l am in a nice fix" said the
new guest to the hotel clerk, 'for all
my clothes are in my trunks, and I sup
pose the things have gone astray."
The clerk was very sympathetic, for
a travelling man without his clothes is
indeed to be pitied. The fellow man
aged to borrow $50 to buy some shirts,
collars, ties, etc, and went out Of the
hotel vowing vengeance against the rail
road company. He eve had the hotel
clerk pay for a telegram to Chicago in
quiring at the depot there as to where
the trunks bearing certain numbered
checks had been sent to. The reply came
back that they would look the matter
up, and pending the information the
new guest had a royal good time at the
hotel. In a few days he disappeared,
that they had been neatly swindled by
the means Of two baggage checks which
evidently had been stolen at some time
in Chicago or elsewhere.
Another favorite trick to defraud q
hotel is done by mean of a confederate.
One man will 60 to a first class house
and secure a good room. About the sec
while there the hotel clerk will receive
a telephone message purporting to come
from a we'll known store asking if Mr..
So-and-so desires the goods he ordered
sent up to the hotel. The clerk will nat
urally ask the guest the question, and
he will reply that he desires the goods
sent up. When the package arrives, there
is always $40 to $25 to be paid. The
hotel man is requested by the guest to
~"settle the moun and charge it up in
my bill" 1t does not pay to offend
a guest whose appearance indicates
wealth. SO the money is handed out in
payment. The guest 10Y disappears,
and his trunk is found to be a cheap
one and generally full Of paper, while
the package which has been paid for
by the hotel people is also worthless.
Bogus kilograms and letterheads are
frequently used by "deadbeats" in Or
der to secure a little ready cash until
my money arrives and very often
the scheme works all right, for a hotel
clerk is always afraid Of offending a
guest in these matters, for should he
mistrust an honest man he will injure
the hotels reputation. While most no
tells make it a rule not to cash drafts or
checks or loan money, still very often
the deadbeat" will make them break it.
A scheme which has recently been
worked all over the country was for the
~"deadbeat' to send by express a pack,
age to a hotel in another city. 1t would
be heavily sealed and marked, "Value
5000" and the hotel man, thinking
that it contained jewelry intended fo1
a guest sOon to arrive, would put it in
the safe. In a few days the "deadbeat'
would turn up at the hotel, register and
inquire if a package had arrived fol-
him. He would be told that it was il
the safe, and he would tell them it con,
tanned watches and valuables. The same
night q loan of $50 would be asked for
and the hotel man, remembering thu
valuable package in the safe, would il
nine cases DOT Of ten hand ont the coin
The guest would disappear, and whel
the package was opened it was found t,
be Of no value.
As all accounts in hotels are rendered
weekly it is impossible for dishones
persons to obtain free living for longe
than a week, for they will be requisite,
to pay or vacate.
A man and his wife, by placing a sup
posed jewel case in a hotel safe, man
aged, some time ago, to secure over 81
weeks living in a we'll known hotel il
this city. The landlord, who had see
the woman wearing a quantity of jew
els, naturally supposed they were in tn