Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-11-14
HOTEL DEADBEATS.
SHARP RAScAiS WHO ARE TOO MUCH
FOR THE SHREWDEST CLERKS.

FOR THE SHRGWDEST CLERKS.
Some of tho Tricks by Which They Obtain
| Accommodations without Paying and
Also Borrow Money-Empty Trunks and
Bogus Packages.
Despite every. precaution taken by
shrewd hotel clerks large number of
persons are constantly engaged in secur-
ing board and lodging by fraud.
1t is usually supposed that when a
guest arrives at q hotel without bag
gage he cannot secure accommoda-
lions unless he pays i'll advance, but the
tricky "deadbeat" not only will live
| IN the hotel free fer q 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
well known hotel was defrauded in a
very sklllful manner of weeks board
and some of the cash in the till The
"deadbeat" walked into the hotel lob
by and in confident manner placed his
name on the register as mailing from
Chicago. He was neatly dressed and
| carried small grip. He informed the
clerk that he was travelling man ON
his first trip to the coast.
Travelling men are good customers, SO
the new arrival was assigned to good
room. He handed two baggage checks
to the clerk ard requested that his
trunks be sent for from the depot. In
an hour or two he inquired why his
baggage had not been sent up to his
room. The porter was sent for and ex-
planned that the transfer company had
not been able to find it. Inquiries We're
made by telephone, but the railroad
people could give no information of the
missing baggage.
well, l an in nice fix" said the
new guest to the hotel clerk, ''for all
my clothes are in my trunks, and sup
pose the things have gone astray.'
The clerk was very sympathetic, for
travelling man without his clothes is
indeed to be pitied. The fellow man
aged to borrow $40 TO buy some shirts,
collars, ties, etc, and went out Of the
hotel vowing vengeance against the rail
road company. He even had the hotel
clerk pay for n 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 royal good time at the
hotel. In few days he Disappeared,
and it then dawned upon the hotel men
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 a
hotel is done by means of confederate.
One man will go to first class house
and secure a good room. About the sec
ond day he will be in the office, and
while there the hotel clerk will receive
a telephone message purporting to come
from a well 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 S25 to be paid The
hotel man is requested by the guest to
settle the amount and charge it up in
my bill" 1t does not pay to offend
guest whose appearance indicates
wealth. SO the money is handed out in
payment. The guest now disappears,
and his trunk is found to be 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 little ready cash until
my money arrives" and very often
the scheme works all right, for a hotel
clerk is always afraid of offending q
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 hotel in another city. 1t would
be heavily sealed and marked, "Value
$780," and the hotel man, thinking
that it contained jewelry intended for
a guest soon to arrive, would put it in
the safe. In few days the "deadbeat''
would turn up at the hotel, register and
inquire if a package had arrived for
him. He would be told that it was in
the safe, and he would tell them it con-
tanned watches and valuables The same
night a loan Of $50 would be asked for,
and the hotel man, remembering the
valuable package in the safe, would in
nine cases out Of ten hand out the coin.
The guest would disappear, and when
the package was opened it was found to
be of no value.
As all accounts in hotels are rendered
weekly it is impossible for dishonest
persons to obtain free living for longer
than week, for they will be requested
to pay or vacate.
a man and his wife, By placing sup
posed jewel case in a hotel safe, man.