Birmingham state herald., 1897-03-30
RESTAURANT DEAD BEATS Knowledge of Human Nature
 the Best Protection. A NEW YORK RESTAURANT Cashier Discusses Several Kinds of Deadbeats and the Methods by Which They Are
 Sometimes Detected in Time.

Don't you often get cheatedf' the GUS toner asked tho cashier of down town restaurant who had just completed the work of bouncing man who had failed to pay his check.
 "No, not often, said thecashier "Tbat fellow I just put out is the first man who has got the best of me in whole month. I ought to have had him arrested, but it wouldn't have done any good. It would only have been lot of bother to me, and the house couldn t have got it's money. The waiter hadn't any business to walt on him anyway. If had seen him come in, l wouldn't have let him sit down at all "
 "I should think that cheating would be a pretty easy business, |" remarked the cus- toner.
 "Think soP" replied the cashier. "Well, just come in and try it some day. I'll toll you," he went on, eff man does get the best of us, it is for very small amount Now, suppose you come in here and at at one of these tables around here. Tho wait CT asks you what you want If you should order more than 50 cents worth of food, the waiter would go to the head waiter Then he would get tho stuff ordered, while tho head waiter would walk down and size you up. Of course you wouldn't know he was doing it, but he would do 1t just the samo, and if he didn't liko your looks you would be watched from that moment. When you got up, there would be a man handy, and if you tried to bolt out through tho door you would be collar cd so quick that your hair would be on end. If you had tho money about you you'd give up If you didn't, you'd 60 to jail If you sat up in those reserved seats, you might get 7o cents' worth of food in- side of you. The walters at those tables are allowed to serve that much without notifying the head waiter The same proc ess would be followed if you ordered more than tho limit at that end"
 Suppose man came in and ate meal and then discovered that he had left his . money in his other trousers would that excuse go?"
 ''That would all depend" said the cash fer. That's a more CT less common ex- cuse, must say. l cnn size man up who is lying about thing like that When man is honest about it, he is in mighty embarrassing position, and he shows it. : The honest man generally wants to ies-o q watch or a knife or a ring or something else as security. Now, we never ask man to do anything like that here w. imply ask him to leave his name and call and pay the next time he is around. It isn't once 0 month that VIC mako mistake. In sizing 0 man up the size of his check plays an important part. You see, man who eats and then finds he has left his money at tihomo eats tho same kind of meal he is accustomed to pay for. Well, if fellow puts down n check for 50 or 75 cents and he looks like a 25 cent eater, the chances are that he is lying and that he came in sand ate not intending to pay. If mako up my mind he cid that, he goes to jail, because that is the kind of fellow we're looking for. But if he looks like fairly good liver his excuse with that size check would go quicker than it would with 0 small check, because fellows who eat 50 or 55 cents worth at meal don t eat 25 cent meals.
 "You have to take all these things into consideration when man comes up with check and no money The hardest man we ever have to deal with is the man who comes in and sits down at a tablo and aft CT he gets through walks up to the desk and says: I've eaten 25 cents worth of food because was hungry, and l can't pay for it. What are you going to do about itP' Now, the chances are that that man is telling the absolute truth. He was hun gry and desperate, and he came in deliber- ately intending to steal his meal. You don't want to lock such man up He's in hard luck, that's all. You say to him: Why didn't you tell mo this before you sat down? It wasn't necessary for you to steal. Iwould have given it to you, which is the truth. The boss never wants de- serving man turned away hungry, and if a man comes in and tells mo he is hungry and believe him I'll give him good substantial meal, probably more than he would order if he started in to cheat me out of it. But of course VIC don't get any credit for doing thing like that, and nine times out of ten the man who comes up the way this man does I'm talking about he will laugh at you and say: That's all very well to say now that I've got tho meal in me. But if I'd asked you for it you'd have turned me down just az I've been turned down dozen times tonight There's only one thing to dc with man like that. That's to get the biggest man in the place and have him do stunts with him-turn him on his head, bang him about little and then turn him out with a warning. It's 0 great deal better than arreSting him. rtr-
 
 who comes in during the busy part of the day and sits down at one table and eats a big meal and gess check for it and then on the way out drops down, atanother ta- ble and cats 10 oents' worth and gets an other check, which he pays later, destroy , ing the big check-there is nothing to do 7 with except to prosecute. Whenever we get that kind of cheat, we put him in i jail, and then we will spend the price of , 1000 checks prosecuting him. He is a plain thief and probably would bo bur glar or some other high grade criminal if he had the necessary nerve. There's just l one thing that everybody should remem , ber-that it pays to be honest in cheap restaurant. If you arc not honest you arc liable to get your head broken and get [ looked up in the bargain. If you are hon. 2 est, you'll get along all right, money or no money, only don't ever get the idea in your head that cheap restaurant is a charitahlN institution for honest men. for