The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-10-26

western train. When he walked in my
assistant, who is as young as used to
pe' was behind the desk here with me
Ihis new arrival with the two grips
was pretty seedy looking, and he
looked as if he had been up against ii
Tor long spell. Fifteen years ago
should probably have sized him up out
OIL the tail of my eye, and then have
told him that we didn't have vacant
room in the house. He walked up to
the desk in kind OF hesitating way
ana said that he wanted medium
sized room, and would take 1t on the
American plan.
Now, his asking for medium-sized
room was all the cue wanted. The
MOTEL beat generally asks for the best
room In the house, or for the best suite,
FOR the matter of that. I gave this
young fellow, who was BIT trembly
and nervous, like man just getting
over whirl-around, the best medium
sized room in the building. When I
asked him if should send to the sta
ton for his baggage, and he replied,
looking kind Of red and shame-faced,
as if afraid of being turned down, that
he didn't have any to send for, my
eN'h7ApSetAi
me dig with his foot, but paid no
attention to that. I rather spread my
self to treat the young chap civilly, and
bossed the bell boys and porters
around good deal on his account be-
fore sending him up to his room, just
TO make him feel comfortable. I kind
o. felt that he was all right, you see
| ana was therefore willing to take
| clanCeS him no
gage, seedy or no seedy
| When he had gone upstairs to his
room, my young assistant looked at me
as II | had gone into paresis.
What's your idea in all this?' says
he. That sharpIl do the house as sure
as shooting. All he's got to do is to
walk out of the door and there YOU are
Wait a WHILE says I; give him
time,' and we said no more about it
just then.
when dinner time came around I
got a note from the seedy guest, L
wish you'd send my meals up to my
room for WHILE the note ran, for I'm
not logged out to show up In the dining
ROOM Am going to be, though, in a
few days, if you can stand for the
wait.
AebtiSl lctiCleu wien UrSI L
clapped eyes on this young chan that
ne amounted to something, and was
only up against temporary game of
hard luck. I showed the note to nv
young assistant
The gall of him. said he.
Il sent the meals up to the seedy
guests room for three or four days-he
hardly went out at all-and had 'em
10 10 a,,&f IL
that the meals were served well.
After he had been here six days the
seedy young fellow went out one morn
ing. He came back at noon, dressed up
to the very limit. He was simply the
swellest-looking young chap under this
roof. He handed me a bundle of ex-
press notices. They were for half
dozen trunks that he had left behind
him in Pittsburg when he embarked on
his big jamboree.
Send down for those for me, will
you, please?' he said. And I'd like a
couple of good-sized rooms with bath.
I'll just settle with you now for the
past week
He pulled out wad as big as a
lions paw, with some very dark-green
ones, marked 10O,' showing all through
1T. I sent down to the express office for
his luggage, gave him the pest rooms in
the house, and when he spread his stuff
out in them 1t knocked my young assis-
tant stiff
1.-TWO days later this ex-seedy young
guests father arrived here. I had
known him for ten years. He was one
of the richest lumber merchants in the
state of Michigan, and he never
stopped anywhere else but at this
house when he came to Washington.
He and the young fellow are here vet,
and guess they spend as much money |
in the house as any other ten guests
put together.
Nov you will say that have con- |
tradicted myself as to the possibility Of |
correctly judging human nature, SIM |
ply because my experience enabled me |
to call the turn in this case, but this |
was a scratch case, the exceptional |
case that proves the rule. If / at |
tempted the Sherlock Holmes method |
on all the strangers who come to this
hotel, the whole outfit would probably |
go under the auctioneer's hammer in
less than six months. / act occasional
ly on the sort of impulse that sporting
people call 'hunch,' but it is random
work at best. The genuine hotel beat
has nowadays gotten his work down to
such a fine point that he simply can't
be spotted until he begins to show his
signals. Trunks, you know, are pretty
cheap in this era, and think the price
Of bricks has not fiuctuated greatly in
recent years. That is the gist of the
whole thing. A couple of weeks board
at a. first-class hotel is a fairly good re-
turn for q five dollar trunk, and this is
the philosophical way the hotel beat !
has of looking at it. We don't run
across him so often of late years as for
merly, but when he does show up he
generally let's us have it good and hard.
1.-THE hotel deadbeat of to-day is Just
rs clever, well-dressed, finished, and in
every way just as presentable as the
man who registers at q hotel 'on the
evel' How then, is he to be distin-
guished from the square man? AS I
nave said, the hotel beat usually asks
sor the best room or rooms in the
house, and he generally assumes a
oompous and mandatory manner, the
better to carry his b1uff out. Well
strangers who are perfectly honest Of
EN-, of course, demand the best we've
got, and they are often, also, pretty
ordly about it, so that If we were to
last the jaundiced eyes Of suspicion |