The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-04-20
RESTAURANT CHEATS
KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE THE
BEsT PROTECTION.

Discusses Several Kinds of Dcadbeats
and The Methods by Which They Are
Sometimes Detected In Time.
Don't y0u often cCt cheatcdg' thc Gus
toner asked the cashier of down town
restaurant who had just completed the
work Of louncing man who had failed to
Jay his check
"No, not often " said the cashier "That
fellow just put out is he first man who
has got the best of me in a whole month.
/ ought to have had him arrested but it
wouldn't have done any good. 1t would
only have been lot of bother to me, and
the house couldn't have got its money. The
waiter hadn't any business to wait on
him anyway. If l had seen him come in,
wouldn't have let him sit down at all"
~ should think that cheating would be
n pretty easy business, " remarked the Gus
toner.
"Ihink suI' replied the cashier "Woll,
just come in and try it some day. I'll tell
YOU" he went on, eff II man does get the
best of us, it is for a very small amount
Now, suppose you come in here and sit at
one of these tables around here. The wait
cr asks you what you want If you should
order more than 80 cents worth of food,
the waiter would go to the head waiter
Then he would get the stuff ordered, while
the head waiter would walk down and
size you up. OF course you wouldn't
kEow lie was doing il, but he would do it
just the same, and if he didn't like your
looks you would be watched from that
moment. When you got up, there would
be u man handy, and if you tried to bolt
out through the door you would be collar.
cd so quick that your hair would be on
end. II you had the money about you,
you'd give up. If you didn't, you'd go to
Jail. If you snt up in those reserved seats,
you might get as 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
css would be followed if you ordered more
than the limit at that end"
Suppose u man came in and ate a 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
| Ter. CHATS u more or less common ex-
cusc, must say. can size man up who
is lying about a thing like that When u
man is honest about it, he is in mighty
| embarrassing position, and he shows it.
The honest man generally wants to leave
| n watch or knife or ring or something
else as security. Now, we never ask a man
to do anything like that here. We simply
ask him to leave his name and call and
pay the next time he is around 1t isn't
once month that we make n mistake. In
sizing man up the size of his check plays
an important part. You see, a man who
eats and then finds he has left his money
at home cats the same kind of meal he Is
accustomed to pay for. Well, If fellow
puts down n check for 30 or rs cents and
he looks like Il 20 cent eater, the chances
are that he is lying and that he came in
and ate not intending to pay. If | make
up my minG he did that he goes to Jail,
because that is the kind of fellow were
looking for. But if he looks like IL fairly
good liver his excuse with that size check
would so quicker than it would with a
small check, because fellows who eat so OF
IS cents worth at a meal don't eat 25 cent
meals.
"You have to take all these things into
consideration when u man comes up with
n check and no money. The hardest man
we ever have to deal with is the man who
comes in and sits down at u table and aft
err he gets through walks up to the desk
and says: I've eaten Us cents worth of
food because was hungry, and l can't
pay for it, What are you going to do about
| itY Now, the chances are that that man is
telling the absolute truth. He was hun
CRY 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 me this before you
sat down? 1t wasn't necessary for you to
steal. would have given it to you, which
is the truth. The boss never wants de-
serving man turned away hungry, and il
n man comes in and tells me he is hungry
and L 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 we don't get any
credit for doing II thing like that, and nine
times out of ten the man who comes VI
the way this man does I'm talking about
he will laugh at you and say: That's al
very well to say now that I've got the
meal in me. But if I'd asked you for il
you'd have turned me down just as I've
been turned down dozen times tonight.
There's only one thing to do with mar
like that. That's to get the biggest mar
in the place and have him do stunts with
him-turn him on his head, bang hin
about little and then turn him out witt
IA warning. It's great deal better thar
arrcsting him.
"The ordinary cheat-that is, the mar
who comes in during the busy part of tho
day and sits down at one table and eats q
big meal and gets check for it and then
on the way out drops down at another tn
bic and eats 10 cents worth and gets an
other check, which he pays later, destroy
ing the big chcck-thore is nothing to dc
with except to prosecute. Whenever W.
get that kind of cheat, we put him il
Jail, and then we will spend the price o
1000 checks prosecuting him. He is {
plain thief and probably would be a bur
glar or some other high grade criminal i
he had the necessary nerve There's jus
one thing that everybody should remem
ber-that it pays to be honest in cheaI
restaurant. If you are not honest, you ar,
liable to get your head broken and ge
locked up in the bargain. If you are hon
est, you'll get along all right, money O
no money, only don't ever get the idea il