The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-22
In THE HOTEL REGISTERS
Many Secrets Might Be Found Be-
tween Their Covers.

Clerks Exercise Their Discretion in
Allowing Inspections of Back
Eumbers-The Greatest Cnution
Has to Be Used in Many Cases.
1.-THE registers OF the hotels Of this
city" said clerk of one of the promi-
nent Washington caravansaTies yester-
day, contain more secrets than most
people are aware of. The big books
which soI:.c -.nsuspecting persons think
contain only names AID addresses have
furnished as much evidence for quiet
use as any agency in town The reason
that more IS not heard about them is
that those who consult them dread
courtroens and newspaper exposures.
1T is a common thing for a woman
to ask hotel clerk that she be permit
ted to see the register of a certain date
Sometimes she sees it and sometimes
she does not It ali depends upon wheth-
er the clerk is cautious IN cases where
the woman is known to have only the
best motives the books are opened to
her and the clerk viii go to the hotel
vault to get back numbers-in most
cases the enquiry is for back number.
The hotels keep these on hand for sew
eral months. The woman may want TO
verify a date OF get information that
can hurt no one. and if the clerk thinks
that this is the case he is usually will
ing to aid her in her search
But there is another class of infor-
nation hunters, and it is on account OF
these that there are strict rules about
the use OF old registers There are
wives who are looking for knowledge
about their husbands, and once in
while a husband who wants TO know
something about his wife. The latter,
however, is very rare one. The wOn-
an, in nine cases cut of ten, is the en-
quireT- She often binds the clerk to
secrecy, and then asks whether he viii
find If Mr. SO-and-so was at the hotel
on such and such date. IF he thinks
an affirmative answer viii mean trou-
BILE for one who has honored the house
with his patronage it is an easy guess
that the wife gets a negative reply.
Sometimes she is not satisfied with this
and insists upon looking into the book
herself.
Unmarried woman and unmarried
men often ask TO see the registers. The
clerks to whom they apply seldom give
them satisfaction. One Of the best as
sets clerk can have is a good reputa-
ton concerning the care Of those who
have been patrons Of the hotel at which
he IS engaged. Clerks know this. Next
in number to husbands and wives in
search for information are the firms
who are looking up representatives
kilograms for information about JTav-
cling men are cautiously answered. Or
dinarily the enquiry is obviously
prompted by business reasons, and not
in Spirit of espionage, and il receives
a truthful response. The exceptions to
the rule are those cases in which a
clerk who is friend of the traveller has
reason TO suspect that all is not well.
Then the hOu~e is likely to get a reply
that clears its representative.
Private detectives are not eucour-
aged to make use of the old registers.
Clerks believe that the patrons Of the
house should be protected against in
enquiry, ard often private
detectives are denied access 10 old
books unless the men are vouched for
by the ho-el detective Lawyers are
sometimes called upon to loook for
names in the records of hotels, and
they are received in a more friendly
spirit than are the detectives. City de-
tectives seldom make use Of the rec
ords preferring to ask questions Of the
hotel detective, who is usually on good
- ms with them.
Newspaper reporters are another
class OF anxious enqUirers On the look
out for prominent names on the regis
teT-alWayS on the lookout for 4 'stO-
Ty.' They are welcome enQuirers. how
ever, as their use Of the hotel register
only gives the hotel so much free ad-
vertising- The more prominent people
a hotel has. the more frequent its
name Is mentioned in the hotel column
Of the newspapers, and that is free ad-
vertis5ng- Very often interviews are
copied in all the big papers of the coUn-
try. which means great deal to the
hotel.
Hotel men believe that they have a
right 10 deny access TO their registers
at VIII. and that they may treat the
books as they do their private account
books. They consider that permission
to examine the registers is 4 privilege
and that nothing short of a court of
law can compel them 10 open the books
to anyone TO whom access has been de-
MED"