The times., 1901-05-20
THE HOTEL CROOKS WILES
Some Of the Tricks by Which the
Guests Ars Robbed.
Dangerous to Wear JeweIry at Din
ner and Leave II i'm Ones Room
During BreaLfnst-HOw Keys Are
Secured The House Detective

! The diversity of methods employed by
/ the modern hotel crook are so numerous
! and ingenious that the problem of deal
! ing with this class of criminals presents
new difficulties every day. The greater
! part OF the responsibility of attending to
! guests, such as assigning them to com
| Portable quarters, looking after their bag
| gage, answering all manner of interroga-
| tions. and attending to their wants IN
| general, falls upon the shoulders of the
| clerks behind the desk. who, in turn, rely
upon the bellboy or front" as he is com
monty called, to assist them. The office
| of IA hotel is veritable bureau OF IN
! formation, and woe be to the clerk who in
| spite of the rush of arrivals, or the num-
ber Of individual, bills he may be writing,
does not in face of all such confusion,
prove himself a human encyclopedia, car
rying a smiling countenance warranted to
please the average tired out traveller.
And were this all. one might justly ex-
claim that such a position was no harder
than many others. But there comes to
the hotel a conventional character known
as the hotel crook. In appearance he is
in no wise different from the most dis
tnguisbed guest in the house. His man
ners suggest gentility and refinement. His
attire is not only stylish, but faultless,
and he carries miscellaneous lot of bag
gage, including a trunk. dress-suit case,
leather opera hat box, and, sometimes,
shawl with cane, umbrella, etc, strapped
to the same. OF course, the contents of
these pieces of baggage remain mystery
to those who might be curious.
The hotel clerk does not confront his
newly arrived guest with an x-ray, and
hfa
bricks or books in trunk. as this latest
type of the lawbreaker is merely acting
a part His luggage might be compared
to so much stage property.
The first thing a clever hotel crook does
when he intends stopping at any particu-
lar house is to send himself a supertiuous
number of letters and kilograms in order
that when he arrives at the house he can
enquire for his mail" This may seem
an unnecessary detail but it is one of the
little things which go to strengthen the
prestige of the guest with the clerk. he
even sometimes wires ahead to have
room and bath reserved. When such
character as the one described arrives at
the hotel he registers, calls for mail, and
begs to be Immediately shown to his room.
This is the kind of a guest a clerk sus-
poets the least of being otherwise than
honest. He is polite, brief and consid-
crate, lnaSmuch as he gives little or no
trouble. Let a man register at a hotel
and Immediately, without the slightest
provocation, enter into a lengthy and mo-
nOtonous discourse about his own personal
history, his acquaintance with men of dis
tinction, and the fabulous amount of
money he was once worth; invariably he
creates "a air of suspicion which causes
him to be closely watched.
a clever hotel crook is methodical in
all his operations. Sometimes ii takes
him as much as two days to size up
a house before he starts IN to work. The
one place and time affording the best
opportunity for this task is the main
dining-room at the evening meal 1t fre-
quently occurs that when large amounts
OF valuable jewelry are discovered miss
ing from the room of some guest, the
natural question is asked, How did the
thief manage TO learn that such property
was in the room? Yet the reply is not
only simple, but discloses the keen in
genuity of the thief, who has carefully !
carried out his plans. Some women have
a habit of wearing the bulk Of their |
jewelry at dinner This fact Is quickly |
noted by the crook, and without any
knowledge of the fact. such a guest is |
carefully watched during the entire even
ing This is done in order that the crook |
may learn whether or not the guest de
posits her Vaiuables in the office safe be
fore retiring. Now the better class OF |
people not only consider II vulgar but |
abstain from wearing their JcWelTE al |
breakfast The hotel crook, who is |
familiar with the fads and habits of we'll |
bred people knows this fact, and when |
he sees his victim retire to her room in |
the evening with all her jewels on and |
then notices in the morning that TINS |
same guest comes down to breakfast /
with only a wedding ring on her finger, |
he draws the natural conclusion that the |
blazing gems his eyes had feastsd on the |
night before are in the reom upstairs
How he manages to gain an entrance |
10 this room needs no great amount OF c&- !
,G-r he a
kit of tools for this work. Such obstacles
as chambgrmaids, pass keys, etc, are
easily overcome. and while the unsus-
pccting victim is lingering over the nISL
course. of an elaborate 'deleGncT ana per
haps mapping out a programme OF calls
during the day. the clever thief is set
Ting his bill at the desk and declaring |
without a blush that he has been so well |
treated he shall recommend the house TO
Another and more difficult scheme, for |
II is attended with a greater amount o1
risk is the following method of gaining |
an entrance to room The crook lounges
around the lobby OF a :iotel and watches
for guests who have just come from their
rooms and intend going up the street Tor
a walk or on business. Invariably such
a guest will walk up TO the desk, cast
glance in his box to see whether there
is any mail in il and caTelessly throw his /
key upon the counter. Oftentimes the |
clerk if not waiting upon other guests, |
is busy making out a bill and here IS the
crook 5 golden opportunity. He slowly ap-
proaches the desk, watching his chance |
and lays his newspaper over the Key. This
is done in most uonchalant way, after
which he picks up both paper ana Key
and repairs to the room to look over
whatever may be there, from the contents
IF a trunk TO rummaging through bureau |
Ira Wers.
When the loss of property is discovered |
he clerk declares in all truth that he
has not seen the guest : key, and the
guest in turn Swears that he left the |
same on the counter.
In some hotels that have suffered in this
way a small opening on the counter, over |
which is printed the inscription, Guests |
will please drop their keys here, has
1een adopted a remedy of this trou-
Die, which at least releases the clerk
rom all blame.
The old methods of getting checks
.ashed is rarely accomplished. In cases |
where such requests are made the pro- |
irietor is consulted, and unless he IS per
iOnally acquainted with the guest a pOllte |
'efusal is the result
ares as little about the house detec-
i've as he does about the guests he in
ends TO rob. Such an official. in his
opinion, might just as well be dispensed |
Nth as not In the majority Of cases |
his dignitary divides his time between
hc hotel bar or bunet ana the lobby.
where he reclines, smoking peTfocto and
cading the latest news. Even the ira
lftiouaI night watchman. who makes his
ouuds hourly through tie house. Is more
O be feared than the WOuld-be Slcuth
whose duty ii is to detect impostors and |
,rotect the interest Of those who employ
i'm This fact has become so painfully !
.Dparcnt that in New York City. at the
all the male house de
ectivos have been discharged and women
nployeG IN their places.
Corpornis TnIcc the Third.
tn. Coruorals and the American Stars