The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-08
TRICKS OF RUNNERS
HOTEL MEN ARE DIVIDED AS TO
THEIR USEFUL
NESS rs
THEIR WAYS ARE DEVIOUS
Some Steer Unsophisticated Travel
ers Into Fake JeweIry Stores
Young ROotblacks Also
Give Trouble.

The committee on streets of the board
OF aldermen is about to consider q pro-
pcsal to do away with hotel runners at
the union depot. and in this connection
it appears that the hotel men who are
likely to be the most affected by the
change do not entertain anything like
unanimous opinions on the subject They
think there are two sides to the ques-
ton. In the first place many of them
do not deny that the runners are often
engaged in the "bunco' business, in adj
dition to the duties for which they are
paid. Some Of the runners make prac-
tice, it is said, of steering unsophisti-
Gated arrivals to the different Jew
stores, where they are paid commissions
on whatever purchases the green Gus
toners may make. @
Then again, others are actively identi-
fed with what is known as the fake
watch sale trade, and on every haul made
they are literally rewarded by the men
who conduct these traps for the unwary.
Often the runners are impolite and in
sulting toward those they fail to land,
and in various other ways they manage
to make themselves obnoxious to people
coming to the city.
On the other hand. some of the hotel
men employing runners say that the
practice is an absolute necessity with
them. They claim that certain proprie-
tors have brakemen and conductors on in
coming trains practically in their en-
ploy, and for every customer directed
into their place Of business a certain
fixed scale of commission obtains The
brakemen are said to be supplied with
cards of the hotels in question, and on
the back of these they write their names,
and all who reach the hotels with these
cards are regarded as having been guided
nd ha ic
cording to the length of the stay of the
customers. 1t is also claimed that the
eXpressmen who stand right at the en-
trance to the depot do business on the
same basis, and that when they receive
orders to take trunks up town they quiet
ly direct the arrivals to the favored no.
tells and receive the commissions as do
the trainmen. The hackmen, too, are
said to be favoring certain hotels, and
for the same reasons. On this account
the weaker hotels which canvass for
business say that they are at a disad-
vantage, and that their only chance for
securing any business is In the employ
ment of runners. If these solicitors are
abolished they say that the trainmen
eXpressmen and hackmen will continue to
cut into their business in favor of Ger
tain hotels to such an extent that their
business will become improbable.
BOOTBLACKS GIVE TROUBLE.
Another source of annoyance which is
daily becoming more unbearable around
the depot is the organized attempts of
the bootblacks to eXtort double prices
from their customers. The boys are said
to have a well developed system of bull
doing in operation, and their work is
generally successful. The plan is to agree
to shine pair of shoes for 5 cents and
then ask 10 cents The customer natural
ly protests, and then the little rascal
begins to swear and swing his box
threateningly. This is the signal for the
others to approach, and the victim is fol-
lowed and harassed until he is generally
glad to surrender the other nickel Oc-
casiOnally the worm turns, and a few
well directed kicks and cuffs scatters the
youthful blackmailers in all directions.