The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-07
HIDDEN ON FIRE ESCAPE
QUEER PLACES HOTEL GUESTS
 PUT THEIR vALUABLEs.
Money Put in Boots Which are Set Out to Be Cleaned-Shirt With Stud Stuck Up the Chimney.
 Place.
Chicago Chronicle.

Chicago Chronicle. When they get So bad that they put their diamonds into the toe of an old stocking and tie 1t to a fire escape as a forgetting the place of conceaIment as to report robbery at the hotel office. l feel as though we ought to furnish them with bodyguard for the remainder of their stay in the big city" said Frank Repetto. house detective at the Audito- rum Hotel and Annexes.
 This official, who probably has a wider
 with prominent s people hon fessional and otherwise. than any In America, having been so centrally located for years as to meet the travelling public,
 aaa Ss s1 that s Sss made study of this peculiar trait of those who will disregard the offer of safety furnishedi guests at the hotel !aults.
 To reporter for The Sunday Chronicle Mr. Repette related a number of instances which were rather out of the ordinary. out first calling attention to the sort of | compliments whom he claims give the house detectives and clerks more trouble than all the others combined.
 r. Touched on the Stree..
 They are of the sort who g, out in the evening looking tor a good time.
 % sepeato. % wsiie iese conyersinx nh with iG an mn. known woman on dark street or hall way the contents of their pocketbooks are removed and the pocketbook returned without detection. The victim may even place the wallet under bis pillow when he re.ires at the hotel, which fact will only add to his vehemence the next morning when. in settling his bill, the is sure he was robbed in the night Such money is never refunded by the hotel management. and 1t Is sometimes a dimcult matter to convince the obstinate ones of the manner in which they were robbed. They will make the most positive denials of having met or conversed upon the streets or elsewhere with other than perfect ladies' and are ashamed to admit their weakness in the hands of a clever pickpocket.
 This Is a class that give us an awful
 lot of trouble and ! one of the most most effec, ,, they refuse to assist the police in tracing the pick3ocket. paDel-house or other game in which they lost their money Is to CTS. when fear of publication may open their eyes to the real facts in the matter.
 In cases of this kind that I have fnves- tigated fully rine-tenths-yes. ninety-nine n hundred-are victims of thieves" Valuable Cake of Soap. Of those who really hide their money md valuables in their rooms Mir. Repetto aid that one of the most peculiar cases vas that of woman who registered from New York and who reported the loss of diamond ring valued at A.000. The ring vas described as a magnificent solitaire md the method of concealment was ,nique.
 | Ordinarily the woman sent her jewelry | the hotel office to be put in the safe | 1t night. but as she was sometimes uf- | .ble to do this when alone and after late | eceptions. she had prepared cake of
 cry hard soap, hollowed out in the center nd arranged to dovetatl together so that
 when the ring had been concealed slight.
 lse of the soap in water would conceal robber would hardly expect to find dia-
 londs in such a place of concealment | dded to her sense of security.
 One morning. however, the woman for | got to remove the soap and ring from | he washstand and the chambermaid. ind
 ng the soap to be of poorer quality
 han that furnished by the hotel, re- | moved that containing the ring and sub | jtituted another cake It was not until | some hours after the loss was reported
 that the most valuable cake was found.
 Then began a questioning and hunt
 which lasted until evening. The maid l remembered to have exchanged the cakes l of soap. but what had become of that
 with the ring was a mystery. It was
 finally located in washroom of the
 used the cake during the day without ever
 Made Guest Feel Cheap. | "A case came under my notice recently which has increased my belief that there l Ire people who would mulct hotel propri- | tors through imaginary losses if ocea- | sion was afforded" continued MT. Re- | 2etto. This party was from Detroit and
 ,laimed to have lost a telescope. con | A loss of clothing is sometimes made | good by the hotels. although we could | not learn that the telescope in question | vas ever brought into the hotel. ! a later | guests returned from the Northwest and
 the second morning after arrival here re- | ported the loss of very valuable dia- l mond pin. We searched the room. bed. l bath and carpet without result and 1t | looked as though the pin had actually | been lost, although there was no evidence
 that the hotel management was respon- l sible.
 Finally we moved the guests into an- | other room and began to overhaul the | furliture. particularly the bureau. The l drawers were carefully taken out, all | though the guest reporting the loss de- | clared that the pin had been taken from
 his necktie. which had been hung upon | the projection of mirror. There was l nothing in the drawers, but away back
 under the ledge supporting the lower | drawer was a slight projection and stick 1 ing in this we saw the pin. which made | the guest remove himself.
 | You never saw cheaper-looking indi- | vidual in your life than this man as he
 recovered his stolen pin and it needed | no advice from me upon the necessity or more care of his 'valuables in the fu-
 ture The stone in the pin was paste l and its value about s."
 Money in dis Boots. Day Clerk McHenry at the Victoria tells l good one on a Boston man who con 1 ceaied his money and jewelry in his boots | ani then set his footwear out into the
 hall for the porter to polish and return l in the morning.
 II have heard" said Mir. McHenry. | that at some of the old-fashioned yet l first-class family hotels in Boston the GUS l tom of leaving the footwear in the halls | for the porter Is still in vogue. It has | been discontinued in Chicago, and when l the night watchmin finds such articles l they are sent to the desk to be returned
 to the rooms in the morning. In this l case the boots went into the hotel safe. | We have always thought the owner of l the boots was sober when he retired, particularly as he registered from Bos- | ton. It may have been the reading of Ibsen or something of that sort that
 caused his confusion. Possibly this read