Evening star., 1902-03-20
THE HOTEL THIEF.
His Operations and Characteristics De-
scribed by q Detective.

scribed by Detective.
'While the bank burglar is accounted the
king among the criminal fraternity. the
professional hotel thief is the slickest," said
the house detective of fashionable up
town hotel.
1T Is my business to keep track of these
polished rascals. and about fifteen Of the
best known hotel thieves have within re-
cent period been caught and put away
that is. they are now safely ensconced with
In prison walls in the different penitentia-
ries. to the benefit of the public at large.
You know. 1t has often been said that
no lock on the door Of a room in a hotel is
proof against the pick Of a professional
hotel thief, or any bolt that he cannot slip.
This Is an error. While he may be able to
pick any lock II he has the time and the tools,
The hotel thief must act quickly or not at
ALL He does not try to work In a hotel
which has Yale locks. as he cannot pick
these, and some OF the modern new locks,
off-hand. and knowing this. he transfers his
usefulness to other fields A single 'tumbler'
lock he can ope. easily with pick but for a
lcck with two or more tumblers he must
have q skeleton. key, and perhaps several
before he finds. one which will do the Job.
AS nervy. as he is, hotel thief does not
want to stand in front of a door In the
hall with half dozen skeleton keys in his
hand. though he carries them in variety.
may be checkmated to great extent What
Is called a double lock- In use In many Of
the larger hotels in the United States. puts
the thief out Of business when he goes up
against 1t. unexpectedly, II the guest
will only: take the precaution to securely
lock his door when he retires. There are
two locks of Identical make placed on the
door. one above the other. the keyhole
opening on the outside in one instance and
on the inside in the other. There is. conse-
quently, no communication between the
lccks. The turning Of the key from the
outside in the ordinary lock- where the key
hole goes clear through the door with
pair OF slender nippers cannot be effected.
nor can the door, locked by the inside lock.
be opened by the thief from the outside, for
there is no outer aperture
THE hotel thief takes desperate chances
is always we'll dressed. and often of fine,
gentlemanly appearance When he unex-
pectedly enters room and finds 1t occu-
pied, his polite, plausible and ever-ready ex-
PLANTATION Of being In the wrong room' ac-
conipanied by his profuse apologies, dispels
doubt as to his true personality with wo-
men in nearly all cases, especially If he be
young and good looking. Men are more sus-
picious, and can tell easier whether a man
Is telling the truth or merely bluflng.
"A professional hotel thief seldom works
haphazard He makes his mark that is
Identifies the person he intends to rob, and
If the latter be q rich miner from the west
the thief banks upon his carrying a heavy
roll Of the long green in his clothes at all
times. and his graft is to get into the vic
Tins room at night when the latter is
asleep and rifle his pockets. If the mark
DO lady who wears at times a profusion
OF diamonds, his graft changes. and it Is to
observe the occasions when she does not
wear her jewels. say. at dinner, effect an
entrance into her room and run the chance
of finding the room unoccupied. and the
diamonds, too, and Of himself being caught
If the lady's maid remains upstairs, and is
foxy enough to get wise at once
Don't believe what Is said about a house
detective being able to spot hotel thief
or sight That's all talk; and If it were
true. there would be few hotel robberies.
They can spot him ii they know him, or
have in their minds good descriptions of
tho more prominent chaps they haven't met
as hotel thief is constantly changing his
makeup There is none of your 'hang-dog,
hard visage' about the hotel thief. IF yoy,
don't know him he is just like any other
Wel-dressed, easy-mannered guest with the
price of his room In his pocket. He couII
not operate s ate, at all II he other
| common criminal do not trot In the same
class with the stylish hotel thief"