Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-27

night at this fashionable gathering place.
often they live in cheap rooms, prepare
their own coffee and rolls for breakfast,
lunch on trihes and have the one respectable
meal OF the day with the world that shrugs
It's shoulders in passing them.
The policing OF a house like this with its
$50 guest chambers, Its accommodation for
1900 guests, its force Of 1000 servants, its
great corridors and stately apartments open
to all, is a problem equal in seriousness to
the protection Of a small city. III classes
foregather here-the man who INDUCES in
excuses and is willing to pay any price to
have his indiscretions overlooked and the
man who believes that because he has paid a
good round sum for his own accommodations
the entire house should be run under the
blue laws Of old New England. To screen
the one and propitiate the other demands
tact. To bar suspicious characters and to
guard the innocent victim Of circumstance
from false accusations would require a
Sherlock Holmes. While each hotel Of this
sort has its we'll organized detective force,
more or less detective instinct develops with
time In every employe about the establish
ment.
An elevator attendant can tell by the
manner in which a person approaches his
car whether he is a guest Of a chance caller
bent on Investigating the house with
curious or evil intentions. The house
guest almost invariably will enter the car
with a certain expression of inquiry on his
face, a shadow Of %hesitancy. The sneak
thief, the man OF woman who has no right
to enter that same car will have an inde-
Enable bravado or effrontery in carriage.
Duty of Detectives
49, - A. r,o-Iar AatocNIva
force is following up the servants when
the latter leave the hotel after the days
work is over. In this way they ascertain
what sort Of home life the help" lead,
where they choose their companions, what
their amusements are, how they spend
their money, and most important Of all
whether they live within their income. 4
surprisingly low percentage OF thefts are
traced to servants, though It has often
been said that crooks get hotel positions
with a keen eye to business. The house
detectives are supposed to keep in touch
with the municipal police department, to
know their rogue gallery and prevent any
possibility Of a man or woman from the
underworld securing a position in the
hotel. The majority OF thefts are traced to
guests, and in some instances are due to
"kleptomania."
There is everything to invite crooks.
Money is spent with prodiga1 band and
Jewels dazzle. The average check for a
meal is $40, and walters who receive a reg
uiar salary OF S25 a month carry away
three times as much in tips. On New
Years night 3.00O people sit down to sup
per, the tables overlooking the dining room
into the corridors. This means that at
least $50, 900 is spent on estables, drink
ables and cigars between Z p. m. and l a.
m. every day.
The Power of Money.
Money will buy almost anything here. A
) guest may telephone to any shop and have
} goods sent on approval. with a shop en-
: ploye in attendance. without stepping from
the house a man may summon. a valet VINO
} will clean, press and tailor his garments.
A barber will come to his room to ad-
5 minister a shave. Stationery, cigars and
| theater tickets will be sent up to him
from the main floor, and q maid will go
down and select the flowers he would
send to his lady fair. 1t is told that a
3 western man OF influence was saved from
a most embarrassing position recently in
this house. He was returning on a windy
night from the theater, wearing the only
= evening suit and high silk hat he had with
= him. In trying to catch his hat, which
= was the victim OF a sudden gust, he slipped
. II IGAl dbu AOlO AHe oAAtn
the hotel a s~artorial wreck. for an electric
= car reached his hat before he did.
Under ordinary circumstances a Broad
r way shop would have come to his rescue
the next morning. but. alas! this hap
pened to be Saturday night, and he had a
q dinner engagement for Sunday evening. AHe
t sent for the hotel valet, who smiled and
: protested. The suit surely was past reno
Q waiting, but there was hope. Upstairs he
9 had many suits unclaimed by men who
L had been called out OF the city unex-
pectedly. And hats? Oh, yes, several OF
them In a fine state of preservation, all
n cleaned, fumlgated and in perfect condi-
ton against Just such an emergency as
o this. II monster did not mind?
r Monsieur did not mind, in fact. he re-
q garded Sue valet and his unclaimed raj
q ment as a gift from tho gods, and the
b salvation OF his dinner engagement. The
matter was arranged quickly and to the
satisfaction OF the valet, for. as before
d remarked In this article, the western men
are considered admirable spenders.
Nowhere in the world can one see a more
10 striking exposition Of the modern CONNER
II cial system, the specialization in work
al the executive mind of the hour at work.
Behind the scenes In this great hosiery
are scores of men and women who do but
II one thing unremittingly, every day in the
year. There is one man who cuts ice into
blocks as 1t comes from the ice plant and
losses it into a puverizer. There are hall
a dozen who polish mirrors from morning
IN until night. There are women who pee
be potatoes ten hours a day. There is one
j. man who does nothing but make and d
Id KEYS, A man is hired to do one thing and
rs do It we'll. 1t is none Of his AFFAIRS wha
W the man on his right or his left is doing
Of His employer prefers that he does not no
be tice his neighbor or aspire to his neigh
IL boris position. There is little or no eivi
service promotion possible in a mammotl
or hotel. and employees are liable to becom,
Mt mere machines. or weRrying Of the monot
Mt ony, they break loose into other lines o
,e' work.
fy