The sun., 1903-09-13
HOTEL CLERK And DSLEu1u, TOO
CLEVER DETECTIVE WORK OFTEN
DONE At THE DESK.
4 sneak Thief Convicted by Blt Ot Wire
-shrewd Reasoniug That saved 4
Fortune for . western Man-One Use
Of the Ability To Rene n,ller Faces.

| finest detectives alive to-day
His companion followed the nod of his
head. and found that it indicated man
making entries on the hotel register,
"Wha;,' spoke up the second man. in
cretlulously, that hotel clerk fine de-
tective?"
That's exactly what l mean" was the
reply. -All hotel clerks are more or lcss
proficient detectives. because it is an un-
changeabe principle of every reputable
hotel in America that every man who writes
his name down in its register is a suspect
until he proves himself Q X. But this
man is the cream Of them all
And then there came out some Of the
clever pieces Of detective work that the
clerk had done.
The first story had to do with benevolent
old man with the look Of a preacher and
a long, flowing white beard of the patr
archal type. This man had been guest
at the hotel q half dozen times before he
came in on this particular occasion and
registered. and the eye of suspicion had
long been withdrawn from him. So when
he asked for a room he was assigned to
one that communicated with that of
regular boarder. and no more was thought
Of the matter
That is, the clerk dismissed the benev-
oIent-ooking guest from his mind until
early the next morning, when the boarder
came rushing mp TO the desk
1--WE been robbed during the night of
500 in cash" he exclaimed, excitedly
IT was in a pocketbook in my trousers.
which were on chair when went To sleep
When felt for the pocketbook this morn
ing when I put on my trousers, which
were folded as had left them. il was
gone"
The clerk hastened TO the room with
the bcarder. He looked at the front door,
it had not been tampered with, and no
one could have got in through the windows.
for neither ledge nor fire escape ran by
them.
Then the clerk went to the commllncat-
ing door and tried it, II opened and
the key, to the certain knowledge Of the
clerk had not been out OF the office for
weeks
Instantly there flashed into the clerks
mind the benevolent old gentleman. But
it couldn't have been that old preacher
he told himself.
Nevertheless, he got down on his hands
and knees and began looking carefully
about the floor. For fifteen minutes he
looked. and ran his hands over the carpet;
then suddenly he Strengthened up
1T was the fellow who slept in this room
last night" he said, as he held up piece
Of wire bent something like 2. with one
line added at the bottom.
The man whose money had been stolen
looked his asst onishment.
"Why?' he asked.
That was the reply. and the clerk
indicated the little piece of wire. is part
Of broken lock-pick that the burglar
left behind him
As quickly as he could the clerk went
down stairs to look for his man, but. az
he feared. the suspect had left in the
night All he could do was TO lock he
little piece of wire in the Office safe, tell
the boarder he was sorry, notify the police
authorities and
few days later the chief detective of
a railroad running into the city walked
up to the hotel clerk
I've traced, a benevolent old chap with
long white beard to this hotel he said
thieves, and we're after him for lifting
our patrons baggage in the waiting room
The clerk told his experience with the
willy patriarch. and the upshot OF the ex-
change Of confidence was that the hotel
and the railroad each offered TO pay half
Of the expenses incurred In running down
the man,
The chase occupied year Then one
day the clerk received word that the thief
had been caught in Philadelphia. Thther
the clerk went and identified the man;
and to the court house he went two weeks
later, and on the witness stand told what
he had found in the room that the prisoner
had occupied on the night Of tho robbery;
and his estmony was corroborated hy
a little piece Of twisted wire and the evil
dence of the robbed man
The little piece Of wire, that only person
who was born detective would have dis
covered and recognized AS being of great
value, did the business. The Jury said
Guilty" without leaving the box. and
the Judge sentenced the benevolent looking
man TO seven years in prison. where he
is now
The same clerk not long ago made
a lifelong friend Of rich lumborman
from Michigan by securing TO him the re-
turn of pocketbook that cont aimed $40, 900
in negot liable paper.
The Westerner. who was in the habit
Of carrying large sums of money on his per
son and thinking nothing about il u, was writ
ing in the hotels writing room, when he
found himself short of paper. Leaving
his things on the table he walked over
to the desk got another supply OF station
cry, and went back 10 his chair. only To
find that his big red pocket book, which he
had thoughtlessly used as a paperwcight,
was missing.
The clerk WAS notified.
My God!" gasped the Westerner; "if
7 don't yet that pocket book back I'm n
goner
When the victim had Gained down some
what the clerk got him to make out a list
Of the papers, and all the banks were noti-
fed to stop payment on them.
Then the clerk began looking for the
| robber BY little quiet inquiry he learned
that man who was habitual "chair
warmer" of the hotel had been loating in
the writing room shortly before he rob-
berry had been reported But now he was
| nowhere in sight
| The clerk went to police headquarters,
| old his 81 oTy and his suspicious, and got
! q man assigned TO loaf about the hotel
| until tho -tiair warmer" ahnlld turn M,