Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-07
TOUT AND OTHER GRAFTERs
Solicitors of Contributions to Bogus
Charitable Institutions.
LOOKOUT FOR SNEAK THIEVES
The Detective in a Modern Large
Hotel is Kept Busy Showing the
Exits to Undesirable Persons.

| at one of the leading downtown hotels,
| pumped himself into a deep leather chair
| in the luxurious main lobby and began to
| go over the stack of letters which had Just
| been handed to him from his box. He had
not been long immersed in his morning heap
| of mail before a shrewd-eyed, over-dressed
| chap In loud. long tailed cutaway suit of
tweed. edged over in his direction, pulled
| another OF the deep leather chairs along
| side that Of the middle-aged man of bust
ness and began to address him In a low
| tone, but accompanied by many positive
gestures.
me middle-aged man looked up from his
| letters at the over-dressed chap with mani
fest surprise. and then shook his head and
| made several gestures OF depreciation. But
| the shrewd-eyed one was not to be put of,
| He went right ahead with his prepared dis
| course. The middle-aged man looked an
| noyed. He had his hands upon the arms of
| ms cnair, preparatory to getting up and
Ghansing MS seat, when slender nervous
| looking man of fifty SO, with an ex-
tremeiy keen pair of gray eyes and a
| chopped-off reddish mustache walked over
| ana gave the over-dressed chap q slight
| touch on the shoulder. This man was Pat,
| Galligan, one of the best-known hotel de-
| tectiyes in the United States The over
| dressed chap looked up when he felt that
snsht touch on the shoulder, and. at a nod
! over to corner of the lobby with the
| detective, who, with his quiet dress and
| ioQng1nS mannsr. might easily have been
taken for guest of the hotel. But the
oVef-dressed chap, race track tout of the
| sort that array themselves In exceedingly
glad rags and ornament their cravats with
huge diamond horseshoe pins and hang
around hotels in order to hook suckers
knew very Wen that Galligan wasn't guest
| Of the hotel. --.-.--
When they had reached the corner Of the
motel lobby, Gaflgan came to stop. as did
| the oYer-dressed chap.
Thought you knew that gentleman. I
suppose?' said Gallgan, in his ordinary
| The tout glanced over his shoulder out of
one OF the big windows but said nothing
| Suppose you don't play any more around
| here. hey?" said Galligan then. Poor fish
ing plant. this Drill Blow. Don't come
| you in this lobby again. you've got that
| hey2 All right. Beat It."
Beat Hasty Retreat.
The over-dressed tout. without a word
| skunk toward the circular storm door and
| was out on the avenue about eight seconds
| LATER
II have to give the elbow nudge to about
| forty day of that kind while the races
are here explained GaIIigan 1.-THE fly
touts try to work their New York habits
In Washington. They dig up most of their
marks and fall guys around the New YORK
hotels instead of at the tracks But that
don't go here. Keeps me busy spotting
en- The tout that just went out saw
me go up in the elevator a minute or so
ago and he figured that his time for a
busy minute was at hand. But you see,
l was playing the same line of past
performance dope as he was. L knew that
as soon as | got out of sight he'd begin
to cast the fly for live one and SO 1
came right down on the same trip of the
elevator and nailed him with. the goods
3nr't Loo1
once they've been warned. They know that
there's pretty neat vag law here, and
that the possession of q suit of noisy
clothes and a horseshoe stick-pin and q
pair of field-glasses doesn't prevent a won
derful mug from being yagged in little old
Washington If the merchandise Is traced
to him.
ANY hotel that allows these race-track
teuts to lounge around and operate is
bound to be damaged in it's reputation.
Guests. whether they take occasional SHES
at the ponies or not. don't like to be edged
up to by the good-thing distributors with
the oily exteriors and the plausible line of
| exhaust steam, and they complain at the
desk If they're bothered in this way. It's
my business around here to keep Just as
many complaints away from that desk
as I can. A hotel detective is bound to
| feel If he's been soldering on his fob
when guest complains at the desk about
any sort of annoyance In the lobby.
Il know the faces of about all OF the
professional touts, old and new-no credit
I l.
ing the coming and going of the turf bunch
here and in Saratoga and In New York for
| more than a quarter of a century. No. l
never mistake regular responsible fol-
lower of the pony game for a tout. The
answers easy. The regular turfman of re-
pute doesn't try to cuddle himself into the
graces OF strangers in a hotel lobby, The
on-the-level horsy chap is pretty nigh al
ways a reserved individual, who hasn't
great deal to. say even to the people he has
Known for years.
Grafter's Busy Season.
'.I suppose that during the sessions of
Congress more grafters try to do business
around the hotel Hobbies of Washington
than in any other city In the country. Of
late years the 'phonies' with large deals
under their honnets have ben coming to
Washington in shoals for the purpose OF
trying to swing the awake ones with heavy
bank wads who gravitate toward Wash
ington, where it is during the winter
months And a good many of the grafters
register in state, taking sumptuous suites
at the very hotels that they have 1t In
mind to work. 1t isn't SO easy to deal
with these grafters who are guests of the
house, but there are ways and methods
of giving them the congo conversation, all
the same. We've got sort OF exchange
system working A few weeks ago. for
example, the hotel detective of one OF the
big hyphenated dumps Ii New York wrote
me little note informing me that q GER
tain purveyor of paony' Mexican gold
mine stock had just been bilged out of
the New York hotel. and that this 'phony'
had headed for Washington and would
probably put UP at this house.
HE came along all right a day or so
later and put up here IN style. He was
one OF those hghtning-ehange artists with
the clothes thing, and had rainent for all
occasions. He swiraed around the lobby
In long-tailed frocks and swallow-taiied tu-
MICS for three or four days and nights he
fore he figured that his samples We're ready
to show, and then he'd got his marks Sc
leeted and began on them with the plansi-
BILE buzz-buzz. 1 have to have the au-
thority of the house. of course, before
can give the opening nudge to a guest, and
/ had the houses authority in this case
He was showing a very reluctant rich
man from Keokuk or some such plaes
piece of quartz mined in the Tonopah coul,-
try as a sample OF his Mexican gilt stnff
when / told him that the manager of the
house desired his company for @ few min
utes. The manager told him ALI IN a few
sharp words, and It was up TO to do
the rest. The fake gold-rnining purveyor
of cute worthless certificates was out of
the house within the half hour. He funnel
at me on his way out that he was going
to sue the house for 100000 GOO, or some
:. %,