The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-05-29
DooRN1EN AT THE BANKS.
Most of Them Retired Policemen
Their Chief Duty to Watch Faces.


Their Chief Duty to Watch Faces.
The man in uniform in the bank is
q good deal more. than sign post
From 9 A NJ. until after banking
hours he stands there apparently for
the sole purpose of directing strang-
,ers to the proper windows. But there
Is a good deal more that he does.
That is why at the larger banks
there are few among the doormen
who have not been policemen. Many
of them were sergeants or captains.
The chief duty Of these men is to
watch faces and warn the tellers OF
men they suspect Most of them are
familiar with the faces of the old
crooks and are able to pick out the
new crooks almost instantly.
The knowledge of faces that some
Of these doormen possess is remark
able. A story is told of George H.
Hewitt, who for th;rty-one years has
been the doorman Of the First Ma
tional Bank, New York, which is typ
tcal or ell these men.
A man came in who fifteen years
before had been depositor at the
bank. He had gone to Europe. and
after that lapse of time had come
back with beard and fifteen years
more of life or his shoulders. AS
soon as he entered the bank Hewitt
was there with his greeting, GOOD
morning Mr.. Farr," as though the
man had been away for but a week.
There are probably ter thousand
men who in the course OF a decade
deal with the First National. Hewitt
knows every one Of them.
There is another duty that these
doormen perform. Often during the
course of the day one Of the clerks IS
sent out with large sum of money
to another bank. The doorman al
ways accompanies him to see that 1is
progress through the crowded streets
is not interrupted by some crook
who knows the value Of the roll the
clerk carries with him..
The Oldest bank doorman in New
York Is George H. Hewitt of the
First National Bank. In the old
days the police force stationed men
at many of the larger banks. Hewitt
was one Of these men. He has been
there ever since, now more than thlr-
ty-one years. His partner John Budd'
has been in the employ Of the bank
for six years and before that was on
the police force for many years.
The only police captain in this bus
mess is Francis J. Kear Of the Cen
trol Trust Company. Kear retired
on his pension, bat instead OF living
in idleness is to ae seen every day
watching the faces that enter the
trust company, looking for old ac-
qu4intances in the crooked world.
Another old timer is Christopher
Smith of the Merchants Bank. Smith
had thespost at Broadway and Cham
bers street for eighteen years. There
was not a prominent New Yorker In
the old days that he did not know.
One day President Grant was cross
ing the street there when a truck
came tearing around the corner
Smith grabbed the President just IN
time and saved him from injury. The
General turned to him with humor-
GUS expression on his face and said:
"You are the first man who ever
jerked me around like that"
After that whenever Grant passed
that way he had cigar for the officer
on the post. Smith has tales to tell
of all the men of that day, Arthur,
Tilden, Tweed, Roscoe Cohkling
There is not Judge that. he did not
know, nor mayor.