The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-06-08
VARIOUS SCHEMES OF Willy
GRAFTERS OF THEIR MEALS

A man who has managed several
popular restaurants in New York lin
gered over his cheese and coffee and
talked about the arts of the willy meal
CRATER
The man who expects to make
money in the New York restaurant
game will find that, just as important
as artistic surroundings, a capable
chef and that indefnable atmosphere
of prosperity and good fellowship
which the New Yorker demands, is q
member of his staff who can spot and
outwt a meal CRATER And the smart
er his establishment. the greater the
need for cannon. AS the result of my
first few seasons in the business
have an interesting collection Of
worthless checks, some of them sign
ed by men whose names you would
recognize instantly. and no end of
'phony' jewelry. Today it takes
smooth one to get past me.
only the other day one of my keen
est captains let a CRATER turn a clever
trick. 1t happened during the luncheon,
hour on a day when our most popular
room was crowded with men and wo-
men. At table near the door sat a
couple who had nearly finished an
n1 Ia n l.,
and wine. Suddenly they fell into a
dispute, not noisy, but just keen
enough to attract the attention of
neighbors and walters.
Apparently the discussion put an
end to their desire to eat. They
merely toyed with their dessert. Final
ly the woman leaned across the table
said something in a cutting undertone,
rose abruptly, grabbed her furs and
almost ran from the room.
The man looked after her blankly,
then dropped his head. Everybody in
the vicinity, including my worthy cap
tain, turned sympathetic. Any one
hates a woman to make a scene in
public.
For a few minutes the chap sat per-
fectly still, one hand in his pocket, the
) other turning the menu card over and
over. Then an expression of deter
mination settled on his face. He pull
ed himself together sprang to his feet,
squared his shoulders, and moved
swiftly toward the door Some of my
regular patrons told me later that then
and there they laid wagers as to
whether he would bring her back or
send her packing in a cab.
NOW, in my cafe, one waiter serves
two, If not three tables. The boy
who had been serving this couple had
gone to the kitchen to fill another
order, before bringing their finger
bowls and check. On his return the
vacant table struck terror to his soul
A waiter who lets a CRATER get the
best of him loses the amount of the
check. This boy fairly flung himself
at the captain, who woke up to the
hideous financial possibilities of the
situation. Both of them dashed into
the corridor, only to learn that the
man had checked his hat on the floor
below, had redeemed it with nickel
and had vanished. A clever bit of act
ing by those two had earned them an
eight-seventy-five luncheon for five
cents.
Then one evening a man whom al
J most any New Yorker would tag as a
substantial out-of-town business man
with money to burn on Manhattan
friends, entertained three good-lookin9
! women at my expense. They were
! all in evening cothes, apparently
bound for the play after dinner. The
check ran a trife over $50, and the
man offered the waiter in settlement q
7 hundred-dollar bill. Just as he laid il
( on the silver tray he bent over and
! glanced at it sharply.
By jove,' he said to one of his
guests. believe some one has giver
me a counterfeit
"The quartet studied it with inter
est, the waiter looking over the mans
shoulder. Then the host arose anC
3 said he would see what the cashier
thought about it. I happened to b,
3 standing at the desk, and we all eX
D amined the bill
4 Sure enough it was counterfeit
5 and mighty good one. The mai
; opened his wallet and found five
dollar bill, In his pocket there wa
some small change. He seemed NOR
y embarrassed over the situation tina
troubled over the loss of hundre
dollars, which in itself should hav
aroused my suspicion.
But he bore every earmark Of tn
substantial out-of-toWn business MAJ