davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22
Must and the Persons Stopping and Be Ready
- for

against the rules of the hotel, you know.
There was nothing for ME to do but
drag her TO court. There the MagiS-
trate fined her five dollars. OF course
she didn't have it. 1t hurt me more than
can tell you to see that charming, re-
fined woman hustled off 10 spend five days
among the scum on the island. l felt sort
Of personal responsibility for it all. /
never have quite gotten over that feeling"
More than once the detective sees him
self close to death. Take, for instance, the
time when Mrs. Maignen, a little French
woman, came from her hume in Phila-
delphia and put up at the Waldorf.
Her first afternoon she spent shopping
on Fifth avenue. The surprise of the
clerk at the Waldorf desk can hardly be
described when messengers from two OF
the city's biggest jewelry houses came I'D
with bundles of jewelry for Mrs. Maigneu
and politely stated that the, young woman
had promised to leave 100000 in all at
the desk TO pay for them.
The jewelry was sent back to the stores.
Smith was sent to Mrs. Maignen's room.
She let him in quietly enough, locked the
door, then swung upon him suddenly with
pistol in either hand.
You wretch" she cried at him. how
dare you invade my room: No apology
will be accepted. / shall deal with you
myself, and with these" branishins the
little guns.
Il bade this world goodby in that feet
ing moment when l saw those two re-
volvers trained on my chest" Smith told
me. Il could see that she was stark mad
and wouldn't hesitate at anything.
She told me she would ire when she
had counted three. Frankly, was never
more scared In my life. She counted.
One, two, and then the catch on one of the
window shades providentially came loose
and the shade went up with a great clat-
ter. For an instant it distracted her at
tention from me. In that instant had
leaped upon her and wrenched the pistol
from her.
"Phew! but that was a close call. 1t
sends the cold beads out on my forehead
every time 1 think of it. In an hour she
was in the insane pavilion at Bellevue.
But for the rest of that day was weak as
a limp rag" -.
The shrewd business man from out of
town who believes that he is worldly wise
enough to foil any ''con man" who might
decide to choose him as a victim is one of
the detectives cares.
The shrewder they are at home the
easier they fall down here" u an axiom.
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22
Manv and Various Duties Has the Hotel Detectipe--

Another call for the full Smith force
was sent out during the recent defunct
walters strike. The striking walters, for
the most part, in spite of the exhortatiOnS
of their leaders and their avowal Of pur-
pose to conduct peaceful STRIKE could
not be held in leash after the first week
or so of idleness. They were primed for
trouble. They tried to win admission TO
the hotels where they had lately worked
and either induce the strike breaking
walters to quit their jobs or else make
things so unpleasant for the people in the
hotels that they would demand of the man
agers an acquiescence to the strikers
demands.
Smith and the other hotel detectives
surrounded the hotels with their men.
They placed detectives at every stairway
and at the entrance to every dining room,
and the walters not only did not pass the
various portals, but they were unable to
cause any serious annoyance to the people
living in the hotels. The fact that the
strike is now broken is an eloquent testi-
monial to the efficiency of the protectors
of the hotels.
The hotel detective is often a valuable
adjunct to the police. 1t was the arrest
and subsequent Identification by Smith of
thief in the Waldorf that, shortly after
ward, induced the New York police force
to adopt the finger print system now uni
versally in vogue.
Henry Johnson-the thieFs name-was
seen prowling about the hotel. He was
an Englishman. He aroused Smiths
suspicious. He gave orders that the man
be followed.
The next day Smith was informed that
johnson was wandering about the cor
ridors on the upper floors. The arrest
followed quickly. In Johnsons room in
Hudson street pawn tickets. were found
representing jewelry belonging to Lady
Gilbert Parker and other women stopping
in the hotel
Somewhere in the back of my head I
seemed to remember the man." Smith ex-
planned the event to me. Il knew about
the way they took finger prints on the
other side. So I tried it on this man.
The prints I sent to Scotland Yard. Soon
there came back duplicate set of finger
prints. By this means we learned that
our man was a renowned hotel crook in
England before ever he came to America"
The hotel detective doesn't always do
things to his liking. Smith had a case
once where he did his duty by the hotel,
but it hurt.
Afs, Guesselli Jack. beautiful Rou-
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

You take the choice" says the Yale
captain courteously to the Princeton cap
tain.
Heads, then," says the Princeton cap
tain as the coin is turning in the air.
It's heads. gentlemen" Announces the
referee as he bends forward and looks at
the coin on the ground. I'VE will kick
off if such is the case" the Princeton cap
tain decides.
The teams line up for the start of the
game and one of the Princeton players
it doesn't matter which, but usually the
fellow who can put the most steam" into
a kick from placement-kicks the ball
from the forty-yard line on his side-it
used to be from the centre of the feld-as
far as he can into Yale territory.
A Yale player catches the ball on Yale's
10-yard line. He starts forward at top
speed for the Princeton side of the field.
His fellow players get around him and
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

manian woman, and a singer who had
been heard with delight in Europe, came
TO this country TO carve out a career from
the tabled mountain of opportunities in
the New World. Her lot was the common
lot.
She could not find work in her line. She
was too proud to beg. She was too finely
strung to seek a menial position. Her lit
tie pile dwindled until she had but two
dollars left between herself and starya-
ton. These two dollars she paid to a
lower west side landlady for two weeks
occupancy of a mean hall room up under
the caves.
At last the pangs of hunger became too
keen. She grew desperate. Arraying
herself in the last of the trunkful of pretty
gowns that she had brought to this coun-
try-rhe others had gone for meals long
before-she marched into the Waldorf one
night and ordered an expensive meal
Then she announced calmly that she had
no money.
They called me in," was the way Smith
told me the story. Il asked her if she
had money at home. To save a scene, as
l afterward learned, she told me she had.
So accompanied her to that poor, poverty
stricken hall room.
ARRIVED, there, she sat down on the
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

was erected. Since the hotel over whose
safety he presides is the great central
meeting place for men of affairs from
every part of the country, his acquaint-
ance is wide and his experiences are fire.
quent and varied.
Some account of himself and his activi-
ties will serve to typify generally the
work of the hotel detective in New York S
big houses of entertainment.
Smith is the last man in the world to
attract attention about the corridors of
the Waldorf. He is a slight man of middle
height, with nothing about him to attract
undue attention. He dresses quietly,
usually in a blue serge sack suit. In win
ter and fall he wears a derby hat about
the hotel. In summer he wears a straw
sailor.
He might be any one of the hundreds of
business men of moderate means who
stroll in and out of the Waldorf every
day. 1t is not until you know him, and
know what he does about the big hotel,
that you notice the rowing manner of his
eye, and the look common to men who al
ways have a little something on their
minds to worry them.
In his work Of protecting the hotel and
those within it Smith has perfected an
efficient secret service organization among
the employees Of the house. For instance,
Smith is looking for a man. Every clerk,
floor clerk, porter, bell hop, elevator man
and chambermaid is furnished with a
typewriter description of the man, to-
gether with a photograph, if one is avail
able.
As soon as man answering the descrip-
ton is seen. Smith is at once notified. In
this way he can put his finger on any one
in the house in a few moments. The
employees are instructed to be constantly
on the watch for men or women who COM
port themselves suspiciously. Several
times every day Smith investigates cases
of this sort, with the result that OCCASION
ally the perpetrator Of a daring robbery
is unearthed. ..--
In addition to the assistance he receives
from the hotel employees he has three
trained detectives with him constantly.
When the occasion demands be can place
from sixty to one hundred picked men in
the hotel on half an hours notice.
Twice within the last two months the
of this hotel detective has
been taxed to its utmost, and on each of
these occasions be found it expedient to
call in the assistance of his full force of
detectives.
The period before the two national CON.
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

be protected. and without their being
made uneasy by an espionage of which
they were aware.
You see," said Smith, as he explained
the incident to me, New York is full of
cranks and anarchists, who would consider
it a meritorious act to kill high gov
eminent official. had to see that no
tragedy of that sort occurred.
II called out my whole force Of men.
They are old hands and know by sight
most Of the cranks in the city. Twenty
FIVE of my men were thrown about the
hotel. They headed off at least fifty men
they knew to be anarchists, or fellows
with dangerous tendencies.
I'm addition to this precaution every
one of the big fellows had his guard as
signed to him. In each case the detectives
instructions were to follow his man
wherever he went and not to allow any
one who didn't look right to approach.
they were to act so unostenta-
tiously that the men they were guarding
would remain unaware of the dangers
they encountered and the precautions We
were taking"
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

who stood.at the birth of the new code,
all football will date from 1912. That
which has gone before is the ancient his
tory of the game. We are on the
threshold of q new era in pastime which
enlisted 800 players in 1885 and $1,000
and more in 1911."
pray tell me what down really is" in
quired red checked lassie, wrinkling her
pretty brow and turning an anxious face
toward her companion. II seem to know,
yet I'm not quite sure"
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

Imagine that game is about to be
played. First of all the captains Of the
teams are introduced to the referee II
they are not acquainted with him. Every
body shakes hands with jolly good fel-
lowship. The referee relates the very
latest Interpretation of the rules. If there
happen to be any knotty points which
have arisen at the last moment. When
that is finished the referee takes coin
from his pocket.
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

chants the referee. That is a down. 1t
is the first time that Yale in possession
Of the ball has been legally and fairly
stopped after Yale has run forward with
it in legitimate manner. Now the teams
line up, facing each other in scrimma &c,
with only inches separating the forwards.
The completion Of the formation has
changed, but the downs are still downs.
A Yale back takes the ball as it is snapped
from the centre to the quarter back, and
then passed along by the latter, and tries
to run around the end of the Princeton
line.
He proceeds about two yards, when he
is stopped by an alert Princeton back.
Play ceases for the moment. The teams
line up again, facing each other in scrim-
mage formation as the referee warns
them, Second down for Yale, eight yards
to 60"
Another try is made by the Yale team
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

vcntions saw scores of State Governors,
Mayors, Cabinet Ministers and men high
in the political life of the land in New
York for the preliminary conferences and
skirmishes incidental to great campaign.
Most Of them stopped in the Waldorf.
Here arose a trying situation, of which
probably not one of the distinguished
statesmen was cognizant. These men, big
in the world of governmental affairs, must
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

ing about one thousand pounds who re-
fuse to get out of the way. OF course
1 didn't mean literal granite barrier,
but when those half dozen deadly rivals
inform you by the manner in which they
aop you to the ground that they think
you have gone far enough you imagine
that stone wall has deliberately walked
on the field and picked you out for a soft
mark"
How exciting!" was the reply. Il
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

"A down." spoke up the square shoul-
dered young athlete, who had been pres
ent and answered to roll call on an
eleven, 'is well, it's when you get
stopped after you have been trying to
go ahead as hard as you can. It's when
you run right into a stone wall and can't
push your way through it"
But, Tom, there's no stone wall on a
football field, and if you are trying to
tell me something wish that you'd really
try to make yourself clear, and If you're
trying to make fun of me just bear in
mind that 1 know a few other football
players who will make every effort to
give me information
"Oh, honest now, wasn't joking" said
the youth contritely, ''and l hadn't the
slightest notion of teasing. 1t was a
figure of speech in which 1 was trying
to show you what fellow meets when
he runs into half dozen fellows weigh
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

can see where you get stopped, but l
don't know as know even now exactly
bow a down is defined"
Therefore, a little light, for there are
many others to whom the question OF
down" is a puzzle and a vexation.
Omitting the technical definition of this
important phase of football, suppose that
it be said 4 down is that point on the
playing field where the ball has been
fairly stopped by the defending side when
il is being fairly advanced by the attack
ing side.
Players of both teams will appear to
be struggling at times in a very much
muddled and jumbled mass. and diving
right into the thick of them is a young
man in sweater and running shoes who
has charge Of the ball-the referee-who
locates the exact spot where the man with
the ball was hardest sat upon. That is
the actual point of the down.
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

InfS time the man VINO u carrying tne
ball smashes hard at the Princeton centre,
and literally against that "stone wall
to which "Tom" bore witness while
back. He Is stopped with no gain. Once
more the players hasten to line up, while
the referee from behind the Yale eleven
shouts so all may hear
Third down, eight yards to 60"
Now, here is where the new rule viii
come to the front this year. In the old
days eight yards to 60 on the third down
was an undertaking Of such magnitude
that the side in possession Of the ball
usually kicked it on the next try as far
as possible toward the goal of the oppo-
nent. 1t was pretty good policy, for it
was argued that they would probably lose
possession of the ball on the next attempt
to advance it, and by "booting' it into
the territory of their opponents they
might make them a lot of trouble. Per
haps some unfortunate back would fall
over the tantalizing pigskin as IT came
toward him, Topping like a wounded
crow, and almost with the moment OF
the tumble one of the flying squadron Of
the attacking side would be able to
pounce on the ball within few feet OF
the enemy's goal posts.
This season when the referee informs
the players that the third down has been
attempted with no gain the teams will
again line up for scrimmage, for the side
in possession of the ball has another down
and two more tries" If the eight yards
are made on the fourth down or third
"tryv it will result in First down for
Yale, ten yards to GO
II Yale should fail to make the eight
yaris and does not tumble, the ball still
remains in their possession for their last
try" of the series. Then, as has been
the case in the past, Yale will punt the
ball or perhaps try forward pass, though
the punt is the more logical application
when Yale and Princeton are facing each
other.
. Thus it will be seen in the foregoing
explanation that the first down is prac-
tically the point from which the side in
possession of the ball starts to advance,
and the fourth down is the point from
which it makes its last try" provided
the ball is not lost before the fourth down
comes into play.
If the last try" is successful on the
fourth down the fifth down becames the
first down for the side in possession OF
the ball, whether it happens to be Yale
or Princeton. The fact that fifth down
and a first down are identical has mud !
died many a youngster trying to grapple |
with the rules of the game.
Another way of making clear the down
question is to recall that the second down i
is the completion of the first try" the
third down the second try" the fourth |
down the third try" and the fifth down
is always the first down to the side that
has gained the ball. 1t is not difficult TO
understand why the 'old boys" clamor so
loudly when the fourth down is discussed
among them. While it does modify the
manner of playing the game, it increases
the number of tries" from three TO four. /
as radical a move as if the number of
strikes in baseball were increased from !
three to four, with this exception, that
the distance to be gained on the prescribed
number of downs has been doubled. Nor
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

try to protect him from the vigilant
Princeton men, whosa darting from
every angle of their side of the field in his
direction. He continues to run toward
the Princeton goal until he is arrived at
Yale's S-yard line, where a big Princeton
back, who has been charging down the
field and humping Yale men right and left
out of his way, puts his arms around him
and brings him to earth.
First down for Yale, ten yards to CO."
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

ATOURd downs, three YARDS 10 50!
81 "w.ats that?" yelled the
Shade of the Football of the
! SOS, as he stood on the side
line when Dexter played Hand
over, an invisible spirit to the
spectators. Most extraordinary! The
referee has lost possession of his senses.
"Nay, Hector, not So" interrupted the
Shade of the Football of the 90s, who
was beside him. "Have you forgotten
that the rules committee of our beloved
pastime held a meeting last winter! -Four
downs 20, Hector. They are riveted fore
and aft, top and bottom into the code.
What we wouldn't have done with four
downs in our day! Ell, what? We'd
have carried the ball all the way from
New Haven to Princeton and back
again"
Four downs do sound most unusual to
the ear attuned by time to the warning
song of the referee, which began with the
first down and ended with the third, the
alpha and the omega of the attempt to
advance the ball.
Yet not once but repeatedly the sonorous
voice of the field official in charge of the
ball will chant this autumn across the
expanse of weather beaten turf, -Four
downs, three yards to 60. -Four downs,
FIVE yards to CO." and so on uninter-
ruptedly through many a minute of spir-
tied play, but wholesome play withal,
while football in the hands of lusty
and vigorous youths slowly makes its
progress from line to line of chalk.
From the beginning of time" lamented
a veteran of the football field, as he stood
in one of the college clubs of the city
and lifted up his voice to the ceiling in
protestation against the desecration OF
the rules by modern meddlers," as he
called them, Eve have had three downs
in football Why do they put the axe att
the very root of the tree? Is there nothing
that is sacred to these invading Goths
and Huns?"
For "Goths and Huns" read the West
ern football contingent, which has been
wrapped up in reforming football ever
since the Eastern universities sent Players
West to teach the best way to play the
game. There were three downs allowed
to the side in possession of the ball some
years ago, when the distance to be gained
in order that the ball might be retained
was FIVE yards. Three downs were still
in effect when the rules congress took
its first slash into the rules and increased
the number of yards TO be gained from
FIVE to ten.
Three downs and ten yards did mott
seem to harmonic. The ground limit and
the attacking ability were not eQualized.
The area to be gained was not in equit-
able proportion to the horse power OF
the players. So last winter. when the
makers of football rules met in New York
in annual convention, they agreed that
the old idea of three downs was tax
levy too severe for sturdy legs and arms
to meet, and they added the fourth down,
which has completely upset all tradition
of football
In the future" said conservative,
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

Guilt of His Man Before Ar
resting Him.
r HERE are various kinds of crooks
whom at a glance one would take for
anything but crooks-the gentle
man burglar" the dead beat at summer
resorts and others of that ilk.
Then, again, there is the hotel crook
the burglar and sneak thief-who, relying
on the difficulty of Distinguishing between
a rank outsider and one of the four or
five hundred persons actually stopping in
the hotel, wanders about the corridors
until he finds an opening to slip into
room and decamp with money or valuab Bile
iewelry. The hotel detective has found
means TO cope with this class of criminal
A large number of them are sent to
States prison every year as a result of
the tireless activity of the hotels guar
dams.
REGULATORS of one sort and another
among the employees of the house require
constant attention. Their thefts range
from foodstuffs in the kitchen and silver
ware and linen on the tables to money
from the till. So skilful have the hotel
detectives been in discovering crimes of
this sort in recent years that their num-
ber has decreased almost to nothing.
In several ways the detective must ex-
ercise a paternal oversight of his guests.
There is the college boy who has gone to
New York just to show the town that he
can "go some" The detective must keep
close track of this boys movements,
see that he does not get into serious trou-
bic, SO that when his doting parents
wire anxiously to New York to send their
boy home the pride of the upstate house
hold can be returned intact.
The full grown man who is out for a
real spree and insists upon flashing a
plethoric roll of yellowbacks in the bar
i another source of worriment to the de-
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

of the Plaza, and four or Eve others.
OF them all, however, Smith, of the
Waldorf, is probably the best known. He
has had the longest continuous service as
house detective, having been with the
Waldorf in that capacity ever since it
The Washington herald., 1912-09-22

He Must Be Brave and at the
Same Time Extremely Polite.
He Must Avoid Offending the
Innocent and Make Sure of the
Guilt of His Man Before Ar
resting Him.