The New York herald., 1920-12-26
Tragedy of Seeking a
Sleeping Place and
How a Key Ring
Played it's Devilish
Part in His Undoing
BY SAMUEL MCCOY.


THERE are three things that the visitor
to the Island of Manhattan usually
does in sequence. He dimes, he goes
to the theatre, he goes back to his hotel He
Gid not always do the third Immediately on
this island, but in these days an island is a
body of land almost surrounded by reve-
nooers
The hotels of Manhattan are the theme of
this treatise
Ny friend Wilmer Boggs once had an ey-
perience in a hotel in Manhattan which he
is fond of recounting of long winters even
ing, when the lamps lit and tales of ad-
venture are going round.
1t seems that Boggs who at that time lived
out in the country, came into town one day.
expecting to return home that night, but was
detained so late that he missed the last train
for his station. He tried at various hotels
to get room, but was met at each one with
the remark. mo rooms left, sir"
This observation got on Boggss nerves
after a while. BY nature mild hammered
who wouldn't harm a canary-although
why any should want to harm canary
we have never for the life of us been able
to see; canaries are harmless enough beasts
except when singing their ear-splitting solos
for six hours at a stretch, in which u
is simple matter to wiring their necks; but
as to harming one, why the very thought Is
absurd-Boggs. as we say, is mild man
nered man, but by evening he had got into
an irritable frame of mind over the hotel
clerks answers.
He wouldn't have minded, he said, if one
of them had occasionally varied the response
in the slightest manner; but no, they all said
exactly the same thing, with theisame smirk.
He was never man to urge an exceptionally
large vocabulary, Boggs said, but he did
think that hotel clerk ought TO be possessed
of at least five words instead of only those
four He said that after some hours If
search he got to the point where he would
simply walk into the hotel lobby. look at the
clerk, turn around and walk out shouting,
mo rooms left, sir!" over his shoulder. Some
of them seemed quite surprised, he said and
others grateful.
At this juncture he met a friend.
At least, a man whom he had always re-
garded as a friend. Boggs afterward came
t. regard him with suspicion.
At any rate he described his difficulty to
this man, working into the narrative some
nice new names for hotel clerks as he did
so-not ordinary cusswords, but weird, SOUL
shrivelling ones that would take the bark
off tree and which gave him quite glow
of pride-and the man listened with con-
soling smile all the way through
Forget it," he said heartily when Boggs
had finished. Don't you worry any more
I've got perfectly good room, and I've got
to go out of town tonight. Here's the key
to the room and you just RUN right along up
tc the hotel and stay there. Here-take this
whole bunch of keys, and leave 'em with the
clerk when you go out in the morning"
He handed Boggs key ring, with seven
teen keys on it, pointing out the key to the
hotel room carefully. and Boggs took it and
thanked him, and cried little out of sheer
relief, and went on to the hotel, dropping the
bunch of keys into his pocket
He says now that he had much better have
slept all night in the Grand Central waiting
ROOM even II there are no pillows on the
oak benches there and comparatively little
privacy But at that moment he thought
everything was fair to him.
When he got 10 the hotel he felt that 1t
would be unnecessary to explain the whole
matter to the clerk and simply asked to be
directed to his friends room. And he had
no more than got into the room when the
telephone rang. His friend was on the wire.
Listen, Boggs." said he. II find that !
forgot my suitcase key was on that key ring.
Take off the key to the room, will you. and
send the rest down to me? I'll wait for the
messenger by the cigar stand in the Penn
sylvania station"