Show bilk hotels by 0 novel methods various devices employed by dishonest patrons to swindle hostelries Host elrica new york rork dotel managers need ot of vigilance in protecting themselves against dishonest patrons was waa mas illus grated recently by tl tle arrest of two iwo middle aged women charged with de fra flauding the he botel ambassador ol 01 it the me amount they swed when they wire were alleged to have taken intfen Fren french cli leave they also took with them thein their black cat babette said for the last two years to have been their companion hotel dead heats bents are not so nu berous as they used to be it Is sold said by hotel detectives that the two sister bisters charged with mulching mulcting mulct ting lug the hotel in park avenue came from chicago they emerged froni from the quiet of boarding houses to in that city into the bright lights and luxury of the best hotels in their story was veil the same wherever they stopped and cerin certainly enough of it seemed true to be convincing one was a graduate physician the other a dietitian they had invented nn an army ration tilled filled with whole wheat and rye flour mhd pork and beans a kind of hard baked puree one biscuit was warranted to keep hunger away for 24 hours it was good for men and dogs and especially cuts cats sued for infringements the sisters had brought suit against various vai lous persons and corporations corpora tlona for infringements of their heir patent the defendants fend ants including lending leading packing houses of chicago C and biscuit bakers of new york recently senator copeland by request introduced a bill asking the government to pay them for the use of their patents during the world war they had lawyers here and to in other cities to whom they referred on their arrival a month or so nga nt at the ambassador the tha sisters con butted jutted themselves with an aloot aloof dignity anity it was several weeks before any of the hotel employees knew about the black cat that elinn charm did not arrive in a pet carrier one of those imitation valises with wire covered rs at alth either er end otherwise the rules about keeping keepin g on gnats in in rooms might have been ew en forced against her when the women disappeared according a to tho the complaint a circular about them was broadcast among ho tr t men through a lawyer who had been mentioned by the women as their adviser an address addrena to which their mall was being forwarded was ot ob talked it was a private mall mail box in blittle a letle little store but alert shado shadowing w ing rl suited in tracing one of the women to a ii hotel nea broadway Dro adway where also wre were found her sister and babette beating hotels was once a alile 1 spread practice caully before they wore into associations and luid had bureaus for sending out warnings adventurers with scant luggage anti that consisting of only a few shirts and collars colli irs with bricks for ballast used to visit the hotels regularly they had good rooms and the best meals the house afforded afford ej for several days then disappeared usually leaving their cheap bags or worn telescopes with their worthless contents sometimes they lowered even their sketchy luggage by a rope from a win dow and it bellboys give hint bellboys are supposed to give a hint it if they suspect anything sinister about nn an arrival some of them can tell from the weight of a hand handbag ting that an investigation may be warranted the smart bellhop standing just behind the prospective patron communicates lita his suspicions to the clerk by a look loob and slowly tips tile the bag a little forward that thai signal means Sk skipped Ippei baggage the diagnosis way may inot cot a ni ways he be correct but the signal usual ly results in the new guest being asked to pay in advance or being in formed that there Is no room for him possibly the credit manager of tile the hotel on seeing the IS S B symbol utter the name of the suspect a mere triangle perhaps or a circle will lake a chance and wait three days before the man gets a bill meanwhile tile the guest and his baggage are being carefully watched ills his room may he bo entered and its his baggage e examined if there Is in evidence of intended fraud the lie keyhole of the door of tits his roo room m Is plugged to 0 o ninke it impossible for forthe the unwelcome to enter lie ile may inny complain about this if 11 he Is a good bluffer but the reply Is merely a demand that he pay his h bill ill if 11 after three days he cannot meet hla file score tie he to la liable to arrest under the innkeeper laws of most of the states credit managers however do n not ot use such drastic methods as this unless through reporting agencies a and nd from bulletins forwarded they are ara reasonably sure of their ground paper workers th that at Is those who impose on the hotels by foisting had bad checks are really to be feared and their capture is s important checks sometimes sometime cashed in theory hotels do not accept paper alost of them have signs over the ens lifers desk or cage reading no checks cashed that rony may be taken largely in a Pickwick lan sense there are conditions under which it Is practically impossible for hotel keepers to refuse this service if a customer Is 19 able to convince the credit managers that tie he has important business con sections or if he Is known at the no hotel he can get gat accommodation for which he asks paper workers make their cleanups by offering checks for amounts much in excess of their bills and getting getling the balance in cash some of them have plenty of working capital and pay their scores in real money then in a casual way they ask to have a check cashed which they profess to have just received it Is against such as these that the Anier american lenn hotel association the hotel keepers pers protective association and other agencies issue their warnings oad and it Is for the detection and arrest of such lint they spend money liberally the paper operator Is dreaded by hotel credit men if he be tins has played his game boldly and by tits his appearance and in manner tinner impressed the management and especially if he has ob bained some local reference the paper worker forestalls inquiries about himself his ells check may not come back for three or four days or a week often he has protected himself or at least east made conviction difficult dl if caught by giving a 0 check signed by some sor ne one else ue indorses endorses Indor ses it and if there Is a come back lie he maintains that he took the miner in good food faith just how much hotels lose by such operations Is hard to estimate as as many such losses are not reported even the protective associations an and the detective organizations do not get complete returns as the proprietors do DO like to admit they have been imposed open apon one authority the bod bad debt losses at from 11 to 2 per er cent of the lie gross receipts others think it Is much more than that the losses are decreasing owing to the persistence with which dangerous paper oper operators alors are pursued while vigilance Is exercised in watching ou for signs of the less dangerous yet most annoying skippers of boll sexes |