Show bilk ilk hotels by novel nove 1 l methods various devices employed by dishonest patrons to swindle hostelries new anew york hotel ina managers need of vigilance tn In protecting themselves against dishonest patrons was illustrated recently by the arrest of two middle aged women conlen charged with tie le fra flauding frau cling tile hie hotel ambassador ol of the amount they owed when they were alleged to have bave taken french leave they also took with them their black cat babette said for the last two years to have been beed their companion hotel dead heats bents are not so nn nit berous as they used to be it isaid Is said by hotel detectives that tile the two sisters charged with the be hotel in park avenue came from chicago Clil cago they emerged from the quiet of boarding houses in that city into tile the bright lights and luxury of the best hotels in Alan manhattan hattan their story was the same same wherever they stopped and certainly enough of it seemed true to be convincing one was ans a I 1 graduate radu ate physician the pie other a dietitian they had bad invented an army ration biscuit filled with whole wheat and rye flour and pork and beans a kind of hard baked puree one biscuit was warranted to keep hunger away for 24 hours it was nas good for men and dogs and aad especially cats sued for infringements the sisters had brought suit against various persons and corporations for infringements of their patent the defendants fend ants including leading packing houses of chicago and biscuit bakers of bf new york recently senator copeland land by request introduced a bill asking the government to pay them ika OGO for the use of their patents during the world war they had lawyers here and in other cities to whom rhom they referred on their arrival a month or so ago at the ambassador the sisters con dueled ducted themselves with an aloot dignity 1 19 it was several weeks before any of the hotel employees knew about the black cat that ebon charm did not arrive in a pe pet carrier one of those initiation valises with wire covered rs at either end otherwise the rules about keeping animals in rooms might have been enforced against af her when the women disappeared according to the complaint a circular about them was broadcast among hotel men through i a lawyer who had been mentioned by the women as their adviser an address to which their mall mail was being forwarded was ob talked it ats vas a private mail bos in a tittle store but alert shadowing re suited jn in tracing one of tle women to a hotel hotfil near gron i way y here ere also were found her and hab eti ette I 1 1 1 I beat beating ing hotels was once a widespread before they were organized into associations and had bureaus for sending out warnings adventurers with scant luggage and ami that consisting of only a few shirts and collars with bricks for ballast used to visit the hotels regularly they had good rooms and the best meals the house afforded 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 n rope from a window and it bellboys give hint bellboys are supposed to give a hint bint if they suspect anything sinister about an arrival some of them can tell from the weight of a handbag that tin nn investigation may be warranted the smart bellhop 11 standing just behind the prospective patron communicates his is suspicions to the clerk by a look and slowly tips thoi the bag a little forward that thai signal means skipper baggage the diagnosis may not nl ways be correct but the signal usually results in the ne new W guest being asked to pay jn in advance or being informed that there Is no room for him possibly the credit manager of the hotel on seeing the IS S B symbol after tile the name of the suspect a mere triangle perlin perli aps ps or a circle will take a chance and wait three days before the man gets a bill alenne meanwhile hile the guest and ills his baggage are being carefully watched ills his room may be entered and his baggage examined it if there la Is evidence of intended fraud the keyhole of the door of ills his room Is plugged to ninke make it impossible for the unwelcome sojourner to enter lie he may complain about this if he la Is a n good bluffer blu lTer but the reply Is merely a demand that he pay his bill if after three days he cannot meet his score lie Is liable to arrest under tinder the innkeeper Inn kepper laws of most of the states credit managers however do hot use such drastic methods us its this unless through reporting agencies and from confidential bulle bulletins ins forwarded they are reasonably sure of their ground paper workers that Is those who impose on the hotels by foisting bad checks are really to bo be feared an their capture Is important checks sometimes cashed in theory hotels do not accept paper most of them have signs over the cashiers desk or cage rending reading no checks cashed that may be taken tadeu largely in a Pickwick lon sense there are conditions under wh which ach it Is practically impossible for hotel keepers to refuse this sir service vIce it if a customer Is able to convince the credit managers that lie he has important imp octant business connections or if lie he Is known at the hotel hetel he can get accommodation for which he asks paper workers make their cleanups by offering checks tor for amounts much in excess of their bills a and nd getting 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 american hotel association the hotel keepers protective asso association clation and other agencies issue their warin warnings ings and it Is for the detection and arrest of such that they spend money liberally the paper operator Is dreaded by hotel credit men it if he has played his game boldly and by ills his appearance ond and manner impressed the management stiff and especially if he has obtained some local reference the paper worker lor forestalls anul inquiries about himself ills his check may not come back for three or four days or a week often he has protected himself or at least made conviction difficult if caught by giving a check signed by some one else lie he indorses endorses Indor ses it and if there Is a come back lie he maintains that lie he took the paper in good faith just how much hotels lose by such operations Is hard to estimate ns as many such losses are not reported even the protective associations and the detective organizations do not get complete P lete returns as the proprietors do not like to admit they have been imposed upon one authority estimates the bad debt losses at from 1 to 2 per r cent of the gross receipts others think it Is much more than that the tosses losses are decreasing deci deer easing owing to the persistence with which dangerous paper operators oper alors are n re pursued while vigilance Is exercised in watching out for signs of the less dangerous yet most annoying skippers of both sexes |