HOTEL SWINDLERS.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 May 1929, Page 2

HOTEL SWINDLERS.

THE STORY OF BABETTE. 4 Hotel managers’ need of vigilance in protecting themselves against dishonest patrons avu ( s illustrated recently by the arrest of tAvo middle-aged women charged Avitli defrauding tlie Hotel Ambassador of*£l32, tlie am unt they oAved Avhen they Avere alleged to have taken “French” leave, states an article in a recent issue of the “NeAV York Herald Tribune.” They also took Avitli them their black cult, Bnbette, said for tlie last two years to have iieen tlieir companion. Hotel “dead beats” are not so numerous as they used to be. Jt is said by hotel detectives that tlie two sisters charged Avitli mulcting the hotel in Park Avenue came from Chicago. They emerged from the quiet of boardinghouses in that city into the bright ! i<rht. and luxury of tlie best hotels in Manhattan. Tlieir story Avas the same Avherevcr they stopped, and certainly enough of it seemed true to be convining. One was a graduate physician ; the other a dietitian. They had invented an army ration biscuit filled Avitli Avliole wheat and rye flour and pork and leans —a kind of hard-barked puree. One biscuit Avas warranted to keep hunger away for tvent.y-four hours. It Avas good for men and dogs, , and especially cats. SUED FOR INFRINGEMENTS. sff’he sisters had- brought suit against various persons and corporations, for infringements of tlieir patent, the defendant including leading packing houses of Chicago and biscuit hacker of NeAV York. Recently Senator Copeland by request, introduced a bill asking the Government to pay them £IBO,OOO for the use of tlieir patents during the World War. They had. hiAvyers here and in other cities to whom * they u ferred. On tlieir arrival a month or so ago at the Ambassador tlie sisters conducted tbemseh-es Avitli an aloof dignity. It Wi> : . several Aveeks before any of the li.ito’ employees kneAV about the black cat. That ebon charm did not arrive in a pet carrier, one of those imitation valises Avitli Avire covered ventilators at eithc-v end. Otherwise the rules, about looping animals in rooms might have been enforced against her. • •

When tlie Avomcn disappeared, ncncording to the complaint, a circulat about thorn aa as broadcasted among hotel men. Through a lawyer, who. had neon mentioned by. the AAonien as,their adviser, an address .to which their mail was being fonvarded Avas, obtained. Jr was a private mail box in, a little store bn: alert shadoAving resulted in, tracing mi ' o' the . women...<to*' a hotel near llinadwa.v, Avhere also were found her sister and Bnbette.

Beating hotels once a widespread j./ari ice especially before they Avere '.niaoised into associations-.and mul '.K.icaux for sending out warning. Aflvc l.hirers Avitli scant luggage,. ai d that consisting of only, a feAV shirts vi.i collars,:, with bricks for ballast, a.-od to visit the hotels' regularly.

They had good rooms and the best meals the house afforded lor several days, and then disappeared usually leaving tlieir cheap hags or avoiui telescopes, with tlieir Avorthless contents •S«ii etnnes they loAvered even tlieii s!.;<tcli3 luggage by a rope from a Avindow and retrieved it. BELLBOYS GIVE HINT. if tbej suspect anything sinister about an “arrival.” Some of them can tell irom the Aveight of a handbag that an investigation m'ay lie Avarranted. The smart “bellhop” standing just behind the prospective patron, communicates Ins suspicions to the clerk b,v a look and slowly tips the hag a little forward That signal means “Skipper Baggage.” L'i’.e diagnosis may not ahvays be ccrrec 1 - but a signal usually results m the iigav guest being asked to pay in advance or being informed that there is no room -for him. Possibly the credit manager of the hotel, on seeing the “ 5.8.” symbol alter Hie name of the suspect, a mer tri angle perhaps, or a circle, Avill take n chance and Avait three days before the man gets a bill. Meanwhile the guest an:i bis baggage are being carefully AVi.tcind His room may be Mitered and Jam baggage examined. If there is evidence of intent to fraud the keyhole ol' the door of his room is

plugged to make it impossible lor the unwelcome sojourner to enter. I:le may complain about this if lie is a good bluffer, but the reply is merely a demand that he pay his bill.

Jl', after three days, lie cannot meet his score lie is liable to arrest under the in keeper laws of most of the Stites Credit managers, however, do not use such drastic methods as this unless, through reporting agencies and from confidential bulletins lorwarded, they are reasonably sure of their ground. “Paper workers,” that, is, those who impose on the hotels by foisting had cheques ,are realiy to he feared and their capture is important. They are thieves and forgers, compared to whom the “skippers” are petty operators. Cl I KQU.KS SOME'mi ltS CASHED. hi tTieory, lintels do not accept paper .Most of them have a sign over the cashier’s desk or cage reading: “No cheques cashed.” That may lie taken largely in a Pickwickian sense. There are conditions under which is is practically impossible for hotel keepers to refuse this service. If a customer is able to com inee the credit manager that he has important business connect ions, or if he is known at tlse hotel, he can get the accomodation lor which he asks. “Paper workers” make their cleanups by offering cheques for amounts much in excess cf their hills and getting the balance cash. Some of them have plenty of working capital and pay' their scores in’real money. Then, in a casual way, the ask to have a cheque cashed, which they profess to have just received. It is against such as these that the American Hotel Association, the Hotel Keepers’ Protective Association antichief agieneies issue their warnings, and it is for the detection and arrest of such that they spend money liberally. The “paper operator” is dreaded by hotel credit men. If lie lias played his game boldly and by his appearance and manner impressed Hie management, and especially if he has obtained some local references the “paper ’’worker” forestalls inquiries about himself. His cheque may not come hack for three or four days or for a week. Often he has protected himself or atleast made conviction difficult if caught by giving a cheque signed by someone else. He endorses it and if theVg is a “come back” he maintains that he tookOie paper in good faith.' 1 Just- how much hotels lose by such operations ish&’rd to estimate, as many such loses'are not reported. Even'the' protective associations and the: dOtect- ■ ive organisations tlo hot get complete returns ,as’the proprietors do not like to admit they have been imposed upcm' One authority estimates the bad debt losses of hotels at from l}- to 2 per cent .of the' gross receipts. Other think ■it is. much lihire than that. The losses arc decreasing owing to the persistence with which dangerous “paper operators” are pursued, while vigilance is exercised in watching out for signs-'of the less dangerous yet most annoying “ skippers ” of both sexes.