The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1859-09-01

"
Our readers will remember the spicy let
ter of "Nor' wcster to the Boston Post, re-
ferring to Burling, the New York collector,
which went the rounds of the papers q few
weeks ago. The following account of his
modas operandi seems to corroborate !" Nor
westers" statement: rrf .s,;-,r.s -
Ten years ago was seated in, my Office
at No. l2, Wall street, busily driving the
quill, when heard q quiet step behind, and
then mild voice inquiringoif L had the
transcript of q certain Judgment against one
j. G. O, the projector, Of the great Peg
she-wah-wah. Company for selling Indian
medicines. looked up and saw a. man
whose twisted foot and palsiedo arms were
quite familiar to me- bat of whose name
or calling knew nothing. !. -. -
aYes," replied, |" have the transcript" !"
"weil, want t,"ohe said; q I am going
to collect it for the creditor."ib yaa 3 IS
"Going to collect it," 4 exclaimed, "why
the judgment is perfectly worthless. Ex-
ecutions, and proceedings after judgment,
and all ordinary means of grace, have long
ago been exhausted upon u: He, lis help
lessly insolvent and is besides the most
adroit scamp Of a swindler l ever encoun-
tered" - ~-'--'''. 'A' '-i'
"What's that to me?" broke out the visitor
in grutf, strong voice, quite different from
his first tones. l"Perhaps you don't know
who am. am Burling, the man about
town. You a lawyer, and not know me |!
Sheriffs are good for nothing; constables
are good for nothing; executions and cred-
itor's bills are good for nothing. Give me
the transcript the order for it'll
make the money out of him." 5...
swiveled around my chair and stared at
the man. "And will You be SO good, Mr..
Burling," asked, as to tell me what is your
patent plan for superseding officers and
writs, and for squeezing blood out of tur-
nips, and cash out of the President of the
Peg-she-wah-wah Company" ?"1 iaaf71 "a
allow do it, you mean. Why dun 'em
at their houses, dun 'em in the street, /
dun 'em in the theater, dun 'em in church,
catch EN- early in the morning and stick
to em all day; follow EN- wherever they
60; 60 to meals and eat with 'em; 60 to bed
and sleep with 'em, give 'em no peace night
or day, Sunday nor week day; stick to 'em
like death to dead niger. A man owes a
debt. He won't pay it. follow him all
the week so he cant do any business, nor
60 to see his sweetheart, nor walk in Broad
way, nor eat with any appetite, nor sleep
without dreaming. I'm after him, with the
devil to help run him down. All this wont
do? Very well. When he goes to church
Sunday he finds me in his pew. your
sheriffs can't work Sundays do my best
business then.) The congregation rise, and
he rises, takes out his book, opens at the
place, and there he finds the bill I've stuck
there, and gets SO mad he can't say amen.
"Sheriffs and constablesp continued he,
getting loud and fierce, "will the sheriff go
of Sunday morning to parsons house
and follow him to church, and walk up the
broad aisle with him before all the congre-
cation, and 60 up the pulpit stairs close to
his heels, and slip into the pulpit after him
| before he can shut the door, and take q seal
by his side, and get up when he gets up
and when he opens the Bible opens John
Jones bill full length, and lay it down over
the chapter and verse, and tell him: There,
the bill Of horse hire-pay 1t before yoa
predchF But that's what | did-and gol
my money, too" -..'.1 ''.i.a' ,a.s
"And what commission did yon charge?'
"Fifty per cent" 1" '.it-
"Rather strong" suggested, "but still
your mode of procedure was strong. Dt
you often get as much as fifty per cent 2" Z.
"When / earn it get it. DR.. C., o
Broadway, sent me to dun a fellow wht
lived back in a yard, and kept two bul
dogs that he let loose when anybody came
| to collect honest debts. | went to him will
a horse-pistol in each hand and DR.. C.'s bill
in my teeth. and made him pay up. Wha
did DIR. G.. offer me for getting his sixty
dollars? He offered ME one dollar. Il
won't take it, says I. I'll pay no more
says he. Pay me thirty dollars, Gays L.
Get out Of my Office, or I'll kick you out
says he, and he kicked me out of his doo
and down the steps into Broadway. i goe
across to the - Hotel, and hires grea
armchair out of the bar-room, and takes il
it across the street and plants it on the curb
stone right opposite DR.. C.'s office door, AM
lays the bill had made out on a full
sheet of foolscap across my knees, hanging
down, so everybody that went by coul,
read in large, black, sanded letters; 4 = q
| To J. BURLISG DR.