Omaha daily bee., 1874-07-03
The First Of the Honth-The Uphill
Work of Q Collector.

Work of . Collector.
Thursday was the first of the
month, and there was the usual
hurrying to and fro of the inevita-
BILE bill collectors, with their bum
dies of bills. The bill collector, as
general thing, has a pretty tough
time OF it, for besides the few good
accounts that happen to fall into his
hands, he has hundreds ofpoor ones
put into his charge-bilis which he
has presented several times, and re-
ceived a "stand-off," on each oc-
casion. Of course the majority of
these bills Will be paid in the long
run. Sometimes the collector is re-
ceived pleasantly bythe debtor, who,
if he does not settle, invites him to
call again; or says that he will
"step in and pay up;'i while at
other times the collector is told to go
to the dominions of his Satanic
majesty. This latter is generally
the case where a bill has been pre-
sented several times. The amount
of "cussing" that the collector takes,
is astonishing, and it is a wonder
that he does not put an occasional
head ON some one, and thus "square
accounts"
TO illustrate the uphill work of a
collector, the BEE commissioned
q gentleman engaged in this
this business to note down what
each person said in excuse for nom
payment of his bill. The BEE COM
missioner we will call call, for con-
~venience sake, Bill Trotter. He is
employed by a prominent Farnham
street firm, who deal in articles
which no family a do without.
Trotter's experience yesterday, tax
en- from his notebook, was IS fol-
lows:
"GOod morning, S-n, here's a
little bill against you," says Trotter.
"Tm very hard up" was the reply,
"but will call as soon as ! get the
one thing needful,"
1 Trotter starts off for another VIC
tim and is hailed by Pc with,
"Say, Trotter, have you got a Will
liam against me ?" "Yes." '.Let
me have it, as I've got a larger one
against your house."
The next man was Col. -,
who thought there was a mistake
in the bill, while Trotter was of q
contrary opinion. "Well, leave il
with me-" said the Colonel, ~
want to get some more stuff"
Dr. had a bill against the firm
but Trotter was authorized to settle
all such claims. "Well, I'll cal
and fix the matter up In a few days
Good morning." said DR..
C-s couldn't pay but S25. 'Trot.
ter" said me-" / told you when yo,
were here the last time that vol
needn't call again, for I would steI
in and pay"
P.'s till wasn't right, and HI
didn't believe in his relatives run
ming in debt on his account.
G-n promised to call tomorrow
as he expected a good run in hi
business in the meantime; G..
would call on or before the fifth,
sure; DIR. -, would not settle
till he made his collections, would
probably be down tomorrow ant
pay; V would call at the stor,
and give his note in the afternoon
R-n expected some money soon
and if he got it he would settle, o.
he would give an order on as goot
a man as there was in the city
Ell had just stood a man off fol
$3.50, and when he couldn't pay
that amount, he certainly couldn'
settle Trotter's bill; G-p was sorry
he couldn't square up; but would d,
so as soon as a remittance came.
RS saluted Trotter with, "Yol
needn't pull any bill out to me, fol
1 am not paying before the middle
of the month, if l am then"
A young married man excitet
considerable sympathy in Trotter''
heart. "Don't ask me for that BILL
said he, ~ have been sick 50 long
1t is impossible for me to pay JUS
now, but / viii in a few days. /
I had thought 1t cost so much t.
get married, I never would have
done it,"
Another man, B., stated tina
he was so sorry be couldn't pay
those fellows. ITO tell the truth
said he, ~ am as short as thunder
1 bought some land in Sarpy county,
and it took all the money I had,
But III be well heeled next month";
A leading KO-op was dunned by
Trotter. at is a bad time" said
the Ko-op, ''to present a bill to me.
1t is just before the Fourth of July,
and L want all the money I've got
to go the picnic with"
And so we could go on and give
a hundred similar "stand-offs," had
We the room. The latest thing out
and certainly the most business-like
way of standing-of such men as
TrOtter, is stamp which prints the
words "No Funds" When the
bill is presented, the debtor looks at
it a moment, stamps "No Funds"
on it, and hands 1t back to the col
lector, who walks of. This stamp
is coming into universal use, as it is
great saving of time, and prevents
the oolIaofo, f,1~ L:- xnx.l A.