Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1874-04-24
New York PawnbrOkers.

THEY are queer set and do queer
business. The pawnbroker is man who
lends money on short time on collateral
security. Are you widow and js your
boy sicks You take shawl to Moses,
and he advances you about one-fourth its
value at q tremendous rate of interest,
25 per cent. per annIm. This
supply gone, your best dress, your extra
pair of shoes, your wedding ring, your
Bible, and finally your bed. He takes
them all, for they are all salable. You
get ticket for each article, and if you
come within year and redeem them, all
right; ii not, at the end OF year they are
sold. Inside one of these shops you will
see satin dress hanging ticketed beside
a calico skirt, shoes, Bible, revolvers, mu-
sical instruments, tools, clocks, kettles,
skates, every species of portable property
under heaven, side by side. But in the
big safe in the hack room you would, ii
you could get peep therein, see other
kinds of property. You would see dia-
monds, costly jewelry and silver plate.
For the poor are not Shylock's only Gus
toners. Madame, on Fifth avenue, has
spent more for dress than her pressed
husband can afford, and she does not ask
him for money. Tie obseQuious dress
maker shows her that her diamonds can
be easily removed from their settings, and
bogus stones, that an expert could hardly
tell from the genuine, put in at triflin2
cost Then Moses or Simon would be
glad to advance her what money she
needs on the genuine stones. This she
does, paying ruinous interest, and try.
ing to save money enough out of her al
lowance to redeem them. And then
ruined men find these shops a convenient
place to get temporary aid on jewels with
which they do not wish to part. For this
class of customers there is private side
entrance.
Speaking of removing genuine dia-
monds and supplying their place with
paste reminds me of little incident that
excited the risibles of the fashionables
only two weeks ago. A lady on Fifth
avenue had got into trouble. She had
purchased thousand dollar dresses, and
thousand dollar furs, and thousand dollar
things generally till her bill footed up to
sum total that was frightful. Her hus
band had lost heavily in stocks. She
dared not ask him for the money, and
what was she to do? she had diamonds
to the value of $4,000 She took these
rings and bracelets and things, and hied
her to a jewelers., who reset them with
imitation stones that looked just as well
as the genuine, and on the genuine stones
she raised the money to relieve heI wants
In the meantime the husband had los
money at gambling, and had "debts o.
honor which must be paid" How was ht
to get it9 His wife's diamondsl Capita
ideal One morning he slipped them il
his pocket and went to a jewelers..
"Can you take stones out of jewels an(
replace Them with imitation?"
Certainly"
"What would these be worth-or rathel
what would you advance upon them? ;
said he, pulling out the sparklers.
The jeweler looked at them and looked
up.
'"About $780,"
"One hundred and fifty dollars! Why
they cost $15000l"
"The originals doubtless did. We hav,
the originals in our safe. We took then
out two weeks ago and put in these past
ones"
The gentleman gave prolonged whistle
and put them in his pocket and walked
out.
There was doubtless scene at his house
Doubtless he demanded why madam, hi
wife, had pawned her jewels, and doubtless
she wanted to know how he came to know
it. How it was settled never will b,
knoWn.-N y. Letter.