National Republican., 1877-02-18
P1WNBROKERY.

| trouble myself to overhaul trade returns or
printed statistics Instead, enrol myself pas.
senger by the four-penny omnibus which plies
between the Bank and Poplar, and at the last.
| named place call on and have half an hours chat
with . worthy tradesman whose shop sign Is three
golden orbs, and his motto, Money lent"
II must not be Imagined that adopt this rough
and.ready method Of inquiry by way merely oi
arriving at an approximate knowledge as to the
condition Of trade. What require is accurate
and exact knowledge, and here l obtain 1t. As
unfailngly as physician, by laying his finger on
the pulse Of apatient, can detect ineipient dis.
ease, so my friend, by turning to the last few
days entry in his ledgers, announce bad times
looming In the distant horizon. When the bal
ance OF good understanding between master and
| man is threatened with disturbance he has the
frst lntlmaton Of the unpleasant fact. When
the demon OF discord, in the shape Of Captain
| Strike is desolating the homes Of working men Of
every degree, my authority may be relied on for
knowing better than any man the extent Of the
evil that has been wrought, and what are the
1 prospects as regards approaching peace or pro-
longing Of the war. There is no magic in IT, The
simple key to the seeming mystery is that my
friends business is done in the midst of densely
crowded laboring population OF which, taking a
fair average, more than Ave hundred weekly ap-
| ply to him, not to make him the depository Of
their secrets, but topledge with him their worldly
| goods, receiving in exchange certain convenient
sums Of ready money.
It's thus that with almost thermometrcal pre-.
cisiOn he can at any time tell the state Of docs.
| tie affairs Of his clients. The nature OF their
that When Trade is at the healthiest temperature.
and work and wages are plentiful, the pawn.
regular customers,-t though less folk shoho
ever handsome may their SATURDAYS pay table
lew ssIinSs on somc aTtelc sss raIs as
parel that will not be required until next Sun.
Day DAY: M 1t Is S matter Of habit In ordinary times
providing against the memorable Mondays cali
ever the may rent esGhs''0r shs state and wI1s sSs
family finances when the article In question 'hs is
redeemed on Saturday night It !, qnder;taed that
again. My friend does not aver that this is an
inyarlable custom with all his clients; bat he
the best proof that the money so raised Is not
absolutely necessary Is to be found in the Tact
s completed, for the pledger 10 pay three or lOnr
sh,illngs OF the proceeds OIL the price Of some
thought ofbuying until 1t CHANGED TO catch her
| eye
on Monday mornings the Kind Of goods you men.
tion are placed in conspicuous vicwf''
that on Mondays, which Is oNr chief 'takin III
day, we get rid Of more cheap ieweiry and
| second hand nnery than all the week besides"
"And Il is that class Of goods which ind their
way back here before any other when hard times
| set lmhglneI'
| Exactly 90; hut they amt much Of helm to-
wards tiding overa difficulty; mere rubbish, you
know, after all, when you come to talk about the
| actual value, and hardly worth taking In. Be-
sides, they tell nothing regards the real cOndi.
tion Of the owners; they may be brought at any
play or anything Of that Il kind The p.s IL tnden.
| lion we get OF there being really screw loose
Sohe se,iRs bad when nS sSS@sy eSms.
to that. woman may pawn her earrings, or
her. her best s brooch or her keeper ring and
bring her husbands watch or his fancy shirt pin,
or i will go so Tar even as his best boots
barrassmsnt, but when the clothes in Which
father and the boys appear decent in on Sunday
reason why, and take measures Of seiIdeionce.
| What do lmeanby that? Well, my dear sir,
to Sny one Il is lime then tSSt We SsD Desn Pan
Don't We always take care Of that Certainly
general way to be depended on to take out what.
goods nall much again they will viii rsare ,sdH IL
they are forfeited and carted oil to the auction
in this way We ftSae MRS rs "a s.
aregular PaWner Of her husbands Sunday suit
depends on that Monday morning nfteen shillings
as though i was a Government annuity. 1t never
wear out and are worth less. Oher her ten shil.
| lings instead of hfteen, and she will demand 10
/
five sbillings less this week than last, and as
likely , as not carry her things in a hun to the
ten shIInss there but she e' neVsr %Ure eoms sanS
back to your shop again II Is quite an
| pawned goods lett on his hands. His profit is the
| bit Of interest Turned over ffty-two times In
the year 1t Of course amounts to something con.
siderable. Take the case Of a small pledge-and
| there are hundreds of them-0i q shilling Fifty
penny each time Tor the ticket, is twelve. pence
more. That is three and d;twopence per annum for
Ssn S sfSs but Is s IF
pledge Then you get tlty;two times three hall.
pence-siS.an and.sixpence. which OF course, pays
very well-James Greenwood In London Graphic
but as was saying continued the excellent
tradesman, when you nnd the Sunday suit unre.
that an III wind is blowing from some quarter,
and a spell Of bad weather may he looked Tor.
will remain in pawn goodness knows how long
and you chop down your scale OF advances accord.
ngly. They, the regular customers | am ailu.
ding to, are very baturnlly Astonished at the
prices you oner EN-. Perhaps thoy may say
lisagreabc things about your graspng
because everybody else is. hut rs / said
before you are bound to act on the defensive. You
saw before-lttle 'uns best irocks and things
and old lash hloned traps that belonged to mother
smelling OF lavender. You may know by that
time that the wolf as they say, has scrached
open the door, and made pretty Tree inside. Then
| when II comes to taking dswn the clOck-and the
parlor carpet, and rather more Of the lie / linen
| Than can well hc spared"
| And that is about the last Of IT." l remarked,
hoiSns that ny friend had come to the end ol his
| melancholy inventory.
| mo that + about the begInniug of IT, he
| returned cUOly, the beginning OF The real hope.
les; poverty, J mean. We haven't got to the
tools yet As long as we can keep clear OF that
stage there ID hope OF u brisk mendnr but us u
| dismal look out when II comes to the saws and
| squares and rlanes. How is the weather
| Charles: say 10 my foreman tive speak of bu.
slneEs as the weather. It's been driiIllng tools
| all the morning sir, says he. Then says |. we
| shall have hard winter, you may depend on IT,
| And we do, Oi course"
Thus II comes about. that have only to look In
| on my pawnbrOkng friend, and inquire "How's
| trade"' If he replies %Thankye, Sunday suit,
are easy know that need not be uneasy on
| the working mans account. But should he, with
| shrug of his shoulders, respond; "Clocks are
come in fast or, I'VE are glutted with sheets
and blankets and paror carpets" then know
| That the shoe OF poverty " plnching the feet OF
| th9se VINO walk In toilsOns ways, and that they
VIII he lucky they are able to limp through the