Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-09-28
OUR UNCLES.
Something More Of the Gentlemen Who
Lend Money on All Sorts of
Collateral.
The Sham Auction as a Means Of Reach.
ing n Desired End-A Few
Instances.

ID you know OF any pawnbrokers who
make it their business to hun you up
when they suspect hat stolen goods have
been brought them, in order to put you
on the track of the thieves" asked an
APPEAL reporter yesterday of Chief Davis.
81 do not know any OF that kind.
Why ?" asked the chief.
because one OF them asserts that such
are the facts i'll his ase, and adds that o
n all your aids will bear him out in his
statement"
"No efforts to discover thieves have
been made by any OF the pawnbrokers
since l have been in this office, except
GIN ONE OR TWO INSTANCES,
| when it was absolutely necessary that they
should DO something to redeem them
selves" Chief Davis said, positively.
Whenever we made a discovery OF stolen
goods they appear very anxious to assist
us, and in two or three cases have given
us Il clew by which we could work. In
the majority OF instances, however, the
information given has been worthless and
we have had TO work up cases without
aid
"Then there are no brokers in the city
who make it their business to inform on
suspicious customers"
Certainly not. Any statements to that
effect are absurd. On the contrary, all
sorts of obstacles are thrown in our way,
and, if my memory serves me, we have on
several occasions been forced to get out
search-warrants.
"oNLY y TX
in the city ever gave us his full permission
to come whenever we desired and look
through his stock, and he has gone out OF
business"
"Do you find much difference between
those now in business ?"
mo They are all alike. Sometimes
think one is doing better than another
and sometimes that he is doing worse"
There is a law requiring them to sell
all pledges at auction when the time ex-
pires, is there not?'
"Nes, there is; but | do not remember
that | ever saw Il crowd at a pawn sale. 1t
is the easiest matter in the world for the
broker to bid in these things by proxy if
he finds they will not be disposed of at
such a price as he knows they will COM
mand
CAT PRIVATE SALE"
"Do you not regard these auctions as
shams?'
Il am forced to do so from what ] have
seen OF them. The law does not insist
upon a licensed a~uctioneer, and it says
nothing OF any record. Therefore it can
not be said to whom goods are sold or the
price they bring. The broker may carry
this in his head if he so desires. Thus,
YOU see, he has only his memoir to serve
IShim when he is afterward questioned for
details. | remember a case in point. Not
long since | got a letter from a man in
Louisville stating that he had just re-
turned home from 4 visit to Memphis,
where he
"wAs FORCED TO PAwE
a valuable diamond pin, worth 500, for
enough to take him out OF town-some
$40. 1t had been pledged, he said, for
thirty days, and though he had repeatedly
written the pawnbroker before the expi-
ration of the tine, asking the return OF the
pin by express, C. o. d., he had not been
: able to hear from him. He attached great
value to the pin outside OF its intrinsic
worth, and was exceedingly anxious to
, regain possession of it He inclosed the
pawn ticket and asked me to do what l
could to assist him. l went to the broker
and read him the letter, but was told that
, no letters
chad EvER BEEN RECEIVED,
and that, upon the expiration OF the time
for which it was pledged the sring had
; been sold, bringing So 30. The odd
SD 30, he said, would be paid over to the
: owner of the ring upon demand. 1t had
been disposed OF at auction, and though
ho very distinctly remembered the price
he could not remember the name of the
e person to whom it had been sold. With
1 this / had to be content"
Besides the objections already made To
the p~awnshops and the manner in which
e they are conducted, it is urged that they
are indirectly the cause of a great deal OF
K family suffering, explained in various ways.
YOUNG MEN
!; who know of the existence of such places,
= and the ease with which they are enabled
to obtain money from them on any article