Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-02-02
WHERE OLD GELD GOES.
Teeth Plates, Brooches,
and Watches on Their Last Journey
to the Smelling Pot.
Prom The Philadelphia Press.

From The Philadelphia Press
You can receive the highest cash price for
gold. silver chains. rings, teeth plates. spoons,
FORKS. watches, and any other kind of gold and
silver. is an advertisement which may almost
De said to be standing" In several city jour-
nails n Press reporter strolled up to the place
indicated with big letters, and found it redolent
with pledged wealth. There was q counter. and
over it was fixed bright brass grating to keep
Off trespassing fingers from the stores Of gold
and silver living about in the Tom Tiddlers
ground on the other side Cards hung about In
various quarters of the stOre-one telling the
scale of prices demanded for assayin- the pre-
cious metals or their ores. and another repre-
sentinC a man with head one inch in diameter
and fist two inches big. well in the foreground,
continually yelling at the world to shut the
door
As the reporter stepped into the store bell
rang and 4 man who from the bend in his back
might have been carrying his gold npon his
shoulders for score of years or so. made his
appearance behind the grating. He glanced
suSpiciOusy around the room as if to make sure
that there was no gold or silver lying about
loose for the stranger to appropriate, and then
put his embroidered skuil-cap OH the back of his
head. letting the light fall full into his face and
causing h s little black eyes to sparkle with an
appalling suddenness.
Il buy from re old gold, re silver chains. re
watches and everydings" The old fellow rat
tied this out in monotonous tones repcating
his advertisement word for word. When he
learned the reporter had nothing to sell he got
angry and declined to talk at first. When he
had been thawcd out by a little persuasion he
gave some information. which. translated into
English. reads:
This is very improbable business. l find
| am more likely to lose money than to make it,
People are too apt to deceive an old man like
mn hoy in
gold in n-tOothpicks, rings. lOckets brooches.
pins and watches. The great craze this year is
to get rid of watch chains. People of fashion
don't carry them nearly SO much as they did.
Some years ago every one sold out their scarf
pins, now they are cOminGin again Gold studs
! are going out, and those that are not held BY
spectators to await a changing fashion find
! their way to the melting pot
There are ten thousand farmers in Pennsyl-
vania who think they have gold mines on their
property, ne went on, land some of them send
me specimens of mica and sparkling minerals
for examination. / have known them to get
wild when told them the ores didn't contain
any gold. and often they have denounced me,
refused to cOnflde in my analysis, and sent on
their mica to the mint, where tests are made for
fee. An analysis for gold is very COSTLY but
many farmers are so lumberheaded that they
Will pay any price in the expectation of becOm-
ing bonanza kings. Then teeth-plates too. A
lady came along the other day who dived into
her mouth. brought ont a plate and asked what
it was worth i said So. and she put it back
and went away, saying the sum wasn't large
enough"
''Do people ever try and fool you with dunn
my Jewelry:" the reporter inquired.
DECEIvING THE OLD NAN.
"Ah," said the old man, signing pathetically,
there are many wicked people in the world,
and get my share of their visits. Bogus rings
come here In shoals. When tell those who
bring them that they are made Of brass. they
say they weren't aware of it BEFORE and that
they bought them for the genuine article ! see
plenty OF brummagem coins, too Lots of the
gold gulneas and foreign pieces of gold worn on
watch chains are cheap limitations. and when
their owners are in difficulties they must pledge
them or sell them outright to man like me. /
tell you have to be pretty smart to meet the
crooks. Sometimes fashionable people dart in
here, and after looking around to see that there
is none within eye-shOt. produce from under
their mantles or from the insides OF their over
coats teapOts fisll-slices and bargain with me
about their purchase Ii any one else comes in
they pretend to be buying the articles. Round
about Christmas and New Year there is cOnsd-
cradle of that sort OF thing.
81 once bought pair of iron sleeve buttons
worth twenty cents for s." lamented the old
fellow with tears in his eyes land that was be-
cause they We're brought in by a pretty young
lady who was so attractive that | thought
could trust her. She is about the only person
that ever came into my store that | didn't sus-
pect some way or other. and you See what got
for