Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-10-07
CITY DEAD BEATS.
no" fhey Manage Co Live Elegantly on
Nothing a Year.

no" Ihey Manage Co Live Elegantly ON
Nothing a Year.
"Are you aware that MANY men in
Brooklyn live wholly by their witse',
asked an uptown grocer of a reporter.
sNo' Ieould name dozen heads of
families who for years have not had a
dollar which they could call their own.
but yet they live in brown stone houses
and on the best the land affords. When
L say that the class of men I mention
live by their wits, / don't mean that
they are gamblers or sharpers, as the
term implies. They are men who. hay
ing seen better DAYS and becoming re-
duced, thin> that the world owes them
a living, ami mean to get it. l have
reference to that class who move wear
II, II not oftener. and strike all trades
men IN Their neighborhood for amounts
ranging from twenty-five to three hun
dred dollars. Would you believe that a
man could support a family of five for
six years wholly on credit? know
such case and have reason to regret
my acquaintance with the individual TO
the tune of two hundred dollars. About
year ago there entered my store a gen
ueman- We'll dressed and seemingly re-
specialize He bought a small bill of
goods. pay ng cash, and continued to
purchase daily for a week. Finally.
one day he said it was a bore to paw
each time. and would l allow him to
run weekly bill? readily
consented to this arrangement. and.
strange to say, at the end of the first
week every thing was settled promptly
L am now coming to the interesting
part of nv story. On sending in bill
for the groceries furnished during the
second week was asked if | could not
let the account run by the month.
Again l consented, to oblige my Gus
toner. leave my business at certain
periods of the month entirlv in the
hands of my clerk. and as he knew
hal consented to run a monthly account
with ny respectable customer he
thought nothing of the fact that that in
dividual had in three weeks ordered
three barrels of flour and other gro
ceries IN proportion. At the end of the
month | presented my bill of two hun
dred dollars but was put off from time
to time. and, becoming tired, entered
suit to recover the amount
'.You received a verdict, of course?''
Yes; but the execution was returned
unsatistied. My customer owned
nothing Every stick of furniture in
his elegantly appointed house was in
the name of his wife Two weeks ago
had the pleasure of seeing two barrels
of my best flour, three or four barrels
OF potatoes and manv other articles
VIII ch or gnaliy belonged to me loaded
on truck N front of my late custom
er's house He had neglected to pay
the landlord four months rent, and was
required to get out On inquiry |
learned that the same aged and respect
able gentleman had fieeced other trades
men in the vicinity for amounts some
what smaller than mine. On pursuing
the invest CATION further learned that
my late customer had moved five times
in three years and had left large bills in
each neighboraood in which he had
lived. | have only mentioned the case
to illustrate how Systematically the dead
beat works
is there no way in which tradesmen
can avoid being beaten?" was asked
'.Yes; but one-the cash system. But
still it IS imposs BILE to make every one
pay cash. Many of nv old customers
would be highly indignantif their honesty
was quest uned and 1 would lose the
larger part of my business. Oh. no;
the cash system IS impracticable. for
many reasons. There are black lists,
but when d lad beats change their names
what is a man to do? / contend that if
a man is thoroughly dishonest he will
have ample opportunity to practice his
wiles.'
Are not many honest customers who
pay obliged to suffer for the shortcom-
ings of dead beats?"
In a measure. yes If everybody
paid | have no doubt but that groceries
would be cheaper. Grocers must make
up their bad debts in some way. and the
honest customer in the end is obliged to
suffer. Rro0k5yn Eagle.