The Osceola times., 1886-08-14

] "iN 'HNiohSniD pusleu IN theSo
matters, that makes chatttl-mortgape
men and time-payment men now record
almost every mortgage. As a matter
OF TACT we can beat the piano and sew.
lng-machine men every time when they
| don record
Inc chattel-mortgage mans state.
ment received ample confirmation from
the records. The increase in time pay-
menls for the first six months of 1856
over the corresponding period of 1885
was found to be extraordinary. Durino
the months Of April, May and June i
/ was not an uncommon occurrence to
ma one single firm recording from fifty
TO sixty mortgages in day on account
| OF furniture bought on time payments.
lhe startling growth of this method of
| obtaining goods goes long way to ac-
| count Tor the increase Of % per cent.
uurlng the expired portion of 1886. and
70 offset the causes assigned bv Brat
@f,c5S for the doubling OF chattcl mort
! cages in the last six weeks. The infer
ence that strongly marked increase in
chatiel mortgages necessarily an indi.
eaton Of poverty and hard times is fal.
lacious ana misleading, for if the in.
crease be in the direction of the acuuire.
ment Of new furniture, planes and sew
| lhg-machincs, Il must rather be accepted
rs sign OF prosperity. The motgageor
N these cases has to pay from $40 10
go doWn-a a thing that very hard-up
man would not be able to do. The
records show that ihcfe ms been an un-
| preocdcltcd increase in this kind of
| Cnattel mortgage, and this, with the
more general practice of recording,
must be held 10 be much mere largely
accountable for the increased number
OF chaltei mortgages that the blighting
effects of the labor troubles.
Nv hat more useful or welcome pres
ent said the chattel-mortgage man to
tDe reporter, ''can Il young man make
to his best girl than a n ew piano? I'll
tell you story to show how the thing
works. a respectable young man in
the wholesale dry-goods business. wish
ing to give his intended wife Christ
mas surprise, bought a 1915 upright
piano from a friend OF mine on the West
Side, paying S2j down and giving a
mortgage ana notes for the payment of
the balance in monthly instalments.
The young man, still further to CRAFTY
his inalnorata, sent home the piano TO
her fathers house on the South side.
with a receipt in full for 1919 made out
on one Of the regular account-form
blanks of the piano dealer The pres
on, that presagod eternal harmony be-
tween the happy lovers was looked at
by the parents from a more practical
business point of view. They were
hard up, and thinking il no wrong to
realize on their daughters personal
chattel, negotiated a loan of Sl20 from
me on the instrument. | examined the
records, but failing to notice the
address to which the piano had
been sent, could detect nothing
crooked in the transaction. The
morigageors. however. soon gave me
tie slip without taking M single note.
! discovered after considerable trouble
that they had removed to a well-known
suburb on the Rock Island Road. had
the father and mother arrested, and re-
pleyincd the piano from the railroad
company. When the piano was safe in
my storage warehouse | happened to
meet my friend. the piano dealer, one
day and. with a knowing smile which
had observed on his face several times
before, he said: Il thank YOU for look
ing so well after my piano. | never
had less difficulty in tracking one in my
life. lumblcd TO the racket and found
out that had no power over the piano,
the first mortgage having been duly
recorded with the address TO which the
piano had been sent. Ny friend knew
all along that had made loan ON the
piano, but as the young man honestly
and promptly paid up his installments
he dc not think it worth while to inter-
ferc in the Old folks bus sness. The
parents ultimately paid up the amount
Of the loan and recovered the instru-
mcnt, but it now stands in the house as
melancholy reminder OF how court
ships chords can be rudely disrupted
by the chattel-mortgage fiend." ."
In looking over the records Of chattel
mortgages, it was deeply interesting to
read the necessities of social life and the
scamy side of the current history OF
some local celebrities in the odd and
various chattels that had 10 bow before
the mortgage tyrant Joe Mackin's
funiture in the Palmer House and else
where made over to August Mcttc, Pat
Sheedy's faro-tablcs, chips and checks,
the University Library. chairs, chemi-
Gals, etc, for unpaid salaries to Presi-
dent and Professor. form items in the
years catalogue of catastrophes. Men
mortgaged their barber-shops, their
shooting galleries, their da-fountains,
their meat markets, their pool-tables,
and their lypewrters. Chcese-factorics,
steamboats,, theatrical ward-robes, skat-
ing-rinks, printing-presses, horses.
mules and machinery fall in line. while
eggs, tobacco. buggies, bowling alleys,
dstilery cows. and masquerade cos
tunes swell the procession. As though
to make the list still more grotesque, i
is recorded that one man mortgaged
a hearsc, while another borrowed
money on milk route. When it is
considered that borrowers pay at least
sixty per cent. per annum TO the chattel-
mortgage man for the loans, not to
mention the ruinous charges for pre-
liminary expenses such as making out
papers and recording, it is not difficult
TO see in this respect at least ''what
fools we mortals are.
Enough has been written to show that
the true explanation of the tremendous
increase in chattel-mortgagcs is to be
found in the unparalleled growth of the
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS business,
the infnitly larger number of mort
cages duly recorded. - Chicago Tribune.
Q o.
A Profusely Ornamented Book.
A very Interesting discovery was re.