The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1888-03-17
pAWnED HIS TEETH.
An Cnusuai Incident Witnessed ~ q To
porter in "a Pawn Shop.

An Cnu.uaI Incidont Witnessed ~ = Re-
| porter in Pawn shop
Tho ancient chap who exclaimed
milne honor is in pawn" was double
discounted aud beaten by the man who
entered pawnshop on South Clark
street, near Polk. last week and thrcy
upon the showcase a set Of false teeth.
saying:
"Whatll you give me on theseP'
The obliging pawnee, which appella-
ton he should mol resent, scrutinized
the teeth with the cold eyes Of a man
| Of business. There was good deal OF
gold filling in them-the teeth, not the
eye.
"A dollar" he said.
go, come now. That's not fair.
Those teeth have $25 worth Of gold in
them at least. 10 say nothing Of the
teeth themselves Make it FIVE and I'll
leave them"
"Once more for all tell you that we
never loan more than that on teeth. |
have a whole showcase full Of unre-
deemed mOlars, any set Of which you
can have for fifty cents"
80, rats! Gimme the dollar"
The money was handed the impocu-
ni0us and toOthless one, who departed
mumbling between his denuded jaws at
the heartlessncss Of thc world in gem
eral and pawnbrokers in particular.
The pawnec said.
I'VE have some trade In that sort Of
! pledge, but haven't showcase full Of
| unredcemed ones, rs told him. ] never
! knew Of but two pawners who didn't
| redeem their teeth. One was woman.
Queer pledge? Well, rather. but wo
have them stranger than that. The
other day a man ran in here and sat
| down IN that chair at the end of tine
| counter Before | could ask him what
he wanted he pulled up his trouser-lcg
and began unscrowing an artificial leg.
| | had only known OF one other case
whore such n pledge was given at u
| pawn-Oilice. That was by soldier ut
the close Of the war. Tho man who
| came in here carried a crutch ia his
! hand aud was determined 10 raise u
loan on his leg. got it for 81 and the
! customary 10 per cent. "a month. He
redeemed IL last night On another
occasion man tried very hard TO OBJ
tain loan of S25 on glass-eyc of n
very peculiar shade He had had IL
made especially for him so that it would
match his other eve. but that very fact.
Of course. reduced the chances Of our
doing any thing with it in case he for
fetcd the pledge. It Is both amusing
and affecting To observe the chaCrin
and disappointment exhibited by people
who try To raise considerable loan on
| articles whose value has been raised
in their estimation through long use
or loving association. Old hcrlooms
which are almo~ pri-alcss within
the family circle are comparatively
without value in the pawnshop. Not
long ago an old German lady came
IN here with two solid brass kitchen
utensils -old-country make, | don't
know what they were for, but they
would delight the housckecpcr's heart
| She expected To realize sum nearly
equal To what the articles must have
cost when new, aud when | told her
that could loan nothing at all on them
shc was terribly insultcd. Another
woman brought in an immense collec-
tion of family photographs. which she
imagined could be hooked for tidy
sum. A certain line Of hcirluoms. of
course, wo can find room for--thosc
| ,,,s,,bf N,n1 N httsur an ~
Of their utility and aesthetic quality
but the vast majority of things of that
sort are absolutely without exchange
value. | have seen some terrible scenes
In my time | have seen men and
women. crazod with hunger or drink.
strip of every stitch Of clothes they
could deccntly spare in order To obtain
money TO satisfy their m,hger or thirst.
have given many dollar out of my
own pocket lsthcr than take necessary
clothing from person really in need,
| and | have refused to take the gar
ments from a person whom l knew
would spend the money for drink. l
remember seeing man pawning a
cradle aud blankets in the front of the
store. in order To get money to drink.
while his wife. with the babe NJ her
breast. was in the rear trying TO raise
money ON somo household treasures to
procure sustenauce for Aerself and
child. There is II great deal of noto-
riety brought to the pawnbroker busi-
ness by dsreputables and blacklegs en-
gagged in it, but it can be carried on in
a Legitimate way just rs any other call
Ing is. ~ Chicdgo Times.