New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-16
THE BANE OF MAIDEN LANE
HOW PAWNSHOPS GET MORE JEWELRY
THAN THEY ARE ENTITLED To

HOW PAWNSHOPS GET MORE JEWELRY
THAN THEY ARE ENTITLED TO.
There is tide in the affairs OF men which taken at
! its ebb leads on TO the shop OF the Bowcry pawn
broker The blessed privilege Of sending ones watch
cup the spout or investing It with rapacious
uncle' IS that pines for, yet circum-
stances beyond his contro. sometimes compel him 20
enjoy IT, Then be thanks his stars for the existence
Of such institutions Of usury unclcs and spouts.
The Maiden Lane Jewellers are going TO war against
the pawnbrokersl That recalls little story:
A man Of twenty-seven, possessed Of respectable
suit OF clothes, conventional business manners and an
honest countenance. walked into a Maiden Lane shop
and sat down high stool
I'd like TO look watches" he said, In 70
spouse to the nqurng gaze Of salesman who braccd
himself against the opposite side Of the counter
You wish to-er-puchase for-er-for your own
use1 About what style Of instrument would
"wcll, I'll tell you Ny father Mr.. shouse, the
big picture dealer Just round the IN Nassaus.
IS going to make me birthday present of a watch
To-day is my birthday and father insisted that l
should select the present don't want to be too hard
the old gentleman you know. so to be modest shall
not go above $500. Let something in that
| nlghborhoodf
| The salesman became all smiles and sweetness.
| The son Of the big picture dealer looked over the
watches in stock and found one at 1928 that suited
him TO at
Lay It aside" he said, rising to go. "Faher will
send for It presently"
An hour and half later the Of the same
big picture dealer Just round the corner rushed into
the same Maiden Lane shop. lie was in his shirt
sleeves, pen behind the wing of his right ear
and had his fingers decorated with ink spots. He
was in tremendous hurry.
BY jove' he cried. feared you would be closed
up. Been Internally busy forgot all about the
watch m everything else Clerks got their hands
full Just thought I'd step round and get 1t myself.
All, thanks Here is check covering the amount
Ieroh, by the way, please be good enough to send
receipt round TO the storo this afternoon or to NOR
row, Will youl SO long,
In an instant he was out Of sight The salesman
looked at the check gnned at the 1925 in the
exulted over the S75 profit and filed the piece of
paper away.
In due time Mr. shouse got a receipt for the 1925.
Somewhat surprised, he called at the Maiden Lane
shop to inquire about it. Everything explained.
lie called for the check and pronounced It forgery
He had with birthday. The whole thing was
swindle
There 161 licensed pawnbrokers in this city.
Next morning each Of them received bronze-cOv
cred postal card on which these words were printed:
LOAN MEN AND PAWN BROKERS.
Please stop If offered notify II received.
STOLEN NOVEMBER II, 1888
Gold hunting case watch No. 1882, No.
o17G3.
SEND INFORMATION TO INSPECTOR
THOMAS BYRNEs. DETECTIVE BUREAU. NO.
300 MULBERRY-ST.. N Y.
The owner of large establishment in the Bowery,
who keeps record Of all goods received at his Office,
found that he had lent $50 this Identical watch.
In one OF his five great safes he found the watch
and behind the front counter the clerk who had
taken it in. This clerk described the person who
had sent It mp the spout and assured his employer
that he would know the thief If he him again.
So they laid trap.
Ono week later the son-ofthe-bigp picture dealer
justround- the dropped into this
Bowery "Unce's" with gold watch to pawn.
The clerk recognized him at glance and called
the proprietor. The latter, extremely shrewd
man, saw that he had to deal with dangerous thief
1t was a In which he could not afford to make
any mistake to the fellows Identity. Nor must
he arouse his suspicious
There a great deal Of skrm'shing on both
sides before price could be settled upon, the
pawnbroker delaying matters purpoSey.
BY the way" he remarked suddenly feeling in
his coat pockets, 1--WE got letter here somewhere
from the you sold that ticket to- He
"Tlckctf What ticketl" the other asked in sur
prise
"why, the one for that last watch you left with
u.s.
But I haven't sold any tic1eN
That's curious. Here's the letter. No, faint
either Guess must "a mislad 1t. Anyhow, he
asks me TO be careful not to let anybody redeem
the watch but himself, he bought the ticket and
would be down in a day or two to get It OUT
1t was now the thiers turn for coat pocket
investigation lie was more successful than the
money lender.
That fellows got things mixed, or else you have,
he said Here's the ticket for that watch II hasn't
been out Of my keeping since l got it.'
The pawnbroker took It back TO his private apart
ment TO compare the numbers with those OF tho
watch and case. They were the same. a message
was 10 Inspector Bymos, who dispatched two
detectives from Police Headquarters TO capture the
thief Pawnbrokers not constabies and can
make TO arrests. All that they do is 10
the game untl the gunner along aud knocks
him the head.
The detectives slow Of foot and the thief began
to be uneasy. A streetcar ran over boy In front
OF the door and In the commoton OF the gathering
crowd he tried to make his escape. Ten stops from
the entrance he broke into rum but had scarcely
got his stride when the pawnbrokcrs cold fingers
slipped down the nape Of his neck and closed lis
coa,-c0llsr.
~Unhand mel7 he cried, turning savagely upon
his captor and raising his fist for blow.
Before he could snike out the detectives stepped
up and marched him oil TO headquarters. He had
pawn tckts worth over $500 In his pocket, all for
jcwery picked up IN Maiden Lane by the same def
process which possessed him OF the watch. II is
needless to say that every article for which ticket
could be produced restored to IT'S rghtful owner
Jewellers maintain that all stolen articles Traced to a
pawnshop should be restored TO the owner whether
he produce tickets or not, provided he Identifies
the goods Pawnbrokcs h Id & Ia, cont ary. ald
on this difference OF opinion hang the issue that
has recently been raised This what Maiden
Lane almond merchant says;
within the past months have been rubbed
OF diamonds and jewolry upon six different occasions
Tho thieves made away with the goods by leGoIdeman