The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1889-02-15
SCIENTIFIC BORROWING.
How a Shrewd Scamp Makes a Com
Portable Living.

lES 10" was ooh'N 20
man whose ordinary methods OF
obtaining livelihood did not IN
spire confidence or respect.
81 am loan contractor at pres
ent,". he replied. 81 have been
six months in the business aud |
can honestly say that have been
successful. You wonder what IA
sloan contractor is? Well, 1 bor-
row small sums Of money aud live
upon them. The work is prohta-
bic and not too hard. Oh, no, j
don't exhaust my list OF lenders.
On the contrary. | an steadily
adding to it. Of course | cannot
borrow from a man TO whom | am
already indebted, but before hn-
allv part company with him l make
him introduce me to at least two of
his friends, SO that for every Gus
toner l drop l pick up couple
a net gain of-one.
"The business requires A good
deal of skill, and certain rules
must be carefully observed. In
the first place, l never ask man
to loan me money unless l am
quite assured that he has it about
him. When your intended victim
refuses from necessity you have
lost him. 1t is hopeless 10 try him
again. He thinks over the matter,
because he feels more or less NOR
tilted about it, and he is sure to
end by congratulating himself that
he was unable to accommodate
you; and when he has once arrived
at that stage of reasoning you may
knock him off your list.
''When l have selected my man
I don't approach him as though l
was ashamed of what ] am doing.
l am always we'll dressed and look
like gentleman, because l know
by painful experience that a shah
billy dressed man has no chance at
all as a borrower. Drawing him
timorously to one side and whis-
pering your request is pretty GER
tain to annoy him and bring a de-
NAL. Ia such matters men are
always bolder alone than when
they are in company. For this
reason l always saunter up to my
victim when he is surrounded by
his friends. He must present mt
to them, and if the meeting is in a
barroom, as | generally manage
that it is, drink is likely to fol-
low.
"This establishes a certain
amount of confidence, and when !
turn to him suddenly as though. !
had just remembered my need and
say aloud, 'Oh, by the bye, just
let me have a couple of dollars un-
til to morrow, will you? I have a
little account to settle down the
street and l have no small bills
about me- he must be a deter
mined man if he refuses. You
see, he has introduced me to his
friends and stood before them as
my sponsor, so to speak. To
slight me now would be equivalent
to impeaching his own witness.
get the money, which I am very
careful to pay back the following
day. When [ have done this twice
l generally find that the man is al
my mercy. Then 1 wait until ]
know that his pockets are well
filed, when l strike him to the
tune of from $40 to $25, according
to circumstances. After that
avoid him. The whole campaign
usually occupies about a fortnight
and l can operate in a dozen fields
at once; so that, you see, l make a
fairly good income.
| "Men who are accustomed to
wealth and always carry large
sums of money with them are al.
most useless to me and l rarely
try them. They are stingy to the
last degree and there is no gooc
in them. tbs with those who are
usually poor, but occasionally fine
themselves flush, that l deal.
take them at the foodtide Of theil
fortune, when they are elated witt
the possession Of money which
seems to them inexhaustibIe, anc
they fall easily into my.trap.
: "Will you take something will
me? Don't be afraid. l know 1t
would be hopeless to attempt tc
borrow from you after what / have
told you, and I won't ask you fol
an introduction to any of your
friends, because 1 am sure you
would not give it to me. You
won't drink. Well, good by,
see man coming who drew his
pay to-day and,I must go across
the street and cultivate him.
Nea0 York Times.