The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-04-02
SUMMONS SERVERS.
They Must Be Possessed OF En-
ergy, Ingenuity and Check"
a Business That Requires n BIan to Al
most Go Through Fire and Watcr to
Attain Succcss-Thc Clcvor Russo OF
Genius In His Line.

If there is u man in the world who
needs to be energetic, ingenious, quick
witted, patient, long-suffering, deter
mined and, above all, Cheeky" says
the New York Times, that man is tho
unfortunate server of su1nmonscs.
Serving summonses is good deal like
driving Il skittish horsc-anybody Gun
do 1t until something happens, and then
when something does happen, unless
the driver or the server can do some
thing more than hold on to the rcins or
hold out his summons, he Is dono for.
The tricks that are taken to get tho
pest OF the summons-servcr arc legion.
defendants in suits, even if they have
scruples against lying ut other times,
aeel that to lie to IL summons-scrvcr is
perfectly legitimate, and, as it were,
only making one of his own moves
against him. For the server himself
never hesitates to lie. 1t is one of his
most useful tricks. IIo is any thing
while trying to get near enough to Mr..
Blank to serve him with tho summons
he is paid for serving. lie is n particu-
lar friend just come to the city from
Hobol1en or the West, and has not seen
y
estate agent who was talking with Mr..
Blank last week about those valuable
lots in Harlem, or he is n special mes
senger from Il business friend of Mr..
Blank who wants to see him ut once on
the most important business and can
not possibly colEo to his office. Any
and all and many moro such pcrsonnges
is the summons-servcr ut diffcrent times
of his arduous career, until it is a
wonder That he doesn't himself forget
what he is, and when he clutches his
victim fail to rccollect to hold out the
little official piece of paper and say:
MIR. Blank, here is Il summons in n
suit brought by" But the summons
server never forgcts.
AS general rule the summons-scrver
carries on his disagrccablc business
quietly, but of course well-cuuippcd
server never hcsitntcs to 'makc q stir"
If it is necessary. If his victim jumped
into the water, very likely he would
jump in after him if there wasn't u boat
handy, and serve his summons before
attempting to save his man from drown
ing. In fact, summons-scrvcr with
out large bump of determination
would be of little good, while the ono
who Is determined and at the Same time
qulck-wlttcd enough to make his deter
mlnation valuable is never out of q lob
lie gets up reputation as q reliable
man, one who always nails the defend
ant he Is set on, and lawyer who
Knows the man he wants to serve will
be difficult to catch, doesn't put his sum-
mons in the hands of his Office boy, but
sends for the server with the rcputa-
ton.
1t sometimes happens that piece of
ingenious Summons-scrving is done in
public, and sometimes SO neatly that
those who see it done are so taken up
with the admiration for the ingenious
terver that they quite forget to sympa-
thize with the victim, which ordinarily
they would do, knowing that the chances
are in favor of their at some time being
In his place, rather than of their ever
having to try to serve summonscs them
selves.
Such case occurred in East Fifty
ninth street the other night, and was
witnessed by twenty or thirty passcn-
gers on Belt Line strcct-car and half q
dozen pedestrians. The car was bowl
Ing along rapidly. Suddenly two men
dashed out from one of the avenues
crossing Fifty-ninth street, one of them
uttwenty feet in advance of the other.
who was shouting at tho top of his
voice: stop thicfl Stop thief" One or
two pedestrians joined in the pursuit,
and the policeman at the corner got his
nnwieldly frame into motion. But the
supposed thief was a faster runner than
any OF the Others and jumping on
to the front platform of the car he
gasped to the driver: 81 am no thief.
Whip up your horses, and here's dol
lar" Then he went inside and sat
down, and all the other passengers
looked at him askance
The conductor evidently thought it
was his place to get his car through on
time, and not to stop to let man after
whom stop, theft" was being called
be captured. But when he saw the DO
liceman in the crowd OF pursuers he
pulled the bcll-strap and the car came
to stop. The man who had first ap-
peared in pursuit leapcd on board and
rushed up to the man whom he had
called thief. The other passengers
looked to see him take the man bv the
collar, and the policeman was lust at
the rear platform ready to put him I'm
der arrest. Pulling n paper from his
pocket the pursucr held it out to the
pursued and said: "Nlr. -, here is the
summons in that suit of -"
And then the policeman sworc be-
cause he had to run block to help q
sumnons-scrver, and the car went on its
way. The man who had been served
looked detected, but he remarked to
his next ninhho,.. tsI&,a ;..s+ - --.sl,