The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-05-19
THE DIAMOND E EARRINGS.
A BROADWAY JEWELERS. pr
CULIAR CUSTOMER.
What q Fashionable Woman Is Wearing
A Gamblers Anchor to Windward
An Ingenious Way of
Negotiating Loan.

L 4 4 = -
An Ingenious Way of
Negotiating Loan.
II have had some peculiar Gus
toners, said an old Broadway jeweler,
.but there was one case which / be.
lieve no one can duplicate. l have a
large patronage from the mon about
town-the gamblers and the racing
| people. They are very liberal buyers
of jewelry when fortune favors them,
and they select first-class goods and
in most instances appear to be excel
lent judges of quality.
The individual Of whom I was
about to tell you. was man who first
came to my store,aboutfoury years ago.
He was a very shabby looking young
fellow, whom l watched cautiously
when passed him a pair of cheap
solitaire earrings in compliance with
his request He hardly glanced at
them, and asked for something better,
and took the first pair and brought
out pair that were shade higher in
price. These he pushed aside also,
and asked for finer goods. until l had
shown him verything in my stock ex-
cept a pair OF earrings worth 5000,
which l did not care to permit him to
handle ~
Il was a little out Of patience with
the fellow, and pointing to the ear
rings in the showcase. l told him the
price, and he immediately asked to
see them. Thinking that he might
| make an effort to grab them and run
away, / lifted them from their velvet
case and walked around the counter
holding them up to the light as if nv
change of position was actuated by. a
desire to show the stones to the best
advantage.
He examined both stones very
closely. and almost took away nv
breath when he said he would take
them, and at the same time pulled out
a large roll of bank notes from his
pocket. He counted out 5000, and
after | had wrapped the earrings he
babe me good night and hurried away.
! l was "nonplussed. The man was a
mystery to me- and often thought of
him, until one night about month
later when he came again. .
He wore a shiny silk hat. and his
shabby clothing had been replaced by
neat. but very expensive garments
He saw that I recognized him, and
after few words about the weather
drew from his pocket the earrings 1
had sold him. and said that his wife
disliked the settings and that he de-
sired new ones. I showed him sew
eral other styles, and he soon selected
one.
Then he told me that he had ex
pected large amount of money but
had been disappointed. and finally, in
a very frank business-like manner,
asked me if 1 would lend him $500
until the earrings would be reset It
looked little like pawnbroker but I
believed that the man was in close
quarters financially. and after criti-
cally examining the stones to see that
they had not been changed, / gave
him the money. .... =
AT the time when I had told him
the earrings would be ready he came.
paid me the amount borrowed and $40
for the settings, but insisted that no
allowance be made for the old set
tings He thanked me for the favor
and went away.
"A week later he came again for
new settings and $500 loan, and he
continued having those stones reset at
irregular intervals nearly four years.
each time asking for the money and
always paying it at the time appointed
for the delivery of the earrings.
During our long acquaintance I
learned that he was an inveterate
gambler who played high stakes and
that the diamond earrings had origin
ally been bought as a nest-egg for
days when luck was against him He
feared that pawnbroker might
change the stones, so instead of rails
ing money on the earrings in the u.s.
ual way, he adopted the novel scheme
in which he involved me.
who wore tie earrings? No.
body. He carried them around in a
channels bag. Did mot find it trouble
some to have him borrowing and re-
turning money so frequently? No.. I
A1hCu Guo 1cAlOW, duu, cSlu0 from LllG
it paid me too handsomely. His last
visit here was a couple of months ago,
when he left the earrings after pick
ing out their twenty second setting,
and took away with him $500.
The night they were to he finished
I received a request from the nan to
call at his rooms. l found him alone
in cherries little hall bedroom dy-
ing of pneumonia. He was very
grateful to me for having been his
banker, as he put it. and asked me to
see that he was decently buried after
telling me to keep the EARRINGS for
the money advanced and for the funer-
al expenses. i,
Il complied with his request. Have
the diamonds yet? No; I sold them
last Christmas for $1,000. and they
are now worn by one OF the most
fashionable women in the city. jew
! elers' Review.
Wood Fit for yiolins,
An amateur violin-maker of Port
| land. Me. :, has secured priza in a