The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-07-29
FOR BARGAINS OR FOR CHARITY
How willy Secondhand Dealers Appeal 4
10th Thsse Human Motives. 2

o willy s~scondhnud Dealsrs Appeal to
10th These Human Motives.
The observant pedestrian along any popu-
lous east or west side street, knows what 10
IL to see piled up In apparent confusion
tho household effects Of some distressed
tenant, dispossesscd for nonpaymsnt Of
rcnt-fnrniture, bedding, kitchen utensils,
cheap pictures. crockery, a clock, and u
birdcage. Where a landlord secures sum-
mary possession through ths act OF a mar
shal Of dwelling apartments the personal
property OF the tenant IL put upon the side
walk rs the most convenient, accessible and
public place. Unusually the tenan has
somewhere else to go. Seldom do his effects
remain long In the street, for there are al
wnys, especially In the poorer parts Of the
town, helping hands to give him or her q
friendly lift or n new start.
Then a truckman comes to take away
the articles left upon tho sidewalk, and
the %neighbors hear Of the matter no
more. This benevolent strain OF human
nature in New York has, however, inspired
the cupidity Of some secondhand dealers,
who now make u regular business of dump
ing their unstable stock In a public place,
pretending that the articles thus displayed
belong to some needy dispossessed tenant.
The sympathetic wife or daughter OF the
secondhand dealer stands in the vicinity OF
the articles, aud when the charitably dis
posed stranger makes his appearance this
is about what he hears:
"Poor soull A widow with seven chill
dren, her husband dead in the hospital aft
er being out of work for three months
where would she get the money to pay the
landlord and save her furniture from the
street, Well do l remember her paying
$50 for that bedstead there when she moved
into the top floor beyond-a bedstead which
she would be glad enough to take $40 for
now to buy her children something to eat.
And those chairs there, which cost 81 each,
she'd be only too willing to sell for a quar-
ter apiece; and that fine old fashioned clock
lying there--it's a splendid timekeeper,
and any dealer would pay S. for it gladly
and the poor woman is willing to take 90
for it if she could only find a kind hearted
purchaser to buy it, while she is out looking
for help from those who were glad enough
to borrow money from her husband when
he was %workingl'
Such q tale Of commingled human sor-
row and business opportunity told, for the
first time, to sympathetic stranger is not
usually without its effect. "My good
woman" says the male passerby, there is
a couple of dollars for the widow-my good
wishes go with her." The female passerby,
too, is touched by the recital, and the
chance Of often getting a bargain loosens
the clutch which she has on the money
which she holds in her hand. She buys
such Of the articles as her means afford or
which seem cheapest and next seeks the
good Offices Of some ~neighboring truck
maj or cxpressman to transport the arti-
cles to her home. Then the secondhand
dealer replaces the articles sold by other
articles of a similar kind from his shop,
and his wife waits the arrival of another
favorably disposed purchaser.
This dodge has been worked quite gener.
ally and quite effectively Of late in various
parts Of town, and it is always to be no
ticed that q second hand furniture store is
at no great distance from the point where
the articles are left, and a well travelled
thoroughfare, not q side street, is selected
for the purpose, although it is we'll known
that evictions for nonpayment Of rent arr
very rare on the big thoroughfares, where
the rents are higher, and are almost eAclu-
sively limited to the smaller side streets oil
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