The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-02-22

Contract to Pay on the Installment Plan,
and the Fair sweethearts Never Know
About It-An Interesting Talk With =
Confidential Clerk.
An engagement ring contracted for
on the installment plan is now as COM
mon a business transaction rs the fit
ting mp of a boarding house on the same
easy payment plan. There are several
New York jewelry firms which do a
prosperous business among prospective
bridegrooms On the credit system.
One of these is located on a promi-
mem down town street. Engagement
rings and wedding rings are here sold
on credit, the weekly payment being 80
cents. At this store the other day "A
bashful young man asked the chief
clerk to show him some rings suitable
to present to a young lady.
Engagement ring, eh:" said the
clerk in a confidential undertone.
Here YOU are. sir, tn, very latest.
Forty-hve dollars-exq Iisite me
payment in 10 months. This shell ring
10 own design. Any girl would have
hts over it. See thGt dainty spiral
thread Of gold about Il q setting? That
emphasizes the gem nd makes it APP
pear worth more thar it Is. You can I
better Yourself. sir Pay cash and
ven u get a discoun Of So.
The Young man seemed much i'm
prns,sE He gave the measurement of
the little finger of his fair charmer and
left his name and references.
In his pocket as he went out be car
ried a s~tupendous contract printed in
red Ink, which stipulated that lin case
of nonpayment according to the terms
of contract. etc. the ring must he for
feited."
That's a fair sample, said the
clerk in answer TO a question. That
fellow represents a certain element of
rri51le class society. Most of the hard
working young men buy rings for their
-~eeethUarts that way. The girls would
never get any engagement ring at all if
the money had to be paid outright.
Another shy young man was ushered
In, and the clerk motioned him To "A pri-
vate room adjoining the main Office.
There they We're clOseted for several
minutes. and then the clerk emerged to
seal "A contract with the new customer.
The necessity of the private audience
room, il seems. Is because financial EN-
barrassment, coupled with native modes
ty, prevents lovers in the first stage from
divulging the terms upon which they
wish To pay tor a ring. They peter to
state their case unkcard by any u oy-
cept the head clerk. who. in the course
of his business. has cultivated a pro-
found sympathy for the entire race of
s~weethearts.
oh. they tell some pathetic stories. -
said the clerk. They let me into all
their secrets gratuirously. One very
devoted young lover told me the other
day that he earned 81 a week, but
couldn't get married until he had been
raised to 81. When advanced to this
position OF o~pulence, he thought he could
afford to buy a diamond ring Oh install
ments of 80 cents a week.
But it l. in the case of lapses that |
hear the most pathetic tales. As "A rule
our customers are straightforward and
honest. As long as a young man has
work we have no difficulty in getting
his money. When he loses his position,
he usually lets US know, and then if
the fellow is honest we ease up on him
Just a little"
But what if the girl and the ring dis
appear simultaneously" he was asked.
oh, the young man always pays up,
and If the girl has thrown him over
you can bet he never tells any one
about it.
There are lots of we'll t o do young
men who spend so or $40 in a night
for pleasure and who do business with
Us because they prefer to regard jewel
ry as a luxury ard pay for it on time.
Here, for instance, is a ring made
to order for a broker down town, and
the clerk held up a diamond ring val
ued at $3.50, which had been made to
6t the finger Of some metropolitan belle
who may never kno the terms of the
contract"
? Il don't know of a single instance
where a girl has had to forfeit her ring.
In case she had a dishonest man or a
sneak for a lover the case would be
rather embarrassing. But as a rule the
blushing bride elect knows nothing
about the installments, for u custom
ers come pr nptly to the Office and pay
mp every Saturday.
There are some cases where We have
70 unbend n trife, as, for instance,
where there has been a death in the
family. When a sad faced young fell
low steps into my private Office and
tails me couidentially that he has lost
b. father and must help pay the fu-
nsrai expen YES. or that he has spent all
his available capital in celebrating
Thanksgiving or Fourth of July the day
bsfore, then he can usually count upon
the sympathy of the firm.
''Of course we run great risks. n
~ never sell to anybody without look
ing up their references"
The investigation blank, which, when
Aned, establishes the purchasers in
tegrity of character, should contain the
H. -~raaf mama nf annlIeanf