The Washington times. (Washington, D.C.) 1894-1895, 1895-06-09
Some Rather Sharp Tricks
Praetieed by Rich Women
They Make a Pretense of Buying Goods and Have
Them Sent Home to Show Them Off
for a Night.

wehad. There wasoursofa, our best parlor
chairs, fire screens and, in fact, the most
elegant kind OF a drawingroom suite 1t
was getting rather late in the evening, in
fact, most time to close up, but the person
yes, 1t was q woman-insisueG that the
things should be sent up before O'Clock
that night. asked IL in the morning early
wouldn't do, but nothing would do, before
O'Clock or nothing.
well the clerks damned around q good
deal and off the things went. Then my
idea struck me. l merely wanted to know
out OF mere curiosity what that terrible
hurry was about. / sent one of the boys
up about 8 o'clock on pretense of asking
If the whole set had arrived. and, 10 and
behold, the house was in darkness, but
there was good-siZed racket going
on in the parlor.
EVERYTHING IN FULL BLAST.
"a vigorous pull at the bell brought man
to the door who only peeped out cautiously
to say that the family had gone to the
theater. w ell, I sent back after the
theater and, what do you suppose, my
messenger brought back word that the
parlor was lighted up, our elegant set was
in conspicuous evidence, and the family
and not more than four or five visitors
were still in the act Of adniring the
magnificence of their hosts.
Ofcourse, we didn'tsupply the grand piano,
nor the glorious pictures on the walls, but
you can ask some of the dealers in pianos
or pictures il they got certain things back
next morning from No. - Fifteenth street
northwest. | know we got our set back.
1--WE didn't expect to get them hack, it is
true. We thought it was a sale, for they
had bought some very good things of us.
/ don't even say now that the trick was
played to make some visitors TO the city
marvel at the opulence of their metropolitan
friends. but how does it strike you? OF
course, we never limited that we suspected
anything when the goods came back
THEIR BURNT BABY.
rather amusing revelation took place at
the next place of investigation. 1t was
one of these general stores, magnificent in
all things, and all things III magnificence.
II suppose you have had some experience
with these aesthetical female fIim-nam-
mers?" said the investigator.
Yes, We have had, but that's all in the
past tense now"
ut is the burnt child that breads the
fire all the world over" added The Times
man.
oh you knowthe burnt baby storythen?"
what burnt baby?''
"Our burnt baby. It's a story just in
youTline. Last January one OF your F. f F IS
ordered ON approval q pair of fire screens
'
pair just like that. they are called twin
screens and there is some real fine artistic
hand painting in that child's face, you see,
on each of them.
when they came back in the morning
one of them was SO scoTched that his
mother wouldn't have known that baby
boy. The screens went up for show and
they came back a sight 1t took two
months to collect the $40, but we got it at
last. and believe that the fiinl-flam policy
has been burnt out of that family
mo, you needn't make any further in
designations. Youcan take it forgranted that
the practice is stiIl Ill vogue of doing these
small things in just such small way. /
don't believe that l have ever read in
Washington paper anything on this subject.
and it may just possibly help matters some,
for these people to know that after some
annoying and some amusing experiences we
are on to them to stay on"