The Washington times. (Washington, D.C.) 1894-1895, 1895-06-12
MONEY Sharks
Victims Appeal to The Times TO
Save Them from Usury.
AN OLD SOLDIERS EXPERIENCE
He Has Been Paying 16O Per Cent.
Interest Per 4 mum ona SmallLoa
Straus' Recent Operations Exposed
by the Court Record-CapitaI Loan
Guarantee Company Net.

Under the repeated attacks of The Times
the walls of shaky old shylockdom are rap
idly crumbling, while the army of money
grabbers, exposed to public view in their
nefarious work are seeking cover.
Ever since this warfare against thieving
was instituted, victims of the sharks have
flocked 10 The Times office. Among the
callers yesterday was a sturdy and honest
old German veteran, who has faced the
bullets of the enemy on several battlefields.
His recent encounter with the willy war
riors of King Fraud, he said discounts
any experience he has ever had with armed
foes on the field OF fire and smoke during
the war.
He agreed with The Times that these
money grabbing sharks are moral bush
whackers, who carry on their despicable
workincovertplaces ctedandconcealed
by the shrubbery OF legal technicalities.
The old German became surrounded by the
storm clouds OF adversity several months
ago and sought relief within the grim gates
OF fraudulent Shylockia, over which ap
pears the ancient legend; Those who
enter here leave all hope behind"
HIS EXPERIENCE AMONG SHARKS.
The old gentleman related his experience
at the office OF one OF the money lending
concerns, from which he had just returned.
II have just come from The office of
the Capital Loan and Guarantee Com
pany, No. COZ T street." be said. The
man behind the desk was greatly excited
and tearing up papers al lively rate, be-
sides cleaning out his desk, and TO my mind
making arrangements to skip out of town.
Il tell you, sir, The Times is making
those fellows bestir them selves. He
would not take time to talk with me,
he was so busy.
Il made him talk to me a little, though"
continued the veteran. Il told him when
he gave me a receipt in fun for the SO
had paid on the principal OF my loan
would surrender the bunch Of receipts /
held in my hands, representing usury of
the worst sort. If you don't give me
justice l said, Il will place them in the
hands of the District Attorney He looked
up from the great pile of torn paper and
remarked:
1T seems to me you don't want to
pay your debts
- The receipts hold, was my reply, are
proof that / have not only paid my debts,
representing your usuTious rates, but that
have also paid SO out of my hard earned
money on the principal which has not been
so credited" :"
hdNlIg IIIeu Ihls pdIluB shoJ IIoIn llS
Krupp gun, the aged German came direct
to The Times office and said:
GOING TO OTHER PARTS.
You had better watch that man.
think he is going to skeedadle to other
parts where it is not SO warm as your wide
awake paper has made it here for the
shylocks'
This old gentleman made loan of S25
from the Capital Loan Guarantee Com
pany in January, 1894 They charged him
So for recording the chattel mortgage aud
commission aud So for interest, making the
note appear on its face for S33. In one
year he claims to have paid the concern
$40 interest on S25 actually received.
This is at The enormous and outrageously
usurious rate of l60 per cent. per annum,
or $50 per cent. more than the highest rate
allowed by law.
Put on your spectacles and gaze at
that he remarked, after the rate had
been figured out
Besides this he paid SO to be applied to
the principal, a total of $50 in one year oman
actual loan OF S25.
Among the other callers yesterday af-
tenoon was a merchant He held in his
hand copy of Yesterdays Times, contain
ing an interview with Miss Lily Meyers, W no
is in charge of the establishment OF Money
Lender Aaron Straus, in the Firemen's In
surance building. during his cooling off trip
TO the mountains. In this interview, among
other things, Miss Meyers said her employer
had not made any chattel mortgage loans on
furniture, etc, for five months, having gone
out of that business.
IF her statement is true" said the mer-
chant, then the court records are false. Here
are three entries under the head of Deed
of Trust Chattes," which appear on the
court record of June 8, 1895, not one
week ago"
The court record is here produced ver-
batim ct literatim, with the suggestion
that legally recorded facts are stubborn
things:
LINCOLN, Chas P ct ux to Lucas Loving
and Wm + Poulton Jr to secure Aaron
Straus $500, chattels at No 1928 Cor
coran st NV (30)
SULLIVAN, Eta H and Kate H to Mil
lard IIallack and VIM f Poulton Jr to
secure Aaron Straus 500, chattels at
No 931 X st II (40)
MINER, VIM H to VIM Z Poulton Jr to
secure Aaron Straus SEQ, chattels at
No 6O5 Mass ave ne (41
HAD BEEN HARD HIT.
Hardly had the merchant departed be-
fore a one-armed veteran, who resides
on Q street, came in the tell The Times
that he had been hit hard by the Capital
Loan Guarantee Company, of No. 6O2 F
street. he related how he had been a
clerk in the Treasury Department, but
was thrown upon the cold charities of
the world through the agency of the
dreaded yellow envelope for political
reasons. Being n cripple and unable to
work at his trade, the veteran found him
self terribly embarrassed financially, with
an unsympathetic landlord howIing for his
rent and his family without means OF
sustenance.
Being thus pressed to the wall, it is no
wonder be cast about for relief, and finally
fell into the capacious maws OF the
money sharks. His residence contained
furniture which had cost him $3.50, and
one day reading the catch advertisement