The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1897-04-08
DEBl' DaAGlNG.


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llhore is now and then 4 nargin Of
e1l humor, II OF q doubtful description,
,gea about tho shifts una device
5aA bg persms to avoid paying their
lebts No doubt such debtors might
as distinguiahcd rouglls; Those who
lrorgh raaioreune cannot cope with
ieir lipbllitlc5, end those who syste-
latioally 10 lgl their creditors becnuse
, Is not in them to do the other thing
pay; but, says the Boston Traveller,
heyare ,lontlesl in the sense that both
ry TO escape Consequences by the exor-
iise ofa curious kind of wit.
An indignant furniture dealer recent
" ticlsled Che risiblc faculties in po-
lice court by his statement of how in.
crelibly he had been triolsod by debtor
4 long standing, Having obtained
rit for diatyaint upon the goods sup
licdnnd not pail for, liz and his legal
rent reaahed the debtors house. TO
lud II apparently Abandoned The
over windows were blotched with
ghitcwash, and upon one of them was
raced the legend; 40 Let" Natural
ly concluding that his bird had flown
the neishborhood to avoid him, he
promptly expended quitea considerable
sum in frnltlessly trying to trace the
delinqrent's whereabouts.
Finally it occurred to him that his
debtor'slate landlord might be able to
supply a hint, and to him he went I'm.
agine his amnzement when he was
coolly informed that the house in ques.
tion had never been 'to let and that
the debtor WIS certainly still within IL,
us his tflic lundlord'sl agent had call,d
for aud received his rent only few
days previously They went et once to
solve the problem, and tnen the elc.
nent of mystoiy Dispersed. Itappearcd
hat Che willy occupant, having timel
warming Of his creditors coming, hud
shifted his family and his goods to the
iop rooms, s,nudgca The windows and
Impaired n general air Of emptiness tc
he houso, and remained snugly alof
mtil, as he imagined, his creditol
yould give up the debt as q Dad one
Icing curnered he had to pay, and wp
low sued for the costs of the hunt
yhich, as no attempt at fraud Ia alega
nsc could be proved, he managed {,
scape,
Rather neat, too, was trick Of ar
,rcnt kind played recently by swcl
/ ihuWa8 wanted in the matter OF Il
uta.galing tHilora debt, Tapped 0.
no shoulder al he went to enter city
'staursut wish a party Of friends, h.
as Informed that vehicle waited nj
and for his snfe conduct to dumnee
lie, The situation was awkward, but
f8 wit and experience made him equal
oit. He left his friends with u cool
side so the effect that he would return
nd dine with them in few minutes
nd was as good as his word,
H0 simply requested his captor to
rive to "his iathpr's office where, he
1itily said the trumpery debt would
agtileA to full satisfaction, Accord
gGly thoy drove to the oillae indicated.
,hc officer entered with the warrant
md Ills myroidon remained at the en-.
gunce 10 gunrd against surprises. But
,ic debt was not settled on that occa.
lon. Tho dclaulter coollysopened the
1or Of the first room he came 10,
ihored the other in. whipped out the
" from the inside, slipped out, locked
lc door, qin4tad the building by an.
her e;.ic aud drove of to keep his
! iDouitpeat,
Hhe fooed objection, TO put 1t mild
| y, that some people eyince to squar.ng
peeuniary accounts until the law steps
in and compels them is sometimes In
comprehensive. One man Of this class
well known to the writer as person
able to pay for his extravagances
spent half his time in lodging and
baking creditors TO whom he owed
comparatively trifling sums purely, II
seemed, for the love Of such dodging
Some time back several writs were out
FOR the arrest OF this person, but fol
weeks he succeeded in eluding Tho
holders by all manner Of unexpected
tricks,
1t so happened that one day, how,
ever, while leading one warrant off
cor dance in the network Of streets
ho ran into the arms of another, ant
was Immediately elapped into cal
and driven to jail. On the way thithel
he begged to be allowed to ge
some light refreshment before TASTING
prison fare, and as ho himself sug
gcsted that his cont sleeve should b,
securely fastened to that Of the officer
.he latter consented, and accompanied
him into hotel Tor that purpose.
The sequel, in some respects, was
highly farcieal one. One glass tap
parently without design led to another
and the defaulter spent almost as mucl
money in making both cab-driver ant
capturer intoxicated upon whisky at
would have enabled him to settle The
debt in the FIRST place. That done, h,
cut the fastenings and quietly walked
(, off.
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