The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-07-06
The Great Success of Rev.
Dr.. Greer's PawnShOp.
Is Self-SuStainlng and Pays
6 Per Cent on Capital.
Trouble Caused by Deviation From
Standard in Gold Coins.

That what is called the millionaros'
pawnshop, which was established chiefly
through the efforts of Rev. DR.. Greor,
who has just declined the dignity "a
bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal diocese
of Rhode Island, is pronounced success
as Is conclusiyely shown by the fact that
tho society has just declared semi
annual dividend of three per cent on us
capital stock which amounts To S2Ou OtO.
Concerning the operations of the socioty,
the statement Is made that the success VI
the enterprise has been pronounced ln
syery way. Not only has 10 assisted, since
its formation In May. 1894, about lsOVO
people by loans averaging slo. but tho
business has also proved TO be self sustain
ing, Yielding fair return on the ms nty
invested, although the charges 10 borrower
is only about one third OF what the law
allows the pawn brokers 10 charge.
Only two per cent Of the loans mAdo
were uot repaid and the property pledged
sold. Public auction salos were held at
Ieast twice year, and II tho article sOld
realized more than the amount lCaned
upon IL tho remainder was held at N, dis
posal of the borrower. Tho society now
proposes TO open branch Offices ana Tor
that purpose will increase It's capital
One OF the branches will be located in tho
new buildipg of the University csttlcment
Society, anu Mr.. ID. y. Mills, who Is
erecting lodging houses for workinPnen,
has offered TO furnish free quarters for an
other branch near tho location OF those
houses.
The tests of gold bullion and coins
which are made at the government assay
Offices occasionally disclose deviatiOns
from tho standard of tneness which
necossitate the melting and recoining Oh
considerable sums of money. In one In
stance, "A lot of $685. 600 in half eagles was
renelted because there was u variation
in fineness from 500 TO 1903. This varia-
tion was first discovered In two half
eagles which came from the New Orleans
mint The issue of these New Orleans
coins was stopped and an investigation
was made under tho direction OF Caboil
Whitehead. assayer in the mint bureau.
Upon tracing the history of the bullion
used TO make the eagles in question back
TO its first appearances Mt the government
mint Is was ascertained that the bars
sent to the New Orleans mint were made
several years ago in the New York assay
Office from foreign coin. chiefly Spanish.
The facts seemed TO Indicate the pres
ence of some unusual element In tho
bullion which only complete analysis
would reveal. Such an ANALYSIS was made
in two different mints. ana the presence
Of zinc, nickel and cobalt was revealed.
The trouble experienced in the New
Orleans coinage was attributed almost
entirely to the zinc
No less than ten different metals or
dinarily enter into the composition OF
gold bullion. hese metals are gold,
silver. copper, iron platinum. lead. bis
muth. arsenic, antimony and tin. or
the i've last numod metals tnrrU Is hardly
q trace. The presence OF nickel, zinc and
cobalt Is unusual In gold coinage or IN
gold bullion. When they were round In
the New Orleans half eagles the fact was
recalled that the Spanish gold from
which these half eagles were coined hai
not been refined in this country. the sup
position being that it was suitable for
coinage. The mint at Philadelphia,
which had been working on this same
bullion, had an unusual number OF melts
condemned as not mixed. lt took
several months TO remedy the difficulty.
The popular notion in Europe Is that
any white army once landed In Asia or
Africa, can go anywhere and do any
thing; that IL can cut through colorcd
army as q knife cuts through choose; that
in truth, the colorcd races when SERIOUSLY
tackled, have no permanent resisting
power. That concluson, now fully
adopted. so that IL is ono of the common
basis of thought, and Is scarcely discussed
even by statesmen. is absolutely contrary
To che teaching OF the worlds history.
The white man has struggled to subduo
his darker "brethren for 1000 years, and
up tn the middle OF tho last century had
effected absolutely nothing beyond a
small lodgment on the nearly uninhabited
extremity of Southern Africa The dark
mon after short period OF humiliation
defeated or absorbed the Greeks. Thy
first stopped and then conquered the
komans, and In the wonderful pro
tructcd hattie which wo call the Crusades,
and which lasted 40 years, they defeated
tho picked chivalry OF Europe. sustained
though the white men were by "a lavish
expenditure OF life and by the deepest in
tensity OF religious conviction and OK
element. 30 complete was their defeat
that the white men. though always
sIpreme at sea, actually lost SYRIA, Egypt
aud tAo whole OF Northern Africa. once
"a civilized as Italy and as completely a
white possession.
II sometimes happens that trning
scratch or puncture mado with n pen
gives rise To dangerous septcaemia. Tho
chemical constituents of the ink which Is
introduced by the pen into the wound are
not capable Of producing septiCsemia
but microscopical examinations prove
that the III effects are Quo to tho liability
of the Ink 20 contain pathogenio bacteria.
DIR Marpmann OF Leipsic recently put
lished the result Of tho microscouicAl
examination of 67 samples Of ink used In
schools. Most of them were made with
gall stones or nuts and contained
saIrophytes. bacteria aud micrccOcci
Nigrosin ink, taken from freshly opened
bottle. was found 10 contain both sapro-
phytes and bacteria. In the two Instances
Dr. Marpmann succeeded III cultivating
from nigrosin ink "A bacillus that proved
fatal TO iDice in four DAYS. Tho ink had
stood In an open bottle for three months.
and the inference Co be drawn Ia thai