The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-05-07

The announcement that Sam Lewis. the
celebrated money lender TO the British ar
istocracy. contemplates visit 10 this
country with the possible intention OF es-
tahlishing a branch OF his note-shaying.
estate-eagulfing business here. 10 creating
some little excitement in the East, where
not few Of the notables already know
the usurer.
In the days Of Shakespeare the money
lender Of the Shylock variety was social
outcast, and the immortal bard On more
than one occasion took the breed for
text Dickens, Thackeray, and most OF
the great English novelists have devoted
attention 20 the money shark. for the most
part holding him UP 10 derisson.
II is usually understood in this coun-
try that fellows CT the Lewis brand rank
socially with the 'oie clo' man." and one
pictures him always with Hebraic cast
OF couutenaEce, washing his hands in in
visible water after the style Of Uriah
Heep fawning and ssrvile.
There may be, undoubtedly are. that sort
OF money lenders In London. They are
everywhere for that matter. But Sam
Lewis is not that sort. His game Il the
bluff and suave good fellow in society.
and he is only the least little bit vulgar in
his everyday conduct, But his assurance
is equal to that OF the immortal A fred
Jingle, and he thinks nothing OF clapping
his royal highness on the shoulder and
requesting with a perfect assurance that
he will not be rebuffed q match for his
cigars.
Indeed. Sam Lewis is almost one OF
Wales set. IL IL said. and has frequently
been observed In the princes company.
The money lender Is no ul1start. He has
been the banker of fmpecun,ous royalty
and spendthrift nobility for many years.
and he enjoys prIncely income from his
transactions. In fact. he Is said to spend
half n million year on his personal
pleasures and living. being q liberal en-
tertainer and a right liberal spender when
out with titled blades.
Lewis has two sides: Business, fright
up 10 the handle" and social ''for all
there is in it, HIS office is In the heart
of the commercial district OF London, in
Cork street There he occupies a hand
some suite OF offices furnished In a manner
similar to the apartments of well-to-do
British solicitors. The outer office is pre-
sided over by two sedate and discreet
clerks, elderly men with gray siGewhis-
kers of the correct mercantile cut To
see them ON the street one would think
them comfortable brokers.
Sam Lewis, who Is himself fair to look
upon, medium-sized, dapper. well groom
ed. and elegantly hut quietly dressed. sits
at an eminentiy respectable old-fashioned,
high-topped mahogany desk. AT his right
hand is a small and modest safe. Around
the walls are many black tin boxes, such
as the English lawyer uses for storing
away the papers relating 10 those estates
with which his practice Is connected, with
the difference that the boxes in Sam Lew
is office are designated by number instead
OF by name. For the great English nor
ey lender does a strictly confidential bus
mess with his titled clients
This matter of secrecy Is carried to con-
siderable extreme. The clients enter the
bull hx d1ar nd ls..a f..-
another, thus guarding against the
chance OF countess entering and pass
ing in and recognizing duchess going out.
The interest that Lewis charges is entire
ly dependent upon the sort of security Of
fered and the necessities of the borrower
1t may range all the way from 40 10 1000
per cent. But the interest does not much
matter for when borrower once gets
into Sam Lewis clutches he rarely gets
out short of bankruptcy. 1t Is known that
Lord Rosslyn. WHO is brother OF the
Duchess of Sutherland and OF the Count
ess of Warkick. borrowed 81, 500 from Lew
is. giving two notes. one for 81, 900 and an
other for $3.50 both payable at the same
time, the second being ostensibly in pay
ment for perfumery store. which was In
reality only an empty basement with a
few empty bottles. The young nobleman
paid the smaller note at maturity but re-
fused to pay the others. The courts. how
II.
became bankrupt.
Sam Lewis has all the time at least a
hundred of the scions OF nobility in his
clutches. He has a Job lot OF baroniai
castles on his hand all the time TO sell 10
newly rich Americans, and lives in one OF
them himself. THIS residence Is the beau
tifui villa OF the Dowager Countess Dow
ley, who was forced TO relinquish the
place because she unfortunately got into
the clutches OF Lewis. He Is thus next
door neighbor OF that distinguished and
disgruntled American. William Waldorf
Aston. whose home at Marblehead is 10
often written Of by tuft-hunting Amer
leans.
But 1t is doubtful If Mr. Lewis Is In the
least awed by the proximity OF the mill
ionaire who has renowned hts country.
for he has q large and ever increasing cir
Gle OF acquaintance among the aristoera-
cy and has the effrontsry to force him.
self into high places. HIS wife is a hand
scmS and ambitious woman, who is ever
urging him on to greater social successes.
The dupes who get into this suave Shy
locks clutches are powerless to refuse
him any request, and one OF the exactions
that he insists upon Is that his debtor
shall introduce him and his wife into his
set and stand sponsor for them. Often the
price OF a short-lived leniency at the
hands OF the money lender is The introduce
ton OF the Lewis family into aristocratc
company. But this much can be said for
the Lewlses. they do not make a bad APP
peafance and are no more vulgar than
many of their social supporters, They en-
tertaln lavishly and insist upon those
who are in their power obeytng their
commands to attend these functions.
Lewis has half dozen titled rapscal
lions In his employ .n the role OF steer
ers," or ''ropers-in. OF their brethren Of
the nobility. These are usually men who
have themselves been ruined by the mon
sy lender, but whose family Influence Is
sufficient 10 keep them In a certain social
station and whose scruples are not proof
against the blood money paid for lambs
IN Wz9Au =