The Washington weekly post., 1900-03-20
RAD S25, OWED $4,000, 600.
me Flight of n Druzgist's Clerk Wbo
obiigingly signed some Papers.

From the PHILADELPHIA Times
Ordlharlly men see no occasion for re-
JolclnS in bankruptcy proceedings Not
so Arnot X. Housekeeper. He bea,e
I upon all the customers who come into his
ht'!e drug store, and Is probably the han
plest man in Narberth-all becausa no is .
/ bankrupt. Until recently Hsnsekeeper
I was drug clerk in store at Nineteenth
and Parrish streets, and had il not benn
Tor the bankruptcy proceedings he might
nave continued 10 be a clerk for the re-
mainder Of his days. With his hands
thrust deep In his pockets and little
wreaths Of smiles sprinkIed over his face,
ne told the story 70 q reporter yesterday.
lntfTrupIng Ine narrative occasionally to
attend 10 the wants Of customers.
About thirteen years ago" he began
4 friend OF mine. who is a cOnVeyancer
came 10 me and asked me to sign nv
name 10 some mortgage bonds. He said
IL was mere matter of fOrmaIity, and as
| dld not think my signature could create
such a rumpus as followed | complied
with his request. How many Of the bonds
l signed | don't know. but they kept
coming IN WIN great frequency. I have
since learned that they made me what IS
knOWn as a straw mana sort OF cats
paw 10 pull other peoples chesrnuts ont
Of the fire Al that time | was only
twenty-five years old and hadn't a cent in
the wO-ld except the salary / made In the
drug store.
We'll. it wasn't long before the trouble
began. The creditors started 10 call upon
the straw man 10 make good and I sud
denly discovered that J owned half the
houses in West Philadelphia, 10 say moth
ing OF 40 or 80 properties in small towns
up the State. When 7 learned what a
blOated bOndholder and legal scamp ! nad
become, unOeknOWn 70 myself ! was
frightened. Ny name began to appear Ia
the SnerlnS advertise emeHJs and / was
billed to be sold out almost every week
For some reason the sale never took
place, probably because they found out
beforehand that there was nothing to sell
Il figured up my assets one day and
made them SZJ.3t. counting q pair OF old
trousers and a four-bladed pOcket-kEife
with one BLADE broken, which / valued al
= cents. Then ! added up my liabilities.
and they amounted 10 s. 81. 90. .43. Even
II the trousers rad been new and the UOiut
hadn't been broken off The knife ! could
rot have begun 70 satisfy such a thirsty
lot Of creditors as these.
Il was afraid 10 buy a suit Of clothes
because / didn't know what minute jf
would Be attached. ] Was 30 nervous tlat
my fears were maCuifed beyond reason.
I imagined thzt If I we're 20 walk down
town dressed In fine clothes ! would b.
set upon Immediately By creditors and
sent back home IN sarb that would
make Adam blush.
You know it's a fearful responsibility
20 owe s3.G001e. II isn't every man who
can owe 50 much. Things got worse and
worse and / was In a state bordering on
nervous pr0stratlOu. Finally I couldn't
stand IL any longer. and consulted a law
yer who lived across the street from me-
He asked T. / knew who my creditors
were and I said he must think ] was
human directory. for ! owed a thousand
n TWO 10 pretty nearly every man IN
Philadelphia. Mr. CulbeTt said that IN
der the circumstances. Il was no use try
l-g 10 get releases from all Of them. He
suggested the bankruptcy proceedings
ard now thank heaven. I'm a free man
once more. 7 have this little store and
can vyear q silk hot and a fTock coat n
want 10 On. 7 tell you It's a bully thirg
20 be a hankrgrt
The door Opened and a bevy of pretty
girls walked in. The mar who had owed
q ~ 0On was al business ~ once A. the
rrUorrer came away. he heard Housekeep-
er say
vanilla chocolate. lemon. orange.
peach, and raspberry