The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-10-17

very shyly. Sometimes the same maj
 will pawn his engagement ring severa
 times before he is finally married.
 am sure I have no idea why q yount
 lady should pawn her engagement ring
 but she may need money to buy some
 thing for the wedding, or posslbly sh'
 may come at the young mans request
 Some of these rings are valued as low as $10 and some of them are $5OO. Here
 is a case of wedding rings in all stages
 of wear and tear. l suppose 1t is pret ty hard for a woman to part with hel wedding ring but you would be sur prised to know how often it is done
 Let me show you something pretty
 continued the young man, and he took
 from a velvet lined case an exquisite 1 bit of workmanship necklace ot golo
 which had been hammered by hand
 the many links having all been cut from one piece. It was an Oriental
 piece of handiwork, probably Indian
 and was evidently a couple of hundred years old. Attached to it was mosaic
 locket. We sometimes pick up an tiques like this, but not often Speak,
 ing, about the queer experiences Of the trade we certainly do have good
 many. We kept some elegant family jewels for man fifteen years, he pay
 ing interest on them all the time. Tn his will he ordered that the jewels should remain here for the some length
 of time, although the estate was well
 able to redeem them, and must be ham,
 pered with the interest The object, I
 suppose, is to prevent some member of the family obtaining them until after
 a certain age has been attained.
 T can understand a mans being
 obliged to part with his watch, but it does not seem that he might have the
 tendency to remove his sweethearts 8 picture from it, but they don't" said
 the clerk, opening the case of several and showing the girl faces thus re- vealed. T found pretty childs pie ture in one few years ago and l put it in my own watch" and the young man opened his watch, upon the cover of which was painted the pretty laugh ing face of a tiny girl somebody's dar ling, whose father had probably forgot ten all about hey picture in the excite men of parting with his timepiece.
 Here is something pretty" and the clerk took from the safe beautiful cameo bracelet made of fine large comeos most beautifully cut and fram- ed in Tuscan gold An English wom- an visiting this country found it neces- sary to raise some money, and this will be carefully kept for her until she re- turns to England and can redeem it.
 Sometimes we get things of whose value we are not aware. For instance, a young man brought violin which he had inherited with many other things from some former generation of the family. He had no use for it and thought we might be able to dispose of it for him. It was simply an old vio- lin to us, but one of the musicians of the city heard about it and came to look at it. and found it to be a real which he bought for the low price we asked for it."
 There entered upon the scene a burly negro, quite at variance with the old violin and pretty jewels, for he carried in his arms two more or less dilapidat- ed hats, a pair of tan-colored shoes and a pistol
 To-day he Is going to work for the week, and he will have no need for shoes or pistol, but when cannes he may need both, and may be able to redeem them Saturday. In the meantime he needs the money until next pay day. Monday is gener- ally pay day among the laboring peo- pie, and that is the day they come to redeem articles pawned during the week preceding, Before the week is put it may be necessary to pawn them again. We accommodate them just as the banks do their more fortunate neighbors, and our business, I take it, Is just as legitimate as necessary, al- | though we are sometimes. I will admit, obliged to accept clumsy collateral" and the good-natured young man smiled By the way" he resumed, | our colored brethren have developed a | sort of business whit for which they Ire somewhat peculiar. A negro will | 1ot buy an article unless he knows what he can get for it. His first oues- ion is, What is it worth?' meaning. low much can it be pawned for, and | lot the selling price. The, troubles of permanent ownership do not annoy hem.
 There are doctors instruments" aid the clerk. Young doctors, espec- ally, often find themselves reduced to he necessity of pawning the tools of heir trade several times before they 'et start in the world. And imagine
 cripple pawning his crutch, but that 5 what some of them often have to do. 'here is one poor wretch who would no oubt be better off if he had never had he change to buy a crutch He hob les around on it for while, makes a tile money drinks all the beer he can ct for it to drown his sorrow, I sup ose, and then pawns his crutch and tays at home until he can persuade ne Of his chums to get it for him. nd then he begins the story over gain"
 More than 80 per cent of these lings brought to us are redeemed" aid the proprietor coming up and e do million dollars worth of busi- ess during the year. and so 1t seems lat the three golden balls still bring , Iant's luck to those who live in their ladoW.-St. Louis Globe Democrat. o FAVOR FOR THE PRETTY GIRL