Evening star., 1901-03-02
ODD THINGS SEIZED FOR DEBT.
EOarders i'm House, an Engine md
False Teeth Levied On.

From the Chicago Chronicle
A story comes from Australia OF the
United States ship Glacier, the refrigerat-
ing ship of the navy, having been seized
for debt in the harbor of Sydney. A naval
vessel is not often seized for debt, and the
legality of the seizure might be a matter of
International inquiry. The story is that
when the Glacier was at Sydney the Off
GERS mess ran up several bills on shore.
When they came to settle, before sailing, a
bill was presented by a tradesman which
the mess refused to pay, on the reasonable
ground that they did not owe it. Know
ing that the vessel was to sail shortly, the
tradesman got a sharp lawyer. who pro-
cured judgment against the ship for the
amount of the bill. A sheriff came
board upon some pretaxt and. drawing n
warrant for the ships seizure from his
pocket, affixed 1t to the mainmast. After
that to sail away would have brought
International complications, so the mess
paid and tried to look pleasant The bill
was for $3.50.
Curious things have been seized 'or debt
Some years ago there was a foreigner Of
rank In Chicago, who had fallen on evil
times, and so set up at a boarding house.
He was always in debt and at last his
creditors discovered an ingenious way OF
getting their bills paid. When the board
ers were at dinner an officer of the law
appeared and levied the table. The
guests were indignant, and the foreign
bleman tore his hair Finally, the bill
was small, the boarders clubbed together
and paid it. after which they resumed their
| evening meal amid profuse protestations
Of gratitude on the part of their noble host.
| The amount paid was. of course, deducted
from their board bill when they came to
settle After the table had been levied on
| twice or three times 1t got monotonous and
| the boarding house ceased to flourish.
Some time back the proprietor or a. trav-
| cling menagere in England received bill
| as he was leaving Yarmouth with his
aggregation" He declared that the bill
| was exorbitant and refused to pay. At his
| next stopping place he was served with
| summons and final judgment and execution
| were obtained for the bill. But by the time
the papers were made out the menagerie
| was at third town, and there the officer
of the law went to execute the writ Now,
| q menagerie is a troublesome thing to levy
on, but 1t finally was decided to seize
Malay orang-outang, as being the handiest
article of value. The officers had no idea
what to feed the animal on, and as 1t be-
came hungry 1t raved and fought so that
they sent 1t back to the menagerfe, which
| by this time had gone to a fourth town.
All expenses fell upon the people who had
brought the suit. and they were glad to
get off even at that price.
A travelling theatrical company which had
left bill behind at Birmingham. England.
was caught up" at the next town with a.
writ of attachment upon its theatrical prop
critics. When the omcer came to levy ne
found nothing Of much value except the
wigs belonging to the show. These he
seized, and that night Richard III'' was
| played by actors with up-to-date close
cropped heads. making most ludcrous ef-
feet when combined with medieval clothes.
Some time ago the London and North
| western Railway Company fell victim to
| the notorious litigant-since declared insane
Mrs Corbett. The woman, who was al
| ways suing something or somebody. brought
| suit against the company. and as the case
was not defended, she obtained Judgment
She got an order and actually seized an en-
| CINE attached to a local train. she held
| up that train for an hour before the en-
CINE was bonded and released.
In New York last week a woman was
| taken to court charged with stealing set
of false teeth from one of her boarders.
In her defense the accused woman said that
she had seized the teeth as security for
board bill owed her by the young lady who
owned them.