Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1901-06-27
QUAINT WAYS IN RIO.
TO DISPUTE A BILL l9 TO MAKE
ONESELF AN OUTCAS1.


Place In tho World to Get Credit
and tho Hnr.lcst Place In which to
Dodge a Debt.
"Rio Is the easiest city in the world
to get credit in," said New Orleans
man who lived for awhile at the Bra
lillian capital. but IT'S the worst place
In the world IN which to dodge debt
All business there is done on the semi
annual account system, and you can
get anything you want and have It
charged without difficulty. but the end
Of every SIX months Is settlement day.
und II you are not on hand with the
cash well. III give you II little expert
cnce Of my own to show you what hap
pens.
Il went to the city Gs tn" representa-
tive of well known American house,
and ut the outset was surprised to
find that 1t was practically Impossible
for me to pay for anything. Don't
bother about that SENIOR the store
keeper would sny \ Will make an nc
count of it. OF courS" my American
me, and, while didn't like 1t, thought
best to conform to III" custom OF the
country without rendering myself dis
agreeable by kicking.
"Abo,it two months nftrr my arrival
l went to native shoclnakcr's one
day. ordered II pair of English riding
boots, and. M had been used to wcaF-
Ing ready mad" footgcar ! mentioned,
incidentally. that my number was Sla.
The shoemaker grnvcly made nUtc OF
the fact and promised to send around
the boots us soon NJ they were done.
Several weeks rlaps'Sl when. one morn
Ing, a porter came staggering into the
ofli"" almost buried under IN cnor-
nous load "f English top boots To tr
exact b" had II. was thundrrStrUck,
but as lc could give me- no explanation
except TINT they were mine | rushed
Immediately to the shop, wher" the
proprietor received me hlnnlly and In
sisted that ~" had merely sent what
had ordered You said that you de-
sired them 10 the number of eight and
n half he added and accordingly
made you eight pairs and one boot.
right, which, II You desire, will "N-
change for n hft' But, good heavens
protested. you ought to hnve known
there wns some mistake! Why on
earth should order half patr OF
hootSf' He shrugged his shoulders.
That was not for mo 10 Inquire, he
said.
Il realized that a." fatal reputation
for ccrrntrtci,y which Am"rf7nns en-
Joy the world over was partly r"Spnn-
slhlr for the mulllr. Still 1t WAS an
In, XcuSahly stupid hlundrr and. after
vnlulv arrulng for an hour, | put him
on notice that | would only n"r"pt one
pair. When | returned. | sent back the
other ~ and considered the incident
CluSrl ! heard no more about II, In
fact. until exactly SIX months later,
when received hlll for So pairs Of
riding boots AZ SlI each total, Sl27.JQ
gold anl q polite notification that ~.
pairs awaited my pleasure A' III" shop.
"That mad" me furious. sent IN"
man my ch,s.k for SIS and told his
messenger to Su" me Hpl nc hanged.
Rut be lI,,n't Sur me. They have n
much more effective method down
there.
"Nithin n week every trni'SlnnD
With whom lid business advised me
cou,t,puSly that he had closrl my nc~
count meaning that my future Gus
tom was not desired. Moreover, the
foreign colony nll gay" IN" the cold
shoulder. nnh when | dropped IN nt the
club the FROST was something awful.
at last sent for n particular friend.
Look here said, i want You to tell
me frankly why AIN getting this Ia
boo 'HrcauS" YOU haven't paid for
yonr boots he replied. 'l'ut this IS
monstrous" said I. you know very
we'll that never ordered SE pairs OF
boots. 'Of course not said he, but
you'd best pay for 'rm nll tn" same. 1t
ruins a man here he went on to "x'
plain. If he allows any hll to pass set.
tlrmrnt day No explanation Is per
mittrd. and everybody Joins In cutting
him. It seems hard, but W" have To do
It to sustain this credit system. IT we
didn't, we'd all ,r ruln"l hy bad nc-
counts
Il groancl IN spirit, but sent the
shoemaker Sll2.1O and told him t. let
me have the rest Of my boots. | was
SO mad could hay" worn out the
whole II Oh his anatomy. but ! pre-
served my outward calm ana was
promptly rclnstat,'l socially and iinan-
ciully throughout the town. Later on
| used seven pairs Of boots ns Christ
mas presents to friends and gave the
one odd one to II one legged beggar
on the plaza. New Orleans Times
Democrat.
Vnapprccinted Efforts.
l.. lLlAIIl alnrH-