The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-05-01
QUAINT WAYS IN RIO.
TO DISPUTE A BILL Is TO MAKE
ONESELF AN OUTCAST.

The Brazilian Capital liz the Easiest
Place In the World to Get Credit
and the Hardest Place In which 10
Dodge Debt.
'Rlo Is the easiest city In the world
10 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 1t
charged without difficulty, but the end
of every six months is settlement day,
and If You are not on hand with the
cash well, I'll give you little expert
encc Of my own 10 show you what hap
pens
Il went to the city as the representa-
Tive of well known American house,
and at 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 say 4 will make an ac-
tbttllt " IT, VI AbAit1' NY sAIllti ~ an
friends soon explained the system to
me- and, while didn't like 1t, | thought
best 10 conform To The custom of the
country without rendering myself dis
agreeable 10y kicking
about two months after my arrival
| went to native shoemaker's one
day, ordered pair of English riding
I 10 4 IN
ing ready made footgear | mentioned
incidentally. that my number was Sl2.
The shoemaker grayely made n note OF
the fact and promised TO send around
the boots rs soon rs they were done.
Several weeks elapsed. when, one morn
Ing "A porter came staggering into the
Office almost buried under an cnor-
nous load Of English top boots To be
exact. he had II. | WAS thunderstruck,
hut rs he could give me no explanation
except that they We're mine | rushed
Immediately to the shop, where the
proprietor received me blandly and in
sisted That lac had merely sent what |
had ordered You said that you de
sired them to the number OF eight and
II half he added, and | accordingly
made YOU eight pairs and one boot, a
right, which, if you desire. / will eX-
change for left But. good heavens,
! protested, YOU ought 10 have known
there was some mstakel Why on
earth should order half pair Of
bootsH He shrugged his shoulders.
That was not for me To inquire he
said
Il realized that the fatal reputation
for ecccntricity which Americans en-
Joy the world over WAS partly respon-
sblc for the muddle. still it was an
fncxcusably stupid blunder, and, after
Vanly arguing for an hour, | put him
ON notice that would only accept one
pair When returned, | sent back the
other H. and considered the incident
closed | heard no more about It, in
fact. unUl exactly six months later
when / received n LII L.. 81 spairs al
riding boots at SIS euch total, Sl210t
gold and polite notification that n
nuirs awaited my pleasure ut the shop
"rhnt made me furious. / sent tn,
man my check for $40 and told hi!
messenger to sue me and be hanged
But he didn't sue me. They have /
much more effective method dow
there.
"Wlthin week every tradCsmaI
with whom did business advised IN,
courteously that he had closed my nc
count meaning that my future Gus
tom was not desired. Moreover, the
foreign colony all gave me the cole
shoulder, and when ! dropped In ut the
club the frost was something awful.
at last | sent for n particular friend
Look here | said, 4 want you TO tell
boo Because you haven't paid for
your boots he replied. But this Is
monstrousr said |. You know very
well that / never ordered Sla pairs of
boots. or course not said he, but
you'd best pay for 'em all the same. II
ruins man here he went on to ex
plain. If he allows any bill to pass set
tlement day. No explanation Is per
mitted, ana everybody Joins in cutting
him. 1t seems hard, but we have TO dc
1t to sustain this credit system IL we
didn't, we'd NIL he ruined by bad nc
counts
81 groaned in spirit, but l sent the
shoemaker $i1250 and told him TO let
me have the rest of my boots. i was
so mad | could have worn out the
whole II on his anatomy, but l pre-
served my outward calm and was
promptly rclnstated socially aud tinan
clally throughout the town. Later on
l used seven pairs of boots as Christ
mas presents TO friends and gave the
one odd one TO one legged beggar
ON the plaza. New Orleans Times
Democrat.
unRppreciated Efforts.
Unseltlsh goodness is seldom appre'
t., INT, ,,sApII ~ ours frharN NNa :