The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1901-06-20
MAD S25, OWED So 100000
Flight of Druggists Clerk Who Obliy.
ingly Signed Some Papera

tnght OF Druggists Clerk Who ObliS.
ingiy Signed Some Papers.
ordinarily men see no occasion for re-
1oicing in bankruptcy proceedings. Not
so Arnot X. Housekecper, says the
Philadelphia Times. Until recently
Housekeeper was Il drug clerk, and had
1t not been for the bankruptcy proceed
ings he might have continued to be
clerk for the remainder of his days.
With his hands thrust deep in his lock.
cts and little wreaths of smiles sprin.
kled over his face, he told the story to
a reporter. interrupting the narrative
occasionally to attend to the wants Of
customers.
About thirteen years ago." he be-
gan. "a frienu OF mine. who Is q con-
veyancer. came to me and asked me to
sign my name to some mortgage bonds.
he said 1t was a mere matter of for.
mality. and as did not think my sig
nature could create such rumpus as
followed | complied with his request.
How many of the bonds l signed |
don't know. but they Kept coming in
with great frequency. l have since
learned that they made me what is
known as Il straw mana sort of cats
paw to pull other peoples chestnuts
out of the fire. At that time was only
- years old, and hadn't a cent in the
world except the salary l made in the
drug store.
"Well, it wasn't long before the
trouble began. The creditors started
to call upon the straw man t, make
good, and l suddenly discovered that
owned half the houses in West Phila-
delphia, to say nothing Of -four or five
hundred properties IN small towns up
the State. When l learned what
bloated bondholder AID legal scamp |
had become unbeknown to myself, l
was frightened. My name Logan to
appear in the sheriff's ADVERT sements,
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.
II figured up my assets one day and
made them $25.37. counting pair of
old trousers and . four-bladed pocket.
knife with one bl1de broken. which I
valued at IS cents. Then l added up
my liabilities and they amounted to
1881, O03.43. Even II the trousers had
been new and the point hadn't been
broken off the knife. could not have
begun to satisfy such q thirsty lot OF
creditors as these.
II was afraid to buy . suit Of clothes
because didn't know what minute II
would be attached. l was so nervous
that my fears were magni6 ed beyond
reason. imagined that If l were to
walk down town dressed in hne clothes
l would he set upon Immediately by
creditors and sent back home In q garb
that would make Adam blush.
you know it's fearful responsible
ity to owe $3,OOO.O0O. 1t isn't every
man who can owe 80 much. Things
got worse and worse, and I was In
state bordering on nervous prosrration.
Finally l couldn't stand 1t any longer.
and consulted q lawyer who lived
across the street from me. He asked II
knew who my creditors were, and I
said he must think was human di.
rectory, for ! owed thousand or two
to pretty nearly every man In Phila.
delphia. MIR. Culbeit said that, under
the circumstances, It was no use try.
ing to get releases from all Of them.
He suggested the bankruptcy proceed
ings, and now, thank heaven. I'm . free
man once more. have this little store
and can wear q silk hat and . frock
coat II want to. Oh. tell you it's Q
bully thing to be q bankrupt"