The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-10-02
COLLECTOR TELLS ABOUT DIVERS
TROUBLES IN HIS BUSINESS.
GROWS SHORT ON SYMPATHY
Men and Women Stave Him Off With
Ancient Tales and Very Few
>. Pay Up Volun-
) D. tarily.

tell you our troubles come in punches
just the same as they do for other
folks" said a young man at the Butte
this morning, as he turned to a party
of, friends and pulled bunch of bills
from his pocket do you see these slips
ofIpaper?' he continued. well, each
one of these has trouble enough in it to
make man not SchOOled in the business
lose his temper. Before I came to this
town l used to be a collector in city
back east and there the people used to
give me about all the excuses on the
calendar when l would ask them to pay,
| thought when got out west perhaps
I might beat some of those excuses here,
but L find they all got in ahead Of me
and l have to meet the same line or
talks that l got so well acquainted with
when l was on the other side of the
Mississip pi.
1T is pretty hard to crowd a man
when he is in hard luck but l have had
so many ruses worked or me by fellows
who wanted to avoid paying just debt
that my line of sympathy is pretty
short l admit l could take up days
telling of the rough places l have been
over in trying to get money for other
people and make a living for myself
and possibly I can pick out few in
stances that you would not mind lis
tening to.
Il recall one case where I was trying
TO get a woman to pay bill and she
was trying just as persistently to avoid
m. and the account. l called on her
couple of times and She put me off in
good shape. Then it got so l could never
find her at home. She lived in a swell
HAT building where the bells to the flats
were all in the lower hall. l would
ring her fat bell day after day and get
no answer. | was satisfied that she was
NOT always away and suspected that she
was in the habit of coming out into the
upper hall to see who was ringing and
then passing me up. One day | went
into the lower hall and pushed tooth
pick in against the little white button
and then hustled up to the door Of the
flat l wanted to enter. OF course the
bell was ringing steadily while l was
going up the stairs and. as expected.
when l got to the fiat l wanted the door
,opcned and out came the lady ] wanted
TO see. She was very much surprised
to see me at the door and tried to make
a getaway on me. However. l sue
'ceeded in engaging her attention and l
was rewarded for my pains by getting
a payment of one dollar out OF her. 1t
VAS not Il large amount but l mad won
out on my plan to make her see me and
was satisfied at least for the time
being
ON another occasion / had bill
against man who lived in a swell house
but he was judgment proof and we knew
there was, really no rse in suing him
found him at home one day and gave
him strong talk. explaining that my
company intended to proceed against
him in the courts if he did not pay up.
guess l must have used language that
did not suit him very Well for he came
down to the Office where I was working
and gave me a fine going over to my
employers, saying that l had nsulted
him and that l should not be allowed to
hold my job any longer He wound up
by paying the bill and my employers
expressed themselves as being greatly
in sympathy with him and declared they
would discharge me as soon as | came
into the office. The fellow went out EVIL
IDENTIFY feeling that he had gotten even
with me in good shape. Was d dis
charged? Well. | guess not Instead nf
that. FRY salary was raised. My employ
ers declared that a collector who could
make that fellow pay any bill was en-
titled to more money.
I'm another case l got after a fellow
and he was unfortunate enough to have
TO pay part of the account / had against
him to begin with. He made all kinds
1t promises about what he would pay j.
the future. When mis- next payday came
around he did not show up to pay any
thing. and l looked him up again. When
found him he laughed at me, saying
ma / |
come to it. / knew from the way he
talked there was something doing, so !
just looked around to see what was the
matter. l went to the company where
he was working and found that there
was no such man employed there, at
least his name did not appear on the
payroll. l was sure then that he was
WORKING under an assumed name but it
Was rot easy for me to find out what
that name was. In the end / succeeded,
however, and when his next payday came
around the gentleman found that his
money was held by a proper legal pro-
cess. and he had to come around to see
me. He vas about the sickest ind-
viiual ina Ginabic when he walked into
the Office and / addressed him by his as
sumed name. AS a matter of fact he
was entitled to part of his money, and I
knew it, but before he got 1t he had paid
a lawyer a fee to help him out of his
trouble. He did not get very gay with
me again.
Getting ordered out of a house, having
a dog swing to his coat and the like are
things with a collector. They
are some OF the incidents of the business.
and a fellow with wad of bills in his
pocket does not feel that he is really
rSrh mia 1,n hos
Once in a while he has incipient heart
disease when fellow hands him some
cash without making a kick, but taken
all in all he comes as near earning his
money as any person I know about.
must begin to earn mine today. Good
gentlemen"