Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-05-12
QUEER THINGS PUT IN PAWN.
Uncle" Is Not So Henrt1eas ms
Some People Assert.


"The pawnbroking business has IT'S
humorous as well as its pathetic SIDE"
said money lender whose shop is not
far from the city hall, relates the Chi
cago Inter Ocean. AN manner OF ar
ticles are brought to the pawnbrokcr,
some of which are associated with ten
der memories, and others are almost
too ludicrous to be believed. Thare
used to be Il bartender in Clark street
saloon who had n glass eye, and it was
II regular thing for him to come here
once a month and pledge the artificial
optic. He used to call it his bum
lamp He left Chicago some time ago,
and is now tending bar in a small town
near Milwaukee, where there is no
pawnshop. Last week we received a
box by mail from him, and it contained
the artificial eye. He was in hard luck,
he wrote, and he wanted loan of three
dollars on the eye. We sent him the
money by return mail. If he lives he
will redeem the optic. because it is
worth five times the amount of the
loan, although it is worthless to MS if
he should fail to take it out. lventure
to say that he has pawned the eye 20
times in the last three years. He is
one of our best customers.
"Some years ago we had restaurant
man for a customer who would put his
cork leg in pawn every time he got in
to straits. 1t was high-grade arti-
| fetal limb, and he could get S25 on it
at any pawnshop in the city. The last
| time we took it as pledge the owner
went out to South Chicago to see a
| friend, and while returning home he
| was killed by locomotive. We still
have the leg. His widow refused to
answer our letters, in which we Of
fered her the limb at her own price.
"a year ago last holiday time a
Young woman came into the store one
afternoon, carrying a box. She was
employed at museum as a snake
charmer. and in the box she had a
collection Of reptiles, which she said
was the finest in the country. Her
mother had died that day in Boston
and she had been notified by tele-
| graph. She wanted to attend the
funeral, but did not have the neces-
sary money to buy some mourning
garments and purchase railroad
ticket. Wouldn't we advance her S25
| and take the snakes as security? The
clerk who waited on her called me
over and after short talk | decided
to help her out. During the time she
was away we had to feed and water the
snakes. She was gone less than a
week. and upon her return She gave
me $50. Five of il was the interest
money. ! charged her 20 per cent. q
week for the loan. because we had tc
care for the snakes during her alb,
sence. That wasn't much, was it?
"In all my experience the strangest
thing ever given to me in pawn wa:
n set of false teeth. A man came into
the place one night just as we were
closing. He lived in Laporte, Ind.
and was robbed of his pocketbook OF
a street car. He knew nobody to gc
to for small loan, and it was i'm
perative that he catch a train fol
Laporte that night. | believe his wifi,
or daughter was very sick and he hat
come to Chicago to make arrange
ments with a hospital to bring tht
sick person here. He had no iewelry
whatever-not even ring-to pledge
for the two dollars that he needed
to buy a railroad ticket. I sized hin
up at once as an honest man and ht
had papers to show that he was :
resident of Laporte. While he wa
talking he took the false teeth out o
his mouth and begged me to loan hin
two dollars on The set. did SO and
day or two later, when he called Il
redeem the teeth, he was the mos
thankful man | ever met in this busi
ness. And yet some people say tina
the pawnbroker is heartiess man"