The Washington times., 1901-07-14
IN A LONDON PAWNsHoP.
The British "Uncle" n Boon Even to
the Aristocracy.

The British "Uncle" n Boon Even to
the Aristocracy.
l was out shopping with an English
woman the other day, and, passing a
smart-Iooking jewelry window, a hand
some jeweled buckle caught my eye, so
with an exclamation l stopped to ex-
anime it.
II hate this place!" she said, as she
joined me over at the window, and yet
that's unreasonable in ne, too, for / don't
know what I'd do if l hadn't it to fall
back upon in an emergency. But where's
the thing you're admiring?"
l pointed to the buckle, exclaiming,
Eight guineas! Did you ever hear of
anything so ridiculous It's worth thirty
at the leastr'
| ''Twenty-nine!" she corrected. THAT
was what Jack paid for it,
jack 1 exclaimed. Your husband,
you mean?"
Yes. 1t was mine! 1 told you l hated
| this place, though 1 have no reason to,
| for they've advanced money on every de-
cent bit of jewelry l have, and If 1 hadn' t
been able to send it here we never should
have pulled through. But l wish l hadn t
! looked in. / might have known I'd see
| something of mine here. The time on
that buckle ran out five months ago and
they've been holding It hoping I'd be able
to redeem it, but l suppose they've got
| tired of waiting and now it's for sale.
| Come away! III see a dozen other things
of mine for sale there, if l look!'
| 1t was unfortunate that l didn't know
| the place was a pawnshop-one of those
| swagger, aristocratic pawnshops, which
! have their signs of Money advanced on
| jewels and other good security around
at side door in little alleyway, and
| front door and beautifully bedecked win
| dow facing the main street. There are
many such in London and their patrons
are as numerous as they are genteel. No
half-worn clothes or silver watches or
| cheap umbrellas to be seen there! There
are. to be sure, sealskins and sables to
be found within, but only stored away in
| boxes of fur -preservatives, to keep away
! the moths and da.cD in case that my
| lady" who put them there may need
| them the coming winter; or If she, unable
| to redeem them, comes not, then another
| may purchase them, have them done over
| and made in different style, and even
then have a fur coat at less than half
what a new one, not a particle better or
more fashionable viii cost.
| The London pawnshops prosper these
DAYS. [ use the word unadvisedly, per-
| haps. | mean to say their patrons are
many These are war times. There's
| high tax on tea. The price of sugar is
| exactly twice what it was a pound two
years ago. Other things are proportion
ately dearer. If you want the front Of
| your house painted the decorator who
comes to give you IN estimate says:
Remember, sir. all the ingredients that
are used TO make paints and enamels are
f.1h ha
therefore l must estimate this job at
third more than 1 should have done three
years ago, when you had it done before!"
Aud the pawnshops do a thriving busi-
ness-that IS, thriving In one way.
Whereas a few years ago their patrons
among the upper classes might be num-
bered only by hundreds. now they are
numbered by thousands. In the true
meaning of the term, however, the pawn
brokers do not prosper, for, though
many there are to lake jewels and val
liable bric-a-brac to them, asking: How
much can you advance on this?' few
there are who can redeem them. and so
they go into the windows, displayed as
bargains for sale, and even there they
find only occasional purchasers. There is
narrow, provincial, Puritanical concep-
ton of the pawnbroker as knave. a
| Shylock, cheat usurer. abroad among
the majority of persons who have lived
quiet, steady-going lives, who have
never known either the great needs or
the great eXtrayagances of life, that is
pathetically amusing to those who really
know. There is an idea that the pawn
broker covets the baby's solid gold ring
that cost s., and the baby's tiny shoes.
with the steel buckles, and the fathers
overcoat and the wife's engagement ring,
and that he rubs his hands in gIee over
unredeemed pledges and is glad when the
time goes by for the paying back of the
loan and interest by tke borrowers. Not
so! The London pawnbroker, at least,
hates an unredeemed pledge. He desires
back his money and interest.
The man TO whom my friends buckle
had been pledged as security for a small
loan Of perhaps G4 or Go was only sorry
VIXEN she did not send her servant round
TO reclaim the pretty thing, and he waited
months before he tried to sell il. still
hoping the owner would be able to pay
up and take the buckle away. This is
only an instance Of hundreds Of cases.
! was calling on an American lady last
year Just about this time. She was a
longtime resident of England, but was
preparing for visit of five months TO
her native land. l found her in her din
ing-room wrapping all her handsome
pieces OF dining-room silver IL chamois
and paper.
I'm getting them ready for the pawn
broRer!" she said. He'll advance me a
good amount Of money on them and take
the best of care of these things. so /
wont need to keep servants in my house
while I'm away to protect the silver OF
course, III have to pay the interest to
redeem them when l get back. but I'm
not sure il VIII be much more than the
servants would steal and waste and eat
up while / IN away, and then IL saves
servants wages. By doing this l get the
use OF some money I'd very much like to
have for the summer. and ! don't mind
paying the interes; when l return"
1t 5 an excellent ideal" | exclaimed
Il should think so, she returned. You
don't mean you didn't know it what half
the aristOcrats in England do every sum
mer? Why. it's the smart thing my
dear. It's English, quite English, 4 al
together correct. The plan works well
with furs, and valuable laces. too. \
sable coat in high-toned paWnshCp is
as well cared for as If II were one of
the Crown jewels in the tower. Never a
moth gets in It"
After all, this latter is really very
clever idea, is il not?-Chicago Post.
SNAKES BY THE POUND.
Unique Industry Carried On in an