The age-herald., 1902-03-30
STORIES OF MEN AND
 QUEER INCIDENTS
BY HOMER GEORGE.

Little bits of humor arise in the work of every class of business men. The money lender is no exception to this rule. While his life is unusually hard at all times especially when he tries to collect amounts due him, he is occasionally al- lowed to stop cursing the debtors long enough to have a laugh. Usually the laugh Is at his expense, but I heard story a few days ago different from the average.
 A young fellow doing a, loan business here recently placed an advertisement in The Age-Herald which read as follows:
 ''Salaried employees may secure money without any security whatever. No en- dorsements are required. All business strictly confidential. Address M. H., care Age -Herald''
 For several days answers came in as promptly as the loan man wished. He was kept busy in fact answering the calls from clerks, railway employees and men working on salaries in every walk of life. It seemed that no class of men ex- isted but that wanted to borrow money. All answers were ordinary, no applicant desiring more than $25 or $50 at one time. Some wanted even less.
 But one day he was simply knocked off his feet, one might say, by the receipt of an application for a large sum of money. It came from a young fellow in neighboring city, who was making salary of $20 per month as assistant in an office. With the letter was enclosed an advertisement of house and lot to be sold at sheriff's sale. The property was described as being worth about $1S,- | 900. The letter asking a loan was as fol- | lows:
 MT. M. H., care Age-Herald: Dear Sir-I see your advertisement. wanting to loan money on salaries, I am a young man of fairly industrious habits and am making @ salary of go per month as assistant in the office of l the Robinson Medical Company. do not owe but $50, everything included.
 "A few days ago I noticed the adver- | tisement of a sale by the sheriff of a fine house and lot in our town. I want l to buy this lot. I think I can secure 1t for the sum of S15,0O0. I therefore want l you to advance me that amount on my salary and allow me to repay you month ly. I will allow you to take half the rents from the house each month also, and apply to the debt with half of my l salary.
 Kindly advise me at your early con- venience when I may come to Birming-' ham and get the money and what the rate of interest will be.
 Yours very truly, JOHN WILLIAMS" Just how the loan man felt may be i'm agined when 1t Is stated he never made loans for term longer than thirty days, and all loans bore interest at 10 per cent per month. He figured out to the young man who made the application that the interest on his loan would be $150O the first month, and if he reduced 1t half the amount of his monthly salary, besides paying the interest, the second month 1t would be $1499. Thus 1t would be re- duced at the rate of $1 per month. The full amount the boy would be compelled to repay or the length of time it would require him to pay it was not calcu- lated.
 tatement of these facts was sent to the out-of-town man, but no reply has yet been received. In the meantime his letter has been framed.
 Some one is constantly saying the work of such leaders of the negro race as Book | CT T. Washington and w. H. Council re- l tards the negro instead of benef1ting him. The names of neither of these men are | rarely ever mentioned in a crowd but that | some of the number makes a sneering | remark to the effect that the two are | simply ruining the negroes. | Now this may or may not be the case, according to the way in which you look