The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-05-27
I CASTOFF CLOTHING.
IT PAYS TO SEARCH THE POCKETS
AND THE Innings.
Bills, Coins and Letters Have q Way
OF Hiding hemseives-Experten
Of Man Who buys Discarded Car
ments-Hints 20 the Careless.

| oI hbuihB
Of "a Man Who buys Discarded Car
ments-Hints 10 the Careless.
"One can't buy castoff clothing for
many years without meeting some
| queer experiences" remarked an "old
clothes man" the other day as he FUN
| bled through the pocketS~Of a suit
which lie had just purchased for 80
cents. "Of course I don't expect 10
find anything nothing except maybe
some old letters. But II pays TO run
through the pockets and feel the lin
Ing. II a man who lets his wife sell
his castoff clothes only knew what
got lost In the lining OF his coat some
| times he wouldn't feel so easy about
parting with them. a man sticks ins
pOrtant letters In his inside coat peck
ct, and some day when he wants them
they are not there. He hunts and
fumes around, but the letters don't
turn up. Then lie thinks they must
have been torn up or burned, and he
fOrgcts the matter.
But important letters don't go that
way generally. They turn up some
times to accuse man. They find their
way between the lining OF the coat or
vest, and we fellows get hold OF them.
If | wanted to go into the blackmail.
ing business | could make plenty Of
money. I've found letters and papers
I'm castOff clothing that would make
pretty stagtling reading for some peo-
pie. OF course when we get the clothes
by hunting up the address In the dl-
rcctory we can locate either the writer
or the one receiving ii.
IL don't think that, as n rule, women
sell their husbands castOlf clothing
any more without going through all
their pockets. Maybe they've got into
the habit Of searching them so that it
becomes "A second nature TO them. SO
ii is not In the pockets we find things.
It's in the lining, where they have
found their way gradually.
you know how easy 1t Is for small
coins TO work their way through hole
in the lining of Il vest and snuggle
down in the corner Of the cloth. Well,
we pick up quite number of dimes
and nickcls in this way. Usually a
vest Is small silver mine. Probably
the wife of man feels something
there and thinks il is only a button or
some such thing, or maybe penny,
and she won't bother In trying to fish
it out But pennies don't work down
there nearly as readily rs the dimes do.
"In the same way bill will get mix
cd up in the lining Of the inside pocket
and finally disappear The man prob
ably misses a five or ten dollar bill
and thinks he must have lost 1t or
spent ii fooishly. The matter escapes
his mind the suit is thrown to one side
and some day it is sold TO the old
clothes man 1t doesn't escape US.
We go through every inch of the lining
and examine the corners and inside
carefully. The bills we find in the
course of Il day will often more than
pay us for what we have given for all
OF the clothes.
MANY men are eXtravagant in get
ting rid Of their CaStOff clothing. They
have 50 many that they become nui'
sancc 10 them. Sell them TO the first
man who comes along is the easiest
way for them TO dispose of their use
less belongings. If the servants don't
take them. we get Il fine pick at them
For from 81 cents to Il dollar you get
a suit that will when brushed, steam
cd. cleaned and pressed easily bring
al. n
much, but just solcd and musscd lit
tic. The trousers are stretched little
so they will bag at the knees wher
used few days ut time. a man
with plenty of money won't stand that
He will order his wife or valet to sell
them
The greatest amount | ever found
I'm money in one coat was ten dollar
bill. but several times I've found two
and five dollar bills and one dollar bills
by the score. once | found check
for 500, but rs that was no good to
me returned il to the owner and re-
ccivcd n dollar reward for my honesty
The best find however, was several
years ago. whcn.I discovered buncll
of railroad coupons between the lining
and inside cloth of one of these fancy
vests. | suppose l might have cashed
the coupons and received $1,000 fol
them. hut there was some risk To sucl
n proceeding. So l concluded to turn
them over to the owner and trust tC
his generosity. He gave me 500 In
bills and commended me for my hon
osty. lie had missed the coupons and
had advertised for them. Later
found that he had offered a reward of
$500 for their return. You can bet
was mad then that l didn't get more
for returning them.
"As for important letters. l might
say that they come 10 us I'm drovcs.
Generally we read them and chuck
them in the fire. It's the best way. Ii
n man has lost letter which would
incrimiuatc him he doesn't like To have
II turn up. 1t will always worry him q
little. but he lives I'm the hope that il Is
lost for good and gradually forgets it,"
-WaShington Star