The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1906-12-11
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!: A Woman Collector



we didn't get on from the start. I
had good trade and was obliged 70
be on the road most OF the time. This
left the buying TO my partner. The
trouble was that he wasn't any kind of
a buyer. II salesman came along
with a cock and bull story about a
sick wife and dozen or so starving
children shinn would buy q bin OF
goods OF him whether we wanted them
or not. The consequence was that gv.
cry time came In I found the stock
growing in spite of my efforts to re-
duce II.
WELL the result of It all was that
weeping drummers finally succeeded
In turning the store into a Junk shop,
and we had to quit. shinn, az he
should have done. offered to stand the
loss, giving up all the capital he'd put
In, acknowledging that the outcome
had been entirely his fault. II could
have closed up at once his money
would have been just enough to square
vs.. with no loss TO me, but tho very
day we closed along comes one leg.
commercial traveller he called him.
self-consumptiYe, wheeling through
one lung and shinn had to order a
$500 bill of him. We closed the order
out at about 90 cents on the dollar,
making deficiency Of $1s7.42. This
shinn agreed TO pay as soon he was
able. s s.
"Shinn was bachelor and removed
from his rooms in an apartment house
to little shanty. ] sent n.an aroun
TO collect h!T indebte duess, but he came
back erslt. handed. sent another
with orders TO be more persistent, and
he came back, reporting that the door
had been slammed In his face. used
to see Shinn occasionally ON the street.
He looked morose and shabby. One
day ] saw him give a quarter to a beg
gar. That made me mad. IL he had
money to give such nulsances he had II
to pay bis honest debts. hired reg
ular fighting collector and sent him
round to Shinn's shanty. He came
back with his head bandaged up, q
black eye and a swelled lip, to say
nothing OF the loss Of suit OF clothes
II hired several men In succession to
20 and get into the house and stay
there till Shinn came down with the
funds. The tirst one that came back
reported he'd been thrown out, the sec
ond shared the same fate and the third
and the fourth and 50 on likewise.
Then II occurred 70 me that I'D send
woman. You see a man can't tight
woman. and there never was a woman
yet that couldn't get the better Of a
man II she wanted to. There was no
woman's collecting agency In the town,
so l told several friends Of mine that
I'd give half the debt to any woman
who'd collect II.
about a month after making the
announcement young, good looking
woman came to see me and said she'd
heard | wanted dabt collected OF
Percy Shlnn. she didn't look like a
business woman at all. but concluded
to try her, So gave her an order for
the money aud started her out
sit was o'clock when she left me,
aud waited with good deal OF anx,
lefty to learn how Shlnn would meet
this new enemy, | expected her back
in about an hour. Four o'clock came,
but no collector %, O, Z, and she
didn't show up. In fact. she didn't
show up that night nor the next day
nor the next nor the next. A week
passed. and began to think Shlnn had
murdered her, Funny. wasn't lt7 Ev.
cry man I'D sent had come back after
having been thrown out; the only wo
man I'd sent didn't come back at all.
Then | fancled maybe the woman
had collected the money or = part OF n
and gone on with Il. At the same time
Il occurred % me that had stupidly
omitted to taks her address con,
cluded 20 notify the police and started
out to do 30. but thought I'd take a
look on the way at shinn's house, So
went q roundabout way and brought
up opposite the shAnty. Somehow u
dldn't look 90 tumbledown az before
There were white holland shades IN the
windows and a few flowers In the yard
In front. .ss Is ss..,, "a
"A woman came out Of house near
where was standing, and asked her
who lived In the house opposite. she
said, Mfr. Shlnn.' Amy one win himr
His wife 7 didn't know he was
married ne wasn't a short tine
ago THERE'S story connected with
II Mr. Ghinn owed soma old curInudg.
con some money and sent q young wo.
man to collect T. she was real smart.
she told him she was 20 set half the
amount collected; that ahO was the on
" support Of q widowed mother and
seven brothers aud sisters she gave
such q pitiful picture that Ehlnn, who
had been long while starving himself
70 pay the debt and had Just saved the
last penny. went and got u and gave
Il to her. Yoa zee somebody had told
her what kind of q man Shlnn was.
she was 30 cut up By HIS loyable man
NAP that aha told him IN ham Aha man.