The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-03-24
Credit Dealers
Fight Shy of
FZaSRHPerSons
7 o - ths - in ths IL

1 L
stallmeut furniture mouse.
as the meek little man
picked out q cheap rocker
and added II 10 his meagTe list. I'll
isn't on folks like you that we take
the biggest chance OF losing It's on
the big orders. the hashy people who
come IN here and demand our best
stun. regardless OF cost When we
see a woman covered with diamonds
and handling a Iorgnette coming In ar
the door we are very careful to ask
for references. We've had some slick
tricks played on US from time 10 time
For instance, one day last winter
big substantial looking man IN FUR
lined coat. accompanied by a woman
in the height OF style. ordered a colos-
sal bill OF goods. They took every
thing pretty or valuable we had, ma
hogany desks, chairs. and chiffoniers.
solid brass bedsteads. pier glasses.
Shirvan rugs. real animal skins. Rem
aissance curtains, tapestries, Limoges
china, vases, and everything necessary
for furnishing a place from the skin
out The manager was kind Of sus-
picious, but the man gave perfect
references and we found him In a
swell Office down town, where we
looked MIN UP. The goods were order
ed sent to an expensive apartment in
a flrst-class house. The man was will
ing 10 pay a big deposit In the end
we decided II was all right and the
things went out
For the first two months the weekly
payments were kept UP steadily. Then
the man began to fall on. Sometimes
when our collector called he would
find nobody at home Another time
the woman would say she had forgot
TO get the money from her husband.
At the end OF the third week We began
10 get scared. The manager himself
undertook to call for payment. When
he rang the door was opened b. a Jap
servant He asked for the head OF the
house. The servant locked puzzled,
hut invited him in. He said he did not
know the MANS, but he would see. He
returned. follow ed by a small. dark.
young fellow. who demanded cur
mans business The manager In
CURED for Mr. Smith
Or said the small dark man,
you mean the fellow who lived here
before me. He's left town. have sub
let the apartment
7 See. said the stranger, but II
Mr.. Smith IS not returning we shall
have to send for his furniture
7 beg your pardon, said the other.
This IS my furniture bought It
from Mr.. Smith as it stands. I paid
$500 for It IN cold cash. and I have my
receipt
'Of course We got the furniture and
the other poor chap had to stand his
loss. Z seems he had answered an sd-
vertisement and had taken the furni-
ture on sight When we went to col
lect the stuff we missed some OF our
most expensive Oriental rugs. We
aftervard discovered that the sub
stantial looking man IN the fur-hned
coat during his three months stay IN
New York had spent his time very
prohtably in PROMOTING big business
schemes without any bottoms to them
and had carried away enough OF other
peoples money to start him substan-
TALLY IN the next town Those are the
people the installment man loses on
and who throw mutilated goods back on
his hands. We never have any qualms
when a man IS careful TO ask the price
Of things. and 10 pick out the cheap
ones. because we know then that he
means to pay for them and that he win
manage IL somehow But an INSTALL
ment house is one place where a SNOWY
front doesn't go