Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-07-04

coat. The price had jumped to $50. There
was nothing he could do but pay the eXOr-
btant price.
Pool roms and cheap jewelry stores in
Washington said to do profitable bust
ness Of similar nature, but the police have
not been able to get sufficient evidence to
bring them into court
1t is on account OF this kind of business
that the police are DESTROYS OF having the
legitimate, regulated, paWnshOps return to
the capital. There are numerous cases on the
police records of Washington which show that
pawnbrOkers in the old days proved of valu-
able assistance to the police in unearthing
jewelry and other goods stolen from some of
the leading homes in Washington.
One such paWnhroker in the district be-
fore the enactment OF the loan shark law
was instrumental in having seven valuable
pieces of jeWelry restored to the late Admiral
Dewey In relating the incident, he said that
an elderly man came into his office and asked
for loan on an antique chain. The pawn
broker assumed from the little the applicant
knew about the value of the chain that lie
must have stolen it, A nominal loan of Jew
dollars was made, for the value of the cnaJn
would have warranted an advance of more
than 500. The police were notified. The
man brought more jeWelry and, under in
structions from the police, other small sums
were advanced him. Within a month he
brought seven pieces of jewelry worth thou
sands of dollars. He advanced total
loan of about 500. The police finally took
the man into custody and he confessed to
having stolen the jewelry from the home of
Admiral Dewey. The admiral was surprised
to learn of the facts, as he not even
aware that the jewelry was missing The
man was a servant long in the employ Of the
admiral.
Not so very long ago, a Virginia pawn
broker advanced $1,000 to a man On th1e
large diamond rings. After making the loan
the paWnbroker became uneasy about the
transaction, and notified the Virginia police
The diamonds resembled those stolen from
the home of ex-senator of Virginia. An
examination of these stones by the ex-senator
proved this assumption to be incorrect. The
police inquired of the paWners standing in
his home town and received this reply:
MAN is one of our leading attorneys
Worth half million"
1t developed that he had come to Wash
ington to enter the army and urgently needed
some immediate money, so he paWned lis
diamonds.
Of the two measures introduced IN congress
which will enable the pawnshops to return "a
the district, Congressman Dyer's bill allows
an interest rate of three per cent monch on
all loans up to $50 and two per cent on all
loans above that amount. The other bill by
Senator Dillingham; fixes a general rate of two
per cent on all loans.
The Dyer bill provides that the surplus
money, if any, arising from the sale of the
article pawned after deducting the amount
of the loan, the interest then due on the
same, and the expenses of the advertisement
and sale, shall be paid over by the pawn
broker to the person who would be entitled
to redeem the pledge in case no such sale
had taken place"
Another section stipulates that, in addi-
ton to the advertisement of sale in the news
papers, it shall be the duty of pawnbrokers to
send letter to the borrower at least three
weeks before sale, calling attention to the
fact that the pledge is past due and will be
sold if not satisfactorily arranged for by
paying all or portion of accrued interest
No pawnbroker an sell any goods until they
have been in his possession at least a year,
according to the Dyer bill.
The original legislation which put the
pawnshop out of business in Washington
Whs aimed at loan sharks, those so-called
"ten-percenters" who operate on a quite diff
allow the ten-percenter to resume business
The district government is in favor of letting
Uncle" open up again if he is properly reg
ulated.