Impecunious Lovers

An engagement ring contracted for on the instalhnent plan íb now as common a business transaction as the fitting np of a boarding house on the same easy payinent plan. There are several New York jewelry firms wbich do a prosperous business among prospectivo bridegrooms on the credit system. One of these is located on a prominent down town stret. Engagement rings and wedding rings are here sold on credit, theweekly payment being 50 cents. At this store the other day a bashful young man asked the chief clerk to show him some rings suitable to present to a young lady. "Engagement ring, eh?" said the clerk in a confidential undertone. "Here yon are, sir, the very latest. Forty-five dollars - exquisite stone - payment in 10 months. This shell ring is our own design. Any girl would have fits over it. See that dainty spiral thread of gold abont the setting? That emphasizes the gem and makes it appear worth more than it is. Yoti can t better yourself, sir. Pay cash and you'll get a discount of $5." The young man seemed much impressed. He gave the measurement of the little finger of his fair charmer and left his name and references. In bis pocket as he went out he carried a stupendous contract printed in red ink, which stipulated that "in case of nonpayment according to the terms of contract, etc, the ring must be forfeited." "That's a fair sample," said the clerk in answer toa question. "That fellow represents a certain element of middle class society. Most of the hardworking young men buy rings for their sweethearts that way. The girls would never get any engagement ring at all if the money had to be paid outright. " Another shy young man was nshered in, and the clerk motioned him to a private room adjoining the main office. There they were closeted for several minntes, and then the clerk emerged to eeal a contract with the new customer. The necessity of the private audience room, it seems, isbecause financial embarrassment, coupled with nati ve modesty, prevenís lovers in the first stage trom divulging the terms upon which they wish to pay for a ring. They prefer to state their case unheard by any one except the head clerk, who, in the course of his business, has cultivated a profonnd sympathy for the en tire race of sweethearts. "Oh, they teil somepatheticstories," eaid the clerk. "They let me into all their secrets gratuitously. One very devoted young lover told me the other day that he earned $4 a week, but couldn't get married until he had been raised to $5. When advanced to this position of opulence, he thought he could afford to buy a diamond ring on installments of 50 cents a week. "But it is in the case of lapses that 1 hfiar the most pathetic tales. As a rulo erar customers are straightforward and honest. As long as a young man has work we have no difficulty in getting his money. When he loses his position, he usually Iets us knovv, and then if the fellow is honest we ease up on him just a little." "But what if the girl and the ringdisappear simultaneousJy?" he was asked. "Oh, the young man always pays uy, and if the girl has thrown him ovji you can bet he never tells any ony about it. "There are lots of well to do yonog men who sptind $30 or $40 in a uight for pleasnro and who do business with ns because they prefer to regard jewelry as a luxury ard pay for it on time. "Here, for instance, is a ring mado to order for a broker down town," and the clerk held up a diamond ring valtied at $250, which had been made to fit the finger of some metropolitan bello whomay never know the "terms of the contract." "1 don 't know of a single instanco wherea girl has had to forfeit her ring. In case she had a dishonest man or a eneak for a lover the case would by rather embarrassing. But as a rulp the blushing bride elect knows nothing about the installments, for our customers come prornptly to the office and pay np every Saturday. "There are some cases where we have to unbend a trine, as, for instanc-e, where there has been a death in tht; family. When a sad faced young fellow steps into my private office and tells me confidentially that he has lost his father and must help pay the funeral expenses, or that he has spent all his available capital in celebrating Thanksgi vinji or Fourth of July the day before, then he can usually count upon the sympathy of the fino. "Of course we run gieat risks, but we never sell to anybody without looking up their references." The investigation blank, which, when filled, establishes the purchaser's integiityof character, should contain the date of contract, name of applicant, house address, business occtipation, business address, references, time employed in present position, description of engagement or wedding ring and a host of other details. The forxn of contract is snitably vèrbose, and the red tape involved is suffioient to make a young lover feel tho responsihilitv and iraportance of havin;;