THE FLY-BY-NIGHTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 181, 4 September 1909, Page 3

THE FLY-BY-NIGHTS.

' PEOPLE WHO AVOID PAYING RENT. Many ingenious tricks are played bv people whose pet aversion is the payment of house-rent, Soim times u'ic tricks played are more than a liltle numorous-at least, so they not iulrequeiitly appear to the public, if not to landlord and his agent. For instance, one ngent was iioatk dodged about two years ago by a innii we will call "Sweedler Bill." i< in llail ~ rooted objection to the payment of anv. thing in the shape of debts or rem charges, this objection, by the wuv being partly due to the fact Unit he h,i.| little money to pay with, in consequence ol Ins intemperate habits. Bill had a wife, as intemperate as himself, but no children, and aft"r havi." to leave at least half a dozen hoiiM'i ;n a short space of time owiii'' („ hi, little failing, lie struck oil i„ a "n unexpected manner.

I Property was at a discount in a certain district at the time; numerous | houses were "to let," and Bill obtained the key of one of these without the agents knowledge. By moonlight he hrou 2 lit in his furniture, which consisted oi a bed and a table. The amusing part lay in the manner the worthy couple bluffed the accnt The latter only came through the street once a week, the occasion l>cin» Saturday afternoon, when he collected rents and on the afternoon of that day Bill's wife usually pulled down the short curtain from the front street window replacing it with an old newspaper'and the 'To let" notice, at the same time removing the table to a back room until the agent had gone by. This game went "on for about ten weeks, imtil one Saturday morning the woman forgot to do the usual business. As a result, the agent saw the curtain across the window, and, entering the house, he demanded rent, which" was promised for the following Saturday• but by that time the birds had flown.' Rent-dodging tenants sometimes gain possession of houses in a more simple and less risky manner than the foregoing. The writer is acquainted with an instance where twelve families lived rC !rl froe fo '" nn ,ess tha " ei S ,]t months. The owner,'.:., of a long row of cottages was in .dispute, the lately deceased landlord having left no will, and being without direct heirs. At the time of ins death twelve of the houses were empty, and had been for some timeI >«t whe,, the state of affairs became known, tenants appeared as if by magic, i Olfiiinanfo for the property were soon on the scene, however, and no less than four agents began to call for rent oi Saturday afternoons. Each agent in turn sternly demanded rent in the name of the person he represented; but the tenants evidently knew a thin" or two, and they flatly refused to pay; whe-e----upon the agents left them with the advice. "Well, don't pay anybody else." The tenants "winked the other eye" in a maimer meant to indicate that such advice was unnecessary. Tndeeil, when (he ownership of the houses wis finally settled, the twelve occupiers cli-wc Ihe only alternative to paying i-nt. which was "to flit." Even when rent-dodging tenants are hroiia-lit lo a court of law tliev ,i„ not always come oft' second .best. For instance, on one occasion a tenant had got considerably behind with his weekly payments, when'the landlord h-gaii to notice that week by week the furniture grew beautifully less and less. Bclieviiiff be had a claim on the ponds for rent, the landlord brought nn action against the tenant; but the lalf,,- engaged a smart lawyer, who severely cross-examined the plaintiff. "How dn von know." asked th" ].,„.. yev. "that the furniture hna ~ni been put away in a back ronni in=laire'" The hudlnr' didn't know. and.'as he was a',o unable In prove ),: 5 r . lßf , m several resnects. the action wis dis-' missed.—Home paper. I