son for this probably being that my partner
was known only as a criminal attorney. Now, I began to dislike
the idea of paying a dollar a month to induce people to refer
business to us, and indeed I found that the disbursement of five
or six hundred dollars every four weeks for this purpose was no
trifling matter. Accordingly I decided to try letting them go for
a month or so, but business fell off to such an alarming extent
that I almost immediately resumed the contract system, merely
reducing its proportions.

In addition to our "dollar-a-monthers," as we called them, Gottlieb
employed half a dozen professional "runners," whose sole occupation
it was to hunt down unfortunate persons injured accidentally and
secure their cases. These employees made a business of joining as
many social clubs, labor and other organizations as possible and
swinging the business in Gottlieb's direction. At one time the
competition for accident cases became so fierce that if a man were
run over on Broadway the rival runners would almost tear him limb
from limb in their eagerness to get his case; and they would follow
a dying man to the hospital and force their way on one pretext or
another to his bedside. There used to be a story, which went the
rounds of the clubs and barrooms, of a very swell old buck who owed
an enormous amount of money and who happened to be knocked down
and rendered insensible by a butcher's wagon. He was taken to the
hospital and did not regain consciousness for several hours. When
at last he opened his eyes he saw several dozen cards plastered
upon the ceiling directly over his head, reading:

GO TO
LEVY & FINKLESTEIN
ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW
WE GET YOU MONEY!

TRY
EINSTEIN & GOLDBERG
IN THE BUSINESS 30 YEARS

SOLOMONS & MEYER
ATTORNEYS
CAN GET YOU
$5000 FOR A LEG
$10,000 FOR A LIVER

MOSES BLOOM
THE HONEST LAWYER

SAMUEL SHARP
COUNSELLOR-AT-LAW

"Ah!" he murmured, rubbing his eyes and turning to the nurse; "I
thought I was in some strange place, but I see that all my friends
have been to call already!"

Our criminal business, however, was so extensive that it took
practically all of Gottlieb's time, and he found it necessary to
hire a couple of clerks to attend to the civil cases that came to
us. My partner was obliged to spend the whole of almost every day
in attendance at the criminal courts. Frequently he remarked
jestingly that under the circumstances, as he h