The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-16 00:00:00

A NEW TRICK.

The following statement may have the effect of pu
ting persons upon their ward, and prevent them from
being defrauded, under similar circumstances :
A short time back an advertisement appeared in some
of the papers, offering for sale a splendid modern phx-
ton, which was represented to have been very little
used, and to be sold, under peculiar circumstances, at a
very great sacrifice. A gentleman, who was in want of
such a vehicle, went to the place indicated in the adver-
tisement, where he received the address of the seller,
and in due time the vehicle was shown to him, and to
appearance it was all that could be desired. The paint
and varnish was in excellent condition, the tyers of the
wheels seemed nearly new, and the rivet-heads were not
in the least -awn ; in fact, the carriage had all the ap-
pearance of an excellent article, and the gentleman
who doaired to purchase, readily consented to give
thirty-five guineas for it. He directed it to be sent
to a livery-stable in the neighbourhood on the next
day, where it was arranged he should send a cheque for
the amount. The carriage was sent, of course, but,
fortunately, in the meantime something had occurred
which induced the purchaser to delay sending the
cheque. Upon the carriage being 'washed, the man
who was employed for that purpose fancied something
was not right about the vehicle, and he informed the
master of the yard, and his examination confirmed the
original suspicion. The result was, that a coach-
maker was sent for, in order that the vehicle might be
properly examined, and it was then discovered that a
most gross fraud had been attempted. The axle-
trees, which had all the appearance of being patent,
were found to be, in reality, of the commonest kind,
the woodwork was of the most paltry description,
and, upon a more minute examination, it was discovered
that it was literally "stopped up" with putty, painted
and varnished over in every direction. Upon this dis-
covery, the vehicle was sent back; but the owner, or
rather the party entrusted with the sale of it, was not to
be defeated so easily, and he had the temerity to talk of
instituting legal proceedings to recover the amount for
which the vehicle had been sold, and the preliminary
steps to an actian were actually commenced. In the
meantime another advertisement appeared, which there
was some reason to believe referred to the same vehicle,
and the gentleman who would have been the victim gave
directions to the same coachmaker to answer it ; and
upon his desiring to see the advertised vehicle, he was
introduced to the one he had formerly seen, but which
had been " re-puttied," and strengthened by iron .tays
in one or two places where, when he saw it be-
fore, he had pointed out that it was actually fall-
ing to pieces. The party was expatiating, with
great warmth, upon the value and genuineness
of the article, little knowing who he was addressing,
when he was cut short by the coachmaker telling him
his business, and at the same time informing him that
he had seen the " valuable article" before, and pointed
out where it had been doctored up after the former ex
amination. It is hardly necessary to say that this was
a complete damper, and that no more law proceedings
have been heard of. It is understood that there are a
set of fellows who get their living by frauds of this de-
scription, and that horse-chaunting having become a
little stale, they have resorted to chaunting vehicles, and
however unsound the chaunter's horses may have been,
it is'doubtful whether the vehicles are not more so; in
fact, they are made up " to sell," and many unlucky
purchasers have found to their cost that their " nearly
new" vehicle, after three or four times using, has, lite-
rally, tumbled to pieces.