The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-03-09
BAREUM AID HIS HUEByGS.
How the Snowman Deceived
the People.
HIS EARLY TRAINING
-. ne. Aes

from tho Life OF p Barnum candidate for Congress
i in the Fourth district of Connecticntl
Rnrnum,s First Lottery Swindlc.
On one occasion pedler called at our store with
large wagon filled with common green glass no..ies o.
enlovers were both absent and bantered him to trade
his whole load of bottles in exchange for goods Think,
tng me n greenhorn he accepted my proposition, and
managed 70 pay him of in unstable goods at exorbtant
prices after he departed Mr. Keller returned and
fonpd his little store half filled with bottlea
sWhat under heaven have you been doing 7" said he
~ have been trading goods for bottles" said L
sYou have made a fool Of YOURSELF he exclaimed,
sfor you have bottles enough 70 supply the whole town
begged him not to be alarmed, and promised to get
rid OF the entire lot in three months.
ssIf you do that" said he, ''you can perform
j then showed him the list OF goods which had az
changed for the botes with the extra prices annexed
worthless trash at rate which brought the new NOR
chandse considerably less than onehaf the wholesale
what could be done with the bottles We slowed away
the largest portion Of them in the loft OF our store.
MANY Of the ia, manufacturers traded there and paid Us
hats giving ''store orders" to their numerous en-
ployes including journeymsn apprentices female hat
toners, and knew them oil intimately.
may say that when made the bottle trade had q
project in my head for selling them ALL we'll getting
rid or large quantity OF tIaware which had been the
store for years, and had become begrimmed with
dirt and fly specks That project was lottery On tho
first day therefore, when there but few
toners spent several hours in making up my scheme
Tue highest prize s25 payable any kind OF goods
the customer desired Then had fifty prizes OF IS oach
designating my scheme what goods each prize should
one par cotton hose one cotton handkerchief two tin
cnrs, four pint glass bottles, three tin Swimmers,
QUO quart slas. bg..le, six tin nutmeg grasrs,
and tnware always forming the greater portion
of each Prize. had hundred prizes Of one dollar
h1nG i ICES Of twenty 1--WE cents each There were
ono thousand tickets at fifty cents each. The prizes
taken an idea from the church lottery, in which
my grandfather was Manager and had many
headed the scheme with glarsg capitals, written in
my best hand setting forth that II was Magnificent
ioi.ery "s2s for osy y cents sooS lover e, $50
at the lowest cash prices ! !" &c.
The tickets went like wldfre. Customers did not stop
to consider the nature OF tho prizes Journcymen hat
ters boss baers apprentice boys and hat trimming girls
bought tickets In ten days they all sold A day
fixed for the drawing Of the lottery and II of
punctualiy, announced.
The next day. for several days thereafter advcn-
drawn FIVE dollars would find herself entitled to piece
OF tape spool OF cotton paper OF pins, sixteen tin
ass soups os e 20
tain glass and tin and pay her IN somo other
be contrary 70 the rules Of the establishment and could
not entertained for q moment
ays aaSsr would discover that out Of twenty
tickets had drawn perhaps ten prizes and that they
consisted entirely Of glass bottles Some ., re Gus.
joke Tho basket loads the arms full and the bags full
OF soed and glass bottles which wore CARED out Of
DRIVING Constructed series Of most iudicrous scenes
Scarcely customer permitted to depart without
DAYS every glass had disappeared and the old tin
replaced by smaller quantity as bright AZ
NV uncle Aaron Nichols husband OF my aunt
Laura, was hat manufacturer on . laree scale
Grassy a BIS snd va.
wore all 70 be- paid in tin 10 took them home day
In his wagon locking like . TIN pedar IS he went
through the street. Two days afterwards aunt Laura
brought them oil back 4
some Of this tin bright but II y impossible want yon
% give some other goods Tor T." told her Was
What on earth do You suppose can do with all this
replied that II my uncio Nichols had the good for
tune draw many prizes swoud DO presumption In
me to dictate what use he shosld make Of them.
snv ,,cSes n sucS Worthless lottery ssd so
laughed outright, and thAk only added 70 her vexa
tion. She called me many hard names, but only
Finally, says i, "Aunt Laura, why don't you take
some Of your tin over TO Aunt Rushiaf' heari her
could buy some tin skimmera"
swell, can supply her." said my aunt Laura, taking
tces in her apron and proceeding at once 70 my board
Ing house across the street.
have come 10 sell you some s tin sEimmsrs" A
"Mercy on usi" exclaimed Aunt Rushia' 81 have
gkimmer8 enough
"why Taylor Barnum told you wanted to buy
some, said Aunt Laura, in surprise.
81 am afraid that boy Is mischicvous young joker"
said Aunt Rushia laughing; ko did that TO plague me-
for drew seven SWIMMERS In the lottery"
Aunt Laura returned more vexed than ever. She
empicd the whole lot tin upon the floor Of the store
and declared she would never have IL In her house
again. She returned home.
l Immediately despatched tho lot OF Tin 10 her
house in wagon. Il reached thcrc before she did,
and when she entered her kitchen she found tho
tnwarc piled up in tho middle OF the room, with the
d
There a whose name was Mex,
. lie drew seven prizes very lex;
Which caused his vile 70 IRE, and swear
II was several weeks before my aunt I.sora forgave
me the joke At about that period, however, she sent
marked on the outside, "A mnco PIE ior taylor Bar
was delighted cut the string which surrounded IL
and took OF paper The pie was baked In OF the
unwashed lin pattersi OF course, could not Il;
but evidence TO me OF reconciliaon and that
afternoon took tea with my aunt where had enjoyed
many an excellent meal before and have done the
thing scores OF times since.
much ana seemed TO agree with many others who do
cared that was indeed, "a chip Of the old block"
Barnum,s Early Education-The Tricks Of
Trade.
Messrs Kecicr whitlock sold out their store OF
roods 20 Mr. Lewis Taylor In the summer OF 1897.
NAMED short zine clerk for Mr. Taylor They have
20 have boy learn nature Is permit him 20 be
q lin pcdlsr for few years" think his chances for
sct ng his oye eth CUT would lie equally great In a
country barter store like that IN which was clcrk As
before stated many % customers were hatters and
we took has l. rey .sni fsr s0sds The large manufac-
tucrs dealt pretty y By Ne, but Of the smaller
fly occasionally shaved prodigousIy There probably
Il no trade WI ca there BE- more cheating than
IN hats III bat was DAMAGED In coioring or
otherwise perhaps BY Of half foot in length,
be patched up, smoothcd over, and slipped
In with others 10 send 20 the store Among the furs used
for the nap o. ha in those days beaver Russia,
nutra otter consy muskrat 40 The bestfur was otter;
the poorest coneS.
The hatters mixed their inferior fuB with little OF
their best and sold the hats for ssotter" We IN re-
turn mixed sugars, teas and liquors, and them
che most valuable names IL was ''dog eat doGn-'tt
for lat" Our co,tons was cold for wool, wool and
cotton for silk and linen; In fact nearly every thing
was different from what u represented The
toners cheated rs In their fabrics: We cheated the
customers with our goods Each party expected to 30
cheated, " II was possible Our eyce, and not our
ears had 70 be masers We must believe little that
we saw and less that heard Our caicocs were ali
sast coors" according TO representations and the
coIsrs would generally fast" enough and show
tncm tub Of soapsuda Our ground coHec was AZ good