Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-01-13
A New Confidence Game-HOW a
ShreWd Rascal DeeeiyeS the Farmers
Look out for Him.

From the Bloomington Qndiana) Progress.
A .'sugar and molasses refinerr ha
been "doingn a number of our sub
stantial farmers out of considerable
+ sums of money quite recently. ThC
operator, it first seems, first ascertain'
) the names of the farmers in eaci
township who carry on the manufac
ture of sorgum molasses, rs well a:
their politics, religious faith, &c. Ri.
ding up to the house in the evening
he begs the privilege of remaining all
night, expressing his willingness and
ability to pay his bill. He is q
smooth talker, well informed on gen.
eral topics, but particularly so on the
culture of cane and the manufacture
OF sugar and molasses; says he. is
agent for large sugar refining estab-
lishment of New Orleans, and at pres
ent is buying up sOrgum and ship
! ping it to his firm, they manufacture
I ing a fine article of twO-dollar syrup
I from it; saws he can make white syrup
/ from sorgum, thoroughly understands
/ the process, and is now on his way to
I Terre Haute, where he has contracted
T TO set up large refinery for a COM
pany of capitalists. Next morning,
after breakfast, he pays his bill, and
volunteers to make nice white syrup
sugar for his new friends out of the
dirtiest, blacklist or sourest molasses
they have, if the good wife will Just
heat a little water i'm the tea kettle.
The water is heated, 4 pint poured in
TO the center of the crock containing
mOlasses, and small quantity of
q white powder, which he produces
from pocket, is sprinkled in it. He
then draws from his saddlebags n tin
pot, having n depressed lid sOldered
into it, a funnel hole in the center,
and small perforatiOns surrounding il
this contrivance he calls a "neutrali-
zer," the workings of which he ex-
plains on scientific principles. The
water is poured off the crock of molas-
ses into the 'neutraliZer,' that wonder
fGl piece of tin ware is shaken, warm
ed, shaken again, and finally theO opera
tor pOurs out almost a pint of clear,
white syrup, just the article every sOr-
gum-grower desires TO make; he bOils
the syrup, and then stirs Off the sugar,
and as il cOols, it is found to be dry,
white, and having none of the cane
taste peculiar to sOrgum molasses.
After much persuasion, he is in
duceC to impart his secret, which he
says lies in the powder, and consists
of two plants, which when pulverized
and dried in the sun, produce the de
sired change; only asking that if his
host thinks the receipt a valuable one,
he will make him a present, as he
shall teach the process to no one else,
and does so in this instance, only as Il
special mark of favor. The elated
sOrgum grower scorns to give less
than fifteen or twenty dollars for this
valuable secret, worth to him, if sue
cessful, untold wealth-and under the
generous impulses of the moment, re-
wards his ''sweet" talking friend
handsomly, and bidding his host an
goodbye, the guest rides
to the farm of the next sorgum man,
and, adapting himself to his new
hosts politics, plays the "neutraliZer"
game with the same profitable results. |
The powdered roots are, of course,
pOwerleSs to work any chemical
change in the sorgum, whether dried |
by artificial heat or in the suns rays !
all who experiment in it fail, and !
realize that they have been sold to a
good talker, but an unprincipled |