The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-12-07
FARMERS COLUMN.
A LIGHTNING ROD sWINDLE

A correspondent of the Rochester IN. Y }
Denaocyat and Chronicle, writing from 1.-Two
MIA. exposes new swindle, in regard TO
which our country readers would do wei 10
have their eyes open. He says ::
Our town has been of late the theater, ana
several of our tizens the victimes Oh new
lightning rod swpdle This is how II is oone'
A smart.appearing. oily gam mon agent calls
upon q farmer and proposes TO put ilgDtnlng
rods on his building. The farmer eltner mas
rods on his buildings, or says ne oOn WISH
to buy any. But says Mr.. Olly cannon,
"You will surely buy When Gell Jou nom
chean they are The season is late. ana we
have bnt few rods left and will only chaI &c
Won cost price. We will put complete set
Of rods on YOUR buildings, 1ncludlng all the
fixtures. for twenty dollars Z" farmer ooJects
saws he never has been struck py hgntning,
and puesses he will risk IL llttle Willie ION
Ger DIV Cannon is not to be put of by
ssnv common refusal, and offers to do it for
@n1 dollars. which is so " dog cheap" that
t6e farmer consents. Oily Cannon produ
ces printed blank which he proceeds to fill
ont. What is that ?" tasks the farmer
"Just an order for the gooos tnaI wish you
to sign. so l can send it to my men, ana they
will understand just what to do" Farmer
at first objects. but the thing looks so plain,
and Rthe order so innocent, that he finally
looks it hurriedly over and puts his name TO
it, With a satisfied smile and polite good
for q new victim,
In day or two the teams and men make
their appearnnce and cover all the farmers
buildings to his entire satisfaction. When
the lob is completed the farmer offers to pay
according to contract, and gets out MS Cen
dollars. THAT won't DO" says tne nGs sf
man. here is the contract you mace with
our agent, read it yourself-your bill amounts
to 1915. y Our farmer, with eager hands,
grasps the little "order' he signed, and reads
as follows:
"This is to certify that have this day or
dered of the United Lightning Rod Company
Cushman's cable lightning rod, with al! the
points. fixtures, ETC., sufficient to rod MY
there the description of the various buildings
is written in by Oily Gammon) in town OF
county of -, State of New York, for which
hereby agree to pay the sum of twenty DOL
lars per set, forty feet to constitute set' =.
This latter clause is an cye-opener to the
farmer. To his great confusion he discovers
that he has been deceived and sold. He re-
members that when ne signed that paper he
asked Oily Gammen why it read twenty dol
lars per set, when the bargain was Tor ten
dollars for the whole thing, to which y. u
replied that ''that was their regular printed
price, but he would endorse ten dollars on
the back of the ORDER" and surely here is the
endorsement: Received on the within, ten
dollars" right on the back of that innocent
order which was given just " because 1t was
theiriway" In one instance the farmer saw
the forty foot clause, and asked what it
meant, and Mr. Oily Cannon said Oh,
nothing at all in this case .
In this dilemma some farmers have given
their notes for the full sum claimed. Some
have compromised and given notes for part
and few have stood out and refused To pay
anything over the agreement as they under
stood it.
The result of some of the farmers resisting
payment has been the arrest of the oily agent,
one James H. RiYot, of Canaserage. He is
held in 50, 5000 bail. The defense is that 1t
was legitimate business transaction.