The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1874-05-14
The Patent Swindlc.

Is there to be no end to the swindles
on the gullibls people of
the west, if not of the whole country,
by host of travelling sharpers, in the
sale of patent territory" to thousands
npon thousands of victims to these
patent territory Jeremy Diddlers? ?"
Among the generally intelligent Of the
commercial world there is hardly a CON
ception of even tithing of these swim
dies. OF course the sufferers are of the
comparatively ignorant class, or at least
ignorant of the force and scope Of our
patent laws; otherwise the "occupa-
ton" OF these patent right thieves
would be "gone." Probably many of
your general readers will not do less
than believe me guilty Of gross eXag-
geration when say that the aggregate
of the swindles or frauds upon the com
paratively poor purchasers of patent
right territory in the northwestern
states alone amounts to one million dol
lars yearly, yet this estimate is very far
too small rather than exaggerated. One
of these patent-right chaps, or some
tonguey and of course INSCRIPTIONS
agent, comes along generally in pairs
with "letters patent" to some Peter
Funk, giving exclusive right to manu-
facture, use and sell" said Funk's pa
tent felloe expander, or Buncombe's
patent gate fastener, or may be Did
dlers patent tiy-catcher or moss attach
mcnt, and proilers to sell not the patent
article, but parcels of territory-that ls,
to divide his patent into little parcels,
from that of n state down to n county
or even township pretending to give
the purchasers exclusive right to man.
ufacture, use and sell" within his pur.
chased territory. The gudgeon is hook
ed. Some five or ten Others of his guI-
lible ncighbors have bought each one
or more county rights the yender
has pocked from 81 900 to $5, 600, or, as
is often the case, has made Il haul from
single neighborhood of $4,000 t.
800, 600, pocketed his cash, assigned 'C
some innocent third party his notes anc
mortgages, and is suddenly gone to somt
other field of usefulness to the
swindling fraternity. The poor victims
within week or month, or at least uItl
matcly, find out that so far as the pur
chasing of thing of practical use o1
value to thcm--nO matter how valuable
the patent as a whole-they might Just a
we'll have purchased one screw from al
engine or one hoot from II horse tina
their neighbor victim who has bough
the adjoining town or county can sci
the patent ware at his shop to be usc'
or rcsold anywhere in the United States
and therefore that both are clearl
swindlcd ont of every cent pad tn
vender of moonshine; and then bot
go to work wiser, hut financially, ha
or wholly ruined men. Many hun
drcds of these patent swindlers, wit
their stool. pigeon accomplices, are nov
and long have been in every state, q
least of the north and west, depredatin
as stated: nor can but rarely n tow
ship, and probably nowhere county
be found that has not suffered ever
wear, or at least within say five years
to the tune of many thousands at tn
hands Of these infamous venderS OF p'
tent-right territory. Surely some meal
should be sought ami found to sta
til SC dcprCdaJors from their infamor
work, if not to mete to them their lu
penal dues forpast villajnies. - WrSte'
SuJScyfbr of Ncw IOrE 1rtb"i'c.