Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-08-05
Men,.
THE SLY MAN,

ways is as mysterious as a ghost.
He always smells some kind of a rat,
and can't do the commonest kind OF a
thing without shrouding it with the most
secret Importance.
He mistakes cunning for wisdom, until
he gets sold out
There amt much bigger fool in this
world than the one who expects to beat
everyone else, nor one who fails much
ottener
Cunning is always an evidence of in
teriority, and is almost sure to end in dis
honesty 80
Sly men are always vain of their parts,
and would rather be called smart than
prudent.
Many of these fellows are like some old
dogs have known; they would often hide
a bone so slyIy that when they come to
want it they couldn't find it themselves.
| have undertaken few times in nv
life to be dreadful cunning and sly, butt
always either got caught at it or, what is
worse, aWfully ashamed Of it.
THE BLUNT MAN
The blunt man is almost always an honest
one. He knows he is honest, and won't
take the trouble to prove it.
He is like a chestnut burr-the worst of
him is always on the outside, and if you
will only have the patience TO crack him
you will often find the kernel of the sweet
est kind
Blunt men almost invariably have soft
hearts, and, though seldom profuse with
their friendship, when you have once
got it you can keep it as long as you de
serve it.
These kind Of men, while they make
good friends, also make the most reliable
kind ofenemies, and always make up, in
the commerce Of life, in stoumess what
they lack in sweetness
Politcness is sometimes nothing but arti-
flee, and bluntness may be nothing but
coarsencss, but if it is, it is always dread
fu easy to detect it. a.-.
| have known scores of blunt men, and
never knew one yet but that would i'm
prove upon acquaintance.
The fawning spaniel is often treacher-
Gus, while the surly mastiff, when he
comes to know you well, will stick to you
to the last.
THE SLICK MAN.
There are people who are as oily as an
oppossum, who slip into your acquaint-
ance, and even affections, as easy and
natural as a mouse into a hole
1t will sometimes do to trust this brand
Of folks, but it will oftener do to watch
them
They are different from the sly men :;
they don't travel on their cunning somuch
as they do on their grease.
They have more pride perhaps than
cunning and are generally satisfied with a
good deal less than the sly man is
The slick man that [ am a-talIzing about
is not in any degree the confidence man;
he is not a fraud, he is one whose suavity
is not the effect of good breeding nor OF
art, he is atfable and oily, partly out OF
good nature but more out of affectation
If you don't trust him too much you
won't be disappointed, for they are a breed
that don't pan out rich.
These fellows, no doubt, have some OBJ
ject in view, but it is hard to tell what it
is; they never sink down to the grade OF
the dead-beat nor elevate to the biting
shrewdness of the cunning man. t-..f
1t may be difficult for my readers to rec
Ognize among their acquaintance the kind
of men | am talking about, but / can see
III the character of the slick man one
IEb no Ivy TO
plicitly trust and equally foolish to be
afraid Of
The slick man is very oily and nothing
more
Perhaps it might do TO say that he has
but very little character anyhow to distin-
guish him from the good natured fool OF
the village toady
THE CONFIDENCE MAN.
The confidence man is the meanest of all
earthly mortals; he is worse than the
frozen snake whom you thaw out in your
bosom, and then get bit for your mercy.
He is lower down than the common
thief, and has no more heart nor courage
than a chiId-stealer
II he was a bully you could avoid him ;
If he was a coarse rutfian he would show it
in his appearance; but he unfortunately is
as well polished and executed as a bogus
halfdollar .., was.
He gets your confidence by his gentle
manly approaches, of your pity by his ten
, der appeals. ar
He has done more to harden the hearts
OF men against their brother man than all
the other villains in existence put together
The confidence man is of all ages and
conditions, from the almost beardless boy
to the old wretch with green goggles and
palsied tongue.
| hate these vipers, and am rather more
afraid of them than of the devil himself
Josh Billings, IN Nelo York Weekly.