The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1878-09-26
LIGHTNING ROD SWINDLERS.
LOOK OUT FOR RAISED NOTES.

LOOK OUT FOR RAISED NOTES.
Quite i number of our farmers last
summer purchased lightning rods from
the parties who were through here SELL
ing them. Most if not all of these
farmers gave their notes and when pay
day comes, if we are to judge from
what has occurred in other commune
ties, there will he music in the air.
The custom of the lightning rod swim
dlers is to raise the notes and sell
them to banks or note shavers. Last
week we copied an item from the Lu-
verne paper giving an account of the
arrest of several of these swindlers at
Luverne and their removal to Lemars
for trial. The farmers of this county
have their redress, in case this SWIM
die is attempted upon any Of them.
Below we give II letter received from
L. NJ. Kimball, the agent who took Il
number of orders in this county. Mr..
X. advises the farmers to combine and
resist the payment Of any CT these
swindling notes:
LACROSSE, WIS.,, Sept. 1873.
EDITOR ADVANCE: 10 the people in
your vicinity who purchased lightning
rods of me, would say that l am not
responsible or censurable for the mis-
deeds or failures OF the company or of
their agents for failing to carry out the
contracts as l made them. AS was
employed OH Il salary simply to sell the
rods, which did III an honorable and
straightforward manner. So that if
any of the notes are raised, or mutilat-
ed, or not taken as agreed upon. or if
the rods are not like the samples, or
arc short in measure, or if the offer Oh
the back OF the order is u humbug, or,
in short, if you have been swindled by
the Company, I am guiltless rs made
all my sales fairly and supposed that
the company would carry out the s.lles
honestly and honorably.
Now if you have been swindled, you
have your redress by clubbing together
and resisting payment Of the notes.
The responsible parties are +. J. Nail
or, 81 Jackson street. Chicago, and j.
+. Westcott, whose family lives at
Hamilton, Illinois.
L. NJ. KIMBALL,
Kingsville, O.
Thai many, if not all of our farmers
who bought rods have been swindled,
we have no doubt. Mr.. Kimball sends
us samples of the rod he contracted to
have put mp and also scraps from mu-
tilated notes. In private letter, he
says:
send you sample of the notes talk
en- and some of the mutilated portions
torn and cut off from the notes, which
found in J. E. Westcott's room at
the McManus House, in Worthington.
l found these Oh the floor. The torn
one is in my baud writing and was
torn from a note of n. L. Langseth, q,
sale l made and settled, which / will
swear to. The other can't tell from
which note cut. You will see by the
sample l sent you that the rod put up
is inferior to the sample. so that all the
people have been swindled.
L. NJ. kIMBALL.
In this connection the following de-
cision OF the Supreme Court of New
Hampshire may be of interest:
ALTERATION OF NOTE.
Where 4 negotiable note WAS made
payable uron a condition, and the con-
dition was written below the note on
the same piece Of paper, held that the
note and condition were part of a Sin
gle, entire contract, and that the fraud
ulent removal of the condition. by
tearing the paper, was such q material
alteration Us rendered the note void III
the hands of a bona fole holtler.-Ger-
rish VS.. Glinl1s, Sup. Ut. n. II.