New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1879-11-05
Swlndlins farners.

Swindling Farmers.
FARMERS get swindled; there q no
doubt ofthat at oil. But they are not
alone in that unsatisfactory experience.
This world Is divided into two classes.
the swindler and the swindled, and tho
latter class is q great deal the larger
one. As we have many times said, the
farmer falls more easily the prey Of
sharpers because he is honest himself.
and thinks. as an honest man always
does, or at least Is apt to, that every-
body else is honest.
There are some swindlers Of which
the farmer is the victim. that he might
escape, and would escape. no doubt, il
the press did its duty. If newspapers
would just stop to consider. . moment,
and let little common sense she'd its
light upon the character Of certain
swindles. instead of quietly and regret
fully stating as matter OF news that
some farmer had been sSindled through
the wiles of lightning rod or some
other similar impostOr. they would
point out the fact that thefarmer could
not be held upon many of these con-
TRACTS. A lightning rod man is very
apt to blrnder in making his famous
contracts, but, however much he may
blunder or whatever degree of fraud
may appear in the transaction, the pa
pers have been accustomed to say: at
is too bad; let the dog loose the next
time lightning rod man sets foot on
the premises" II . heavy bill has
been already paid, this advice is good
deal like locking the stable door after
the horse has been stolen. The time
to have let the dog loose was when tho
swindler began to pour forth his elo-
quence. There is not bit of danger
that the lightning rod man will victim-
ize the same farmer the second time.
A burned child breads the fire, and .
man who has had his fingers burned
once, will take care Of the next live
coal that he sees. without the aid Of
any dog
Usually the farmer has the law upon
his side, and if his newspaper were
careful tn keep that before him, and
not to lead him by inference to sup.
pose that he is bound by the terms Of
any written contract to which he hap
pens to find bis name attached, he
would often refuse to pay money on
paper which is frequently forged.
There has been recently going the
rounds of the press something like
this: "A new swindling scheme has
been developed in Iowa. A man goes
among the farm ers, and buys eggs,
paying good price and cash for them.
Upon payment of the money he begins
to write receipt with . lead pencil
which does good service until the last
word before the signature is written.
when the point conveniently breaks off.
He then produces pen and the farmer
signs his name ia ink. Then the PEN
Gil writing is erased and promissory
note written above the signature, and
the note thrown in bank, and the de-
luded farmer is compelled To pa, it,"
This is such stupid performance
that we can hardly credit il; but taking
It for granted man can be found reck-
less enough to make such q prominent
bid for the penitentiary, it is not mat
ter of much concern to the farmer. 1t
may. it is true, put him to the expense
"e q '"'ss W. hnt ha 10 no ~ IRE holden
upon such . note than we would be,
and instead of stating this matter in
the press in such q way as to induce
him to believe that he is holden, he
should he given just the information
that we have here conveyed. Such a
note is a forgery, and in ninoty.nine
cases ont of hundred the microscope
would showit to be such by revealing
the impress of the pencil, which to-
gether with the defendants own testi-
mony would convince any jury on earth.
1t is high time that farmers had begun
to show fight in such matters. Most of
the notes given are without considers
ton or are f0rgeries. When without
consideration, the law holds that q note
becomes valid when in the hands of an
innocent third party--.that is in the
hands OF one who has bought the note
in good faith, supposipg that it was
given for q valuable consideration.
But how many of such notes are held
by such parties-parties entirely iguOr-
ant Of their character7 They are usual
~ sold to the local banker. They must
be sold to some one who il acquainted
with the alleged maker. for no one else
would buy them. Now this local
banker knows how such notes are &C.
cured in the majority of cases. He
knows that they are fraud; still he
buys them. Not one in . hundred
could be collected at law.
1t may be well to repeat here, the nd
vice often given to the farmer: Never
sign your name to any paper presented
by q stranger. Don't sign! Don't
sign! Follow that advice and it will
save you lots of trouble. But If you
have already signed, then fight the
thing. if it is not all right.-Wessev~
Rural.
Dead Letter Contents.
THE Washington Star, describing
he Dead-Letter Office, says: At tho
opening table the contents of such let.
ters as need to be opened are discover
ed. In former times the champion let
was he who turned in the
most money as the result of his labors,
md much ingenuity was exercised in
he selection Of letters likely to prove
valuable. One of the numerous inn
provements in the system introduced
~ the present chief, Mr.. E. J. Dallas.
makes the number of letters opened,
whether containing money or not, the
est of efficiency. But the influences
II the old custom still make the eyes Of
ZONE ct the clerks glisten when tho
opening OF . letter brings to light .
,risp bill Of large denomination.
special efforts are of course made to re-
urn or forward letters containing val
tables. Over ninety per centum Of snch
etters are disposed Of. Some letters
containing small amounts, sent under
fictitious names for improper purposes,
md some communications sent to lot
cry dealerH. after falling Of delivery