The Jewish advance. (Chicago, Ill.) 1878-1881, 1880-12-10

ought to take In order to arrive at the
truth Of the matter At last it was my
host whom [ very confdentially in
formed of the event. The good man
shrugged his shoulders at seeing the in
strument. Il have no knowledge of
these things" said he, but don't believe
that the man was honest, and that he
will ever come to take his violin back. )"
When made acquitted with the details
which had induced me to offer the
money, the gentleman was sorry to in
form me that my money was as good as
thrown away. / now see, said he, TO
my great vexaton that you fell into the
hands Of the so-caled "Bauernfanger"
which is a synonym Of rogue. Herr
Klotz, if this be his real name, which [
doubt, is wretch who, knowing you to
be in possession Of some money, hired
an accomplice, whom it appears, he de-
celved In his turn, to cheat you out Of
your money. Everything, the letter
from his pretended wife included, was a
game concerted beforehand Both
are neither friends nor artists; they are
Infamous rogues and your sum is lost"
If, at this moment, an abyss had stood
open before me, [ should probably have
cast myself into it to hide my shame,
confusion and disappointment. Is
there no justice in this country!' cried
|. Justice can do little against these
thieves" replied he Nay, vigilance
itself would not elude the knavish
schemes these imposters are apt to lay.
We have good number of policemen,
but they are stupid fellows, who show
much readiness when it behooves them
to arrest, on the slightest protest, some
honest man, but little skill to find out
these domestic robbers Last year
several of my guests, and [ as well, had
been cruelty treated by these wags. A
traveller arrived and occupied two of my
best apartments with his baggage.
Boxes and boxes came, the one after
the other We hosts welcome the
arrival of people who fill our houses for
weeks. In few days the traveller was
every moment asked for I now learned
that my guest was dealer in silver.
Visitor or rather purchaser followed
purchaser, each of whom carried off at a
low rice, sets ofsilver spoons, forks,
+ fkniVs3 and SO efe -seveftl of my guests
seized this occasion to provide them
selves with one or more services of
plate. [ secretly advised them to send,
before buying anything, piece of plate
to silver-smith in order to learn the
value of the precious metal. Having
charged myself with ascertaining it, [
was assured by an honest and able
trader that the silver was of the best
possible quality. After this, not only
each Of my guests hastened to procure
as many sets as he could get, but | my
self expended as much as [ could spare.
In one evening the merchant had heaped
up mass of bank-notes and gold But
how great was my astonlshment to find
on the following morning that he had dis
appeard from my house, leaving me all
his boxes filled with rags, rotten timber,
sand and bricks! Our suspicion was
naturally aroused and, our bargain being
closely examined, it was found that we
had been grievously y defrauded. = The
first and upper one of each dozen was
real silver, the rest were counterfeited.
1t was evident that these men who
came to buy and carry off sets had been
hired with view Of drawing our atten-
tion to the low price Of the plate In a
word our money was completely lost,
and we had besides, the modification of
being cheated.
These narrated facts, reduced my irri-
tation. Our losses and errors appear to
lis tolerable the moment we discover
that others are also subjected to them.
When left alone regarded the violin
case with a omewhatditferent sentiment
than | looked at it two hours before.
Come vile thing cried |, Il shall
smash you against the wall" The rec
objection, however, that the instrument
might, after all, still have a considerable
value prevented me executing my de-
sign. But | was soon undeceived in my
hope. The first shop-keeper of musical
instruments to whom | offered to sell it.
told me that it had been bought of him
just few days ago, for the price of ten
forms. My money was thus actually
lost.
1t was the frs5 lesson [ received in
life for which | paid coo dearly; Yet it
was not the worst lesson [ have since
learned. After the loss | had sustained,
hotel-life was too expensive for me and
[ was compelled to seek for a private
room. [ found such near the Fried
richs Hahn" which is one of the two
gardens the Berliners have at their dis
posal. My acquaintances were so kind