Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-02-12
Fence-J acks and How to Buy Them

1t was not long ago that gentleman with
glib tongue and apparent good manners
called upon Mr.. Daniel of the town of Paris.
The stranger was selling fence-jacks. This
may not be the name he called them by but
i will do for a name. They were machines
to lift post fence--to draw the posts out of
the ground and remove sections of it at a
time. Mr. D. didn't seem to want any thing
of the kind but the polite stranger said he
must have one he. the stranger, will give
him one. He wants D.'s influence. He would
give him one and would have lot shipped to
him to cell to neighbors. They were wonder
full machines. With their help any fence was
portable fence. Every man that had a fence
would buy one. D. was persuaded. The po-
lite man produced contract" D. signed
He supposed it was contract to receive a
lot of these fence.jacks and sell them to his
neighbors and get the money for them. How
could he refuse to receive and dispose of the
patent fence Jacks. when convinced of their
beauty and utility: It would be better for
his neighbors to give him the small commits
sion proposed than to pay double as big
commission to some big machine agent in Du-
baque or Galena, and as for fence>jacks it
was certain no farmer could live without one.
So the polite man and Mr. D. parted-the
former with the contract in his pocket A
week or two passed. D. was on the highway.
Another polite man diving along halted and
spoke to him High Mr. d.. why don't you
90 and get your fence>jacks 2 We shipped
them according to your order, but you don't
take them away" "My ORDER" says n, Il
didn's order any fence jacks ado you say
sos Why, isn't this your order ?" And POI
lite man No shows him his signature to an
order for some dozen fence jacks. to be paid
for on delivery. He protests that he only
signed contract to receive aud dispose of
the fence>jacks when brought to him. Polite
man tells him and shows him that the order
doesn't read that way, and that polite man
No. had no authority to make any such
contract. And polite man No. 2 ,pslavers.
lie takes out bottle and tenders it TO Mr..
D. who declines Then he quaffs at its noz-
zle himself. Again he urges D. The latter
saws he TOOK Lde bottle and only smei,ed it.
He is ready. we understand, to swear that he
does no, remember what transpired after
that. Since then a Dubuque collecting agent
requested Mr.. D. to cash = $4,000 order
made over his signature in favor Of the fence
jack company. He did not heed the request
aud since then Pla,teville banker or agent
Ia. offered to let him have the note 1T q
good discount Mr.. DIS neighbors are now
laughing at him for not being reader Of the
Grant County HERALD for the past two years
They tell hin il he had he would not have
signed either the contract" or the mote"
They say be should now step up to chalk like
a man and pay that sl25,UJ, and 50 say we
If he don't read the HERALD, but the HsRALD
some how has had the mack Of getting its
friends out of these scrspes even after they
got into them and if Mr.. D. win take our ad-
vice he won't pay a cent. There are some
other victims OF this sxindle in the south end
of this county. They were not HkRALD read
ers. Our account Is not literally as it trans,
4 pired but substantially 80.