The Red Cloud chief., 1881-12-22
Hsw RarDen are PIsekel al Plss.
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The American farmer who ~ say. 3.
the cad of the yeu that he has not been
made the victim of nj least swindle
during the twelve months may consider
himself . lucky man The hsrd-handed
son OF toll Is considered the Legitimate
prey Of sharpers and swindlers, and II
they don't viciimize him In some way OF
other IL is no fault og theirs
There are sharpen who make > rcgu-
lar business Of canvaSsing the country
for the sale Of trees and vines. They
buy or steal an illustrated ca,aloguc
from some ~welLknown nursery. have
cards and bills and receipts printet.
and the game they pay il safe and sue.
ceSsfuL. When they make \ sale Of
goods TO be delivered -four. six or eight
weeks hence. they demand an advance
o! ten, fifteen or twenty-five per cent
to pay freights and delivery. IL is sch
dom that they are suspected and rarely
that they are unmarked. They solicit
such orders As will give them an adj
vance Of one. two and three dollars.
and when time rolls by and the goods
do not come the swindier may be n thou
sand miles away. The farmer ROW
realizes the swindie. but il is \ small
amount. and. after unloading his mind
n the village tavern. he lets the matter
drop. This fruit-trce swindle has been
practiced SO often that genuine agents
have the hardest kind Of work 10 take
an order.
THE rwo-HASDED PUMP.
Within the last year sharpers have
brought forward the pump swindie and
made considerable money by the game.
A stranger with three pumps and n
supply Of pipe drives up TO 4 farm
house and offers to put one Of has
pumps into the we'll and give The farm
or the use of il for a month for
nothing. At the end Of the month he
will sell the pump for 81. The farmer
bites at the bait II will be put in
without cost 10 lin. and if he con-
cludes to take it the price is astonish-
ingly low. The swindles are practiced
after the pump is in. In n case the
farmer signs n supposed receipt. which
is actually an agreement to paw the
bearer $25 for the pump. This agree
ment is handed to the swindier's
partner TO collect. and he manages by
threats and buster TO secure from SID
To the full amount. In the other case,
along comes a man who claims that
! the pump is an infringement IN his
patent, and he demands damages. UNI
der threats Of prosecution. The patent
law is a middle to other classes besides
farmers. and the idea OF litigation
brings a chill. The swindler is sorry
don't want to mike any tronble-hOpes
il can be avoided. aud makes the victim
pony up from $l2 to $40 for the right
to call the pump his own. One pumps
the well and the other the farmer; and
between the two they make q fat thing
Of it.
THE CARRIAGE swTNDLE.
Two or three years ago this State was
oycrrun with carriages and buggies
from the East. warranted in every
respect" and vet offered ut astonish-
ingly low figures. While the price OF i
carriage made ut home was from Sl75
to $3.50, these vehicles were offered ~
low as $50. They were highly var.
nished. abundantly silver-platod and
went of like hot cakes. GLOW On
earth they could be sold SO cheap was
soon made plain. The springs were
east iron, the spokes pine, the tops
painted cloth. and the iron work a SWIM
die of the basest sort. One washing
took all the varnish of. and horse and
thills parted company from vehicle and
driver ut the first mud hole. 1t was \
paving swindle for a time, and is still
being worked in some localities.
..sMUGGLED GOODS"
A smooth-talking man with a ped
ding wagon made many victims in the
eastern part of Michigan last summer
He had his wagon loaded with boots
and shoes and dry-goods, and wherever
there was 4 chance to make n sale he
grew confidential aud softly informed
the farmers that the goods mad been
struggled from Canada. The idea of
! bu, ing Struggled goods turned no one
away. Shoes male almost wholly of
paper found really buyers. and bolts OF
mOth-ca cloth were freely 'sacri-
feed" at from thirty to seventy cents
per yard.
PATENT RIGHTS.
A patent right has charms which it is
hard to resist. Let one have the best
of churns. washing machines or farm
machinery. and he will still give ear to
the patent-right man with his wash
board which docs all the rubbing, v
all the soap, hangs out the wash and
can be converted into a cabinet organ
by q simple twist OF the wrist. One Of
the checklist swindles of The past year
appealed directly to avarice and dis
honesty. Strangers travelled through
the agricultural regions with y small
model of a beehive and a sachel full
of square cakes Of some dark stuff
weighing half n pound each. II q
farmer had bees he was told that a hive
constructed after the model and bai,ed
with the secret stuff, would quietly de-
tach sufficient bees from the other
prevent swarming. II he had none. he
was confdentially informed that he
had only to set up hives and supply bait
to draw bees q distance OF twelve miles
around. The dark cake was not only a
bait to draw. but it offered sustenance
for a swarm of bees through the long
est winter, so that all the honey could
be removed and sold. The farmer who
had bees saw reasons for buying, and
the farmer with none thought he could
secure several swarms at the expense
of his neighbOrs. Three dollars was
the price for the privilege o. construct
ing three hives, and the bee-bait was
sold at a dollar per cake. No bait was
sold without the hives, and no hives
without the bait Whoever invested
got stuck. Detroit Free Press.
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