The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-11-10
HoRsEY CONFIDENCE MEN.

How the Rural District Represents.
tive is Neatly SwindIed---A Nefari-
Gus Traffic in H0rse-FIesh which
the Police Are POwerIess to Sup
press---The Methods Employed and
How They Work.
New York Star.
Horses and women are mighty deceivin',S
enunciated an old horseman to little group
gathered around him in the bar-room of a
well-known hostelry; shut, boys, horse-deal-
ers are worse than both" and the veteran
chuckled and the two individuals with big
horseshoes on their loud scarfs grinned
Il tell you, boys-and yer kin believe me
I've seen many smart man skinned by
horse jockey with fraction of the brains of
the dove he plucked Why, Lord bless yer,
boys, every day they're doin' funny business
around here, and pluckin' the greenhorns!"
With this the old boy chuckled again, called
for his straight" and, relapsing back into the
arm chair, began, for the benefit of the wan
dering reporter, to tell of some of the tricks
of his tribe.
&Lemme see," he said; there's 'xactly
$3.50 tricks, and, if you have the time to
spare, why I'll go over the track with yer at a
Maud s. gait Well, to begin: There's two
kind of horse-dealers; there's the teller that's
goin' to take a square advantage of yer-win
skin yer all he can-and there's the other,
who'd scheme to skin yer in the worst way
There's zen or so of this last kind of skins
in New York; they don't do nothing else. You
know Abe and Mac and the gang down in
Ninth and Blocker streets?"
The horsey parties grInned assent
GAs was sayin'," he continued, Gthey are
rank skins. They'll get hold of an old nag,
fill him up with drugs. and advertise him for
sale. Then the greenhorns come and look at
him, and pay couple of hundred for a plug
that would fetch about $40 if one of the boys
bought him. Of course the greenhorn won't
buy the nag unless he's got some inducement,
and they give him lots"
Thus the old fellow ratified on, and from
him the reporter obtained something of an
idea of the thickness of the modern horse
swlndler. The usual plan, the reporters in
formant continued was to find the greenhorn.
This is not such task as people imagine, for
the greenhorns are only too numerous in New
York, and but too anxious apparently to find
shrewd swindler with whom to leave their
money. "A short advertisements one of the daily
newspapers that is notorious as decoy for
such schemes usually bring half-dozen vic
tins day. Of course, the advertisement is
shrewdly worded; usually a widow wants to
close her deceased husbands estate, or
wealthy gentleman going to Europe wants to
dispose of his superfuous horsefesh. Then
comes the victim, who is usually from the
country. He nibbles at the advertisement and
goes out in pursuit of the suppositious bar
gain. His appearance at the swindler's stable
is usually the signal for the beginning of
little comedy, to see which he usually pays
dearly a.'
The comedies are often of mortuary char
acter. The @widow" or %brother" of the de-
ceased is participant Perhaps both are there.
The "widow" is dressed in the most somber of
mourning, and occasionally applies a neat
black bordered handkerchief to her eyes when
speaking Of the dear lamented, and the pain of
parting with his favorite roadster, Sarah j.
or Mary s., which "was such pet of his"
Then the brother, dressed in a black frock
coat and wearing an eminently respect
able high silk hat with broad mourning band,
is there to assist his "dear sister-in-law." To
the countryman he is most decent-looking
person, without the least suggestion of the
jockey about him. There are usually two per-
sons in the stable who do not look so respect
able, and perhaps the coachman of the lately
deceased is present in full livery. The two
persons referred to are horsey- looking individ-
uals, with flashing diamond pins and loud
clothing The dramatis persona thus de-
scribed, the comedy opens with the horse in
the background. -. "
81 guess 1 can afford 5000" says one of the
horsey looking fellows.
"No, sir. I've fixed my price, and don't
propose to haggle over the matter. If you
don't want to say $3.50, all right I'm not &C
cd q fxHyO-1 0ria xuau Of h17ci
ness" This from the brother of the de-
ceased.
%Oh, you needn't get mad" answers the
bargainer. Il wanted your bottom figure and
think I'll take the horse" With this the
horsey-looking buyer pulls out a big wallet
filed with bills and counts $3.50. The widow
in the meantime whispers to her brother-in-
law, and he suddenly asks:
Gentlemen, may inquire your business?"
"Why, we're horse dealers, of course" both
chime in chorus. s'-
At this the brother in-law emphatically
declares, Gentlemen, you can't have this
horse"
"Why, what's up?" both exclaim, in aston
Simply this. My brother on his death-bed
exacted the promise from me that should
never allow his horse to go into any but good
hands, as he wanted him treated kindly, and
not to sell him to jockey. You can't have him
at any price.
The horse dealer No argues with the
brother in-law, while No. 2 approaches the
victim with the remark that some people are
unmitigated asses. The victim, who has been
listening in surprise to the dialogue carried
on, is interested in the transaction by this
time, and then No. 2 offers him $50 for his
trouble, if he will buy the horse and bring
him to the saloon on the corner. The bait is
in nine cases out of ten swallowed with avid
"No," says the brother-in-law, as the two
horse-dealers turn to leave in an apparently
Disguised mood "you can't have that horse
for $500, nor for $500. Good day"
Then the victim comes up and makes his
bargain. OF course, when he is asked his
business, he denies most emphatically that he
is a householder, and the widow, who has
I been attentively studying his features, whis-
pers in stage aside: John, he looks like a
kind-hearted man." and the bargain is COM
pleted.
The victim leads the horse out of the stable
and goes to the saloon indicated but the
horse-dealers are not there. Then it takes
him little while to understand that he is
hardly likely to see them again, and when he
begins to examine his equine purchase usually
I it is winded or spawned nag, hardly worth
F $25. Of course he realizes too late that he has
been swindled, and when he goes back to the
stable the "brother-in-law' is very sorry, but he
has just paid claim on his brothers. estate
So the victim goes away sadder, poorer and
wiser man. He has no remedy, the horse
dealers are usually too sharp to get within the
clutches of the law, and when arrested
they always escape punishment Two of this
kidney have been in the police courts score
of times within the past few years, and as one
of the police magistrates explained when re-
/ leasing one of these swindlers on bail at police
headquarters few weeks ago:
%They know the law, and just keep in
the bounds"
No Submarine Telephone.