, 1885-10-09
TRICKS OF TRADES.
kciTY DEALER WHO HAS SOME sen.
SlBLE VIEWS.
rho Farmer Who Hid "a Stone In the
Fleece May Have Been No nIore
Dishonest Than Some Other
People.
lohIeago Herald.

Chicago Herald.
"A little thing occurred the ether DAY
that set me thinking, - remarked Il Water
street merchant 10 the reporter. We
buy considerable wool, and in ono Of our
con assignments the other day we noticed a
number Of ileeces hat were unusually
heavy. Investigation showed that con
cealed within each one was n good
sized stone We reported the matter
back TO the country merchant
from whom we had received the wool.
and hs was able TO identify the farmer
who had sold 1t to him. That farmer
was arrested and on the evidence OF one
of our hired men was found guilty of
attempting fraud and was lined SO aud
the cost Now, OF course the farmer had
hO business TO put those stones In the
wool The stones were OF no benefit to
the wool. and the whole purpose was to
make it weigh heavier.
Another VIEW.
But | have often thought since Of the
other end OF the matter. suppose that
farmer had gone into a store in his town
and bought II piece OF cloth. The mer
chant had purchased 1t in Chicago for all
wool. and therefore. Of course. sold 1t to
the farmer for the same. Then suppose
the farmer, after getting home. had dis
covered That the cloth was a cotton
AAA hh ACaAA h1 hhN1 DtAG hDOhN
IL. Would he have had the mer
chant arrested Would he have
had any redressg Certainly not. And
yet the proportion OF stone weight In the
wagon load Of wool no sold 10 the mer.
chant may have been no greater than the
proportion of cotton In the cloth the mer-
chant sold him. The stone did the wool
no good, nor did the cotton do the cloth
any good. Both would have been better
II all wool. The stone and the cotton
were put in on purpose to cheat One
was as bad as the other.
That little incident set me to thinking
very strongly that adulteration is a fraud. y
he continued "A little cotton in all
wool cloth is likely 10 deceive even the
smarlest. Beech. horse chestnut and will
low leaves ground up with tea would fool
the farmer or any Of us Pepper is sold
for pepper, and yet it may be largely
composed OF linseed meal. mustard husk,
wheat flour. pea flour. sage. rice flour, or
sawdust These things are put into the
pepper TO cheat Us. and how can
hep ourselyesg Even the mustard
which the farmer buys may be
partly made of wheat flour grown on his
own farm. colored with yellow ochre.
and sharpened with cayenne pepper and
ginger This pepper may be made of
ground rice. turmeric and the mustard
husk. and colored with red lead, and the
ginger may be made Of sage meal.
tapioca. ground rice. and plaster of Iaris.
These things the farmer buys at the
grocery for genuine. and he is defrauded
Just the same as he tried TO defraud some.
body else by putting stones in his wool.
only he was arrested and fined. and
Other fellows amt
~ ritg TkIrH WERE KNOWN.
IL shouldn't he surprised, If the truth
were known. that that farmer had been
imposed upon by cotton 'nll wool cloth
or willow leaf tea or something of that
kind. aud. discovering the fraud, had
determined TO have revenge. One decep-
ton usually brings on several more. Or,
coffee Maybe he had been buying
ground coffee and on finding that he was
being swindled at that made up his mind
10 buy safe in future by taking his coffee
only in the berry. Then II lie got home
some night and his sharp wife picked up
some of the coffee berries and, cutting
them. found that they were chicory, cut
out Of the root by a machine made for
that purpose. | don't blame him If he got
mad and went out to the barn and hid
some stones in the wool.
"Aduiteration Is a fraud, and IL should
not be permitted except the manufacturer
stamps the character OF the article on the
pa kaye, There is no objection to cotton
in wooden cloth, If the article be labeled
and sold for cotton mix. Nor Is there any
objection to chicory in coffee. If people
know II is there. and are willing to buy
H. We should have some strict laws in
his country against swindling adultera-
ton. and heavy penalties for their viola.
ton. If a man cant be punished for
chopping coffee berries out of chicory a
urVnaE uIaaN1lnHN LA aanI TO- NWNNNta.