The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-09-03

Gently, and a rain coming up suddenly
they pulled their boat ashore and went
to 6 barn near a farm house to get in
out of the wet. They found the farmer
in the barn sitting on an upturned
half bushel, whiting cob, waiting for
the rain to cease so he could go out and
kill potato bugs. He bowed to the
men as they came in, and sat their fish
ing tackle down, though he eyed chem
pretty closely. He didn't talk much,
but answered their questions politely.
They asked all about the farming bust
ness, and he told them how things were
running. Finally he said
II suppose you are gentlemen from
the city, come out here for recreation,
but / didn't know at first but you
might have some scheme to get me to
buy something, or make me agent for
some patent, OF that you wanted to get
me to sign some paper that would seem
innocent enough, but which would turn
out to be q note that / would have to
pay. There's sharks around here ev-
cry few days trying to pick up farmers,
and we have to keep our eyes and ears
about us. / am satisfied / have made
! mistake in you gentlemen, so | apol-
Dgize."
The gentlemen laughed at his fears,
but accepted his apology, and finally
asked him what course the sharpers
usually tooI to beat a farmer.
20, they take every kind of a
course" said he, al he took another
cob to whittle. Anything to get a
man to sign his name. Once a farm
sr's name is on paper, and they get it
On 10 a promissory note, and into the
hands of an innocent party. / had a
man come along here two years ago,
with a patent churn, and he left it for
my wife to try. She tried it. and liked
il, and wanted to buy it, but he
wouldn't sell it He said be was just
getting it patented, and he wanted a
few of the best farmers to try it, and
make any suggestions they thought of
20 improve it, and he would make the
improvements and get it patented. He
said when it was patented, and was a
success, he had just as soon make my
wife a present of a churn, but he
shouldn't sell any, as he should put it
In the hands of some large factory to
build, and he would get a royalty. He
wanted a few letters from those who
had tried the churn, to send to our
member of congress, who had promised
10 90 to the patent Office for him. He
wrote out a letter to our member of
congress, saying that / believed there
was merit in the churn, and ]
signed it. How the deuce he got my
name off of that letter, and put it at
The bottom of a note for two hundred
and fifty dollars, / don't know, but /
had to pay the note, and my wife has
never got the churn. But the slickest
thing that farmers eve got took in on
was Bohemian oats. About ten years
ago a man came along with a baking
powder can full of oats without any
bulls on-just the plain meat of the
oats. He said he was an agent of the
German government, and that ono
farmer in every township could buy a
bushel of the oats for FIVE dollars, if he
would contract not to sell the crop of
hull-less oats to anybody but the auth
orized agent, and he was to agree to
pay four dollars a b1shel. The idea
was to create a monopoly in hull-less
oats. He just mentioned it to me, he
said. that / might think it over,
and in the meantime he would make
some inquiries as to my standing.
Well, for q week / dreamed
of nothing but Bohemian oats,
and by the time be came around again
| was as ripe as the oats, and / wanted
ten bushels. He said he would have to
communicate with the general office
before he could sell me more than one
bushel, but he didn't know but he could
arrange it so / could have a county
right, and be the only man in the coun-
ty who could raise the oats. He said
he hated to let one man have such q
chance to get rich. but he had struck
three or four farmers that had no
standing, and he wouldn't let them
have a kernel of the oats for love OF
money, and as he had got to 60 to Iowa
soon he might give me the county, but
| must not say anything about it. He
would be back in a week, and by that
time he would let me know if / could
have the county. He might have lei
me have the earth, if he had waited an
other week. Well, to make a long
story short, ! bought fifty bushels OF
oats, signed q contract to sell to no
body but him. and 1 got two farmers to
sign with me as security, and the next
spring / sowed the OATS
What did you get ~ asked one of
the fishermen, as he looked out the barn
door. and found that the rain had
cleared off.
sGetp" said the farmer, as he rose
up and kicked the half bushel measure
across the barn. II got a fair crop 81
common oats, with bulls ON which
sold from the threshing machine for
twenty cents q bushel. The oats he