Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-09-11
SWAPPING AS A CALLING
A BUSINESS AT WHICH sHREWD MEN
GET RICH IN NEW YORK.

Nowadays people accumulate so
many things they don't want and want
so many things they haven't got that
the business OF relieving them of the
first and supplying them with the
second through the happy medium of
exchange has grown enormously in
New York." the prosperous-lo looking
man with chop whiskers on whose pro-
fessional card appeared the legend,
Exchange Broker" said recently to
a Sun reporter. "There are more
than one hundred men in New York
City who follow trading or swapping
as regular thing, and few of them
have become rich in an incredibly
short time. We buy up all sorts of
things from ocean greyhounds, sky
scrapers, and churches to clothes
wringers, match boxes, and bed Stats,
and trade them off to some one who is
hankering for big ship, office build
ing, church, clothes wringer, match
box, or bed slat, realizing, as o gen.
eral thing, handsome profit in cash
or acquiring property worth more than
that which we offer in exchange.
Successful exchange brokers are
born, not made. The ability to swap
and come out ahead every time is in
herent. No matter how clever and
shrewd man may be, if swapping is
not natural passion with him, he is
bound to come out at the little end of
the born eventually. In my own case,
1 began to swap with an eye on the
main chance when 1 was little tacker
OF six and lived in small river town
in : the Buckeye State. My first
achievement was to trade pair of
tadpoles and view of sore toe to q
little playmate for three sticky jaw
breakers-as round, hard pieces of
candy were known in those DAYS.
With this capital L acquired genuine
Barlow knife and china taw, which
were subsequently converted into still
more valuable property. Great oaks
from little acorns grow. From this
modest beginningI suppose 1 amassed
about $50 worth OF treasures dear to
the small boys heart by the time
was ten years old. At the age of sew
enteen [ owned a junk shop, and by
the time I had obtained my majority
l was sole owner of prosperous hard
ware store, small dwelling and
vacant lot, all acquired through swap
ing.
81 look back with all sorts of pleas
urable emotions on one event of my
early career as a snapper. Do you
know, once traded four hogsheads of
New Orleans molasses for steamboat?
Mop, 'tisn't q dream. You see, the
steamboat, which was an old-fashioned
stern wheeler, was on fire at the time
the dicker was made, and it seemed as
if L had the worst end of the bargain,
1t was like this: One night in the
. early seventies the steamer was churn-
ing down the Ohio, bound from Pitts
burg for Cincinnati, flying light and
working short rt-handed, when fire
started. The boats nose was headed
for the Ohio shore and the crew set to
work to put out the fire, but the
flames gained so rapidly on them that
they were compelled to give it up and
take to the small boats. Every man
on the burning steamboat reached the
landing at our town in safety long be-
fore the old stern wheeler began to
push over that way. Attracted by the
fire, all Of us young fellows went down
to the landing to look on, and there
we found the Captain of the steamboat
jumping up and down in the air and
acting like wildman, for he was the
owner of the boat and carried no in
surance.
Don't you intend to make any ef-
fort to save something from the boat,
! Captain?' asked. He came down
out of the air long enough to interstice
his expletives with the information
that he wes through with the dod-
gasted old hulk, and it could go to
thunder and Halifax. Inspiration
seized me. On the landing were four
hogsheads of molasses which l had
secured by trade that afternoon, and
called the Captains attention to
them.
"'Will you trade your steamboat as
she is for those hogsheads?' L asked.
He gaped at me in profound astonish
ment.
"'Well, of all eternal foolsp said he
at last. DO you own them hogs
heads?'
"T do L responded, dancing up
and down in anxiety, for the boat was
blazing like town afre, and every
minute of wasted. time meant loss of
money to me in fhe event of trade.
IF you want to swap, say so quick.
L" Blamed if I"don't go you, as.
sented the Captain. It's biggest case
OF something for nothing L ever
struck.
"'Boys, you hear the bargain?' ]
said to the crowd.
"'Yes, piped the crowd, and we'll
see that the Captain sticks to it.
Better see that this foolish young
imbecile keeps his end of the swap
retorted the Captain, and then, hav-
ing no more time for the trivialities
of life, he returned with renewed fer
vor to his bold, bad language.
"'Come along, fellows, I cried,
and in an instant dozen skiA's, all